History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 29

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

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our enabling act was made still more liberal in relation to State Education, than that of any State or Territory yet admitted or organized in the amount of lands granted to schools generally.

Section eighteen of the enabling act, passed on the 3d of March, 1849, is as follows:

"And be it further enacted, That when the lands in said Territory shall be surveyed under the direc- tion of the Government of the United States, pre- paratory to bringing the same into market, seo- tions numbered sixteen and thirty-six in each town- ship in said Territory, shall be, and the same are hereby reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools in said Territory, and in the States and Territories hereafter to be created out of the same."

As the additions to the family of States increase westward, the national domain is still more freely contributed to the use of schools; and the charac- ter of the education demanded by the people made more and more definite. In 1851, while Oregon and Minnesota were yet territories of the United States, Congress passed the following act:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of America, in Congress assembled : That the Governors and legislative assemblies of the territories of Oregon and Minnesota, be, and they are hereby authorized to make such laws and needful regulations as they shall deem most expe- dient to protect from injury and waste, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in said Territories reserved in each township for the support of schools therein.

(2.) "And be it further enacted, That the Secre- tary of the Interior be, and he is hereby authorized and directed to set apart and reserve from sale, out of any of the public lands within the territory of Minnesota, to which the Indian title has been or may be extinguished, and not otherwise appropri- ated, a quantity of land not exceeding two entire townships, for the use and support of a University in said Territory, and for no other purpose what- ever, to be located by legal subdivisions of not less than one entire section."

[Approved February 19, 1851. ]

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CHAPTER XXIX.

STATE EDUCATION IN MINNESOTA-BOARD OF RE- GENTS-UNIVERSITY GRANT-AID OF CONGRESS IN 1862-VALUE OF SCHOOLHOUSES-LOCAL TAXA- TION IN DIFFERENT STATES-STATE SCHOOL SYS- TEM KNOWS NO SECT-IGNORANCE INHERITED, THE COMMON FOE OF MARKIND-CONCLUSION.

When Minnesota was prepared by her popula- tion for application to Congress for admission as a State, Congress, in an act authorizing her to form a State government, makes the following provision for schools:

(1) "That sections numbered sixteen and thirty- six in every township of public lands in said State, and where either of said sections, or any part thereof, has been sold or otherwise disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may be, shall be granted to said State for the use of schools.

(2) "That seventy-two sections of land shall be set apart and reserved for the use and support of a State University to be selected by the Gov- ernor of said State, subject to the approval of the commissioner at the general land office, and be appropriated and applied in such manner as the legislature of said State may prescribe for the purposes aforesaid, but for no other purpose." [Passed February 26, 1857. ]

But that there might be no misapprehension that the American Government not only had the inclination to aid in the proper education of the citizen, but that in cases requiring direct control, the government would not hesitate to exercise its authority, in matters of education as well as in any and all other questions affecting its sover- eignty. To this end, on the second of July, 1862, Congress passed the "act donating public lands to the several States and Territories which may pro- vide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts."

"Beit enacted, &c., that there be granted to the several States for the purposes hereinafter men- tioned, an amount of public land to be appor- tioned to each State (except States in rebellion), a quantity equal to thirty thousand acres for each senator and representative in Congress to which the States are respectively entitled by the appor- tionment under the census of 1860."

Section four of said act is in substance as fol- lows:

"That all moneys derived from the sale of these

lands, directly or indirectly, shall be invested in stocks yielding not less than five per cent. upon the par value of such stocks. That the money so invested shall constitute a perpetual fund, the cap- ital of which shall remain forever undiminished, and the interest thereof shall be inviolably appro- priated by each State which may claim the benefit of the act to the endowment, support, and main- tenance of at least one college, where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tac- tics, to teach such branches of learning as are re- lated to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life.

Section five, second clause of said act, provides "That no portion of said fund, nor the interest thereon, shall be applied, directly or indirectly, under any pretence whatever, to the purchase, erection, preservation, or repair of any building or buildings."

Section five, third clanse, "That any State which may take and claim the benefit of the pro- visions of this act shall provide, within five years, at least not less than one college, as described in the fourth section of this act, or the grant to such State shall cease; and the said State shall be bound to pay the United States the amount re- ceived of any lands previously sold."

Section five, fourth clause, "An annual report shall be made regarding the progress of each col- lege, recording any improvements and experi- ments made, with their costs and results, and such other matters, including State industrial and eco- nomical statistics, as may be supposed useful; one copy of which shall be transmitted by mail free, by each, to all the other colleges which may be endowed under the provisions of this act, and also one copy to the Secretary of the Interior."

