indefinitely increased according to the success that these institutions may attain. This income is expended here and inures to the advantage of all. It is like a good crop-we all feel the effects; and it will be a sure crop, yielding each recurring season its product in money.

7th. Suppose this institution should yield to the county no more than $50,000 annually. Remember this is ten per cent. interest on $500,000. The institution will bring twice this sum, and the first year after it is fairly under way.

8th. At this session of the Legislature another Bill was passed, providing for the establishment of two Normal Schools, one on the north side and the other on the south side of the Missouri River, and appropriating $5000 annually to each for its support, and providing further that no county could get one of these schools without making a donation of $25,000. Already, as I was informed by the chairman of the committee on education to-day, the County of Franklin offers $60,000 for one of these schools, and I saw a letter from a prominent citizen of Booneville, Cooper County, to the Senator from that District, stating that the people of Cooper would give in money and property $40,000 for the location of one of these schools, and other counties are making similar offers.

Now, if they can afford to give from $40,000 to $60,000 for a small Normal School, with an annual endowment of only $5,000, what can not we afford to give for an institution with a present and prospective endowment of $500,000?

9th. Two years ago I got a Bill through the General Assembly, with the assistance of Mr. Lyman and Dr. Hubbard, giving to us 134 per cent. of the State revenue for the support of a Normal School in connection with the University. This year that fund will yield us $14,500, and it will continue to increase annually. Remember we paid nothing for this endowment of our Normal School by the State, and yet we are now getting an annual interest of 72 per cent. on $200,000, which is just so much additional endowment added to the educational fund of Boone County; and I may add that the location of the Agricultural College there makes that fund in all probability a permanent one, and if we lose the Agricultural College we shall also at once lose the fund.

10th. Thus far I have been looking at this question in the practical and substantial light of pecuniary investment and profit to the people of the county, and to the consideration of the subject from this standpoint I might add the following: The very fact of Columbia's being an educational center will induce men of intelligence and capital to settle amongst us, thus enhancing our strength and our respectability.

11th. But there are other considerations of more importance even than the pecuniary aspects of the question. Remember, this is not a mere literary

institution; it is an Agricultural and Mechanical College, founded by the munificence of the general Government, and intended primarily for the education of the sons and daughters of the farmers and mechanics of our country, that large and respectable class of people who constitute the bone and sinew of the land-the foundation of our prosperity in peace, and our sure defense and bulwark in periods of danger and of war. I would ask: Can the farmers and mechanics of Boone County afford to let this institution be lost to their children, rather than raise the small pittance that is asked of them? Could your honorable body, composed of Judges who are most worthy representatives of those large and respectable classes to whom I have referred, hold back for a moment in doing anything that is necessary to be done to secure this boon, even though you were called upon to give five times as much as you will be asked to give? It is absurd to think so, and it would be a reflection upon you, as liberal and enlightened men, as faithful guardians of the public interests and especially of the best interests in all time to come of the farmers and mechanics of our country.

12th. The location of such an institution in Boone County will be most advantageous to those for whose especial benefit it is intended- the laboring classes. It is the first time in the history of Boone County that her people ever heard of, or had a chance of getting, a higher institution of learning, intended especially to give intelligence, respectability, and position to the children of the laboring men and women of the country; and they would never excuse a court that missed the great opportunity of obtaining it for them.

13th. I know you frequently hear unreflecting men say, "Well, I have no interest in this thing." But they are mistaken-they do not think so. Every citizen is interested in the advancement and improvement of his county, and no man is worthy to be called a citizen who thinks or feels otherwise. This institution being controlled and conducted by the most enlightened and best educated men belonging to the industrial classes of society, there will be infused into our system of labor and of agricultural industry every improvement that will make farming remunerative and pleasant; our young men intended for agricultural pursuits will understand how to obtain, and how to plant, and how to make profitable every species of product that is cultured, and every variety of stock that is raised upon a farm.

14th. And it will be just as advantageous to our mechanical community. The best implements of industry, the best tools, the most convenient and cheapest houses and homes, the latest improvements, the best agricultural and mechanical newspapers, lectures from the most scientific and practical men - these are some of the advantages that this institution will bring to our very doors, and which may be reached by every child in the county, I care not how poor or dependent he or she may be.

15th. Nor is this all; a taste for horticulture, for fruit-growing, for gardening will spring up around such an institution, which will modify and improve and elevate the opinions of every practical farmer and mechanic and laboring man in the county; and this spirit will diffuse itself and its influence will be felt throughout the extent of the entire State.

16th. In other States the question of the location of their agricultural and mechanical colleges, endowed in the same manner, has awakened the deepest interest. In Illinois the county where their college was located gave in money and property about $400,000. In New York a single individual [Mr. Ezra Cornell] gave $500,000 and 200 acres of land upon the condition that the agricultural college should be located in his county and should bear his name; the Legislature of New York accepted his proposition, and he has since added some $300,000 to the amount of its endowment. There are now some 600 or 800 students attending this institution, and it is not yet fairly started! And why can not we have 500 or 600 students attending our institution? We shall have as many and more, if Boone County prove true to the best interests and the honor of her people.

17th. Remember that this is the only institution of the kind that for many years to come will be established in Missouri by the authority of the Constitution, and under the patronage of the State. Missouri is one of the large States of the Union; it is in process of rapid development, and in a few years our present population will be doubled. Where shall the sons and daughters of the farmers and mechanics of the State look for higher education, except to an institution planted and sustained and nourished amongst ourselves?

