Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

deroga, Fort George, and Governor's Island' should be given to the regents for the support of literature. 2 The grant at the south end of Lake George having been found to conflict with prior grants, the Legislature substituted in lieu thereof a tract on the east side of the lake, containing 1,724 acres.

An act of the Legislature of May 5, 1786, granted ten townships at the northern part of the lake for general educational purposes, but these were afterward replaced by a grant of 1,680,000 acres in the counties of Cayuga, Onondaga, Oswego, Schuyler, Seneca, Tompkins, and Wayne. This grant is known as the reservation for educational purposes in the "military tract." Six lots in each township were reserved as follows: one for promoting the Gospel and a public school; one for promoting literature in the State; and the other four to equalize the shares of claimants under the bounty act. In 1769 the supervisors of Onondaga County, which then included the whole of this tract, were authorized to set apart the lots to be devoted to literature. These and other reservations were granted to separate institutions or sold to increase the general literature fund. Thus, for example, the literature lots in townships 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 20 were granted to Union College, while others, from time to time, were granted by special acts of the Legislature to various academies. Eight townships in St. Lawrence County were sold and the proceeds were given to the literature fund, with the exception of $1,000 to Middlebury Academy in 1823, $1,000 to Redhook Academy in 1824, and $2,500 to St. Lawrence Academy in 1825. These latter grants were made by special acts of the Legislature.4

Much had been done for the support of academies by general and special grants of land, and the Legislature had attempted to supply the deficiency of these grants by special money appropriations. The greatest of the latter was the act of 1792, which granted an annuity of £1,500 for five years for the benefit of academies.5 But the origin of a permanent Literature Fund, the interest of which was to be used for the support of academies and the principle to remain undiminished, dates from the act of the Legislature of 1813, which provided that certain unsold lands in the military tract, or the counties of Broome and Chenango, should be sold and the proceeds invested to secure a regularly-paid interest. "And the regents of the university shall make such distribution of the annual income amongst the several incorporated academies of this State as in their judgment shall be just and equitable.”“

By an act passed April 12, 1813, the Crumhorn Mountain Tract was authorized to be sold and the proceeds were to be used for the benefit of academies, as the regents might direct. The avails of this sale, amounting to $10,416, went into the Literature Fund.

Afterward used for military purposes.

2 Laws of New York, Greenleaf, II, 317.
3 Hist. Rec., 84.

* Statutes, 45, 330, 82.

5 Greenleaf, II, 479.

6 Statutes, p. 319. 1813.

The Literature Fund was further increased by an act of 18191 authorizing the arrears of quit-rents, amounting to $53,380, to be equally divided between the Literature and the Common School Funds. And

in 1827, April 13,2 the avails of the lands belonging to the Canal Fund to the amount of $150,000 were to be devoted to the enlargement of the Literature Fund, and to be distributed for the support of incorporated academies and seminaries, excluding colleges, which were subject to the visitation of the regents.

LOTTERIES FOR THE LITERATURE FUND.

At the present day it seems a questionable way to support colleges and schools by means of lotteries. But at the beginning of this century there seems to have existed a mania for lotteries, and they were considered a legitimate method of raising money. Many colleges and academies and even churches availed themselves of lotteries to replenish their funds. Nearly all of the young States indulged in this method, and New York especially was much given to this mild gambling for public gain.

By an act of the Legislature, passed April 3, 1801, entitled "An act for the promotion of literature," provision was made for four successive lotteries of twenty-five thousand dollars each; $12,500 of the avails of each was to be paid to the Literature Fund, and this was to be distributed among the academies by the regents; the remainder was to be devoted to the support of the common schools.3