Under this act Minnesota is entitled to select 150,000 acras to aid in teaching the branches in the act named in the State University, making the endowment fund of the Government to the state of Minnesota for educational purposes as follows:

1. For common schools, in acres .. .. ... 3,000,000

2. For State University, four townships 208,360

Total apportionment. 3,208,360

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AID OF CONGRESS IN 1862.

All these lands have not been selected. Under the agricultural college grant, only 94,439 acres have been selected, and only 72,708 acres under the two University grants, leaving only 167,147 acres realized for University purposes, out of the 208,360, a possible loss of 41,203 acres.

The permanent school fund derived from the national domain by the state of Minnesota, at a reasonable estimate of the value of the lands se- cured out of those granted to her, cannot vary far from the results below, considering the prices already obtained:

1. Common school lands in acres, 3,000,000, valued at. $18,000,000

2. University grants, in all, in acres, 223,000, valued at. 1,115,000

Amount in acres, 3,223,000. $19,115,000

Out of this permanent school fund may be real- ized an annual fund, when lands are all sold:

1. For common schools. $1,000,000

2. University instruction 60,000

These several grants, ample as they seem to be, are, however, not a tithe of the means required from the State itself for the free education of the children of the State. We shall see further on what the State has already done in her free school system.

Minnesota, a State first distinguished by an extra grant of government land, has something to unite it to great national interest. Its position in the sisterhood of States gives it a prominence that none other can occupy. A State lying on both sides of the great Father of waters, in a conti- nental valley midway between two vast oceans, encircling the Western Hemisphere, with a soil of superior fertility, a climate unequalled for health, and bright with skies the most inspiring, such a State, it may be said, must ever hold a prominent position in the Great American Union.

In the acts of the early settlements on the At- lantic coast, in the Colonial Government, and the National Congress, we have the evidence of a determined intention "that schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged" by the people who have the destinies of the Western Hemisphere in their hands. That the external organism of the system capable of accomplishing this heavy task, and of carrying forward this re- sponsible duty, rests with the people themselves,

and is as extensive as the government they have established for the protection of their rights and the growth of their physical industries, and the free development of their intellectual powers. The people, organized as a Nation, in assuming this duty, have in advance proclaimed to the world that "Religion, Morality, and Knowledge" are alike essential "to good government." And in organizing a government free from sectarian con- trol or alliance, America made an advance hitherto unknown, both in its temporal and spiritual power; for hitherto the work of the one had hindered the others, and the labors and unities of the two were inconsistent with the proper functions of either. The triumph, therefore, of either, for the control of both, was certain ruin, while separation of each, the one from the other, was the true life of both. Such a victory, therefore, was never before known on earth, as the entire separation, and yet the friendly rivalry of Church and State, first inaugu- rated in the free States of America. This idea was crystalized and at once stamped on the fore-front of the Nation's life in the aphorism, "Religion, morality, and knowledge are alike essential to good government." And the deduction from this national aphorism necessarily follows: "That schools and the means of education should forever be encouraged." We assume, then, without fur- ther illustration drawn from the acts of the Nation, that the means of education have not and will not be withheld. We have seen two great acquisitions, the Northwest Territory, and the Louisiana Pur- chase, parceled out in greater and greater pro- fusion for educational uses, till the climax is reached in the Mississippi Valley, the future great center of national power. At the head of this valley sits as regnant queen the state of Minne- sota, endowed with the means of education unsur- passed by any of her compeers in the sisterhood of States. Let us now inquire, as pertinent to this discussion,

WHAT HAS MINNESOTA DONE FOR STATE EDUCATION ?

The answer is in part made up from her con- stitution and the laws enacted in pursuance thereof: First, then, article VIII. of her consti- tution reads thus:

SECTION 1. The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelli- gence of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools.

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SECTION 2. The proceeds of such lands as are, or hereafter may be granted by the United States, for the use of schools in each township in this State, shall remain a perpetual school fund to the State. * * * * The principal of all funds arising from sales or other disposition of lands or other property, granted or entrusted to this State, shall forever be preserved inviolate and undimin- ished; and the income arising from the lease or sale of said school land shall be distributed to the dif- ferent townships throughout the State in propor- tion to the number of scholars in each township, between the ages of five and twenty-one years; and shall be faithfully applied to the specific object of the original grant or appropriation."

SECTION 3. The legislature shall make such pro- vision by taxation or otherwise, as, with the in- come arising from the school fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools in each township in the State.

But in no case shall the moneys derived as afore- said, or any portion thereof, or any public moneys or property, be appropriated or used for the sup- port of schools wherein the destinctive doctrines, creeds, or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect are promulgated or taught."

