EDITORIAL. 
169 
they would, in the long - run, place these institutions in the 
position of bearing any of the dangers which seem to be 
threatening the private institutions, and assure them of per¬ 
manent and increased usefulness. If this is not a sufficient 
motive, the obligations which the trustees of our institutions 
assume toward their alumni should be recognized as of such a 
nature that they are bound to look after the alma mater of 
those whom they have graduated. 
These remarks are suggestive to us as pertinent to cer¬ 
tain efforts towards the erection of a permanent home for 
their school, now in progress by the officers of the American 
Veterinary College—efforts which, we believe, might have 
been advantageously entered upon long ago. If for the last 
fifteen years, during which the college has been running its 
successful career, a sinking fund had been maintained, it 
would to-day have assumed sufficient proportions to realize 
the object in view, to wit, to provide the institution and its 
alumni with a suitable building which should be their own, 
and which would constitute a condition as would almost serve 
as a guarantee of long existence, as without it, it will never 
progress. 
And this obviously applies equally to other schools which 
are in the same condition. The private and personal interests 
which are now engaged in prosecuting the work of these 
institutions, and which now constitute their strength, will 
inevitably, sooner or later, interfere with their management, 
and to a greater or less extent, threaten their very being; and 
what then ? What is to become of the material gathered and 
accumulated ? What of the time and efforts which will have 
been dissipated, and with the labor wasted, and, above all, 
what will become of the alma mater of those who hold her 
diplomas? To-day, the schools to which we are referring 
are more or less dependent on one man—if not by the profes¬ 
sional work which he does in connection with the school, at 
least by his private, and too often, pecuniary assistance, and 
certainly it is greatly to be regretted that interests so great 
are thus placed at the mercy of contingencies and circum¬ 
stances, unforseen, it is true, but which are likely at any 
moment to become factors and potencies for evil. 
