RIEPOIIT
RELATIVE TO
%st             a   I         at  nitrs't,
MNADE IN ACCORDANCE WITII A
CONCURRENT RESOE-IJTION
PASSED AT TIIE
FOURTEENTH SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE.
i
* l1
I""
.,,I
I11I, 
0 
.A 
I
i
0. M. CLAYES............ STATE PRINTER.
I
, I
A 
e
COMMUNICATION.
To His Excellency,
F. F. Low,
Governor of California:
SIR: The Legislature of California, at its fourteenth session, adopted
the following concurrent resolution:
Re.solved by the Assembly, the Senate concurring, That Professor
J. D. Whitney, State Geologist, John Swett, State Superintendent of
Public Instruction, and J. F. Houghton, Surveyor-General, be and they
are hereby constituted a Board of Commissioners, to report to the
Legislature, on or before the second Monday of December, one thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three, upon the feasibility of establishing a
State University, embracing all Agricultural College, a' School of Mines,'
and a Museum-including the Geological collection of this State; and
that said Board report such facts and considerations as they may deem
impotant in connection therewith."
In obedience to this order of the Legislature, the Board of Commis sioners beg leave to submit the following report to your Excellency,
with the request that it be communicated to the Assembly, now in
session:
We are, Sir, with high respect,
Your obedient servants,
J. D. WHITNEY,
J. F. HOUGHTON,
JOHN SWETT.
I
I
I
-ti
1-1
t
I
-'I' r.-  
a 
R E P 0 IR T.
In order to a full understanding of the subject referred to us by the
Legislature at its last session for investigation, it will be necessary for
us first to set forth the action of the Congress of the United States, in
making grants of land for the establishment and endowment of a "Seminary of Learning," and a "School of Agriculti'le and the Mechanic Arts."
We shall then proceed to show what obligations the State of California
has taken upon itself in reference to the first of these grants, and what
it has., in general, bound itself to do for the encouragement of science
and the arts, as well as for the cause of higher education.
We shall next call attention to the present condition of the funds derived from the sale of the lands granted by Congress for a University,
or "Seminary of Learning," showing what course has been pursued with
regard to these funds by the State officers and by previous Legislatures,
and what is required to be done in order that the obligations of the State
to the United States may be fulfilled. The Congressional grant for a
"School of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts," will next be taken up,
its Ebject explained, and the legislation necessary to secure it stated.
These preliminary statements in regard to the Congressional grants
of land for promoting  the cause of higher education in the State will
lead naturally to an inquiry as to how far the funds already derived or
hereafter to be received from the sale of these lands, will go towards
accomplishing the objects which they were designed to promote; what
action a wise and liberal policy requires of the present Legislature in
reference to the establishment of the State University; and what the
general principles by which they should be guided in this action.
ACTION OF CONGRESS IN REGARD TO THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND
THE MECHANIC ARTS.
An Act of Congress, appoved July second, eighteen hundred  and
sixty-two, makes the following provisions for the establishment of Colleges of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts in such of the States as may
choose to take action under it.
An amount of Public Land is granted to each State for the purposes of
this Act equal to thirty thousand (30,000) acres for each Senator and
Representative in Congress to which such State is entitled under the
apportionment of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to be selected from
I 
the Public Land within the State subject to sale at one dollar and
twenty-five cents ($1 25) per acre, if there be sufficient, and if not, then
the State is to receive land scrip for the requisite amount; said scrip to
be sold by the State, and the proceeds to be applied to the uses pre scribed in this Act, and no other. In no case shall any State locate its
land scrip under this Act in any other State or Territory; but its
assignees may locate it upon any unappropriated land of the United
States subject to entry at one dollar and twenty-five cents ($1 25) or
less per acre; provided, that not more than one million of acres shall
be located in any one of the States; and no such location shall be made
before one year from the passage of this Act.
All expenses incurred under this Act shall be paid by the respective
States, and all moneys derived from the sale of said lands or land scrip
shall be invested in suitable stocks yielding not less than five per cent
upon their par value, to remain a perpetual Fund. the interest of which
shall be inviolably appropriated 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 manner as the Legislatures of the
States respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life. 
The following conditions are attached to this grant:
First-If any portion of the Fund shall, in any way, be diminished or
lost, it shall be replaced by the State, so that thie capital of this Fund
shall remain forever undiminished, except that a sum not exceeding ten
per cent of it may be expended for the purchase of lands for sites or
experimental farms, and the annual interest shall be regularly applied to
the purposes prescribed.
Second-No portion of said Fund, or the interest, sliall be applied,
directly or indirectly, under any pretence whatever, to the purchase,
erection, preservation, or repairs of any building or buildings.
Ttird- Any State accepting the provisions of this Act shall provide,
within five years at least, not less than one College, as aforesaid, or the
grant to such State shall cease, and it shall pay over to the United States
the amount received for any lands previously sold, and the title to purchases under the State shall be valid.
Fo?trth-An annual report shall be made regarding the progress of each
College organized under this Act, one copy of which shall be sent to all
the other Colleges, and one copy to the Secretary of the Interior.
Fith —No State, while in a condition of insurrection against the
United States, shall be entitled to the benefits of this Act.
Sixth —No State shall be entitled to the benefits of this Act unless it
shall express its acceptance thereof, by its Legislature, within two years
from the date of' its approval by the President.
From the above it will be seen that the State of California will be entitled to one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, there being two
Senators and three Representatives from this State in Congress, under
the apportionment of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and that the first
step to be taken in the matter is for the Legislature to pass a resolution
expressing its acceptance of the grant, and this must be dohe by the
Legislature of eighteen hundred and sixty-three and sixty-four, otherwise, the period of two years, during which acceptance is possible, will
have expired before action can be taken.
6
I 
7
Furthermore, it will be observed that it is not imperatively necessary
that the Legislature of eighteen hundred and sixty-three and sixty-four
should proceed to establish a College under the Act of Congress, as five
years are allowed for this purpose, and the Legislature of eighteen hundred and sixty-five and sixty-six could act in time to prevent forfeiture
of the grant.
Still. it will undoubtedly be conceded that it would be better that some
action should be had or attempted to be had by the present Legislature,
even if only of a prospective nature, to prevent undue haste in the incipient stages of an undertaking likely to require so much preparation,
and in which a well matured plan will be of so much importance to the
future of the institution.
CONGRESSIONAL GRANT FOR A SEMINARY OF LEARNING.
By section twelve of an Act, approved iMarch third, eighteen hundred
and fifty-three, Congress granted to California seventy-two sections, or
forty-six thousand and eighty acres of land, for the use of a "Seminary
of Learning."
There are no conditions attached to this grant beyond those implied
in the words "Seminary of LIearning," the intention and meaning of
which will be fully considered further on in this report, when the use
which has been made by the States of this giant will be stated.
But the State itself has inserted in its Constitution certain clauses
which bear on the proper use of this grant, as we will now proceed to set
forth.
CONSTITUTIONAL OBLIGATIONS.
The State of California ha' assumed in its Constitution the following
obligations:
The Legislature shall encourage by all suitable means the promotion
of intellectual, scientific, moral, and  agricultural improvemenrt."  (Constitution, Article IX, Sec. 2.)
lihe Legislature shall take measures for the protection, improvement,
or other disposition of such lands as have been or may hereafter be
reserved or granted by the United States, or any person or persons, to
this State for the use of a University; and the funds accruing from the
rents or sale of such lands, or from any other source for the purpose
aforesaid. shall be and remain a permanent Fund, the interest of which
shall be applied to the support of said University, with such branches as
the public convenience may demand, for thle promotion of literature, the
arts and sciences, as may be authorized by- the terms of such grant, and
it shall be the duty of the Legislature, as soon as may be, to provide
effectual means for the improvement and permanent security of the funds
of said University." (Article IX, Sec. 4.)
From the above it will be seen that the State has taken on itself the
obligation of taking care of the proceeds of the lands granted by Congress for higher education, of investing themt securely, and of putting
them to a suitable use "for the promotion of Literature, the Arts and
Sciences," " as soon as magy be."  This was in eighteen hundred and fortynine; and yet, up to the present time, no action having any definite
result has been taken by the Leg,islature in regard to either the safe 
8
investment of the Seminary Fund, or to tlie use of any portion of it for
the purpose for which it was donated by Congress.
