126 MICHIGAN STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



will then be free to devote their resources to instruction and re- 

 search in the higher branches of technology. 



A logical step in this direction will be the establishment of 

 bureaus or laboratories devoted entirely to investigations of 

 engineering problems and the fixing of standards. I believe we 

 shall come in this way to the engineering experiment station, the 

 analogue of what has now become so important an adjunct of 

 agricultural instruction, namely, the agricultural experiment 

 station. One state 1 has already established such a research 

 station with generous financial support. There can be no logi- 

 cal argument advanced for the agricultural experiment station 

 which will not apply with equal force to the engineering sta- 

 tion, be it on account of the important interests involved, the 

 problems inviting solution, or the industrial value of such an 

 institution. 



In conclusion, one cannot contemplate the developments of 

 these institutions without a feeling of pride in their achievements 

 and a conviction that the phase of education which they typify 

 is destined to become more and more important in America. 

 The essential basis and foundation of a nation's welfare is to be 

 found in its industrial conditions. It is true that those abstract 

 qualities which contribute to national greatness and patriotic 

 citizenship are the offspring of ideals rather than of material 

 things, but these can never come to their fullest fruitage with- 

 out that substantial foundation afforded by rational and well- 

 balanced industrial forces. The highest development of national 

 ideas is like a flower whose beauty is unfolded in a clear atmos- 

 phere, while its roots find anchorage and nourishment in the 

 fertile stratum of an intelligent industrial democracy. True 

 industrial progress consists in utilizing with ever-increasing 

 economy and accuracy natural forces and materials, in more 

 scientific methods of operation and management, in securing 



1 The University of Illinois established an engineering experimental station 

 in 1903. 



