Unanswerable Argument

The following is the argument, complete as made by Prof. B. M. Thompson. at Lanslng, before the Assoeiatiou oí Farmers' Clubs held last week.] The proposition wnder discussion is to restrflet the income oi the Univcisity of JItohigan to the one-sixth of a muil tax. There is nothing in tlie wording of the pi-oposition which ind'ücates whether those who iavor it, do so, beoause iin their judgment such üncotme i ampily süKleien to main-bailn the Univenslty, or, whether in their opimon a higher education ia a, luxury wbilch a frugal people oughtt to forego for the good of the state. The pnopos-ition before us however cannot be acted apon inteTliigently until we have determined whether or not iit is expedlent and desirable and ior the public good that the state süiould maimtain a University. I assume that if that questüion is onawered in ttue afïirmative suh answer imp'Iies, that the state wil] nat maintain a seoond or third rate ooilege but a Urciversiity in fact as weill as in name) and that. whatever sum or suni'S ave necessary tor that purpose wiill be cheerfully suppli'ed by the grea-t ooimmonwealth oí Michigan. It is perliaps an open question aa to whiat extent the govenument sliall stand to the individual as a foster mother a:nd become a ■worker, liaborer, aed mechante for the good of the state and of its people. rt is conceded tbat there are certaln duties wbich the government must perform. It must administer justice betweer. man and man. It must mamtain the public peace and to that end exercise the pólice power and maintaiti. if necessary, a standing army and an efficiënt navy. So far as our govemmemt is concerned, it is generally conceded that it has beem vviBe to comfer npon it tbe power to coin money, establfeh weights and measuree, oarry tbe mail, supervise a national bamking eystem, and regmliate commerce. Tihe government has takein and perroraied these duties either because they cannot te performed at all by individuáis, or, because the public could nat as a whole be piroperly eerved by individuals. In additlon to the powers enuanerated, the state oí Michigan has estabtíshed and now matnitains a f ree public school system, inctoding tlue district school, the tógh echoiol, and the University, as welH as Normal schools, a miuing school, and au Agricultural college. The state has not onl-y pTo-ided these means of educatifom but it compete every cMld between t.he ages oí sevea and filfteen years, to attend thie oommon echool. No onO will claim, I presume, fchiat thüs ptftícy has been adoptad primariliy for the benefit ol the cliild but rather lor the benefit oí the etate and of the people. Sto.ce otos ils a govemment by the people, itt is of paramount importancO that the electox ehall be au intelligent and as Car as poesiibte, a wise ruler. It Is of conree true that the state is taterested in tlie -wel'tare of every cWlzen- thkat he be eeM-supporting. A. pnb'lk pauper is a public charge. The public school systean rests upan these two proposltions, first, that the elector Bhould be au Intelligent voter, and eecomdly, that he be qualiíied to oarn his living in the strug-gte of lito. We a!l agree with tlie fraraers of the Ordiinamce of 1787 that : "Religión, morajity and knowledge being necessarj to good government, and the happiiiess oL mankind, schools and the meam of educaüiion shall forever üe encouraged." University Work. The object and purpose of a Unirveratty is to train young men and 'qualify them to enter One of the professloms : Law, Medicine, Teaching, I'harmaey, Civil, Electrical and Mecbaniücai Engineertng, or some other eallilng requiring special preparation. Sliould such training be giren by the state and at the expense of the state ? In :i. word, should the state give a young mai or woman, a professional educatiioin free oí cost? That ttan is pertinent and goes to the very core of thix nral ■. Btfi proper answer depends, im my judgment, upon the answer ■vhiich should be given to tliiis further question : Wliat is the nature and character oí the services wliiwh the membeiTis of those proïeseloni; perïorm ? Is it public or pri■iato ? Ii the iservicee which the physician, the lawyer, the teacher, the ptarcuacist and the engineer render aa'e esssentially privante, in the good anid ill periioi-niamoe O'i which the (general public are mot interested, cept incidentally, then there is no good reasan wby the state should be butxlened with the expense oí their profesional training and education. Iï, on the other hand, those .services, ailthough rendered in the main íor individúalo, andïoT private reward, are neverthetess for the public, in whicü the public are peculiarly interested, tlien there is every reason why the public áhould see to it that the pwsrtous trataiiiig of her public servants has been thorough, ampie and painetakIng, bo that they are quaiüied to perfO'i'm tihe best services possible. Engineers and Pharmacista. Iet me cali your attention, to the services which the professional man perforrns. Take a civil1 engineer for InfrtarDce. He builds railroads and conistructs bridges over which not only the oommerce of the state is üraneported but upon which thousands of txavelers each day trust thelr lives He makes and operates the great puMic highways -whicli modera sctence and invention have made neeessaay. Tlie safety of the property and of the liie and lknb of the citizen depends upon ttoat work being careiuHy and properly performed. Wliat ís true of civil engineer is equally true oí the electrical and inechanitai engineer. The work whici tdiey perïo-rm fe essentiailly for the public, ín -which the public are vitally interested. Tlake the pharmacist. It i liis duty to compound medical prescrïptions for the sick. It is true he periorms th.is service in most instanees for au individual and at that indH'idual'8 tequest, but such individual repreeenits iu tact the public, for every member of the public inay at any moment and wfil undoubtedly at Bome time, need simiaar services. The publüc at la.rge are interested in a proper conipoundinig of prescriptionjs. 