USA > New York > Tompkins County > Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York : including a history of Cornell University > Part 44
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From the formal discussion of the constitution of the new university, the report proceeded to discuss its equipment, and it was proposed that the agricultural department should include a model farm for the study and illustration of scientific agriculture, and that a museum of models of agricultural implements, products, etc., should be formed. The Department of Mechanic Arts should be equipped with collections of drawings, casts, sectional and working models, in general character like those in the Conservatory of Arts and Trades in Paris. The illustrative eollection should be first, and the model workshop sec- ond. For the experiments in agriculture one farm would be suf- ficient, as the main outlines of procedure in practical culture and ex- periments are simple: a small range of implements is sufficient for the whole work; in mechanics, as a rule, one workshop will answer only for the single branch to which it is devoted. "There is then no such need of experimental workshops in this department, as of experimental farms in the other."
The vast development of shops for practical work in forging, casting, turning, and carpentry, was but dimly foreseen twenty-eight years ago.
For mathematics and engineering, drawings, engravings, models and casts were recommended; for natural history, collections in geol- ogy, mineralogy, zoology, comparative anatomy and botany; also the
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acquisition of the best apparatus for physical and chemical investi- gation, especially that which would illustrate the solidification of carbonic acid gas; apparatus for the direct generation on a large scale of electricity from steam, the Boston modification of Ruhmkorf's coil, for presenting the effects of electricity induced by the galvanic current, and the new French apparatus for experimenting upon light. The author of the report regarded this apparatus as especially brilliant and most worthy of acquisition, as best illustrating the progress of science in the departments of chemistry and physics at that time. Mr. White's love of art, and interest in it as illustrating the history of cul- ture, is shown by the proposal to found as soon as practicable a museum of casts, of which there were then few in the United States, and these of very limited extent.
Provision should be soon made for a library as the culmination of all -touching all departments, and meeting the needs of teachers and taught. From the first, the building up of a library suited to the wants of the institution and worthy of its aims should be steadily kept in view. A large library is absolutely necessary to the efficiency of the various departments; without it, men of the highest ability will fre- quently be plodding in old circles and stumbling into old errors. The history of the progress of modern science is the history of a develop- ment and accretion-development out of previous thought and work -- accretion upon previous thought and work. The discovery of truth and the diffusion of truth-the two great functions of a university- will be impossible without a liberal library.
The government of the university in its relation to students, the manual labor system, the cost of tuition, physical culture, the dormitory system, the relation of the university to other institutions of learning and to the school system of the State, and the final general test of uni- versity education were then discussed. What was to be the theory of discipline in the new university? Should it be military, or the ordi- nary collegiate discipline, or an adaptation of the free university system of continental Europe? "The military system has undoubted advantages. It puts all students upon an equality in mere outward advantages of dress, style and living; it subjects students to a more perfect control; it gives from among the students officers to aid in en- forcing rigid military discipline." On the other hand, uniformity in dress would lessen the individuality of students. The professor would be deprived of one of the best means of judging those who are before
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him in his lecture room, and of knowing how to deal with the individ- ual. A student loses nothing in the estimation of the university world by a dress which indicates frugality or economy. In no community on earth is man estimated so exactly by what is supposed to be his real worth, as in a community of college students. It was not believed possible to apply a rigid military system to the whole university. By the fundamental theory of the university, there would be students of various ages and grades, some attending courses of instruction for a longer, some for a shorter time, some residing in the university build- ings, some in the town itself. Military science should always form a part of the instruction, but it was not recommended that the govern- ment be military except perhaps in some single departments, where efficiency would be promoted by military forms. The ordinary col- legiate plan of government, although necessary from a partial adoption of the dormitory system, was not regarded as final by the committee.
It was believed that a system of university freedom would promote the best government. "In this system, laws are few but speedily executed, and the university is regarded neither as an asylum nor a reform school. Much is trusted to the manliness of the students. An attempt will be made to teach the students to govern themselves, also to cultivate acquaintance and confidence between the faculty and students. By the rigid execution of a few laws of discipline, by the promotion of extra-official intercourse between teachers and taught, by placing professors over students not as police but as a body of friends, a government would be secured better than any other."