The lands granted for the Seminary Fund have nearly all been sold,
and a portion of the principal received, together with a certain amount
of interest. The books in the office of the Surveyor-General show that
payments to the amount of twenty-eight thousand four hundred and
eighteen dollars and sixty-one cents ($28,418 61) have been made to the
State Treasury on account of the Seminary Fund, for principal and interest, while the books of the State Controller show treat there is only
about four thousand dollars ($4,000) standing to the credit of the Seminary Fund in the State Treasury. This discrepancy is not owing to the
fact that any appropriations have ever been made  from  the Seminary
Fund, but to the circumstance that the County Treasurers have not distinguished, in their returns of sales, between School Lands and Seminary
Lands, but have given receipts to purchasers of lands of the latter class
on blanks prepared for School Lands, and doubtless have paid the
funds into the State Treasury in the same manner.
It appears, therefore, that legislation is necessary for the purpose of
segregating the Seminary Fund from the School Fund, with which it is
now to a considerable extent confounded, as also for effecting a determination of the precise amount of principal and interest which has been
received on account of the Seminary Fund.  As no period is indicated
by the law at which the amount due for the Seminary Lands shall be
paid in full, it is suggested that some steps be taken in this direction by
the present Legislature, the amount now due being about forty-five
thousand dollars ($45,000.)  If the whole amount be not called in at
once, at least some period should be designated as the time when it will
be.  This must be done, or, what is still better, the Act of the Legislature, approved Aprf twenty-third, eighteen hundred and  fifty-eight,
should be complied with, as has never yet b)eeC (lone.  By this Act provision
was made for the sale of the University Lands.  It was directed that
they be sold, in the same manner, on the same terms, and subject to the
same conditions, as the unsold- portions of the five hundred thousand
acre grant for the Public Schools.  It was provided, also, that the proceeds of the sales of the University or Seminary Lands should be paid
intothe School Land Fund; and that, from time to time, they should be
invested in seven per cent bonds for the benefit of the School Fund.
So far, the law seems to have been partially. and, indeed, to a considerable extent, complied with.  The lands have been sold, part of
the principal and part of the interest received, and the larger part of
both paid into the School Fund; but the essential condition of the Actessential, at least, so far as the integrity of the University Fund is concerned-has never been carried into execution.
It was, namely, directed that the Board of Examiners should, at the
expiration of one year from the passage of the Act-that is to say, on
the twenty-third of April, eighteen hundred and fifty-nine-take and use
fifty-seven thousand six hundred dollars, ($57,600,) of any money belonging to the School Fund, for the purpose of buying bonds; and when
the said bonds had been so purchased, that they should be delivered to
the State Treasurer, and kept by him  as a special deposit, marked
";Seminary Fund," to the credit of said Fund.  All interest paid into
the Treasury on said Seminary bonds was to be invested in State bonds
in the same manner.
But neither on the twenty-third of April, eighteen hundred and fiftynine, nor at any subsequent time, has the Board of Examiners purchased
-4
I 
9
the bonds for the Seminary Fund, as by this law required, and the con sequence is that the School Fund has had the benefit and use of the pro ceeds of the sale of the Seminary Lands, and now owes the amount which
has been received to the Seminary Fund.
It is time that this condition of things should cease, as it is in direct
contravention of the Constitution of the State, and of the requirements
of a Legislative Act. It is believed that the Act of the Legislature of
eighteen hundred and fifty-eight meets this difficulty in the best WayT,''.
and that it should be carried out, as far, at least, as the principal ot,;(e  # i.  -
University Fund is concerned.  The fifty-seven thousand six hun:id.. d
dollars, ($57,600.) of University Fund principal should be taken Go'
the bonds already in possession of the School Fund, and set apart ada&.
special Fund, marked "University Fund-Principal;" or else a portion'u
of the money now in the Scbool Fund should be used for the purchase of  -
new bonds to that amount.
But there still remains to be considered the income due the University
Fund; that is to say, the amount of interest which would have accrued
on the fifty-seven thousand six hundred dollars, ($57,600,) had the law
of eighteen hundred and fifty-eight been carried out.  TIhe School Fund
has been receiving, not only the principal of the University Fund, as
fast as it was paid in, but the interest on the lands sold, at the rate of
ten per cent per annum.  The Constitution of the State requires that
the distinction between interest and principal shall be kept up in rela tion to the University Fund, as only the latter can be used for the pur poses of a University.
As it would be difficult to say exactly how much interest would have
accrued to the Seminary Fund had the law of' eighteen hundred and
fifty-eight been complied with, the best way of arriving at a satisfactory
result would be to allow interest at seven per cent per annum.from the
time when the Board of Examiners was required to purchase the
bonds, namely, April twenty-third, eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, on
the fifty-seven thousand six hundred dollars, ($57,600,) which will be
twenty thousand one hundred and sixty dollars, ($20,160,) and this
amount should be taken from the money now in the School Fund,'and
set  apart as a Special Fund, marked  "Seminary  Futnd-Interest."
This amount would then be available immediately for any purpose con nected with the support of a University.
We have next to consider how far the proceeds of the Congressional
grants of lands will go towards building up an institution for higher
education in California, and what, under the circumstances, would appear
to be the wisest course of action to be pursued by the Legislature in
taking initiatory steps towards making these funds available for the ob jects they were intended to promote.
For this purpose it will be necessary first to give some idea of the sys tem of instruction (so far as the same can be called a system) pursued in
the different educational establishments of the United States of a grade
above that of a Common School.
A complete and perfect system of education, or public instruction, im piies the creation of institutions for primary, secondary, and higher edu cation. The Common Schools, or Primary Schools, should exist in every
town and district in sufficient numbers to give all the children of the
State, of both sexes, the first elements of a sound education. This much
should be compulsory on all citizens, and should be the first care of the
e LJeislature.
2 
10
No child should be allowed to grow up in habits of vagrancy; and no
State can afford to allow any one, not idiotic, to be brought up without
being taught the use of their mother tongue, both in reading and writing,
and furnished with some general ideas of history and geography, as well
as of morality and religion.
In very thinly settled regions, like large portions of California, and
with a more or less roving population, there will always be great diffi culty in extending educational facilities to all children; but the greater
the difficulty, the more binding the' obligation, and no Legislature will be
true to its duty which neglects to do all in its power to foster and sus tain the system of Common Schools.
Next to the Common Schools, for the support of which the United
States Government has, in the newer States, made a partial provision
by the donation of two sections of land in every township, or its equi valent, comes the Secondary School —or the Academy, or High School, as
this class of institutions is usually called in the United States. The
Academies are institutions where all those of either sex who have the
means and the inclination to advance a step further in the acquisition of
learning than is permitted by the Common  School may do so.  The
Academies usually teach two distinct classes of students, one consisting
of boys intending to enter College, the other of boys and girts nwho are
desirous of obtaining what is commonly called a "good English educa tion," which implies a considerable advance over the Commoni  School.
To illustrate the degree of advancement attained by the "Academies"
or High Schools in some of the Eastern States, refrience may be made
to those of New York, in regard to which statistics nmay be obtained, as
they are all under the control of the " Regents Qf the University," and
required to report, annually, all the particulars of their condition, in order
that they may share in the funds distributed by the Legislature to the
Academies.
There were in New York, in eighteen hundred and sixty-one, in active
operation, two hundred and seventeen Academies, with twenty-two thousand five hundred and sixty-seven scholars, about equally divided between the two sexes, having two millions eight hundred and twenty-two
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine dollars fixed capital, in lots, buildings,-Libraries and philosophical apparatus, receiving three hundred and
sixty thousand six hundred and sixty-four dollars from tuition fees, and
paying four hundred and thirty-three thousand and fifty-nine dollars as
salaries to Teachers, of whom one thousand and forty-two were employed. In miost of these institutions the following studies were taught:
Greek grammar and antiquities; Latin grammar and Roman antiquities;
mythology, French, German, anatomy, physiology and hygiene, botany,
chemistry, geology, history and rhetoric, arithmetic, bookkeeping, English grammar, geography, algebra, astronomy, geometry, physics, surveying, and trigonometry.  In some thirty of the Academies the study
of mathenmatics was carried up to and including the calculus, which is
as far as is usually done in our Colleges.
In some of the Academies of New England, and especially in the High
Schools, which are free Public Schools in the large cities, the flacilities
for instruction are more complete than in many of the Western Colleges.
The current expenses of the Academies in New England are usually paid
by the fees of tuition, but the buildings, grounds, apparatus, and Library
are generally furnished by the liberality of private individuals, so that
the cost of education is much reduced from what it would be were this
not the case. A well endowed Academy, in some localities, may be
-k
'L 
11
little inferior in its educational facilities, to.somne Colleges; and the chief
difference would perhaps be found to be in this fact: that in the College
there was nominally, and nominally only, a four years' course of study,
which all are supposed to follow.                         *
No provision or grant of land has been made by the United States
especially for secondary instruction; although, in most of the State Uni   versities a "Preparatory School" is kept up, which is in part supported by
the same means as the higher departments in these institutions. This
preparatory School answers in most respects to the Academy or High
School, one of its main objects being to fit the pupils for passing the ne   cessary examination for entering the Collegiate Department.