1ife Is umcertain enough at best without having the chances oí sudden death increased by tiiat work being perfonned in a haphazard, gotis-yoni-please mamner by some one. AVitli little knowledge and great presumptkm. Physicians. Take the physician. Ifc is o-nljy necessary to remiiiKl you of the charecter of bis services. What the army amd navy are to the nation in guardimg amd preserving pubUc peace, th medical professiion is to tlie people In protectiing and earing for Ufo and lieaïfch. Shall thte state lor instance expend annuaHy, foirty or fiity thousand dollars to maimtain two or threa thousand militia men that we may be prepared to meet a public enemy at any moment and not a penny to ■train a proücient body of physicilans, to iight against dlsease which ite ever present, and to prevent an invasión of plague and pestilence, annualljr threatened ? (Continued on 6th Page.) # UNANSWE8ABLE ARGUMENT. (Continued from flrst page.) Attorneys and Teachers. I certa-tnly need not dweil upon the services oi the teacher. He is adtnittedty a public servant, einployed by the public, laborhig for the public. And so lastly I come to the a.ttora.ey. Were I not certaitn of my ground, this )roiessioiial man would in this presence, be possed by ia silence. Judgtng frote certain utterances that have ound their way Into the public prints, he fanmer has not unbounded faith m the lawye-r's public usefulness. Indeed a party was formeel not many ■enrs aince, made Tip largely oï farmers, from whicli the lawyer was purposely and specifically excluded. His mere presence as a polltical assoclate was deemed pernickras. If really, mdeed, the legal proiession to-day ia m such a condition that this prejudice ie justiiiable, then the state needs above all things else to maintain a great ïaw school where wise and wholesome teaching shall remedy this evil. Our government is divided into three great departnients, the Execuive, Legktativc, and Judicial, and the proiession oí law lnas had from the beginaing and wiil luave to the end of the nation, the absolute and exlueive control of one of those departments, the Judicial. AVhenever a otroversy arises, involving the right of an individual, to liíe, liberty or property, the contest must be tried befoire ajid by members oí the legal ptrofession. Omitting thereïore, from omsideration the fact that members of that profession have alwayss taken a prominent part both in the legislative and executive branches of the government, it is evident that every Citizen hos a personal interest in maintaining tbe purity and independence 01 the Juddciary and of the bar. fact that the services of the awyer, physician, teacher, pharmailst and the engineer are public has irom the iirst been recognlzed and asertd by the people through the pubic statutes. No person is permiitted to practice medicine ot law, to each, to oompound drugs, or do he work of an engineer until he ha been duly authortzed so to do by 'the proper authorities. West Point and Annapolis. The members of these great professlons whio are performing these public ervices must be trained, educated, and qualified for their work. How are tliey to obtain their training? In one of tjwo ways ; at the public expense or through public chartty ; by taxes levied upon the property of the tax-payer or, through private gifts and donations. You must pass aroiind fche hat or eend a tax-collectoir with hfe warrant. Tfce man who believes, that the public should depend for the education of her judgee, physicians, teachers, engineers, upan public charity will of course be opposed to the establishment and maintenance of public schools for that purpose. I shall not now argue hat question with such person tf there be one here. I address myseli to those who beïieve that the state should furnish the means of education to every person who will be called üpon habitually and oontinually to perfonn public service. Such has been the policy of the national government for quarters of a century. She has maintained two great nationai eohools, one at West Point, the other at Annapolis ; the one to train men for public service in the army ; the other to command her flavy. The wisdom oí this couree was dearly demonstrated durimg the civil wa-r. Every man both in the Confedérate and Federal army who developed an abiiity to command large bodtes of troops in the field was a gradúate of "Weet Poimt. And the services of Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, Farragut and others, who had been educated by the natiou wa.i worth more to the nation, mjeaetured ia dollars and cents, leavimg ont oí account attogether the preervation of the Union, than the entiire cost of those two great schoolB a hundTed tianos uvcr. Tliose schools are tio-day recognized as an essential part of the defense of the nation. A pot of paint and a few feathers enable the barbarían to prepare for battile and to enter the liets the peer of his antagonist, but G-rants and Molttkee are not so easily and readily equipped. Aa science advances, training and educatlün must be extended. In the Btate of barbariism each man stands