266 HENRY HILL GOODELL 



training of her young men in all that pertains to the use 

 of arms, in the duties of the officer in handling and in- 

 structing troops, and in the construction of fortifications, 

 would be of immense value to the commonwealth, the state 

 has made ample provision for this department. A fine 

 drill hall and armory have been erected, and arms and 

 equipments issued. The United States details one of its 

 officers for duty at the College, who is reckoned as one of 

 the faculty, and who is responsible for the efficiency and 

 good order of the department. 



It will have been noticed that in the course of instruc- 

 tion no mention is made of the mechanic arts. At the time 

 of the legislative acceptance of the national grant the 

 Institute of Technology in Boston was already established, 

 and it was deemed wiser to extend aid to it than to start 

 a new school. Accordingly, one third of the income de- 

 rived from the maintenance fund of the United States has 

 ever since been annually paid over to it from the treasury 

 of the commonwealth. This action of the legislature re- 

 lieves the College from the necessity of giving instruction 

 in that department, and has resulted in making the Col- 

 lege more purely agricultural than any other in the coun- 

 try. Realizing the necessity of providing a higher educa- 

 tion within the reach of those in moderate or straitened 

 circumstances, the state has thrown wide the doors of its 

 College and furnished every facility for acquiring such 

 education at a minimum cost. Its tuition has been made 

 practically free, and by the establishment of a labor fund, 

 out of which a portion of the expenses can be paid in hon- 

 est work, it has brought within the reach of a class of de- 

 serving young men forming the best possible material for 