THE UNIVERSITY.

"SECTION 4. The location of the University of Minnesota, as established by existing laws, [Sept. 1851 ] is hereby confirmed, and said institution is hereby declared to be the University of Minnesota. All the rights, immunities, franchises, and endow- ments heretofore granted or conferred, are hereby perpetuated unto the said University; and all lands which may be granted hereafter by Congress, or other donations for said University purposes, shall rest in the institution referred to in this section.

The State constitution is in full harmony with the National government in the distinctive outlines laid down in the extracts above made. And the Territorial and State governments, within these limits, have consecutively appropriated by legis- lation, sufficient to carry forward the State school system. In the Territorial act, establishing the University, the people of the State announced in advance of the establishment of a State govern- ment, " that the proceeds of the land that may hereafter be granted by the United States to the Territory for the support of the University, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, to be called "the

University Fund," the interest of which shall be appropriated to the support of a University, and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed in such University!" This organization of the University was confirmed by the State constitution, and the congressional land grants severally passed to that corporation, and the use of the funds arising there- from were subjected to the restrictions named. So that both the common school and University were dedicated to State school purposes, and expressly excluded from sectarian control or sectarian in- struction.

In this respect the State organization corres- ponds with the demands of the general govern- ment; and has organized the school system reach- ing from the common school to the university, so that it may be said, the State student may, if he choose, in the state of Minnesota pass from grade to grade, through common school, high school, and State University free of charge for tuition. With- out referring specially to the progressive legisla- tive enactments, the united system may be referred to as made up of units of different orders, and suc- cessively in its ascending grades, governed by separate boards, rising in the scale of importance from the local trustee, directors, and treasurer, in common school, to the higher board of education, of six members in the independent school district, and more or less than that number in districts and large cities under special charter, until we reach the climax in the dignified Board of Regents; a board created by law and known as the Regents of the State University. This honorable body con- sists of seven men nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the senate of the State legislature, each holding his office for three years; and besides these there are three ex-officio members, consisting of the President of the State University, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Gov- ernor of the State. This body of ten men are in reality the legal head of the State University, and indirectly the effective head of the State school system of Minnesota, and are themselves subject only to the control of the State Legislature. These various officers, throughout this series, are severally trustees of legal duties which cannot be delegated. They fall under the legal maxim "that a trustee cannot make a trustee." These are the legal bodies to whom the several series of employes and servitors owe obedience. These various trustees determine the course of study

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and the rules of transfer from grade to grade until the last grade is reached at the head of the State system, or the scholar has perhaps completed a post-graduate course in a polytechnic school, in- augurated by the State for greater perfection, it may be in chemistry, agriculture, the mechanic arts, or other specialty, required by the State or national government.

This system, let it be understood, differs from all private, parochial, denominational, or sectarian schools. The State organism and all the sectarian elements of the church are, in this department of labor, entirely distinct. The State protects and encourages, but does not control either the schools or the faith of the church. The church supports and approves, but does not yield its tenets or its creed to the curriculum of the schools of the State. The State and the Church are in this respect en- tirely distinct and different organizations. State education, however, and the education of the ad- herents of the church are in harmony throughout a great portion of the State curriculum. Indeed, there seems to be no reason why the greater por- tion of denominational teaching, so far as the same is in harmony with the schools of the State, should not be relegated to the State, that the church throughout all its sectarian element might be the better able to direct its energies and economize its benevolence in the cultivation of its own fields of chosen labor. But, however this may be, and wherever these two organizations choose to divide their labors, they are still harmonious even in their rivalry.

The organism as a State system has, in Minne- sota, so matured that through all the grades to the University, the steps are defined and the gradients passed without any conflict of authority. The only check to the regular order of ascend- ing grades was first met in the State Uni- versity. These schools, in older countries, had at one time an independent position, and in their origin had their own scholars of all grades, from the preparatory department to the Senior Class in the finished course; but in our State system, when the common schools became graded, and the High School had grown up as a part of the organism of a completed system, the University naturally took its place at the head of the State system, having the same relation to the High School as the High School has to the Common School. There was no longer any reason why the same rule should not

