History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 29

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 547

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"That section number sixteen, in every town- ship, and where such section has been sold, granted or disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and most contiguous to the same, shall be granted to the inhabitants of such township for the use of schools."

The proposition of course was duly accepted by the vote of the people, in the adoption of their constitution prior to their admission to the Union, and on March 3d, 1803, Congress granted to Ohio, in addition to section sixteen, an additional grant of one complete township for the purpose of establishing any higher institutions of learning. This was the beginning of substantial national recognition of State aid to schools by grants of land out of the national domain; but the Govern- ment aid did not end in this first effort. The next State, Indiana, admitted in 1816, was granted the same section, number sixteen, in each town- ship; and in addition thereto, two townships of land were expressly granted for a seminary of learning. In the admission of Illinois, in 1818, the section numbered sixteen, in each township, and two entire townships in addition thereto, for a seminary of learning, and the title thereto vested in the legislature. In the admission of Michi- gan, in 1836, the same section sixteen, and seventy- two sections in addition thereto, were set apart to said State for the purpose of State University. In the admission of Wisconsin, in 1848, the same provision was made as was made to the other States previously formed out of the new territory. This was the commencement.

These five States completed the list of States which could exist in the territory northwest of the Ohio River. Minnesota, the next State, in part lying east of the Mississippi, and in part west, takes its territory from two different sources; that east of the Father of Waters, from Virginia, which was embraced in the Northwest Territory, and that lying west of the same, from "the Louisiana Purchase," bought of France by treaty of April 30, 1803, including also the territory, west of the Mississippi which Napoleon had previously ac- quired from Spain. The greater portion of Min- nesota, therefore, lies outside the first territorial acquisition of the Government of the United States; and yet the living spirit that inspired the early grants, out of the first acquisition, had

lost nothing of its fervor in the grant made to the New Northwest. When the Territory of Minne- sota was organized, Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, then a Senator in Congress from the State of Illinois, nobly advocated the claims of Minnesota to an increased amount of Government aid for the support of schools, extending from the Common school to the University. By Mr. Douglas' very able, disinterested, and generous assistance and sup- port in Congress, aided by Hon. H. M. Rice, then Delegate from Minnesota, our enabling act was made still more liberal in relation to State Educa- tion, than that of any State or Territory yet ad- mitted 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 direction of the Government of the United States, preparatory to bringing the same into market, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in each township 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 assem- bled: That the Governors and legislative assem- blies 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 expedient to protect from injury and waste, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in said Territories reserved in each township for the sup- port of schools therein.

(2) "And be it further enacted, That the Sec- retary of the Interior be, and he is hereby author- ized 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 tribe has been or may be extinguished, and not other- wise appropriated, a quantity of land not exceed- ing two entire townships, for the use and support

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of a University in said Territory, and for no other purpose whatsoever, to be located by legal sub- divisions of not less than one entire section." [Approved February 19, 1851. ]

CHAPTER XXVIII.

STATE EDUCATION IN MINNESOTA-CONSTITUTIONAL MEASURES-LEGISLATION-BOARD OF REGENTS- THE HEAD OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM-HIGHER EDUCATION-HIGH SCHOOL BOARD-UNIVERSITY GRANT-AID OF CONGRESS IN 1862-RESULTS- VALUE OF SCHOOLHOUSES-SCHOOLS AIDED BY A GRANT OF $400 EACH.

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 pro- vision for schools :

(1) "That sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in every township of public land in said State, and where either of said sections, or any part thereof, has been sold or otherwise dis- posed 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 purpose 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 citizens, 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."

"Be it enacted, &c., that there be granted to the several States for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, an amount of public land to be appro-

priated 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 in- vested shall constitute a perpetual fund, the capital of which shall remain forever undiminished, and the interest thereof shall be inviolably appropriated by each State which may claim the benefit of the act to the endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one college, where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such man- ner as the legislatures of the States may respect- ively 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 pretense whatever, to the purchase, erection, preservation, or repairs of any building or buildings."

Section five, third clause, "That any State which may take and claim the benefit of the pro- visions of this act shall provide within five years, at least no 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 experiments made, with their costs and results, and such other matters, including State, industrial, and economi- cal 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 en- dowed 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 acres to aid in teaching the branches in the act named in the State University, making

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AID OF CONGRESS IN 1862.

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

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 ex- tra 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 en- circling the Western Hemisphere, with a soil ot 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 de- termined 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 separa- tion, and yet, the friendly rivalry of Church and State, first inaugurated 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 educa- tion, should forever be encouraged." We assume, then, without further 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 Terri- tory, and the Louisiana Purchase, parceled out in greater and greater profusion 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 Minnesota, endowed with the means of education unsurpassed 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:

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STATE EDUCATION.

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

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 aud undimin- ished; and the income arising from the lease or sale of said school land shall be distributed to the different townships throughout the State, in pro- portion to the number of scholars in each town- ship between the ages of five and twenty-one years; and shall be faithfully applied to the spe- cific object of the original grant or appropriation."

SECTION 3. The Legislature shall make such provision 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.

But in no case shall the moneys derived as aforesaid, or any portion thereof, or any public moneys or property, be appropriated or used for the support of schools wherein the distinctive doc- trines, creeds, or tenets of any particular Christian or other religlous 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 insti- tution is hereby declared to be the University of Minnesota. All the rights, immunities, franchises, and endowments 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 therefrom were subjected to the restrictions named. So that both the common school and University were dedicated to State School purposes, and ex- pressly excluded from sectarian control or secta- rian instruction.

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 chooses, in the State of Minnesota, pass from grade to grade, through common school, high school, and State University free of charge for tuition. Without referring specially to the pro- gressive legislative enactments, the united system may be referred to as made up of units of differ- ent orders, and successively in its ascending grades, governed by separate boards, rising in the scale of importance, from the local trustee, direc- tors, and treasurer, in the 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 Uni- versity. This honorable body consists 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 Superin- tendent of Public Instruction, and the Governor of the State. This body of ten men are in reality the legal head of the State University, and indi- rectly the effective head of the State School Sys- tem 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

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MINNESOTA STATE SYSTEM.

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 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, inaugurated 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, practical, 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 ascending grades was first met in the State University. These schools, in older countries, had at one time, an independ- ent position, and in their origin had their own scholars cf all grades, from the preparatory depart- ment 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 sys- tem, the Univeraity 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 trans- fer 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 Univers- ity now allow students, with the Principal's cer- tificate of qualification, to enter the Freshman class, on examination in sub-Freshman studies only. But even this is not satisfactory to the friends of the State School system. They demand, for High School graduates, an entrance into the University, when the grade below is passed, on the examina- tion 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 required to admit the stu- dents thus qualified without 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 institutions. The day of un- limited, irresponsible discretion, a relic of abso- lute autocracy, a despotic power, has no place in systems of free schools under constitutional and statutary limitations, and these presidents and facul- ties who continue to exercise this power in the ab- sence 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 al- luded to, read as follows:

"Any public, graded or high school in any city or incorporrted village or township organized into a district under the so-called township sys- tem, which shall have regular classes and courses of study, articulating with some course of study, optional or required, in the State University, and

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STATE EDUCATION.

shall raise annually for the expense of said school double the amount of State aid allowed by this 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 qualified 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 uni- form questions to test the qualifications of the scholars of said graded or high schools for en- trance and graduation, and especially conduct the examinations of scholars in said schools, when de- sired and notified, and award diplomas to gradu- ates, 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 University of Minnesota named therein, any time within one year from the date thereof, with out further examination; said diploma to be exe- cuted by the several members of the High School Board."

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History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 29

Author: Edward D. Neill Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 547

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 547