It would be interesting, in this connection, to be able to furnish a
statement of the number of pupils attending the High Schools or Acade   mies, as compared with the number of scholars in the Primary Schools;
but the data are too imperfect to allow of this being done to any extent.
In New York, however, it would appear that there are  about forty
scholars in the Primary Schools for every one in the Acadamies; and, to
comnpare College, Academy, and Primary Schools, for every one student
in College there are seven at the Academy, and two hundred and twenty   two at the Primary School.
We pass now from the consideration of the Schools for secondary in   struction, to the institutions for higher education, including the Colleges,
Universities, Professional and Special Schools of Science and Art.
It is only in countries like France and Germany, where there is one
brain and one system directing all the details of government, from the
highest to the lowest, that there can be a perfect system of educational
establishments. In France, for instance, everything is subordinate to
the Minister of Public Instruction; not a School or College that does
not belong to a system, and have all its arrangements made in conformity
with that system.
In this country there is neither unity nor conformity; neither Gov   ernment supervision, nor, except to a very limited extent, Government
aid, in anything beyond the rank of a Primary School.
Our highest institutions have grown up by degrees, adapting them   selvgs to the increasing wants of the community, and spreading as the
wave of population has spread, until there are now over two hundred
so called Colleges in the United States. The American College is a thing
A  sui generis-it is not a University, like those of Germany, nor a Gymna   sium, but something intermediate between the two, and partaking of
some of the character of both.
The German Gymnasium is often compared to' the American College.
"But," to quote the words of Professor Lane, of Harvard University,
"in the nature of many of the studies pursued, the age at which the
pupils enter, and the management to which they are subjected, there is
as great a difference between the Gymnasium  and the College as be   tween the municipal institutions of Boston and those of the free towns
of Bremer and LIuibeck. The pupils of the German Gymnasium enter at
a tender age, remain some nine years, and are instructed from the rudi   ments onward, while the age at which they leave the Gymnasium is not
much under that of our College graduates. But, up to that time, they
are treated as school boys. They are drilled and instructed by Masters,
and sit in school from thirty to thirty-two hours a week."
Perhaps the nearest approach to describing the Gymnasium would be
to say that it was a combination of our Academy or High School course,
with the first two years of a College course. But in comparing German
0 
12
and American institutions of learning, allowance must always be made
for what some would call German slowness, and which others, perhaps
with better reason, would denominate American haste. Certain it is
that the gymoasiast is considered and treated as a boy, while the American
College student, already in his freshman years, looks upon himself as a
man, if not so regarded by others.
The last two years of the American College course have no inconsiderable analogy with the University course of Germany.' During these
years the student is taught to a considerable extent by lectures, as at
the German Universities, and is allowed some freedom of choice as to
what studies he will pursue. The student, during the junior and senior
years in an American College, pursues to a considerable degree such
studies as would be taken by a German University student in connection
with his, as we call them, purely professional studies.
Almost all the American Colleges require, nominally at least, about
the same amount of preparation for admission to the lowest class; but
in reality, there is a great difference between different Colleges in the
strictness with which the examinations are conducted. Indeed, at too
many Colleges they are but little better than a farce.
What is supposed to be required at most of the Colleges as preparatory for admission to the freshman class, is English grammar, geography,
Latin grammar, Latin prose composition, and the ability to translate at
sight from some of the easier Latin authors, as Cicero, Sallust, and Virgil; Greek grammar, and some acqaintance with the easier Greek prose
writers, usually Xenophon; mathematics, including arithmetic; algebra
as far as quadratic equations, and sometimes part of Euclid.
The Collegiate undergraduate course extends, in all our Colleges, over
a period of four years, during which instruction is imparted both by
lectures and by recitations.  The first two years are chiefly devoted to
the Greek and Latin languages, and mathematics, with exercises in
declamation, and the writing of English prose compositions. During
the last year of the course the instruction is, to a considerable degree,
given in the form of lectures-physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology,
mental and moral philosophy, being the principal subjects thus taught.
Latin composition, and the study of the more difficult Greek historians
and poets, are also pursued during the last two years.   Furthermore,
tho application of mathematics to practical pursuits-as navigation, surveying, and engineering-is a prominent part of the course of instruction during these years; and practice in writing and speaking the English language, by compositions and debate, is continued nearly to the
end of the last year.
The propriety of devoting so much time to the study of the dead languages as is usually done in our colleges, has often been discussed, and
while almost all learned men are of opinion that this branch of study is
of the greatest value, as laying the foundation of a thorough knowledge
of the mother-tongue, and of European languages in general, nearly all
of which are descended from the Latin and Greek, and as affording an
excellent discipline for the mind, and training in habits of study, yet it
has been often argued, and not without a show of reason, that the study
of the spoken languages of Europe, especially French and German, is
really of more practical importance to the student, and that it may be
equally valuable as a means of mental and intellectual training. Hence,
in several Colleges, as in the "Free Academy" of New York City, which
although called an "Academy," is in reality what is generally known as
a College, students are allowed, at their option, or that of their parents
0
-A
i 
13
and guardians, to select either a course of ancient or modern languages,
which they may pursue through the whole four years. The languages,
studied by those who take the modern course, are French. German, and
Spanish. Another way of avoiding the necessity of devoting so much
time to Greek and Latin as was formerly done, has been adopted in quite
a number of Colleges. This is the creation of two divisions of students
in each class, after the Freshman or Sophomore years. One of these
divisions follows nearly the generally adopted routine of study in which
the ancient languages are so prominent; this is called the classical
course. The other, or scientific course, gives the time otherwise taken
up by Latin and Greek, to the modern languages, especially French and
German, and also in part to a further study of the practical application
of science, especially of chemistry and physics.
In former days the College was considered almost exclusively as the
place where young men were to be fitted to enter one of the "learned
professions," so called; that is, to become either a "Lawyer," or a Doctor
of Medicine, or a Theologian.  Indeed, the older Colleges, especially in
New England, were established more with the aim of preparing for the
study of theology than for any other purpose.
As a natural consequence, the Colleges gradually added to themselves,
in many instances, professional Schools, especially those of theology and
medicine.  In these Schools the collegiate buildings. libraries, and collections were used, to some extent at least, and usually a part of the
instruction was given by Professors employed in the College proper-the
whole being under the government of one body of Trustees. Thus, the
College became a nucleus, as it were, of a system of educational instruction to the whole body, of which-the name of "University" might
with some propriety be applied, understanding, as we do by that term,
a place where the-entire range of science and letters is represented, and
facilities afforded for instruction in the same.
The Eastern Colleges have gradually developed themselves, especially
within the last twenty years, by increasing the amount?f information
required as preparatory to admission to the Freshman Class, and by
making the examinations more thorough and frequent during the Collegewcourse; so that thus the general standard of scholarship has been
raised. Besides this, quite a number of Colleges have added a department of instruction in applied science, or a "Scientific School," as it
is usually called, together with other adjuncts, such as observatories,
collections of minerals, fossils, animnals, plants, models of engineering
works, and a variety of such aids to instruction in the various branches
of science applied to the arts.
Thus, Harvard University, besides the College proper, or undergraduate course, has separate faculties, buildings, libraries, collections, etc.,
for Schools of law, medicine, theQlogy, and science, besides the Observatory and the Zoological Museum, which are institutions expressly calculated for advancing science, and not for teaching it. Yale College
has also the four departments of theology, law, medicine, and "philosophy and the arts," or science represented in the Professional Schools, and
the "Sheffield Scientific School," attached to the College.
Schools of law, medicine, and theology also exist as entirely independent institutions all over the Eastern States, and are often very
numerously attended and pecuniarily successful, being supported by the
fees charged for instruction. It is not by any means true that the larger
portion of the students of these Schools are graduates of Colleges; on
the contrary, it is unfortunately too often the case that but little if any 
14
previous classical or mathematical training is required for admission to
these special Schools. This is the fundamental difference between our
system, or want of system, and that of European States. With us no
government regulation requires of any practitioner of law, medicine, or
theology, any particular preparation for the work he is about to enter
into. There are but few municipal or State laws which place any re  striction on the taking up of any profession or branch of business, no
matter how much a thorough education may be really needed to make
its carrying on safe to the people; all this is left to be regulated by pub lic opinion. But in most European States, and especially in France and
Germany, the case is entirely different. In those countries no student
can enter any of the learned professions, take a place as Teacher in any
Public School, Gymnasium, or University, or fill any post in the service
of the Government, where anything more than mere menial service is
required, without passing a most rigid examination, the requirements
of which are strictly proportioned to the importance of the place which
is to filled. It is on this foundation that the whole University system,
and indeed, to a considerable extent, the whole educational system of
France and Germany rests. It may be easily imagined what changes
would take place in our educational institutions if every candidate for a
post, either in the State or United States service, were to be required to
pass before a Board of Examiners, tied down by the strictest rules, and
with whom neither fear nor favor had any chance of operating.
