10 S Wisconsin State agricultural society. 
thus secure to their sons and daughters those invaluable elements 
of power, knowledge and mental discipline, and if they fail to do¬ 
it, they are untrue to themselves, to the children of their own 
blood, and to the behests of society. 
Monopolies cannot be controlled or to any great extent re¬ 
strained by legislative enactments. They spring from active 
brains. They are not fortuitous; but are the product, near or 
remote, of sleepless vigilance, protracted stud}^ and vigorous 
thought. Such forces can be checkmated only by corresponding 
forces. The laborers must be true to themselves and to their 
children. They should seize upon all facilities for* education with 
avidity, and teach their children to do the same, as a means of 
present and permanent safety. 
The agriculturist and the mechanic, as fully as the physician 
and the engineer need special training. Every art is based on a 
science, and only he who understands the principles involved is a 
true artizan, and only such can realize the highest benefits from 
their labors. 
The intention of the congressional land grant of 1862, was to 
secure to the young farmers and mechanics of the country a 
thorough preparation for their special callings, and a general edu¬ 
cation for the duties of citizens. That grant should have been 
supplemented by other grants from the public ^domain and by 
donations from the states. There ought to be at least one 
thoroughly organized industrial college in every state, with free 
tuitions, with courses of study brief and practical, and with 
such surroundings that youDg men can acquire a good outfit for 
the duties of life, without having the idea of labor educated out 
of their minds. 
It is not the mission of education to make farmers, mechanics,, 
lawyers, physicians, or clergymen, merely, but men —men of 
thought, of sterling integrity and symmetrical character. The 
nation wants men , not mere machines on the farm and in the 
workshops. 
Prior to February, 1872,172,000,000 of acres had been given 
to railroad corporations, and for the education of the millions of t 
the youth of the country only 70,000,000. 