A system of manual labor in connection with the departments of agriculture and the mechanic arts, by which students could defray a portion of their expenses, was recommended. While experiments of this kind had been made unsuccessfully in certain cases, it was thought that they had not been fully or fairly tried, or with such ample means as the university would afford. It was not proposed to make, as in most agricultural colleges, labor obligatory upon all students. One practical objection would be conclusive against it, if theoretical objections were not, it would be impossible to provide labor for all. It might, how- cver, be necessary to require manual labor from all the students in certain departments. Labor corps would be organized and every in- ducement held out to students to join them. Such a system would be of mutual advantage to the students and to the university; it would promote the muscular development of students and give substantial
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pecuniary aid to many. It was not, however, thought that physical labor could take the place of athletic sports and gymnastic exercises, in giving restoration after mental labor. The mind could not be kept fresh, elastic and energetic, when the only relief from tension was the change from one form of labor to another. It was therefore recom- mended that a fully equipped gymnasium be erected, and that gym- nastic exercises under the direction of an instructor, or equivalent training in manual labor or exercises in the open air, be required of all. Boating, base ball and other recreations were to be encouraged, and deterioration in physical culture was to be held in the same category as want of progress in mental culture, and subject a delinquent to deprivation of university privileges. Attendance upon a course of lectures upon anatomy, physiology and hygiene was to be required.
The only additional reference to military drill was contained in the recommendation that provision be made for teaching military engi- neering and tactics, and that some plan for encouraging military tactics or making it obligatory be adopted.
In estimating the proper cost of tuition a comparison was made of the charges at various colleges; tuition at Yale was given as forty- five dollars per year; at Harvard as one hundred dollars; at the Institute of Technology in Boston as about one hundred and thirty dollars; at the Lawrence Scientific School, from two hundred and fifty to three hundred dollars. In the University of Michigan, students from without the State paid a matriculation fee of twenty dollars and five dollars per year thereafter; in the Agricultural College similar students paid twenty dollars, while in Dartmouth College and the Scientific School the fees were from thirty to fifty dollars. The com- mittee recommended therefore a matriculation fee of fifteen dollars, and an annual tuition fee of twenty dollars. The matriculation fee was, however, never charged, and the tuition fixed at ten dollars per term or thirty dollars per year. Room rent in the university dormi- tories was charged at from sixty cents to one dollar per week, accord- ing as two or three students occupicd one room.
While the dormitory system became thus a part of the organization of the university, its extension and permanent existence were regarded as undesirable. The residence of a large number of students in colleges had been the scource of fruitful evils; it made a certain oversight and surveillance necessary; it transformed the college officer into an agent of discipline and destroyed the friendly relations which existed between
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teacher and taught. It was. however, deemed necessary at the open- ing of the university; the town was still remote, and its immediate capacity to afford adequate accommodations was doubtful. It was besides necessary that students should find homes upon the university grounds in order to conduct the experiments and carry out the labor system which was proposed.
MILITARY INSTRUCTION.
During the war, the need of thoroughly trained officers to assume commands in the army was strongly felt. The number of cadets graduating each year from West Point was too small to supply vacan- cies in the regular army. The existence of military schools through- out the South, in which a considerable portion of the young men were educated in military science and tactics, had given the Southern armies an especial advantage at the opening of the war. On April 4. 1867, Major J. W. Whittlesey, of the regular army, an experienced and skill- ful officer, was ordered by the Secretary of War to proceed to West Point and other colleges, and report a suitable method of instruction in military science for such colleges in the United States as might desire it, direct reference being made to the provision in the National Land Grant Act requiring military instruction in the new colleges. On November 25, 1867, Major Whittlesey presented an elaborate report to the secretary of war recommending the form of organization and in- struction in military science in these various colleges. By a law passed July 28, 1866, it had been provided that, under certain circumstances, the secretary of war should be authorized to detail an officer of the regular army to instruct in military science and tactics in the colleges established under the Land Grant Act. This plan for national military education was not presented to Congress, but came before the House Military Committee. General Garfield was, at the time, chairman of this committee and deeply interested in the proposed bill for military education, which, it was expected, would re- ceive the authority of Congress early in the year 1868. This report was referred to General Grant for his favorable recommendation to Con- gress. It was proposed to establish a bureau of the War Department in charge of a director-general of military education, whose duty it should be to inspect and supervise military academies, secure uniform- ity of instruction, and enforce faithful compliance with the laws and regulations on those subjects. Whenever such an institution should
