26 MICHIGAN STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



movement which has for its object the uphfting of humanity 

 and the betterment of the world, you are equally welcome to 

 this place and to the ceremonies of this week. I have faith to 

 believe that the experiences of these few days will so enrich you 

 in all the essentials of genuine manhood and womanhood that 

 you will return to your homes, whether they be far or near, 

 better fitted to face the duties and responsibiUties of life and 

 better equipped to reader valuable service to your fellow- 

 citizens, to your country, and to humanity. 



We of Michigan beHeve that the fathers of our state builded 

 even better than they knew when they incorporated in the 

 constitution of 1650 the requirement that " the legislature encour- 

 age the promotion of intellectual, scientific, and agricultural 

 improvements and shall, as soon as practicable, provide for the 

 establishment of an agricultural school for instruction in agri- 

 culture and the natural sciences connected therewith." 



Following the adoption of this constitution by the people, the 

 legislature, in obedience to this requirement, laid the foundation 

 for this great institution of learning by enacting a law which 

 made provision for a "high seminary of learning in which the 

 graduate of the common school can commence, pursue, and 

 finish a course of study terminating in thorough theoretic and 

 practical instruction in those sciences and arts which bear directly 

 upon agriculture and kindred industrial pursuits." 



This broad foundation, estabUshed by our farseeing prede- 

 cessors, has enabled this College to keep pace with advancing 

 thought and take advantage of opportunities as they presented 

 themselves for broadening its courses and thus increasing its 

 usefulness. 



Having been the first state in the Union to estabUsh and 

 equip an educational institution for the direct promotion of 

 technical training in agriculture, Michigan was prompt to profit 

 by the enactment by Congress in 1890 of the Morrill law which, 

 through the increased revenue it provided, enabled it to extend 



