MINUTES OF THE SECTIONS. 
SECTION ON COLLEGE WORK. 
Meetings of this section were held on the afternoons of November 18 and 19. 1903. 
In the absence of J. W. Heston, of South Dakota, secretary of the section, ( r. E. 
Fellows, of Maine, was elected secretary pro tern. 
The following paper, read by W. O. Thompson, of Ohio, was received with hearty 
approval, and was discussed at considerable length by G. T. Winston, of North Caro- 
lina; and in a brief manner by D. P. Purinton, of West Virginia: E. Davenport, of 
Illinois; C. E. Coates, jr., of Louisiana; L. H. Bailey, of Xew York; C. G. Hopkins 
of Illinois. 
The Mission of the Laxd-Graxt Colleges. 
The history of the movement out of which the land-grant colleges have grown 
began on Monday, December 14, 1857, and the Hon. Justin S. Morrill, then a mem- 
ber of Congress, introduced the first bill. This was the beginning of a somewhat 
stormy debate. His first request was that it be referred to the Committee on Agri- 
culture. After some debating, on the loth the bill was referred to the Committee on 
Public Lands. On the 15th of the following April the hill was reported back to the 
House adversely by Mr. Cobb, of Alabama. The bill passed the House April 28, 
1 858, by a vote of 105 in the affirmative and 100 in the negative. Mr. Morrill's argu- 
ment in support of the bill was chiefly from the side of agriculture. He presented 
statistics showing that the conditions of agriculture in many regions were growing 
less favorable and that the products of the soil were decreasing to such a degree as 
to endanger the perpetual prosperity of that great industry. The decrease in the 
number of animals and the somewhat widespread discouragement in the older States 
led him to make a strong plea for such provision as would eventually prevent the 
exhaustion of the soil and maintain the permanent prosperity of the farmers. 
Some argument was made on behalf of mechanic arts, but the main emphasis was 
given to the need of agricultural education. It was his claim that the measure was 
"no less of public good than of public justice — just politically, just to all the States, 
and just, above all, to the manhood of our country." I quote further: "We exert our 
power and expend millions to protect and promote commerce through light-houses, 
coast surveys, improvement of harbors and through our Xavy and naval academies. 
Our military 'crown jewels' are manufactured at West Point on Government ac- 
count. We make immense grants of lands to railroads to open new fields of internal 
trade. We secure to literary labor the protection of copyright. We encourage 
the growth and discipline of hardy seamen by eking out their scanty rewards 
through governmental bounties. We secure to ingenious mechanics high profits by 
our system of patent rights. We make munificent grants to secure general education 
in all of the new States, but all public encouragement to agriculture has been rigidly 
withheld." 
During the progress of this speech Mr. Morrill covered in a comprehensive way the 
conditions of the country; the importance of agriculture; of mechanic arts and the 
right of these interests to consideration. He showed an accurate and comprehensive 
grasp of the problems that are now being wrought out in these colleges. He dwelt 
rather more upon the importance of experimentation than is in accord with present 
policies in the colleges. He seems at this point to have covered the field now occu- 
pied by the experiment stations. The trend of the argument was to the effect that 
the education of the country was incomplete, and that some such provision as was 
made in this bill was necessary in order to give opportunity to all classes of our 
people. He met strongly the constitutional objection that had been urged and that 
was urged to the last. 
