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BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS No.44 ISSl)'ED SE::<U-MONTHLY Genernl Series, No. 8 November 1, 1904 THE PRIDE OF TEXANS AND THEIR UNIVERSITY BY THOS. H. MONTGOMERY, JR., PH. D., Professor of Zoology, The University of Texas PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS Entered as second-class mail matter at tlte postojfice at Austin, Texa,; PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS The various publications which are sent out by the University of Texas are classified into the five series of Bulletins listed below, and are officially designated as "Bulletins of the University of Texas." All of these Bulletins, with the exception of the RECORD, which falls within the gener!J.l series, are distributed free. Persons wishing to receive any of the series regularly should carefully specify in writing the particular ones desired. Any single Bulletin will be sent upon request. The subscription price of the RECORD is one dollar ($1) per volume of four numbers. EDITORIAL STAFF W. J. BATTLE, C.H. HUBERICH, F. W. SIMONDS, KILLIS CAMPBELL, H. Y. BENEDICT, H. E. BOLTON, Editor-in-Chief Humanistic Series Scientific Series Official Series General Series Business Manager Address all business communications to HERBER'!' EUGENE BOLTON, AUSTIN, TEXAS. 390-904-1 m. THE PRIDE Oif TEXANS AND THEIR UNIVERSl'l1Y. THOS. H. MONTGOMERY, JR., PH. D., Professor of Zoology In The University of Texas. To the traveler from the East in any one of the more prosperous of the Western States, one of the most striking characteristics of the people appea1·s to be the pride in the rapid achievements of their State. This is not mere braggadocio, but springs from honest and deep-rooted convictions of excellence. Texas leads in this, and her people are more outspoken and confident than even the people of Maine, Ohio, North Carolina, or Kentucky. In the older States the people are apt to forget the glories of their history, and in the old Thirteen States the past has c:ome to be looked upon as a matter of fact rather than of interest, to such an extent that only the younger historical associations have begun to awaken some enthusi-asm. There, too, State pride often changes to pride in a particular city, as in the case of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Xewport, or San Augustine, as being an epitome of all that is best in the State; and this spirit is entering into the newer districts of the country as fast as large cities segregate. In Texas one is soon asked, not what he thinks of the country, but whether he does not admire it. From judge to cow-puncher to clergyman there is the same attitude, and it is a fine thing t-0 see. It is a most natural feeling, with a past marked by wonderful vic-tories and dominated by strong men; a conquest of a people as well as of a cactus waste. Here is not the place, however, to recall the former glories, but to draw remark to the future. Lord Clarendon wrote that "birth conveyeth no merit, but much duty to its inheritor,'' and it is for the present generation of Texans to decide how they should maintain the glory of their forefathers . Surely not by recounting former histor.'·· hut by achling new -2-achievements. Surely not, further, by drawing .attention to the fact that their State is the largest geographically in the Union; size in ·itself is of no commendation. Then, perhaps, by her agricultural achiernments, the continued increase of the hug,e acreage of cotton and corn lands, and in the number of liYe stock. But no one should think the~e ac:rnmplishments are glorious in themselves. They spell material wealth, and that means increase in population and good use of capital; that is merely an outcome of the natural fertility of the soil in a rnried topography. Texans have not made this soil fertile, but merely use its resources, so it is simply a means for wealth, and not a proper basis for State pride. Texans would be justified in such pride had they secured good crops from a barren ground, but the soil needs nothing but water and the plough. The great natural reosourc:es have drawn the people, and will continue to do so; and the population grows concomitantly and achieves wealth; but to a people of any high ideals this wealth can not be a sourc:e of pride. \Yhat illuminates so radiantly the history of Texas? The forti-tude of the early settlers and their Yirility. There were men in those days. They kept in mind high ideals, and lopped off the member that offended in order that they might live. And now that the State gornrnment is wisely established, and there is no longer a call for men to exploration and war, Texans must decide what they should do with their wealth to maintain the reputation of their ancestors. Go to Cambridge or Baltimore or Xew Haven, and you will find the citizens there have the most pride in the university. These are private institutions, supported without State aid, by the en-thusiastic help of thei·r alumni. West of the :Mississippi, with one great exception, the strong universities are the State universities, strong because of pride in them by the people, and, therefore, well supported. Look at the much older State universities of Holland, Germany, and France; does not everyone there point ro them as great national achievements? They are not considered luxuries, but necessities. The Frenchman speaks with honest pride of the Pasteur Institute, as does the Englishman of the British Museum, or the German of any one of many universities. Talk with the Swiss peasants, and they will tell you that they mean their sons to go to the University of Basel or Zurich, even though after gradua--3-tion they should become herdsmen again. And the Russian has his greatest national pride in two things, the Kremlin, and the uni-versity of St. Petersburg. .Equally with the army, the necessary condition of their independence as an empire, the Gen~ans rank their system of universities. Why do not Texans take this attitude toward their own State uni-versity? \.Vhy do they not so support it as to make it the accom-plishment of this generation'.-' There is no use hiding the fae:t that the University of Texas rec:eives much less support than a number of otJ1er State universitie-3 in the West whic:h are of but little or no greater age; and on this acc:ount she is heavily handic:apped in her work. The very fact that in all the older countrie.;; the uni-versitie::; are regarded as of almost prime importance is rnfficient reason to come to her rnpport; and we are fortunately long past the time when it is necessary to argue for the need of higher ecluca-tion. We laughed over the foundation, some ten or fifteen years ago, of a private university by a man who believed it would return him dividends, and who was much surprised to find that it proved a very expensive venture. The plain matter of fact is that no uniYer-sity, private or State, can ever be self-supporting. A university can always use all the money given her, and cau never be quite satisfied. A State government has good uses for much more than the amount of its annual revenues, and a university is in the same position. ..