apply in the transfer from the High School to the University, that applied in the transfer from the Common School to the High School, and to this conclusion the people of the State have already fully arrived. The rules of the board of Regents of the State University now allow students, with the Principal's certificate of qualification, to enter the Freshman class, on examination in sub-Fresh- man studies only. But even this is not satisfac- tory to the friends of the State school system. They demand for High School graduates an en- trance into the University, when the grade below is passed, on the examination of the school below for graduation therein. If, on the one hand, the High schools of the State, under the law for the encouragement of higher education, are required to prepare students so that they shall be qualified to enter some one of the classes of the University, on the other hand the University should be re- quired to admit the students thus qualified with- out further examination. The rule should work in either direction. The rights of students under the law are as sacred, and should be as inalienable, as the rights of teachers or faculties in State in- stitutions. The day of unlimited, irresponsible discretion, a relic of absolute autocracy, a des- potic power, has no place in systems of free schools under constitutional and statutory limita- tions, and these presidents and faculties who con- tinue to exercise this power in the absence of right, should be reminded by Boards of Regents at the head of American State systems that their resignation would be acceptable. They belong to an antiquated system, outgrown by the age in which we live.

. The spirit of the people of our State was fully intimated in the legislature of 1881, in the House bill introduced as an amendment to the law of 1878-79, for the encouragement of higher educa- tion, but finally laid aside for the law then in force, slightly amended, and quite in harmony with the House bill. Sections two and five alluded to read as follows:

"Any public, graded or high school in any city or incorporated village or township organized into a district under the so-called township system, which shall have regular classes and courses of study, articulating with some course of study, op- tional or required, in the State University, and shall raise annually for the expense of said school double the amount of State aid allowed by this

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act, and shall admit students of either sex into the higher classes thereof from any part of the State, without charge for tuition, shall receive State aid, as specified in section four of this act. Provided, that non-resident pupils shall in all cases be qual- ified to enter the highest department of said school at the entrance examination for resident pupils."

"The High School Board shall have power, and it is hereby made their duty to provide uniform questions to test the qualifications of the scholars of said graded or high schools for entrance and graduation, and especially conduct the examina- tions of scholars in said schools, when desired and notified, and award diplomas to graduates who shall upon examination be found to have completed any course of study, either optional or required, entitling the holder to enter any class in the Uni- versity of Minnesota named therein, any time within one year from the date thereof, without further examination; said diploma to be executed by the several members of the High School Board."

THE RELATED SYSTEM.

We have now seen the position of the University in our system of public schools. In its position only at the head of the series it differs from the grades below. The rights of the scholar follow him throughout the series. When he has com- pleted and received the certificate or diploma in the prescribed course in the High School, articu- lating with any course, optional or required, in the University, he has the same right, unconditioned to pass to the higher class in that course, as he had to pass on examination, from one class to the other in any of the grades beiow. So it follows, that the University faculty or teacher who as- sumes the right to reject, condition, or re-examine such student, would exercise an abuse of power, unwarranted in law, arbitrary in spirit, and not republican in character. This rule is better and better understood in all State Universities, as free State educational organisms are more crystalized into forms, analogous to our State and national governments. The arbitrary will of the interme- diate, or head master, no longer prevails. His will must yield to more certain legal rights, as the learner passes on, under prescribed rules, from in- fancy to manhood through all the grades of school life. And no legislation framed on any other

theory of educational promotion in republican States can stand against this American conscious- ness of equality existing between all the members of the body politic. In this consciousness is em- braced the inalienable rights of the child or the youth to an education free in all our public schools. In Minnesota it is guaranteed in the constitution that the legislature shall make such provisions, by taxation or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools in each township in the State. Who shall say that the people have no right to secure such thorough and efficient system, even should that "thorough and efficient system" extend to direct taxation for a course extending to graduation from a Univer- sity ? Should such a course exceed the constitu- tional limitation of a thorough and efficient sys- tem of public schools?

INTERPRETATION OF THE CONSTITUTION.

The people, through the medium of the law- making power, have given on three several occa- sions, in 1878, 1879, and 1881, an intimation of the scope and measuring of our State constitution on educational extension to higher education than the common school. In the first section of the act of 1881, the legislature created a High School Board, consisting of the Governor of the State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the President of the University of Minnesota, who are charged with certain duties and granted certain powers contained in the act. And this High School Board are required to grant State aid to the amount of $400 during the school year to any public graded school, in any city or incorporated village, or township organized into a district, which shall give preparatory instruction, extend- ing to and articulating with the University course in some one of its classes, and shall admit stu- dents of either sex, from any part of the State, without charge for tuition. Provided only that non-resident pupils shall be qualified to enter some one of the organized classes of such graded or high school. To carry out this act, giving State aid directly out of the State treasury to a course of education reaching upward from the common school, through the high school to the University, the legislature appropriated the entire sum of $20,000. In this manner we have the in- terpretation of the people of Minnesota as to the

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History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 29

Author: Edward D. Neill Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: