SEA GRANT COLLEGES 65 



Grant College Act changed all this, for it led to acceptance of the principle that 

 a university should put emphasis on seeking knowledge, as well as teaching it. 



Full realization of this principle did not come about until passage of the 

 Hatch Experiment Station Act of 1887. It extended the Land-Grant Act so an 

 agency and needed facilities could be provided whereby the colleges chartered 

 under the Land-Grant Act could engage in scientific research and experimen- 

 tation. 



During the period 1880 to 1910, directors of the agricultural experiment 

 stations, organized as divisions of the land-grant colleges, were confronted by 

 a hard fact. In response to popular demand from farmers, more and more time 

 of scientific personnel went into providing rural demonstrations. The tradition 

 of the American experiment station movement had been that public funds appro- 

 priated for research were for scientific investigation and for no other purpose. 

 If the quest for new scientific knowledge was to bring permanent and basic bene- 

 fit to agriculture, this was the only interpretation to be given. The stations, 

 therefore, threw their full support behind the extension movement, already popu- 

 lar in the states, but until 1914 not supported by the federal government. Pas- 

 sage of the Smith- Lever Act in 1914 provided annual support for agricultural 

 extension work. Under it, programs are developed under which qualified per- 

 sonnel help farmers turn research findings into practice (1, pp. 114-116). 



PURPOSE OF MORRILL ACT 



The purposes of Senator Morrill's bill are given in greater detail in Dr. 

 Eddy's book. Summarized briefly, they proposed conservation of public lands 

 rapidly disappearing through private speculation. He was greatly concerned 

 about soil deterioration and waste of resources due to haphazard practices. In 

 different states, agriculture was confronted by problems arising from consid- 

 erable variation in topography, climate, and distances to market. Lack of ade- 

 quate agricultural education and training to meet this wide variety of conditions 

 blocked progress. The country needed higher education and training of those 

 who could help advance the art of tillage to bring about better farming. Some 

 states were unable to provide it without federal aid. Many benefits had accrued 

 in Europe from agricultural and industrial schools, an idea not yet accepted in 

 this country. As a forward-looking and practical statesman, Morrill saw that 

 technology meant increased production and that increased national production 

 meant world prestige. He wanted our ships laden with grain to continue outward 

 bound (4, pp. 28-30). 



MAJOR PROVISIONS OF THE ACT 



Under the Act as passed each state became entitled to 30,000 acres for 

 each Senator and Representative in Congress to which each state became en- 

 titled by the apportionment under the census of 1860. No known mineral lands 

 were to be selected under this provision. Monies derived from the sale of lands 

 were to be used for the "endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one 

 college. . . .to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and 

 the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the states may respec- 

 tively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the 

 industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life" (l,pp. 217- 

 218). The Office of Education, U. S. Department of Health, Education and Wel- 

 fare has published a 78-page booklet which records the dates when the legisla- 

 tures of the various states accepted the provisions of the Land-Grant Act (5). 



39 