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have capacity sufficient to educate one hundred male students in a complete course of liberal studies, with grounds for military exercises, there should be detailed a competent officer of the army to act as mili- tary professor, with an assistant. The president of the United States was to have the right to prescribe the course of military exercises to be taught, and establish general regulations for the government of the officers so detailed, but without infringement of the rights of the in- stitution to self-government. In case any college established such a course of instruction in military science, it was proposed that the neces- sary text books, ordnance and ordnance stores, camp and garrison equipage, with a detail of one ordnance sergeant and two musicians, should be provided at the expense of the United States. In order to create enthusiasm in these studies, it was provided that the faculty of arts of the college might recommend to the president of the United States each year one-tenth of the graduates distinguished for general proficiency in the college course, special attainments in military science and skill in military exercises, of good moral character and sound health, whose names should be published in the army register, of whom one from each college should receive a commission in the army, as in the case of graduates from West Point. It was thus designed to bring the colleges of our country into immediate relation to the army, and make them indirect aids in contributing to the training of officers. It was still further proposed that each college thus constituted should re- ceive $2,000 from the United States treasury, to be expended under the charge of the director of military education, in the purchase of the necessary books of reference, maps, models and text books, and also $10,000 to be expended in constructing a suitable building for the pur- pose of an armory. The report presented an elaborate scheme of in- struction in military engineering, the theory of ordnance and gunnery, the art of war, military history, the purpose of court-martials and the school of the soldier. The text books and mode of instruction were to be the same as those employed at West Point. The students were to be divided into companies of from fifty to sixty strong. The battalion staff and the company officers were to be taken from the Senior Class, the staff sergeants and the company sergeants from the Junior Class, the corporals from the Sophomore Class, with such modifications as may suit the case of students in shorter or longer courses. It was proposed that a uniform should be adopted to be worn by all students. It was thought that by this, economy would be promoted, since it
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would save the expense of variety and change of fashion. It would sccure personal neatness, and place all students upon a footing of re- publican equality ; sons of the rich and the poor, meeting upon a com- mon level, would have nothing in the apparel to stimulate the pride of the one or wound the self-respect of the other. It was believed that by wearing this badge, an honorable ambition to excel, refinement of manners, and a manly tone of character would be created, favorable to the reputation of the class to which the student belonged and to the honor of the institution which was in his keeping. Daily martial exer- cises were to be rigidly enforced, and only to be remitted by reason of conscientious scruples or physical debility. The discipline of the insti- tution was to be placed under the care of the professor of the military department under the direction of the university authorities. The usual regulations of the camp as to exercise, recreation, sleep, the re- veille, the roll call, the call to and from duty, the tattoo, all in their regular order, were to aid and direct the observance of college duties and discipline. Later, artillery and cavalry drill was to be added to that of infantry study and drill, and it was proposed to fix a high standard at the outset.
It is evident that so general an introduction of military studics could only have been recommended when the remembrance of the recent war, its perils and glorious achievements, were still vivid. The dom- ination of a military system in literary institutions did not at that time seem impracticable. Many of the students of the university will recognize in this report some of the regulations of their early days.
The trustees at their seventh meeting resolved :
That while we would not require all students in the special courses to undergo military instruction, since this would be to do violence to the fundamental prin- ciples of the university, yet we believe that all general courses of study in the university should include rudimentary knowledge of military science and a good deal of proficiency in military exercises.
The trustees also approved the draft of the bill before Congress for the promotion of military instruction in the leading colleges, uni- versities and institutions of learning established under the Land Grant Act, and expressed a willingness to co-operate earnestly in any plan to promote the most thorough special military instruction whenever such means should be placed at their disposal so as to enable them to do it.
At a subsequent meeting, held in Ithaca, October 6, 1868, a formal regulation, relating to the military department of the university, was passed :
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Resolved, That the students of the university who reside in the university buildings, for discipline, police, or administration, shall be placed on a military basis, under the immediate direction of the professor of military science, who shall be recognized as the military commandant of the students. That the military commandant shall enforce the necessary regulations which may from time to time be established by university authority, to insure good order in the quarters and mess-halls, with pre- cision, and regular attendance upon stated duties; and that all regulations so estab- lished shall be of binding obligation upon students, under such sanctions as the pres- ident, by and with the advice of the faculty, may determine. That an appropriate and economical uniform shall be fixed upon, which, after the current academic year, shall be the habitual costume for all students pursuing regular courses of study; and that thereafter attention to the instruction in military tactics provided for in the Con- gressional Land Grant endowment of 1862, shall be obligatory upon all such students, the president having authority, at his discretion, to grant special exemptions there- from, for good cause shown.
These resolutions, with the exception of that portion relating to the uniform, were adopted. Later, this was also proscribed. It is evident that the trustees construed the obligation to require military service in the strictest manner. Under the terms of the law, it was neces- sary that provision should be made for instruction in military science and tactics, without prescribing that it should be binding upon all students. The irksomeness of these petty military requirements was soon felt. Students to whom military instruction was but an incident , in a broad course of literary and scientific studies, did not submit will- ingly to these restrictions upon their personal liberty. The extent to which these regulations was enforced is shown by the first general order from the military commandant.