In England, too, up to a recent period, all appointments to civil and
military science, or nearly all were made through political influence or
by purchase; but gradually a great change has taken place in the sys tem pursued in that country, and the aspirant to a public office must now
prove himself possessed of some qualifications for the place, by passing
an examination before a competent Board. By the introduction of this
system incompetency is being gradually weeded out firom all departments
of the public service.
Besides thee Primary Schools, Academies, Colleges, and Professional
Schools, for law, medicine, and theology, there are special Schools or
institutions for certain courses of instruction, of which the Agricultural
Schoqls or Colleges, and the Polytechnic Schools, are the only ones which
need be adverted to in this connection. And reference is made here only
to those Agricultural and Polytechnic Schools which have an independent existence, and not to those which may be considered as existing in
connection with Colleges or Universities, and which have already been
noticed.
Numerous attempts have been made in the Eastern States to establish
Agricultural Colleges, but they have with few exceptions proved failures.
The State of Michigan was the first to put an institution of the kind in
operation, and although suspended for. a time, it has been started again,
having received the promise of the United States grant of lands for
a School of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. The State has made
two cash appropriations for the School, one of fifty thousand dollars,
($50,000,) and one of forty thousand dollars, ($40,000,) with which lands
were purchased and buildings erected at Lansing. Besides this, the College has received other pecuniary aid from the State in various ways;
as for instance: a grant of a portion of the Swamp Lands, and annual
appropriations for the salary and other expenses of the Secretary of the
State Board of Agriculture, who is also ex officio Secretary of the Agricultural School. The Act organizing the School requiring a course of
study of not less than four years, and that "the institution shall combine
I
-A. 
15
physical with intellectual education, and shall be a high Seminary of
learning, in which the graduate of the Common School can commence,
pursue, and finish a course of study, terminating in thorough theoretic
and practical instruction in those sciences and arts which bear directly
on Agriculture and kindred industrial pursuits." In eighteen hundred
and sixty-three there were seven Professors and instructors employedin
this institution.
The New York Agricultural College, located at Ovid, Seneca County,
was incorporated in eighteen hundred and fifty-three.  In eighteen hundred and fifty-five the Legislature passed an Act loaning this College
forty thousand dollars for twenty years, without interest, on condition
that an equal sum should be raised by subscription, which was done, and
a farm of seven hundred acres purchased and large buildings erected.
The College was opened December first, eighteen hundred and sixty, but
closed after a short period, in consequence of financial difficulties, and
the loss of the President, Major Patrick, who is now in the Army.
Besides the Agricultural College in Michigan, there is only one other,
so far as known, which is in active operation; this is the Agricultural
College of Pennsylvania, which was incorporated in eighteen hundred
and fifty-five, and opened in eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, after
many difficulties, and which is now in full operation, with a Faculty of
five Professors and two Assistants, besides Superintendents of the Farm,
Garden, Nursery, etc.  The College is located in Centre County, and is
partly supported by fees charged the students for board and tuition
the land and buildinogs, which  are extensive and commodious, having
been paid for by legislative appropriation and private subscriptions,
amounting in all to from one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
($150,000) to two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.)
Both the Michig,an and Pennsylvania A,gricultural Colleges are, to a
certain extent, ManuLal Labor Schools; the students are required to labor
from two to four hours a day on the farm, it being considered essential
as a part of the student's education that he be taught the practical application in the field and laboratory of the principles he studies in the
class room; while it is argued also that manual labor is essential to the
preservation of health and the maintenance of habits of industry. The
branches of study which are taught at the Michigan College are as follows: lDuring the first yjea —Geornietry, English literature, algebra, trigonometry and surveying, geology, history, and bookkeeping.   Duriing the
second - Physics, meteorology, vegetable physiology, elementary and
agricultural chemistry, botany and  horticulture, rhetoric.  During the
third-Civil engineering, analytical chemistry, animal physiology, drawing, and rural engineering, logic, zoology, entomology, veterinary, and
political economy.
The following is the course in the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania:
The Fir)st Year-The student studies arithmetic, elementary algebra,
horticulture, elementary anatomy and physiology  physical geography,
and elementary astronomy, English grammar and composition, elocution,
history, practical agriculture, and the details of management on the
College Farm.
The Second Year-Advanced algebra and geometry, general chemistry,
vegetable anatomy and physiology, zoology and veterinary, geology,
paleontology, practical agriculture and horticulture, logic, and rhetoric.
The Thirns Year-Surveying, navigation, levelling, drawing, analytical
geometry, trigonometry, elementary calculus, natural philosophy, chemi 
16
cal analysis, veterinary surgery, entomology, agricultural botany, practical agriculture and pomology, political and social economy.
The Fourth Year-Analytical geometry, differential and integral calculus, engineering, drafting, mechanical drawing, quantitative chemical
analysis, veterinary pharmacy, gardening, agricultural accounts and
farm management, moral and intellectual philosophy.
The number of students in this School in eighteen hundred and sixtytwo was one hundred and ten, and the expenses of board and tuition
are only one hundred dollars ($100) per annum.
Besides the Agricultural Schools, as already noticed, there are special
Schools for instruction in the sciences and arts,  called Polytechnic
Schools, or Institutes.  The only one of these which has attained much
celebrity is the " Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute," located at Troy, New
York. This institution was founded in eighteen hundred and twentyfour, as a "School of Theoretical and Practical Science."  In eighteen
hundred and forty-nine it was reorganized as a " Polytechnic Institute,"
having for its primary object " the scientific and professional education
of Chemists, Naturalists, Physicists, Architects, and Civil and Topographical Engineers; and for a secondary object, the scientific training
of all others who, not contemplating a future professional career, are
desirous to avail themselves of its instruction and discipline." For the
accomplishment of these objects, the following courses of study have
been established:
First-Course in Civil Engineering;
Second-Topographical Engineering; and
Third-In General Science.
The courses of instruction in these departments extend over a period
of four years, but they all have the first year in common, during which
the elements of mathematics and physics are taught, together with
English composition, the French language, and drawing. In the Engineering course, during the second year, the following studies are pursued: Mathematics, including trigonometry and analytical geometry,
physics continued, chemistry, geodesy, topographical and geometrical
drawing, and the English and French languages.  During the third year,
the mathematical studies are carried as far as the calculus, physics continued, chemistry pursued in the laboratory, and applied to blow-pipe
analysis and to mineralogy, geology studied, and geometrical and topographical drawing pursued.  The studies of the last year's course are
essentially practical and technical, and designed to fit the student, on
leaving the institution, for entering at once in the practical application
of science to the wants of everyday life-as in the location, superintendence, or construction of railroads, canals, water works, mnills, bridges,
and other public works, as well as the survey of rivers, lakes, and harbors, and the direction of their improvement.  As it appears from the
catalogue that at least nine tenths of the graduates of this institution
take the degree of Civil Engineers, and of course pass through the series
of studies given above, it is not necessary to notice the courses in topo.
graphical engineering and general science. The number of Professors
and Teachers employed in eighteen hundred and sixty-two was nine or
ten, and the entire number of students sixty. The charges for tuition
are one hundred dollars ($100) per annum.
Among all the institutions and special Schools of education in the
Eastern States, there is no one devoted to mining and the allied branches,
0 
17
nor is there in any College or special School a Professor of Mining En   gineering,, or the application of geology and mineralogy to mining. In
fact, this branch of industry has received no aid from teaching in any of
our educational institutions; and this is, perhaps, the reason why, of all
departments of our natural resources, this is the one which has been
most irregularly and unsatisfactorily developed. Mines have usually
been foot balls for speculators, and vast amounts of money have been
wasted in foolish undertakings, which a knowledge of geology, as ap   plied to mining, might have prevented, or which never would have been
undertaken had there been a class of educated men versed in these
subjects in whom the public had confidence.
Of late years, however, a considerable number of our young men have
been to Europe to obtain those facilities for instruction in mining and
metallurgy which they could not find in the United States, there being
always a considerable number of students from this country in the Min   ing School at Freiberg, in Saxony, while several have been educated at
the Ecole des Mines, in Paris. A very large number of Germans,
chiefly educated at Freiberg, are now employed all over the United
States, in charge of mines and smelting works.