18th. Such an institution properly cherished and sustained by our people will encourage and insure other improvements of general interest, in every part of the county.

19th. The conditions of the Bill are very easy and they ought to be fairly and liberally complied with. There should be no hesitation on the point, even though the county were required to raise twice or thrice the amount; we should not only comply with its terms, but we should do it in a manner that will reflect credit and honor upon our people, and not permit any question to be raised by the commissioners appointed to see that the conditions of the law are faithfully met; a question of doubt on this point would be discreditable to all of us.

20th. This entire subscription might be paid in a single year, and not be oppressive to the people of the county, but there is no such necessity. The Bill provides that the payment of this debt may be postponed for twenty years, long before which time the wealth and population of the county will be more than doubled. This debt will be paid and forgotten, whilst the advantages and blessings of the investment will be felt and appreciated by the present and future generations, even to our latest posterity.

21st. I do not propose in this communication to express any opinion as to the manner in which this subscription should be raised, further than to say that for a common benefit the burden should be equally borne by all in proportion to their taxable property. This is the only just and fair rule. If the town is to take a part of the subscription let the sums to be raised by the county and the town respectively be fairly agreed upon by the public authorities, and bonds at once prepared in blank, to be hereafter filled out. The corporate limits of the town have been extended by a law that was passed a few days since, and which will receive the signature of the Governor. Whether the rule of relative population, or relative taxable property, as between town and county is adopted I shall be satisfied.

22d. I hope there will be no one so forgetful of his duty as to attempt to get up any feeling between the town and the county upon this question. Rather than that this should occur, which would be dishonorable to us all, I would be one of twenty persons to raise the required amount, and thus dispense with all wrangling, and at the same time with all taxation or the issuing of any bonds whatever; for my experience is that a few men, as compared with the whole number, not only originate, but carry forward by their energy and their means all these great moral and benevolent agencies that are calculated to elevate the masses, and which are to give character and prosperity to society and to all branches of industry.

23d. I have supposed that the amount for which bonds will have to be prepared and issued will not fall short of $100,000, and it may reach $150,000. This will depend upon the cost of the property which the county is required to furnish. If men are very exorbitant in prices asked (which I hope may not be the case), the amount required of us may reach the latter sum; but whether it be the one or the other, I am in favor of purchasing and tendering that property which will be best suited to the wants and convenience of the institution, and which will at the same time redound to the honor and the credit of all of our people.

24th. We cannot expect to have entire unanimity in regard to a question of this sort: men are governed by such a variety of motives, and there is such a wide difference in their moral and mental organization, as well as in their intelligence and public spirit, that we cannot expect all to see and think alike. For my part, when I feel conscious that I am aiming to promote a great public good, which is to have a beneficial influence upon the general interests of society, I cease to listen to the opinions of individuals, but do what seems right and risk the enlightened judgment of good men to sustain me, when the effect of my action and my efforts is thoroughly felt and comprehended; and this is a good and wise rule for men who hold in their hands official power.

25th. I have felt authorized to say much here that was favorable to the people of Boone County. When they have been unjustly assailed (as they have often been in the last four years) I have vindicated them, as it was my duty and my pleasure to do, according to the best of my poor ability. I have done this without regard to party or sect, for I have felt that I was the Representative of the whole people, and not the agent of any particular class or party. The truth has warranted me in saying that in all the attributes of good citizenship, in intelligence, liberality, public spirit, and patriotism they are the equals of the people in any other county in the State; and I feel some pride in being justified, by their action now, in all the good things that I have said of them.

26th. It has been said in the public press, that as respects this Agricultural College question I have been governed by some selfish or speculative motive. In regard to this, I have only to answer, that like other men I am not likely to advocate measures that might prove destructive of my own personal interest. It has been alleged that this Bill was so framed that I might be enabled to sell my farm in case the measure became a law, and at an exorbitant valuation. In answer to this, I have only to say that I have been governed by no such selfish motive; for my actions and efforts would have been the same if I had not owned a foot of land in the county, and I have believed throughout that I was doing the people whom I represent a great public service. It is very true that it is my misfortune just now to own some lands near to the present University, but I have not at any time offered these lands for sale, nor do I propose to sell them. My home is there, and I expect to occupy it whilst I live. If in the selection of a suitable farm under this law the parties appointed to purchase it should finally conclude that a portion of the lands owned by me was necessary to make out the quantity to be furnished, I have said, and I now repeat to your honorable body, that I would not be unwilling to part with it, and at a price for which other and similar lands around me have been selling, and without reference to any enhanced value occasioned by the passage of the Agricultural College Bill. This is fair; and I add further, that if another site can be had to meet the requirements of the law without calling upon me I shall not only give my assent but I express myself in advance as being perfectly satisfied therewith. No speculation that I might make (if this were my object) could ever compensate me for the toil, the anxiety, and the labor that I have undergone during the last four years, and under the most unpleasant and trying circumstances, in order to procure the passage of this Bill. Men with less resolution and purpose, and with patience exhausted and spirits broken, might have abandoned the project and given it up as hopeless; I considered it too great a matter to the people of Boone County ever to abandon it at any point short of absolute defeat.