|
| |
Caption: Book - History of the University (Nevins) This is a reduced-resolution page image for fast online browsing.
EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:
STINGY LEGISLATURES 101 avoided the petty minutisB of the daily round to apply himself to larger things, while Dr. Peabody wrote his letters with his own hand, issued all class permits, and entered all class grades. In this he betrayed a certain want of imagination and executive grasp. But his outlook upon the future of the University was of a wholly different kind from Gregory's, in that he cared little for expansion but much for perfection, little for numbers but much for size and efficiency. He was fully appreciative of the desperate character of the University's finances, and perceived the necessity of asking the State to assume part of the ordinary expense of maintenance. In the last thirteen years the Legislature had appropriated $350,000 for buildings, taxes, and experiments, but not a cent for general teaching purposes. Peabody brought a number of arguments to bear in asking through the Board for a biennial operating fund of $20,000. He recalled the fact that when the University opened, the teachers were young men who could be employed for little pay till they had made their reputations; this they had done, yet they were paid less than at the beginning. The institution was fast becoming a nursery for young men, who were picked off by older and richer colleges when they had shown their usefulness. He recalled that fees couth not be increased; and he actually succeeded in obtaining a little over half the sum asked, or $11,400. In 1878 Iowa had voted an annual grant of $20,000 to her State University, in 1881 Ohio State University first received an annual appropriation of about the same amount, and in 1883 Indiana University, which for a decade had received $15,000 yearly to supplement its current funds, was given the proceeds of a half-mill tax for twelve years for endowment.
| |