308 THE LURE OF THE LAND 



ments to the bill, but on February 24th James Bu- 

 chanan, President of the United States, vetoed the 

 measure on the ground that he did not think the time 

 was opportune and that the possible effect which it 

 could have upon the relations existing between the fed- 

 eral and state governments was of doubtful value, and 

 for the further reason that he doubted the power of 

 Congress to appropriate money for education in the 

 States, and therefore in his opinion the aid of such 

 education by means of a land grant was of doubtful 

 constitutionality. 



Mr. Morrill, however, was not discouraged by this 

 adverse opinion of President Buchanan. In view of 

 the strained relations of affairs at that time, due to the 

 agitation of the slavery question, and the uncertainty 

 in Mr. Buchanan's own mind about what should be 

 done and what should not be done, it was not strange 

 that he refrained from approving any measure which 

 would, even by implication, invalidate the doctrine of 

 States' rights. While the theory of States' rights is 

 still held, there is no longer any disinclination on the 

 part of any of the States to receive the benefits of a 

 federal grant of money for any purpose whatever. It 

 is the old question of " What is the constitution among 

 friends," when an appropriation is at stake. 



APPROVED BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN 1 . 



In 1861 Mr. Morrill introduced into the House of 

 Eepresentatives practically the same bill which had 

 passed before, granting 30,000 acres of land for each 

 member of Congress for the establishment of colleges 

 in each of the States, and on the 2d of May, 1862, 

 Senator Wade, of Ohio, introduced a similar bill in 

 the Senate. Mr. MorrilPs bill was reported adversely 