abreast of every other im every attainment. Not so with the man in a hlghly tlvilized communlty. He has a long and arduous race to run before he caai overtake the advaTice guard of hia age. And it Isa race he cannot run alone and unalded. I am not statimg a new propositlon and contending for eome strange doctrine. . The farmers of Michigan have long simce recognized the rectness of my position. They are j aiive to the new requiremenits oí this age. This meeting oí the representa, tives of tliat eaOaling te evidence of 'thefact. Farmer's Instlltutes are beiing uelid all over the state for the purpose and with the object ol keeping abreast oí the leaders and pioneers ín agrie itítural and horticultura! science and in the art of good government. They are making the facuUIty of their great Agricultural college assist them In every vay possitoïe. This is commendable. ïou will permit me to suggest that for some reason the farmers in tliis vork havt ignored the University and have practically refusedto accept her assistance. The situation that confrontó ub is a very simpan one. Tliere is no absolute rest in thie world. ClviJization is either advancing or retrograding. And society is not pushed tarward and upward by those in the rear but is dragged ahead by those in the advance. Those advanced leaders in law, in medicine, science and the arts are the product oí the schoois of the great Universities. If thoise scouts, that skirmish line, that advaneu guaird of the great army oí progress are useless, then cali them in, tighten your purse strings, and permit the Universities, the source oí their int-piration and their strength, to languish and drop into decay. My word for tt, the peoplie of the state oL Michigan willl do nothing of the kind. The state University is doing a work to-day not periormed by any other institution. It is a work necessary to tlie vontinued growth and development oí the state, to our adviance. and progress ia art, in science, in civiiization as a people, and yon may rest assured it will be maintained, and the farmers of Michigan will be its most valient defenders. The Farmer and the University Now haring called your attention to th fact that the University is doing a necessary and indispensable public service in training men and women for the professions and for thar reason alome ought to be and wïll be niaintained, I need notsnggest, certalnly, thiat the iarmer shouIö not and I 'belöiève, "would not complain, if he recetved no other benefit thereirom than that which naturaliy came to him as a citizen of the gta te. But the truth is thiat the farmers of Michigan have a greater personal) interest in the Uuüvensity than any other ciass. In the ftast place over iorty per cent. ol the students in attendance at that itostitution are the sons and daughterg oí íarmers. The agricultural class Ü9 to-day, as it aBways has been, the great feeder of all the professilons and of every department of industry. But there is another view whiich brimgs out in sttll stronger light the peculiar, exceptional and personal interest ol the iarmer in the UndverBiity, The onüy neighborhood school within his reach is the district school, the primary school, the bottom mng in the educatiomal adder. He must send his boy or girl to the village, or, t'O the city high school, to obtain anythiing better for his child than the rudimento oí an education. In all the cïties, and in some oi the larger viülageíi even, there are high schools whoee course of study wiil compare favorably wilah that o fthe colleges oí thib country s eventy-five y;ears ago. A citizen oí Detroit, íor instanee, has at his own door, schools which offer courses ol study that require ten years of nlne months each to complete. And In additlon to thoee public schools, there are two medical colleges, a law school, art schools, and schools giving pecial instructlon in various branches oí learning. Yon might perhaps expect that a person so sltnated would question the policy of taxing himself to support a ünivemity. Se bas never, however, mado the Blightest objection. The city of Detjroit has Irom the ïirst beea a warm friend ol the University. Years ago, severa! oí her citizens unlted in presenting to the University her Aetronomical Observatory. Another of her citizens pave in books and money to the Law Department, $25,000. Very recentdy, the late Mr. Waterman, Regent Baibour and other citizens oí Detroit have glven $50,000 to build and equip a gymnasium. Gen. Aïger, Senator P'almer and others made generous donations toward purchasing the Columbian Organ, and Senator McMillan, Messrs. Scripps, Burton, Parsone and Miss Jennle Ooyle, have made valuable glits to the general library ; Parke, Davls & Co. and Frederick Stearns are maintaining scbolarships ; while many others have dealt generously by the institution. Strange as it may seem, opposition to the Univereíty comes not f rom those who have the greatest educational advantages at their own door, but from those who have the least. THE UNIVEESITY DEMOCEATIC There is another consideration of still more Lance ií possible, botli to the farmer and to every oittizen in moderate financia! circumstanoes. The . Universiiy oí Michigan is the great Deniocraü'c University ol America. It ranks vith Harvard and YaiLe in the compass and efficiency of its work and stands next to Harvard in the number of students In attendance It ils the man's Unlversïty. The average annual expense ol a student at Harvard or Yale ie $750, or $3,000 for a four year's course. The average expense at the Uuiversity of Michigan is $300. or $1,200 