The fact, now so well demonstrated, that so large a portion of the
western side of this continent is a metalliferous region, and must de   pend for its development on mining essentially, is a sufficient indication
that the time cannot be far off when Mining Schools will be established
somewhere in the United States; and, no doubt, Professorships in
branches allied to mining will be instituted ere long in our Eastern
Polytechnic and Scientific Schools.
But it hardly needs to be argued that all processes and conditions
being so different on the Pacific slope and in the Great Basin from
what they are in other parts of the world, it will be almost if not quite
indispensable that our Metallurgists and Mining Engineers should be
trained here, where they can have a practical acquaintance with the
subjects they are studying.
We come now to the practical application of the facts stated above to
the wants and means of the State of California, and will endeavor to
show'    First-That there is no provision in the Congressional Acts granting
lands to the State, and nothing in the Constitution of the State itself,
which particularly defines the character of the proposed institution, and
that therefore the Legislature is free to act in the matter within very
wide limits.
Second-That the interests of the State require the consolidation of
the proceeds of the grants of land for a University and for an Agricul  tural and Mechanical School, so that both these shall be parts of one
institution.
Third-That it is not advisable, at least for the present, to organize a
Collegiate Department in connection with the proposed institution.
Fourth-That the institution required by the State, and which will be
best adapted to the wants of the people of the Pacific coast in a School
of.Practical Science, or a Polytechnic School, meaning thereby an insti  tution where the elements of the Exact and Natural Sciences will be
taught, and their practical application to the wants of everyday life, as
to mechanics. mining, manufacturing, and agriculture.
Fifth-That the collections of the State Geological Survey should be
3 
18
eventually made over to the State University or Polytechnic School, or
this institution, organized for the purposes of higher education, in accordance with the Constitution of the State, whatever its name may be;
that the interests of the State demand that these collections should be
placed in a fire-proof building, which may be called the "State Museum,"
where they will be accessible for the purposes of instruction, not only to
the student. but to the general public; and that for that purpose a Board
of Commissioners should be appointed to take the matter in hand, select
a suitable location, and erect a building, from funds to be drawn from the
State Treasury and other sources, as will be explained further on, and
that this Board should also report to the next Legislature a plan for organizing and setting in motion a State Polytechnic School.
The term "Seminary of Learning," used by the Congressional Act, is
one which may evidently be construed to mean any institution of education which is above the rank of a Common School. The definition of
the word " Seminary," as given by Webster, is "a place of education;
any School, Academy, College, or University, in which young persons
are instructed in the several branches of learning which may qualify
them for their future employment." There is evidently no restriction
imposed by the term "Seminary," beyond that employed by the separate
grants of lands for that purpose and for Common Schools, indicating
clearly the intention on the part of Congress of endowing something
superior in rank to a Common School.
The various States which have been the recipients of the land grants
for a "Seminary of Learning," have invariably designated the institution organized in connection with the grant as a State University; thus
we have the State Universities of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, etc.
These so called State Universities are generally organized on about the
same plan; which is, to furnish instruction to all classes of students above
the grade of primary scholars, or those learning reading, w.riting, and
the elements of geography and arithmetic, up to those desiring to pass
through a regular College course. Thus, the State University of Wiscousin, which has been some ten years in operation, has a preparatory
department, in which boys are fitted for College or for business; a "commercial department," that is to say in plain language, a class in bookkeeping; a normal department, or class for preparing male and female
Teachers for the Common Schools; and a collegiate department, with a
classical and a scientific course, the College proper including, in eighteen
hundred and sixty-two, about one fifth of the whole number of students
attending the different courses of the University. The State University
of Iowa has about the same organization, but has also a Medical School
attached to it nominally, in a city distant from the site of the University itself.
The State University of Michigan is far in advance of any other
Western institution of learning, brought to this condition by the zeal
and admirable executive abi4ity of Doctor Tappan, the Chancellor. This
University has a collegiate course proper, and two Professional Schools
attached, namely, of Law, and Medicine; and not being encumbered with
a Preparatory School, tomes much nearer the idea of a University than
any other Western institution.
The number of the Professors and instructors is twenty-seven; that
of the students was, in eighteen hundred and sixty-two, four hundred;
the value of the buildings, grounds, and endowment, is stated at five hundred and eighty thousand dollars ($580,000.) There is a valuable col
-1 
lection of casts for instruction in the Fine Arts and Architecture, and a
well fixed Laboratory for practical instruction in chemistry and its appli cation to the arts. A prominent feature of this University is the Observatory, until recently under the charge of an eminent European Astronomer, and furnished with excellent instruments, with the aid of which
important discoveries have been made. It is painful to be obliged to
add, that sectarian jealousies and political interference have done much
to retard the progress of this institution; and that, of late, they have
struck what is to be feared may prove a fatal blow to its prosperity.
In regard to the question of combining the State University, the
School of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, and the State Museum,
the following suggestions may be.offered:
First-There is no legal difficulty in the way of such a course. There
certainly can be no question of legal right in regard to the establishment
of the State Museum in connection with the University; and that the
School of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts may also form a part of
the University without violating the spirit of the Act of Congress, seems
almost equally clear.
The conditions of the Act making an appropriation of land for an
Agricultural and Mechanic Arts School require that some institution
should be provided in which instruction in these branches should be
given. The intention of the Act is, that the income of the money arising
from the sale of the lands should be used for paying for instruction in
the branches of knowledge related to Agriculture and the Arts; but as
the Act expressly says, not excluding other studies of a liberal character, such as the classics. It is evident, then, that if, by a combination
with some existing institution, or, if by a consolidation of the funds
arising from this source with those obtained in some other way, both
might be used to better advantage, no one could say that the action of
Congress had been nullified.
The course taken in several of the Eastern States in regard to this
very matter shows evidently what the feeling on this subject is there.
In Massachusetts, where there were three Colleges, each claiming a
share of the Agricultural School Fund, the question was settled by the
establishment of an entirely new institution, called the "Massachusetts
Agricultural College," to which one tenth of the money received from
the sale of the lands granted by Congress is to be paid for the purchase
of a site; provided, seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) is raised by
subscription for a building; and two thirds of the interest of the sum
remaining is also given to this School or College for general purposes,
the other third being placed at the disposal of the Massachusetts Technological Institute.
In some of the States where a State Agricultural College already exists, the grant of Congress has been given to that institution. This was
the case in Pennsylvania and Michigan. In New York, however, the
grant was not given to the State Agricultural College, but to the People's College. In Connecticut the whole of this grant was made over
by the Legislature, with only one dissenting voice, to the Sheffield
Scientific School of Yale College. In several of the other States, the
scrip has been given to the State University. In Vermont, for instance,
it is proposed, not only to consolidate the State Agricultural School with
the State University, but also the two other Colleges-the Governor
strongly urging upon the Legislature, in his last message, the importance of consolidating the existing weak institutions of higher instrue
19 
20
tion in the State into one properly endowed, by which course he thinks
the State will be greatly the gainer.
We take it for granted, then, that there can be no possible legal difficulty in the way of uniting the grant of land for a School of Agriculture and the MIechanic Arts to that for a University.
Secoznd-It remains to prove the necessity of the proposed consolidation ini this State, and the first ground to be taken is that of economy.
As has been futlly shown, the amount of money wlhichl can ever be received from the University and Agricultural School grants is far too
small, even combining both together, to build up one respectable institution.  How absurd it would be, then, to fritter away what little we have
by organizing two separate institutions, one of which must necessarily
be to some decree a rival of the other.
To illustrate the loss w.vhich would ensue by separating the Agricultural School from the University Scientific School, we may refer to the
department of instruction.  Of the twelve Professorships whliclh, as will
be seen further on, we consider necessary to an institution of general
science on at moderate scale, there'are only three which are peculiar to
an Agricultural School; all the others would be necessarily connected
withl any University or Scientific School which might be established.
And as there is only one Professorship in that list which is peculiar to a
Mining School, and one to an Engineering School, it follows that there
are seven of the twelve Professorships which are common to all three of
the courses of instruction, and that the services of these seven Professors would be equal to those of fourteen which would be required if two
distinct institutions were to be built up.