4

By an act of 1832 the management of the Literature Fund was directed to be transferred from the control of the regents to the State Comptroller, who was to audit all accounts for the support of academies and for current expenses. At this time the Literature Fund was largely invested in bank stock, State stock, bonds, and mortgages, amounting in all to only $59,407.51, with property held in trust by the regents amounting to $9,905.07. This fund amounted September 30, 1888, to $284,201.30. Its revenue is applied entirely to the support of academies.. The United States Deposit Fund of 1836 was entirely devoted to education. The principal of this fund amounted to $4,014,520.71, and from its income, $28,000 are given annually to the support of academies. Thus has the Literature Fund continually increased, and its entire proceeds have been directed to the support of academies. But this fund failing to meet the requirements, an appropriation of $125,000 was made by Legislature, the money to be divided as the present Literature Fund. A tax of one-sixteenth of a mill was levied on each dollar of valuation. It was provided in the act of distribution of the funds in 18737 that no more money should be paid to a school under the control

1 1 Chap. 222, Laws of 1819, p. 298.

2 Chap. 228, Laws of 1827, p. 237.

3 Chap. 53, Laws of 1801

5 Chap. 571, Laws of 1872.
6 Chap. 736, Laws of 1872.

7 Chap. 642, Laws of 1873.

4

Chap. 8, Laws of 1882

of any religious or denominational sect or society. This State aid to academies, which was appropriated in 1872, was not continued by subsequent Legislatures. But in 18871 the Legislature enacted that sixty thousand dollars should each year be appropriated, to be distributed by the regents of the university in the same way as the income of the Literature Fund is distributed.

UNION COLLEGE.

Union

The first movement toward the foundation of Union College was made in 1779, by the circulation of a petition for a bill to charter Clinton College at Schenectady. This plan failing, measures were taken in 1785 to found an academy in the town of Schenectady. The enterprise was supported entirely by private munificence. On December 30, 1791, the Legislature was memorialized without success for a grant of land for the support of the new institution. In February, 1792, the proprietors of the academy petitioned the Legislature for a charter, which was denied on account of lack of sufficient funds. In the following year the petition was renewed in a different form, asking for an academic charter, which was granted January 26, 1793.

After repeated attempts a charter for Union College was obtained February 25, 1795, from the segents of the university, to whom authority had been given by the Legislature. The property of the Schenectady Academy was made over to its support. The Legislature came to the assistance of the new and struggling institution, and made the following grants: By an act of April 9, 1795, the sum of $3,750 was granted for books; April 11, 1796, ten thousand dollars for building purposes; March 30, 1797, $1,500 for salaries; and on March 7, 1800, ten thousand dollars for building and permanent funds. By the last act the trustees were granted the power to select ten lots in the military tract, to be sold, and the proceeds to be devoted to the use of the college. The sale of these lands, together with others near Lake George, yielded over fifty thousand dollars. Previous to 1804 the whole amount given by the State in support of the college was $78,112.13,2 and this was either as appropriations of money or funds from the sale of lands. In 1804 began the celebrated administration of Dr. Nott, continuing for over a half-century. Dr. Nott, although a Christian minister, according to the fashion of his times began to provide for an ample endowment by the aid of lotteries. On March 30, 1805, an act of the Legislature granted the privilege of a lottery of eighty thousand dollars in four drawings, and on April 13, 1813, an act authorized a lottery of two hundred thousand dollars,3 designating the proceeds for several purposes. Thus was Union College aided in time of need by the generosity of the State, although, like most of the old colleges, it was largely sup

1 Chap. 602, Laws of 1887.

2 Chap. 62, Laws of 1805.

3 Chap. 120, Laws of 1814.

ported by private donations. The entire State aid given to Union College amounted to $358,111.

HAMILTON COLLEGE.

The third college in New York, that of Hamilton, located at Clinton, received material assistance from the State. It had its origin in an academy chartered under the name of Hamilton-Oneida, on January 31, 1793, at the village of Clinton. The academy was opened in 1799 for the admission of students. After a successful period of growth for a term of 12 years it was transformed into a college, under a charter granted by the Regents, May 26, 1812. By an act1 of the Legislature of June 19, of the same year, the college was endowed with the sum of fifty thousand dollars in bonds, secured on the unsold lands of the Oneida Reservation. The general lottery act of 1814 gave to Hamilton College the sum of forty thousand dollars. In 1836 the State made an annual appropriation of three thousand dollars, which ceased under the provisions of the new Constitution of 1846. The total State aid amounted to only one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, but the permanent funds of the college in 1881 amounted to $269,332.56.