for a full course. There has never been a tilme during the last farty years, that thfrty per cent. ol her students were not sunporting themselves, wholly or in part, and hat has been espefiïally true in the professional schools. You can readily understand that a young man by teaching one or Wo years duHng hls college course can cover an expendïtuire of $1,200 and that it would be exceedingly difficuU, if not impossible for iiim to cover $3,000. Icertainly need not suggestthat there are very few farmers in the stat ol Michigan who are able to support a Student at one of the great Eastern colleges. You may be nterested in knowing whnt are i, gtudent's necesseury expenses in the University. Take a medical student, from Michigan : Matrfculation fee - ■■ - - - $10 Annual fee $35, four yrs. - - 140 Anatómica], and La'joratory work and books - - 150 Board and Room per wook $i? Inci'dentails - - - - 1 Clothiing - - - - 1 $5 per week, 40 weeks $200, 4 years SOO Total --- - $1,100 How niueh can be ailded to that suni and leave a üniTereity edueatioa wïthin the reach o a yu'!x man or woman wüthoult a shilling in the world ? Are the farmers oí Michigan prepared to declare that whlle poverty is not at present a crime ia Mi's state, it is nevertheless a hopeless condltion and a complete bar Do a youmg man or woman entering tlie profession of law, medicine, pharmacy or engineering through the University ? I subm.it that that is the very questiou you have under con;-idpration at this Instant. If the University of Michigan is nöt given sufflclent meams to enable her to malntata h.er present high rank, then in Michigan, the rich aflioaie; will be able to buy for their son and daughters a lileral feducation and the opportunltiee which such an education gives to its possessor -wiill have pasfied by the poor boy and girl forever. There are to-day one thousand sons and da-ughters of farmers in that University. How roamy of that thousand wouM be in any Uniiveipp.i.ty of equal rank, if tliere were no University ol Michigan ? Is it necessary for me to dweil upon thfe argument ? Shall not the great state o í Michigan give to every ome of her cMtdren no matter how poor he may be, an opportunitty to start in the race oí lite om an equalIty, so far as an educatton Ís concerned, wilth lite rlch competitor ? That oppoTtTinilty, that equality, will prove suiflcient to make him win the race in nine cases out of ten. Poverty is a great appetdzer for learnlng and makes labor 6weeter than the perfumes of Araby, the bilest. You will notice gentlemen, thiat I have not imtimated that the University staould have one penny more than the proceeds of the one-sitxth of a milll tax. If thiat ie all that she needs then that is all that she should have. If her wantis exceed that sum, neeessairy. not iimaginary waats, a sum su;fffcient to saitlsly all her necessary requtrements should be given. Michigan cannot affordto have her University sink to tihie Ie vel of a second ar thntrd rate college. Needs of tl e Lsw Department. In concluBiion you will permit ine to cali youir attenCüon in this connectLon to the present wants and necessities of the Law Departonent. I am familiar witii that Department. I am not eo familiar -witth the others and therefore say nothing is to their needs. The Law Department is selïeustaining. It has nevé" coHt the tax payers of the state a diolilar to mat tain that department. I do not uirge that fact however, as an argument. It bae no better claim to be maintained than any otheT department of the Untveraiity. The course of Btudy in the law department was lengtbened last year irom two to thoree years. Owing to thls change the piresent 6enior class numbers less than Mfty. Thene are between two hundred and fllfty and three liundred in each of the first and second year olaisses. The enirollment In the dedepartment this year wiffll te 600 or more. Next year the senior cllass will ïrainber 250 and ii the other classes hold their own, there will be alitogether at least 800 students. Títere fe at present mo aceommodation foor tbat number. Additfcional room muet be provided. The space occupied by the ldbrary ie crowded and there ís not sufficlent room for the books to be purchased by the BueM gift oí $10,000. It Ie esltdimated that a flre proof library room and an addïtioaal lecture room, capable oí eeattog three hundred students, will cost abont $40,000. I understand that unttess the University Is given more than the one-eixth oí a mili, there willl not be a dollar for thls Improvement and student wiM have to be tnrned away from the Law Department. Now do you propose to urge the Legilsllatnre not to provlde the necessary tneans requtred for the present need oi that department? There are two hnndred Michigan boys In that department to-day and thelr education by the state is a source of proflt to the state. If such an approprilation Ís made by the coming legislature, there will be jiext year three hundred ta that department from thlB state, elght hundred altogether, and the surplus profit wil] be imereased. Are you not iu favor of tlnat approprlatioa ? H it shoultl luappen that other appropriations ara quite as necessary as tliis one to wli&h I have caoiled yoiur ttention, are you not Ín favor oí making euclj approprlations ? In a word, ar you not iln favor oí grivlng the Unlvorsitylof Michigan every dollar actuallly needed to enable lier to maílnta'm her preaen advanced viosition anwl to continue to perfoi-im in the future luer great and beneficent services for tlip sane and daughters of the commonwealth and for the commoaweaath itselí ? i