And so with regard to collections and Library; all will admit that
either an Agricultural, a Itining, or a Polytechnic School will need extensive collections in geology, mineralogy, and natural history.  The
sciences are so interwoven with each other, that no department can be
successfully taught without help from the others.  One Museum will
suffice for all the wants of the State in the way of practical instruction
in science; and, if there be only one, it will in time become a complete
an* valuable one; but, if otherwise, a very mutch  larger amount  of
money will be expended. and even then, all will be imperfect. The
same holds good in the matter of Library, physical and chemical apparatus, and other essentials which may be used in common  by students of
science applied to any department of art.
These considerations show, as it seems to us, most conclusively, that
without consolidation of the Agricultural School with the University
Scientific School, there will be great loss, and that the probable result
will be two feeble and almost useless institutions, instead of one strong
and successful one.
It may be argued that an Agricultural School without an experimental or model farm attached, is an absurdity, and that no arrangement should be entered into which will prevent such a farm from being
attached to the institution., To this we would reply, that the Coln gressional grant is for a School of Agriculture and the Mffechanic Arts, not
for the former alone, and that since mining, which is one of the Mechanic
Arts, is altogether the leading interest of the State, and the one to
which science can render the greatest help, we have a right to consider
the mining interests as well as the agricultural in the organization of a
practical School, and that it is not by any means our duty, in organizing
this institution, to make the mechanical department altogether subor
A 
21
dinate to the agricultural, as it would be, if all the funds awere to be
expended on a farm in the country.
Ag(ain, it may be doubted whether  the processes and mnethods of
farming in California are of a nature to allow of their being successfuilly taught in a model farm.  The State is too new, a'nd her territory
too large and too thinly populated, to allow, at least for a long time to
come, of much compact and elegant farming.   The great improvements
to be made here will, as we concierve, be in the line of the application
of capital to hydraulic enginery,.rather  than  to experiments with
manures and fertilisers.  The farmers can be benefited by the expansion of mining enterprises and the creation of a market for their products by the development of mines and manufactories, far more than
'they would be by, giving their children the opportunity of practicing
farmingi, on a small scale under the eye of a Professor.
Nothing that has been said above need be construed so as to prevent the formation of an Agricultural School, as a branch of the State
University at some other locality at some future time, if the wants and
means of the State should seem to justify such a course; but, for the
present, weve are satisfied that the interests of the large majority of the
people require the consolidation of the School of A.grriculture and the
L,[echaniiie Arts with the proposed Scientific or Polytechnic School of the
Universit-y.
The  question arises, whether an undergraduate course, like that of
most or all of our Eastern Colleges and so called Universities, should
form a part of the State University of California. There is no State
University in the country where this is not the case; but we are inclined
to believe that it will not be advisable, at least in its incipient stages, to
org,anize our institution on the plan of an Eastern College; and the following, reasons may be given in support of this opinion:
There are several Colleges, and Schools calling themselves Colleges,
alreadv organized and in operation in this State.  These, like niearly all
the Collegiate institutions at the East, have been established by different religious sects and denominations, and each is supported chiefly by
those of the same belief. There is no reason to suppose that the establishment of a State College, however liberally it lnight be endowed, and
howev,er well managed, would put an end to the other Colleges, because
the State Institutionr, being necessarily detached from all sects, would be
looked on as a sort of infidel concern, and people of strong religious
instincts would prefer to patronize institutions which were managed by
those of their own way of thinking.
It is believed, therefore, that the Colleges already existing, and those
which will undoubtedly be got up by other sects not yet represented by
such institutions here, will suffic(e for giving the kind of instruction
usually imparted in a College course; for it is reasonable to suppose that,
in a State as new as California. and with its peculiar conditions, it will
be a good many years before the number of persons demanding  a College education will be large.
If this be the case, it would certainly be better that the State University should select some other I)portion of the great field of' Science and
Art not yet cultivated here, rather than that it should trespass on regions
already occupied. By the plan proposed, the Colleges would be feeders
to the State University, and thus one institution would aid in developing
the other; for students coming from the College to the University School
would stand higher and be more successful in their professional career
than those who had a less amount of preparation —just as those students 
22
in the Professional Schools at Yale, or Harvard, who have been through
the undergraduate course, have great advantages over those who have
entered without this previous discipline.
It might be argued that the State University and Agricultural School
Funds should, together with the geological collection, be made over to
some existing College; but this seems to be rendered impossible by the
fact that all the Colleges are of sectarian characters, and that most or
all of them have sectional provisions in the laws by which they have
bound themselves to be governed, so that the State could not join with
them without violating the article of the Constitution which provides
that no preference shall be shown to any religious sect or profession.
The following reasons have led to the recommendation of San Francisco as the point where the proposed University should be established'
Fihist-It is the most populous city of the Pacific coast. The number of its inhabitants is probably now over one hundred thousanda number at least five times as great as that of any other city this side
of the Rocky Mountains.   This concentration of population at San
Francisco is still going on, and will undoubtedly continue for an indefinite period, as this city has natural advantages which no other point on
the Pacific coast can show.  It is and must remain the commercial and
manufacturing emporium of the North Pacific coast of Amierica, and
however great the fluctuations in the prosperity of the State of California may be, the march of this city will be onward, since the whole region
from Mexico to British Columbia contributes to its support.
Secon(d-It is the most central point of' the State. One third, at least,
and probably as many as two fifths of the population of the State lives
in the immediate vicinity of' the Bay of San Francisco.  By its systemn
of river and bay steamers, it connects together Northern, Southern, and
Central California; it is the point where all persons coming from abroad
by sea must land. and from which radiate lines of communication in all
directions towards the interior.  A much larger proportion of the popl)ulation of the State visit San Francisco than any other point. But:
Th/il(-It is by far, and out of all proportion, t-Che wealthliest city in
the State.  One third of' the taxes which support the State Government
is collected at San Francisco, and if the present rate of increase contines, as there is every reason to believe it will, this city will soon be
paying one half the expenses of the State.
Foztrth-The climate of San Francisco is equable, bracing, and healthy,
and is better fitted for sustained study and vigoroius intcllectual effort
than that of any other part of the State.
There can be no doubt that a State University, especially in a country
as thinly inhabited as California, should be located where it will be accessible to the,greatest number, and above all, that it should be situated
in a wealthy community, since it cannot rely wholly on State aid for its
development and support, but must call for assistance on those who have
the means as well as the desire to do something to promote the cause of
higher education.  It is chiefly, in fact almost exclusively, from bequests
and gifts of richl men that Yale and Harvard Colleges have been enabled
to develope themselves into institutions of such magnitude and importance.  Indeed, almost all the Eastern Colleges have arisen fiomn humble
beginnings by the gradual accumulation of voluntary donations, and we
do not know of a singleimportant educational institution that las relied
solely on State or United States grants, excepting, of course, West
Point, which is supported entirely by the United States as a military
necessity.
i 
23
The establishment of the Geological Survey was in fact the first step
towards the production of a State Universitv.  Without the information
to be obtained by that Survey, no thorough instruction was possible on
this coast, either in geography, geology, or natural history; for the sttu dent of these branches requires to be taught in that which is about him,
and with which he is brought into daily contact, as well as that which is
distant and only theoretically important.  The student of geology in
California demands to be posted on California geology; he wishes to
know what formations occur here,.what fossils they contain, what ores
and minerals characterize them.  Hlowever valuable text books may be
which are published at the East or in Europe, and which give an idea of
the general principles of the science, and Df their application to other
regions, that is not enough; it is here that these principles are to be ap plied and made available; and it is only by the aid of the information
collected by the Survey and the specimens arranged to illustrate the vari ous departmnents of the work, that the student can have light thrown on
these important studies.  How could the Professors of Metallurgy teach
this branch unless the processes employed here, and all over the country,
fromn [Iexico to Washloe and Reese River, had been studied out, described
and coml)ared, so that their mierits and defects might become known and
thoroughlylllt understoo(l.  As the matter now stands, the whole science
of metallurgy, as applied on this coast, is a perfect claos; alnd years of
the most elaborate and patient investigation will be reqire(dl to elucidate
the subject and place it in a condition to be made available for teaching.
So in regard to teaching natural history, which all will admit to be
one of tho most important branches of learning, to be stud(lied in a new
country. Take botany, for instance, and we quote fiom in a  already publishled address of the State Geologist,  all that is known of our botany
at the present time is in detached  fragments, scattered throug,h the
reports and transactions of various learned societies, the journals of
foreirgn horticultural associations, the official reports of Government
Explori(ng  Expeditions, and railroad Surveys, or in pamphlets published
by individuals; works formilng in the a,ggre,gate a very large number of
volumes, nearly all of which are oecyond the reach of' the public generally, and many, only to be found in a few large Libraries.  These documents are in various languages, and many of them  have never  been
translated into English.  No  attempt  has been  made to classify our
botanical productions into one systematic whole, to arrange tlhese descriptions into one volume, or series of volumes, or even to eniumerate or
catalogue our plants, and give the authorities where they may be found.