The University of the City of New York received a grant of six thousand dollars per annum from 1838 to 1843, and other institutions have received special appropriations; but the history of these institutions must be omitted here. A general summary of the grants will be given at the close of this part of the subject.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY.

The nearest approach to a State institution of superior instruction found in New York is furnished by Cornell University. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, and Superintendent of Public Instruction are in virtue of their respective offices members of the board of trustees. Hon. Ezra Cornell agreed to give five hundred thousand dollars, for the foundation of the university, provided that the proceeds of the Agricultural Land Grant should remain undivided, and be devoted to said university for the purpose of instruction in the mechanical arts and agriculture.

New York State received 990,000 acres in land scrip from the United States grant of 1862, part of which was sold for eighty-five cents per acre. Land scrip went down, and by an act of the Legislature of April 10, 1866, the Comptroller was authorized to sell the land to the trustees of Cornell University, or to any person giving good security, for not less than thirty cents per acre. Mr. Cornell bought the remaining portion, and agreed to pay into the State treasury the net proceeds of these lands, the sum to be held as the Cornell Endowment Fund, and to be used exclusively for the support of the university. The profits of this investment will amount at least to two millions of dollars.

1Chap. 237, Laws of 1812.

Chap. 481, Laws of 1866,

By the laws of 1865,1 which were amended in 1872,3 and again in 1887,3 Cornell University is obliged to receive from each Assembly district one student annually, to whom is given free instruction in all branches in the four-years' course. This act gives free tuition continually to five hundred and twelve students. The privilege is determined on a basis of superior scholarship, and is determined by competitive examinations conducted by the Department of Public Instruction.

The State has done very little for the support of Cornell University; the chief benefactors are Ezra Cornell and the Federal Government. Stimulated by these magnificent gifts, private donations have poured in for the support of this great institution, which in purpose and design is a complete State University.

THE STATE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

The regents of the University of New York were created by an act of the Legislature in 1845, trustees of the Cabinet of Natural History. By an act passed in 1870 the name was formally changed to the New York State Museum of Natural History. The board has the power to appoint the scientific staff, consisting of a director and his assistants, a State entomologist, and a State botanist. The Museum is a means of increasing scientific knowledge in the State. It received its first impulse through the State Geological Survey, and the attempt which grew out of this survey to form a collection of the natural productions of New York. By an act of the Legislature of November, 1840, the old State Hall at Albany was set apart for the reception of the collections.1 They were put in charge of the regents. The Legislature also appropriated two thousand dollars for fitting up the building and the cases. In 1857 a new building replaced the old one, to meet the demands of the growing collection.

A new interest was awakened in the Museum by the discovery of the mastodon at Cohoes in 1866, and the Legislature in the next session granted five thousand dollars for the purchase of the Gould collection of shells, of sixty thousand specimens, representing six thousand species.

In 1870 a law was passed making an annual appropriation of ten thousand dollars for the support of the director and three assistants, as well as for current expenses. Also the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars was appropriated for the salary of the State botanist. By an act passed in 1881 the sum of two thousand dollars was appropriated for the annual salary of a State entomologist.

The Legislature by an act of 1883 directed that the State Hall, as rapidly as it was vacated by the State officers, should be set apart for the use of the Museum, and in the same act increased the annual ap

1 Chap. 585, Laws of 1865.

2 Chap. 634, Laws of 1872.

3 Chap. 291, Laws of 1887.
Chap. 245, Laws of 1840, 192.

[ocr errors]
« AnteriorContinuar »