Students rose and retired at the beat of the drum; they marched to meals in military file; their officers kept watch and ward over their conduct at table; breaches of decorum or failure to comply with all the requirements regarding dress were reported and punished. Punish- ment consisted of arrest, confinement to one's room and other restric- tions. The officers of the corps were made responsible for the enforce- ment of these laws and for a general oversight of the order in the different dormitories. One captain, who so far forgot his rank as to join some of comrades in hazing mildly an obnoxious student, was ex- pelled from the university, and marched away amid vehement protests from the student world, and escorted by a procession of his fellow stu- dents. This minute oversight of student life was, after the departure of the first military commandant, greatly relaxed. The uniform was still continued, and stirring debates were held in the faculty upon the style
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and fashion of various parts of the student's dress, which were brought before that body for approval.
As the remembrance of the war grew more indistinct, it was difficult to awaken or continue enthusiasm in military drill. Had military exer- cises been placed upon the basis of modern athletics, with the purpose of securing the health of the student and the benefits of military disci- pline in producing a manly bearing, less objection would have arisen and fewer petitions for exemption from what seemed a needless exac- tion on the part of the authorities of the university. The requirement that all classes should drill was lessened, military exercises on the part of the upper classes being reduced in number, or made voluntary in the case of officers, for which credit was given as for other university work. Drill was finally required only of the members of the freshman and sophomore classes during the fall and spring terms. The habitual wearing of the university uniform was dispensed with, and military costume was only required during the actual exercises of the student. One feature of the original report of Major Whittlesey is still carried out. The names of students who have shown special aptitude for mil- itary service are reported to the adjutant-general of the army and to the adjutant-general of the State of New York, and the names of the three most distinguished students in military science and tactics are, when graduated, inserted in the United States Army Register and published in general orders from the headquarters of the army. Such students are, under certain circumstances, allowed to present themselves for examination as commissioned officers in the United States Army, an opportunity of which several have availed themselves.
MANUAL LABOR.
One favorite theory of Mr. Cornell, which was prominent in the early history of the university, was that of manual labor, by which students during their studies could support themselves by working front three to four hours per day. He believed that the activity which is usually devoted to recreation and athletic pursuits might be directed to some systematic employment; and students who possessed skill in some trade would be able to find occupation as mechanics and laborers upon the farm, that the agricultural and mechanical depart- ments would furnish opportunity for unskilled students to acquire a proficiency in some craft. No purpose lay nearer to Mr. Cornell's
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heart in founding the university than this, viz., that poor boys and girls might, by devoting a somewhat longer period to their course of study, support themselves and graduate, possessed of an education and of some trade or profession, which would secure their future support. The remembrance of his own early struggles with limited opportunities gave a tender feeling to him regarding all young men similarly situated. He gave much thought not only to systemat- izing the opportunities for work upon the university. buildings and the university grounds, but also to introducing in the vicinity of the university new and profitable industries, which should be operated in connection with it. He loved his native city; he desired its prosperity ; he was willing to use his large resources to build up industries which should add to its wealth; but most of all, during the last years of his life, he loved the university which bore his name and which was des- tined, as he fondly hoped, to be the most practical means of blessing his fellow-men. In those early days, many students of very limited means flocked to the university, with the anticipation that their support would be secured by scholarships, and that they would be enabled by extra labor to obtain whatever else might be necessary to acquire an educa- tion. The labor of janitors in the care of the university buildings, of assistants in the museums and libraries, of workmen on the university grounds, was to be given to students. Mr. Cornell hoped much from the establishment of the University Press, by which students might learn the printer's trade, and which would afford means for the issue of university publications. It is probable that Mr. White, while sympa- thizing with these views, did not have equal hopes of the success of this experiment. The most useful labor, he believed, would be of a scien- tific character, by which the student acquired a knowledge of mechan- ical processes. There are two problems intimately associated with a plan like that proposed. The first, and most important one, is whether a student is able, in connection with his university work, to carry on an additional daily task sufficient for his support. The feature of teaching during the winter in country schools, which existed in New England colleges, facility for which was afforded by a long vacation, was here to be made continuous. Work was to be carried on inces- santly and in connection with study, and the question naturally arose, how far the physical health would be sufficient to meet this double demand; how far study could be profitable when the strength upon which it depended for success was equally devoted to mechanical pur-
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