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Show WHOSE PUBLIC LANDS? 25 a million. The bill passed the Senate on January 14, 1873, by a vote of 39 to 14 but meantime a broader measure to give both old and new states the full net return from the sale of public lands had been taken up and passed the House of Representatives.60 Introduced by Legrand VV. Perce of Mississippi (an ex-New Yorker), the bill was intended to create a National Education Fund into which should flow, for investment one-half the net proceeds from public land sales; the balance of the net proceeds and the annual income from the Fund was to be apportioned to the states, territories, and the District of Columbia on the basis of population. For the first year the states and territories were to allocate 50 percent of the income to them for the establishment of normal schools; thereafter, 10 percent of each state's share was to be devoted to this purpose. The measure drew able support from New England, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and that of Republicans from Mississippi and other southern states, particularly after it was amended to provide that the distribution to the states for the first 10 years "shall be made according to the ratio of illiteracy of their respective populations. . . ." In the discussion George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts and Washington Townsend of Pennsylvania had twitted the southern Democrats about the high illiteracy rate prevailing in their states. No one could argue that the money available for distribution under the bill would be sufficient to work miracles (judging by past accounts the amount for all states might come to $1,200,000 yearly), yet it would provide funds for education where little was currently available. A combination of the Republicans concerned about the educational needs of the South and the old state Representatives still hopeful of drawing some direct benefit from the public lands was . Globe, 42d Cong., 2d sess., Feb. 23, 1872, p. 1177, and 43d Cong., 3d sess., Jan. 14, 1873, p. 570, and Senate Journal, 42d Cong., 2d sess. (Serial No. 1477), Feb. 23, 1872, p. 275. successful in carrying the measure to adoption in the House by a vote of 117 to 99.K1 Both Houses had thus passed bills in 1872 and 1873 to provide aid to education through grants to the states of proceeds from public land sales: but in the end, it proved impossible for the conference committee to resolve the differences. The issue was not permitted to die, however. Morrill in the Senate and other friends in the House continued to speak in behalf of land grants or proceeds derived therefrom for the A & M colleges, and bill after bill was introduced in 1874, 1875, 1876, and later but without results. By 1880 Morrill had assembled an able group of lieutenants to help him push through the Senate his favorite bill for the creation of an educational fund from the proceeds of the public lands. Among them were George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts, General Ambrose E. Burnside, Senator from Rhode Island, Henry W. Blair of New Hampshire, and James G. Blaine of Maine. Their measure now provided for investing the net proceeds of public land sales, after deducting the expenses of the Patent Office, in United States Government bonds; the annual interest was to be apportioned to the states and territories on the basis of their population between the ages of 5 and 25, except that for the first 10 years, apportionment was to be made according to the number of people 10 years and older who could neither read nor write. One-third of the income from the endowment was to go to the support of the A & M institutions, until the annual income of each had reached $30,000; the other two-thirds and ultimately all the revenue from the fund was to go for common schools. In the end the measure was amended to allow 50 percent of the first year's income and not over 10 percent thereafter to be devoted to the instruction of teachers for common schools. Skillful and 61 House Journal, 42d Cong., 2d sess., 1871-72, Feb. 7 and 8, 1872 (Serial No 1501), pp. 287-308. |