The latter work has indeed been attempted, on aplan embracing the
whole Pacific Coast; but although begun under the auspices of a high
scientific institution, it has never been completed. and  no part of it
has ever appeared.'Alorcover it was proposed to be a mere pamphlet,
at most, for the use of scientific men in making further investigations.
No botanist in the world can tell how many species have already been
described as occurring in California, while a great number have never
been noticed at all; and of those which have been, the descriptions are
often incomplete and inaccurate"
If a knowledge of botany is of any importance to mankind anywhere,
either in its intellectual or economical bearings, it must be here in this
new and active State. And all must allow that as yet we have neither
the literature in an available form, nor the materials in our herbariums,
to furnish what is required, and that they can only be obtained by systematic and continuous labor and study. 
24
The collection of the Geological Survey will be of the greatest possi ble importance, not only for the general instruction of the people, but
especially for the purposes of higher education in the University, and
we do not hesitate to recommend that, as has been usually done in the
Eastern States, these collections should be made over to the institution
which is now proposed to be organized.  When properly arranged in a
building fitted for the purpose, they will form an ornament to the city
where they are placed, and will attract strangers from every part of the
Pacific Coast.  Once the State Mttseum established in a suitable building, and gifts of specimens, solme of which will be of great value, will
undoubtedly flow in from all quarters.
Many-valuable things have already been contributed by private individuals, but a miuch larger number would be if the donors could be certain that the articles given would be preserved from destruction by fire,
or otherwise taken care of and placed where they could be seen by the
puiblic.
As the State has this valuable, and to the University, indispensable
material onl hand in a place where it is not protected from loss by fire,
and not available for exhibition, we conceive that the first thing to be
done towards putting the State University into operation is to erect a
building for the State Museum, in which ample room  shall be provided
for displaying the geological and natural history collections, and in which
they will be perfectly safe from fire. This building should be so constructed that the State may occupy it for the purposes of the Geological
Survey as long as that work continues; and when that is terminated, it
should be handed over to the University and placed uinder the. charge of
the officers of that institution.  Whether the Geological Survey be continued or stopped, it is of importance that this building be erected at
once.  If the Survey is to be stopped, it must be evident to all that before the different persons who have been employed in getting together
these collections, in all branches of natural history, leave the State, the
materials they have collected should be arranged, labelled, and put in
available form for the purposes of instruction and exchange; otherwise
a large part of the value of the collections wvill be lost, since this can
only be well done by those who are perfectly fitamiliar with this vast
mas  of materials.
If, on the other hand, the Survey is continued, it is equally important
that a safe locality should be provided where the constantly increasing
mass of manuscripts,' maps, specimens, as well as other valuable property belonginig   to the State, may be stored so as to be protected from
fire. and where the laborions task of airranging the materials may be
carried on       passu with the' Survey itself'  A Laboratory is also indispenisably required fob the purposes of' the Survey, and the expense
incurred in fitting it up would be almost entirely lost to the State,
unless it could, aftei the close of the Survey, be made available for the
purposes of the University.
We propose, therefore, that a building be erected  for the State
Mulseutin, which shall have ample accommodclation for displaying and
storing the State geological, collections, and in which shall be room
for a Library, a Laboratory, and the necessary offices for the Geological
Survey, and also a lecture room, in which instruction may be given'at
such time as may hereafter be deenmed advisable, so that the institution
shall be sufficieutly complete in itself to answer the purposes of a
Scientific School, in case that from any cause, impossible now to fore
-4 
25
see, nothing further should ever be done towards establishing the State
University.
To establish an institution in California which shall be of real benefit
to the people of this State, it is necessary that it should furnish some
kind of information and instruction which cannot be obtained elsewhere.
It should be something specially adapted to the wants of this side of the
continent, and having, on that account, peculiar advantages for students
here.  Mtoreover, to compete successfully with Eastern institutions, it
must be built upon a substantial basis, and make some approach to completeness in its organization. Par'ents finding that they can support
their children at the East, or in Europe, while in the Professionlal School
or College, at less than it will cost them here, will send them there unless there are strong inducements to keep them within the State.
It must be remembered that a superficial education in those branches
which would be taught in a Polytechnic School could be of little use to
the student, and certainly no credit to the State itself.
Students of the California Univerisity will have, at their entrance into
practical life, to compete with students who have had the advantages
furnished by old, well endowed, and skilfully managed institutions at the
East and elsewhere. Young men will always be coming to California
who are graduates of the Yale and Hlarvard Scientific Schools, of the
Iining Schools of France and Germany, or of other institutions where
thorough courses of instruction are given, and the student only allowed
to take a degree after passing a severe examination. It is with these
youn, men that those educated in this State will have to compete, and if
our University adopts a superficial course, requires no examination for
admission, gives degrees to all who ask for them, and endeavors only to
make itself popular by opening its doors to all, and basing its claims to
public favor solely on the number of names inscribed in its catalogue,
there will be no results gained which will add to the reputation of California, and it will, moreover, be doing great harm to the young men
whom it induces to act on the belief that superficiality and haste will
ever answer the purpose where an education in practical science is concerned.
In view of what has been set forth in the preceding, pages, we are most
decidedly of the opinion that the form of an institution under which the
Stare University and the Agricultural and Mechanic Art School should
be at first organized should be that of "Polytechnic School," or "School
of Science and Art."
The School should have for its object t7te professional tr aini5l qof yotuny men
il the exact ()i(1 ~latu)-(il sc(ie)ces, c)z(l theci) aj)licaticoi to ar)ts.,maltufactitu'cs,
mni'i,gg, aiictd (,g icl7lue.  We would recommend the course and system of
the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a general guide in the organization of the " California Polytechnic School," with such modifications as
may be found desirable, and especially with the addition of courses of
mining, metallurgy, and agriculture, to those established at that institute.
Such an institution. even on a moderate scale of completeness, should
embrace the following distinct Professorships
1. —Iathematics and Astronomy.
2.-CDrawing and Design.
3).-General Physics and MIeteorology.
4
I 
26
4.-Mechanics and Engiinering.
5. —Mining and Mletallurgy.
6.-General and Agricultural Chemistry.
7.-Botany and Vegetable Physiology.
8.-Zoology and Animal Physiology.
9.-Geology and Mineralogy.
10.-Modern Languages.
11.-English Language and Literature.
12.-Practical Agriculture.
'We do not intend to enter into a full plan of organization for the pro   posed Polytechnic School, but rather to leave this work for a special
commission to be appointed by the present ILegislature and to report to
the next. This list of Professorships is given to slhowv how considerable
an amount of money will be required for commencing the institution even
on the most moderate scale.
Supposing the whole  aimount of land granted by Congress for the
University and the AgricuLltural and  Art School to be sold at the
highest price attainable, (one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre,) the
whole amount at interest to be received, if the principal be invested
in State seven per cenit bonds, will be seventeen thousand and eighty  seven dollars ($17,087) annually, and it needs no argument to prove
that in the meridian of California this sumI  will go but little ways
towards the suppoit of a State Polytechnic School which will be of any
value to the community.
The grant of lands for the University, invested il  the same manner,
will yield four thousand and thirty-two dollars ($4,t3)'2) per annum, and
no more.
If the Agricultural and Mechanic Art School Lands were all sold at
one dollar and twenty-five cents ($1 25) per acre, the annual interest oil
the proceeds at seven per cent would be thirteen thousand one hutln dred and twenty-five dollars ($13,125); but this amount can never be
realized fiom their sale, as the quantity of lands to be tihrown on the
market  by the sale of soldiers' warrants and of Agricultural School
Lands is so enormous that the value of United States,lands will be very
much diminished.  If the whole thirteen th-ousand one hundred  and
twenty-five dollars ($13,125) could be realized, it would support the
three Professorships on the above list which belong particularly to the
agricultural course of the School, namely, those of Botany and Vegeta ble Physiology, of Zoology and Animal Physiology, and of Practical
Agriculture, and would do no more.
Hlow absurd it appears, therefore, to insist on the establishmient of a
separate Agricultural School, whenii the funds likely to be realized fiomr
the grant for that purpose will not half pay the expenses of three Prof'essors.
The whole value and success of the institution would be in a high
degree dependent on the character, learning, and ability of the Professors selected, and it would be impossible to procure the services of the
right kind of men in any other say than by giving them salaries which
would be fiully on a par, all things considered, with those given in the
best Eastern Colleges, so that such as might be needed could be drawn
from those Colleges. It will be useless to expect to command the services of men of first rate ability, at salaries for full Professorship, of
less than from three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500) to four thou
I
I
' I
.1.
