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man was to be a worker, in bo far, therefore, aa either agriculture or the 
mechanic arts prepare men to meet these requirements they may be regarded as 
practical education within the limits of the statute. 
(2) The industrial classes are here specifically named, it seems a natural 
interpretation, therefore, that we were to have a working education for a 
working people. The expression M the several pursuits and professions of lit**'" 
intimated that all classes would be benefited by these colleges and that they 
were expected to dwell together in the pursuit of education. It was clearly 
expected that those studying the branches of learning related to agriculture 
and the mechanic arts, being of the industrial class, would be made more effi- 
cient in the - several pursuits of life and that many of them would probably enter 
the so-called professions of life. It is probable also that this statute permits 
us to Bay that the various subjects here taught would Introduce one to profes- 
sional life within the limits of that education. It would probably he a little 
too much to urge that the statute anticipated the profession of agriculture or 
the profession of mechanic arts. It does, however, seem entirely clear that the 
agricultural colleges were expected to make more efficient farmers and that the 
colleges of mechanic arts were expected to make more efficient men in the field 
of mechanic arts. 
From these discussions of the statute I now pass to a more specific reply to 
the question in the topic under discussion, namely, "how far may these colleges 
engage in teaching elementary subjects," and here I remark : 
I 1 i That I see no reason why the colleges of mechanic arts should he put 
under any rule more restrictive than the rule now in force in colleges of liberal 
arts throughout the country. It is well known that with the changes that have 
occurred in our entrance requirements and with the introduction of the elective 
idea in college it has become necessary for many subjects to be begun in col- 
lege. Among these you will find listed some subjects that are accepted for 
entrance requirements that were formerly prescribed for entrance require- 
ments. Most colleges now give opportunity for beginning the study cf Greek. 
They also give facilities for the study of modern languages. They also give 
tacilities for the beginning cf the study of chemistry. We may say that this 
is not elementary teaching or that these subjects are uot elementary, but tlxit is 
a mere evasion of the facts. Many a student gets his first insight in these sub- 
jects after matriculation as a regular a liege student. I see no reason, there- 
fore, why the beginning of a subject may not be made in the colleges of agri- 
culture and mechanic arts with as much propriety as in a college of liberal 
arts. 
(2) Our topic suggests elementary subjects not generally recognized as 
belonging to the college curriculum. As a matter of fact there are very few 
such subjects. All science belongs to the college curriculum. Elementary 
physics is as truly physics as advanced physics. The same may be said of any 
other science. The same argument would apply in the matter of language, 
whether ii be ancient or modern. So far, therefore, as the legal right of doing 
such things is concerned, it seems that the word "elementary" or "advanced" 
is not important The real question is whether the subject itself comes within 
the meaning of the statute. The provisions of the second Morrill Act are inter- 
esting as in a way interpreting the whole situation. This second act recognizes 
the propriety of teaching English, economics, and certain other subjects, but 
seems to draw the line against the use of money for certain classical purposes. 
(3) The significance of the statute, too. must be interpreted in the light of the 
classes for which the colleges were founded. Evidently the children of farmers 
were chiefly in the minds of Congress at the time of the discussions. As I have 
had occasion to say elsewhere, mechanic arts was mentioned in the discussion, 
but not with any great emphasis. The appeal was made largely from the view 
point of agriculture. Now. it would not be fair to assume that the persons who 
are to be benefited by the college of agriculture were persons whose educational 
attainments rendered elementary teaching unnecessary. That was not the con- 
dition of rural education at that time, and we regret to say that it is not the 
condition now. To make such interpretation, therefore, would be to impose 
upon all the coming students of agriculture the necessity of an education that is 
not now within their reach. It would imply the development of rural schools to 
a point quite beyond the present. The same principle would hold if we were 
to think of the children of industrial classes as the beneficiaries of the colleges 
of mechanic arts. Now it is emphasized that these colleges were to meet condi- 
tions existing in the country and provide a type of education in which Congress 