\ great university can be supported by small means only when good professors can he secured and kept by .-.cry small sala-rie,;; hut unless the name of the university is alrcad.Y Yery high in the estimation of the educ:ationa.l world such men can not be secured on such terms. The rnirnrsity of Texas is not a completed institution, and never can be, any more than a goYernment or a library, but, if Texans are to take pride in it, it must grow and expand continually and continuously. °'.\'fore buildings are urgently needed at present, and the new ones should be thoroughly fire-proof. Of the first import-ance is a large fund for the needs of the library. Scientific litera-ture is very vast today, and for the most part sc-atterecl through the files of numerous journals, society proceerli n~s, and museum publications; some of it can not be secured for the loYe of mone~·. Many of these older journals are ea.ch year becoming more difficult to obtain, and now is the time when they may be obtained most cheaply. Texas lacks libraries almost entirely, Jet she has the greatest need of them, for her scholars must travel at least as far as ·Chicago to find a fairly good general library, and to Philadelphia or Cambridge to find a really excellent library in the Natural Sciences. Get a great reference library here, and you will not only keep Texans in Texas, but draw scholars from other States. No one who has <lone considerable work in some special field can ap-preciate how large a good library must be, and how much it means. At the University of Texas at the present time in many lines of work one finds practically no literature at all, and this means that there can not be any competent investigation in those subjects. This is not the fault of anyone connected with the library, but of the entirely insufficient fund. The amount of quite $50,000 ought to be immediately available for putting the library on a working basis; and after that there should be $10,000 annually for general purchases. It then would become a great library, by no means for specialists alone, but representative in all branches of knowledge. These estimates of expense are not beyond wha't a number of other State universities are doing. It would be the great library of the South and \Vest, and make Texas better knmrn over the educated world than any amount of increase in the number of cotton bales. As great is the need to strengthen the instructing staff. This meam both an increase in numbers, so that the students can be given much more individual attention. than is poosible at present; and also an increase in the number of professor:; who are known by their writings in literature and science, not only through the United States, but also in foreign lands. The faculty make the university; many a famous foreign laboratory is housed in miser-able buildings, with poor facilities of ~quipment, and yet the work that has gone out from it is famous wherever there are think-ing men. And the man who is an investigator very frequently makes the best teacher. To get and keep men of this kind, good salaries are necessary; for they are not men who compete for posi-tions, but for \\·horn universities compete. Is Texas to have no adequate representation of men famed in literature and science and art? The name and rank of a univ.ersity depend just upon the men who compose its facnlt~-, and the kind of work they are doing in their publicatiom. aml no uniwrsity has ever yet gotten fame -5-simply by number of students. or buildings, but at the most, only local repute. And if Tex.ans wish to put it all in that light, they must remember that theoretical advances, that is, pure science, must precede great applications. Back of the University of Texas is a ~tate whose material re-sources are second to none. 'l'exans can not plead any Iack of means. Let the State pride not linger upon accomplishments of the previom generation; the pioneers broke the ground, and it is for us to plant the seed and harvest it. Use more of her material wealth for upbuilding a great system of State education. If the University UPcomes what she should be she will stretch out her hands to help the schools. Finally T exans will be able to point to the establishment of a really great university, a center of teach-ing, of research, and of broad education in all its fields ; and will have, in so doing, another reason for pride in the State. In the Texas Declaration of Independence one of the stated grievances against Mexico was that she had failed to provide for educational facilities. Tha t was nearly sevenrt:y yea r~ ago; have the two suc-ceeding generations clone a.11 they might have done? It should be a question of honor for the people out of their great resources to extend and enlarge the work of the University of Texas. THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 'MAIN UNIVERSITY, AUSTIN MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, GALVESTON WM. L. PRATHER, LL. D., President Coeducational. Tuition FREE. Matriculation fee $30.00 (Payable in Academic and Engineering Depart-ments in three annual installments). Annual expense $150.00 and upward. Proper credit for work in other institutions. MAIN UNIVERSITY Session opens September 28, 1904. Largest and best equipped Libraries, La bora tori es, Na tnr al History and Geological Collections, Men's and Women's Dormitories and Gymnasiums in Texas. Board at Cost. Academic Department: courses of liberal study lead-ing to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and courses leading to State Teachers' Certificates. Engineering Department: courses leading to de-gree~ in Civil, Electrical, Mining, and Sanitary Engi-neering. Law Department: A three-year course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Shorter special courses for specially equipped students. For further information and,catalogue, address G. C. F. BUTTE, Registrar, Main University, Austin, Texas. MEDICAL DEPARTMENT Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy and Nursing. Ses-sion of eight months begins October 1, 1904. Four-year graded course in Medicine; two-year courses in Pharmacy and Nursing. Laboratories thoroughly equipped for practical teaching. Exceptional clinical advantages in the John Sealy Hospital. University Hall provides a comfortable home for women students of Medicine. For further information and catalogue, address DR. W. S. CARTER, Dean, Medical Department, Galveston, Texas. 

The Pride of Texas and Their University

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The Pride of Texas and Their University

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