I I 
27
sand dollars ($4,000) be given, and the Assistant Professors should receive at least two thousand four hundred dollars ($9,400).
It,will be seen, therefore, that we have very little faith in the success
of an institution which should commence its career with an endowment
which shall yield less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per annum.
This would require a fund of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000),
invested at ten per cent per annum, or of seven hundred and twenty-five
thousand dollars ($725,000), if invested at seven per cent.  But although
the State will not be likely to pay over seven per cent on the amount
received into the State Treasury, te or twelve per cent could be realized
on all moneys subscribed by private individuals, or otherwise placed in
the hands of the Board of Regents or Managers of the University, as
suchl moneys could be invested by them without difficulty, and with perfeet security, so as to realize that rate of interest.  The amount mentioned above as necessary to carry on a Polytechnic School, even on a
moderate scale of completeness, may seem large; but if we compare it
with the available means of some of the Eastern Colleges and Universities, it will appear quite small, especially when we take into considera tion the greater cost of living here, and how miuch higher all expenses
connected with such an establishment as a College would be on the Pa cific coast than they are on the Atlantic side of the continent.  The regu lar income of Harvard University is about one hundred and fifty thou sand dollars ($150,000) per annLnm, and it has over one and a half millions
invested in productive property, besides  all the grounds, buildings,
libraries, collections, and museums belonging to the institution, which
certainly cannot be worth less than two or three millions. But these
figures are constantly increasing, as not a year elapses that large addi tions are not made by bequest or gift to the fuinds or property of the
University.
The receipts of Yale College are about seventy-five thousand dollars
($75,000) per ailnnum from invested fuinds and fees of tuition.  The in vested property, which is productive, is about half a million, and the
value oi' the buildings, grounds, libraries, and collections, cannot be less
than a million.
Finally, we believe that by the establishment of the proposed State
Mluseum, and the carrying out of the measures proposed by this Board,
that an honorable beginning will have been made towards the establish  ment of the State Uniiversity, and that this is all which the present con  dition o' the State finances, in view of the constitutional provisions
against the increase of the public debt, will admit of.  We believe that
the prospective value of the institution, and the manifest advantages to
the City of San Francisco from having it located at that point, will bring
forth a generous response fromt the city to an appeal for a portion of the
funds requisite to erect such a building as is needed, and that the means
thus procured, combined with the accumulated interest on the Seminary
Fund now in the Treasury, although credited to the School Fund, as has
already been explained, will be sufficient for the purpose.
We fuither believe, that when the Board of Commissioners appointed
for that purpose makes its report to the next Legislature, two years
hlence, the way will be mad! clear for raising the necessary funds from  -
State, city, and individual liberality combined, to justify the putting in
operation, partially at least, the proposed State Polytechnic School within
four years from the date of this report, if California continues to flourish
as she has hitherto done, and as we trust she wil! continue to do.  And
in concluding this report, we beg leave to offer the annexed draft of a 
law in which are embodied the ideas and provisions indicated in the preceding pages.
A, N A C T
TO ESTABLISH THE STATE MIUSEUMI OF CALIFORNIA, AND TO PR.OVIDE FOR
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SCHOOL OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE AS A BRANCH
OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY.
The People of the State of  Califorii(t, rep)esente(l ini Senate and)( Asse?)iblj,. (1o
enzact as follows:
SECTION 1.  The Governor of the State of California, the Surveyor General, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State
Geologist, with three other persons, to be nominated on or before the
first day of March next, one by the State Agricultural Society, one by
the MAtechanics' Institute of San Francisco, and one by the California
Academy of Natural Sciences, are hereby constituted a Board of Coim missioners for the purposes hereinafter provided in this Act.
SEC. 2. The Board of Commissioners constituted as aforesaid, shall
proceed, as soon as may be, to select a suitable site for a building for the
State Mulseum; 1)Jovi(de(, that if the City of San Francisco will donate a
lot of land which, in the Opinion of the Board, shlall be properly and con veniently located, and of sufficient size for the buildings and grounds of
a State University, or if any individual or individuals will do the same,
and if; furthermore, the City of San Francisco, or any person or persons,
will donate the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars for the erection of a
building for the State Museum, the site of the said Museum  and of the
State University shall be permanently located at San Francisco; and if
within one year from the passage of' this Act the City of San Francisco,
or individuals as aforesaid, shall not have provided a suitable lot, and the
sumI of fifty [seventy-five] thousand dollars as aforesaid, then the Board
of Commissioners shall proceed to locate the said Museum and State
UniVersity at such point as may be deemed best fitted to subserve the
interests of the people and the cause of higher education, and may for'
that purpose invite proposals from all parts of the State for a site and
for means of constructing said building.
SEC. 3.  Whenever the Board of Commissioners shall certify to the
State Controller that the site of the State UnIiversity has been selected
and approved as above, the Controller shall draw his w-arirant on the
State Treasurer, who shall pay the same from the Fund hereinafter provided, to the Board of Commissioners designated above, for the sum
of
SEC. 4.  As soon as possible after the payment of the aforesaid warrant, the Board of Commissioners shall proceed to erect a suitable building for a State Museum, in which suitable roomns shall be provided for
the safekeeping and proper display of the State geological collections,
and also for a laboratory, library, and lecture room, and such other
apartments and conveniences as may be necessary for carrying on the
scientific work of the Geological Survey; and the said building and appurtenances shall be and remain in the custody and charge of the State
Geologist or his Assistants, who shall occupy the same for the purposes
28
i 
29
of the Survey, and shall deposit and arrange, so far as can be done,
the specimens collected by the Geological Corps, and such as have been
and may )be hereafter presented to the State Museum; and as soon as the
arrangement of said collection shall be so far completed as to admit of
its being done with safety and convenience, the said building, or such
parts of it as may be properly opened to the public, shall be thus opened
during five days of each week, and at least three hours of each day.
And the State Geologist shall have authority to make such exchange
with scientific societies and individuals as may add to the value and
interest of the collection.
SEc. 5.  It shall be the duty of the Controller and Treasurer, within
one month fiom the approval of this Act, to take and set apart from the
boinds now in the custody of the Treasurer, marked "School Fund,"
such an amount of said bonds as, at the average price at whichl they were
redeemed, would be equal to fifty-seven thousand six hundred dollars
(G57,600) in cash, and mark the same "' Seminary Fund-Principal," and
deposit the same in the State Treasury; and immediately thereafter they
shall transfer from any money in the Treasury to the credit of the School
Fund an amount which shall be equal to thirty-five per cent of such
Seminary Fund" bonds, as a separate Fund, marked " Seminary In   terest Fund;" and on the first day of December, A. D., eighteen hundred
and sixty-four, and annually thereafter, they shall transfer  from the
School Fund" to the said "Seminary Interest Fund" an amount which
sh)all be equal to seven per cent of the ainounit of bonds as above marked
' Seminary Futnd-Principal," which said Seminary Interest Fund is
hereby appropriated and placed at the disposal of the Commissioners
created by section one to carry out the provisions of this Act.  All
noneys in the Treasury which have been, or any money which shall
hereafter be paid into the Treasury on account of sales of Seminary
Lands, shall be by the Controller and Treasurer transferred to the School
Fund, as interest or principal, as the same was or may be received.
SEC. 6. Wheenever the State Museum Building, provided for in section
four of this Act, shall be so far advanced towards completion that the
State Geological Collections can be removed to the same, they shall be
so removed, and from the time said removal is commenced, the interest
accruing on the "Seminary Fund-Principal," bonds shall be and hereby
is appropriated to the support and maintenance of said State Museum,
for the purpose of paying the necessary expenses of arranging and tak     i   care of said collections, and for all purposes connected with the cus   tody and care of said buildings and g,rounds; and as long as said State
Mluseum  shall remain in the custody of the State Geologist. or until
otherwise provided for by the Legislature, payments shall be made from
said " Seminary Interest Fund" for the purposes aforesaid, on accounts
and vouchers presented by said State Geologist to the Board of Exami   ners and audited by them; provided, however, that nothing in this Act
shall be so construed as that the State Geologist shall receive any addi   tional pay beyond that provided in the Act creating the office of State
Geologist for any services'he may render in connection with said
AIusetum, or the arrangement and disposition of the collections therein.
SEC. 7.  The Board of Commissioners constituted by this Act shall
submit to the Legislature, on or before the second Monday of December,
eighteen hundred and sixty-five, a detailed plan for the organization of a
State Polytechnic School in connection with the State Musuem provided
for in this Act. 
a