16 /7¥ 
 
3d Session. ' f \ No. 1433. 
 
 63d CoNGKfcss, \ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, j Report 
 
 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 February 23, 1915. — Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state 
 of the Union and ordered to be printed. 
 
 Mr. Fess, from the Committee on Education, submitted the following 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 [To accompany H. R. 11749.] 
 
 The Committee on Education, having considered the bill to provide 
 for a national university, report: 
 
 Popular education lies at the foundation of our democratic system 
 of government. To supply it must largely rest with the States. 
 Marked advancement has been made in this field. Illiteracy is being 
 rapidly banished. Vocational training is receiving attention. 
 
 Higher education is also well cared for in colleges, universities, and 
 technical schools. Almost every State has its system of State normal 
 schools for the training of teachers. Most of them have the State 
 university, primarily for agricultural and mechanical training, but in 
 later years the modern State university, answering to wider demands, 
 which do graduate work. There are nearly 500 colleges, private and 
 denominational, within the boundaries of the United States. Among 
 these there are a few heavily endowed institutions which do graduate 
 work, in addition to the regular college work. 
 
 Notwithstanding the galaxy of American higher educational insti- 
 tutions, its colleges, universities, and technical schools, many of 
 which stand very high educationally, the country does not have a 
 university in the true sense. In every institution, however good, the 
 chief work, the mass of students, the large proportion of teaching 
 force, the major use of laboratories, etc., are devoted to under- 
 graduate work, to college rather than university work. We have no 
 single institution devoted to the sort and degree of work chiefly done 
 by the Berlin University. Such an institution as is here proposed 
 would complete our system of education by utilizing the vast resources 
 here in the capital for the special research of the expert investigator. 
 
 The proposal here is to materialize the ambition of the founder of 
 the Nation. 
 
 Washington made a National University a specific item of recom- 
 mendation at different times in his messages to Congress. He com- 
 
2 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 municated his views in writing to such men as Randolph, Hamilton, 
 and Jefferson, members of his Cabinet. He made specific recom- 
 mendations to State officials of Virginia, including Gov. Brooke, in 
 1795; he solemnly urged it in his Farewell Address in 1796, and in 
 the same year he communicated his wish to the Commissioners of 
 the District of Columbia, even going so far as to indicate his will- 
 ingness to set aside a fund for its establishment and to specify the 
 probable site of the plant. 
 
 Before his death he had the indorsement of most public men, 
 inside and outside of the two Houses of Congress. In 1799 his will 
 contained a bequest of 50 shares ($500 each) of Potomac stock for 
 the beginning. 
 
 His scheme was most heartily indorsed in ofhcial capacity by John 
 Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, J. Q. 
 Adams, and Andrew Jackson. Jefferson, one of the country's 
 earliest patrons of education, even went to the extent of proposing 
 to Gen. Washington the transplanting of a European college, fac- 
 ulty and all, as an early step in the enterprise. 
 
 The appearance near the forties of sectional differences and the 
 expression of the fear of too much centralization caused the friends 
 of the enterprise to rest. In the forties and fifties much talk and some 
 efforts were active in building such an institution at Albany, N. Y. 
 The Civil War further shut out interest in the Washington project. 
 
 Interest was finally revived in 1869 by John W. Hoyt, who had 
 made a tour of careful inspection of the European institutions of 
 higher learning. The merits of Commissioner Hoyt's efforts lie in his 
 effective work in creating a favorable impression among educators in 
 the country. The results of his progaganda were noticed in the in- 
 terest of the National Teachers' Association. At its annual meeting 
 in 1869, held at Trenton, N. J., the association adopted a resolution 
 offered by A. J. Rickoff, of Ohio, committing the association to the 
 project. It also appointed a committee of 35, representing all parts 
 of the Union and all the liberal as well as business ])rofessions, and 
 upon which appear the names of Rickoff', of Ohio, and Wickersham, 
 of Pennsylvania. From that day to this, this great association has 
 stood committed to the consummation of the great undertaking. 
 Of all its many great heads not one has rendered more valiant service 
 than its present head. President Swain of Swarthmore College. 
 
 It was largely through this body, ably seconded by numerous great 
 scholars in college and university circles, that there was won support 
 of such men as Senator Charles Sumner, T. O. White, J. W. Patterson, 
 M. H. Carpenter, J. J. IngaUs, W. B. Allison, L. Q. C. Lamar, A. H. 
 Garland, and many others. Through the influence of these men a 
 bill was introduced in both Houses of Congress in 1872. By this time 
 the propaganda was winning the support of most of the college heads 
 of the country. One very important exception was President Chas. 
 W. Eliot. In 1873 President Grant made the university proposition 
 an item of favorable recommendation in his annual message. The 
 National Education Association continued by resolution and ad- 
 dresses to keep the matter before the public. President Hayes in- 
 dorsed the project in 1878. L. Q. C. Lamar, Secretary of the Interior 
 under Cleveland, called the attention of the country to the neglect in 
 his report to the President. In 1890 the Senate created a special 
 standing committee, to be known as the National University Com- 
 
 n. OF 0. 
 
 I^Ah '"^ 1915 
 
NATIOlSrAL UNIVEESITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 6 
 
 mittee, which is still in existence, although quite dormant. The 
 National Association of State University Presidents, representing all 
 the State universities of the Nation, is also another significant associa- 
 tion backing the movement. 
 
 Looking over the activities working for this consummation, one is 
 bewildered over the fact that in the face of it all there is nothing 
 accomplished by the Government. 
 
 Note the factors: 
 
 1. Urged by Washington. 
 
 2. Seconded by at least 10 of his successors. 
 
 3. Supported by at least half a dozen justices of the Supreme Court, 
 including Chief Justices Jay, Rutledge, Marshall, and Chase. 
 
 4. Formally recommended by at least 20 Cabinet mmisters, among 
 them the most brilliant lights of our Nation. 
 
 5. Formal support by the heads of both the Army and Navy. 
 
 6. Enthusiastic advocacy of the heads of at least 400 colleges and 
 universities. 
 
 7. Almost unanimous indorsement of both the scholars and 
 learned associations of the countr}^. 
 
 8. Advocacy by the leading clergymen of the country. 
 
 9. Advocacy of the public-school men and women in the country. 
 
 10. Support of various women's organizations of the land. 
 
 11. Warm support at different times of the Senate as a body. 
 This array of advocates would seem enough to enact any law that 
 
 had an element of merit in it. 
 
 This support is. based upon the following facts: 
 
 What we need in Washington is an institution not so much to 
 multiply scholars as to develop scholarship ; not to teach learners, but 
 to produce research workers; not so much to disseminate knowledge 
 already known, but to cultivate the power to find what is 3?'et un- 
 known. 
 
 Such, an institution will not interfere with nor supersede the hun- 
 dreds of institutions already existing, but it will supplement them, 
 as it will indeed depend upon them for its supply of students seeking 
 the rank of special experts. Instead of weakening the existent 
 university or college, like the multiplied collective strand, it gains its 
 strength from a combination of all without weakening any one. 
 
 It will be in a unique sense our university and will develop the 
 sense of pride and democratic support not now felt by any institution. 
 It will thus be sought by our ambitious men as they pass from college 
 or university to the more specialized field of expert investigation. 
 Graduate, as well as professor, who may be desired for some special 
 work now and then, will look toward it. It ^vill thus divert the flow / 
 of American students from Berlin, Paris, Oxford, Jena, and Vienna, ^ 
 to Washington. 
 
 Not only this, but it will most certainly become the most metro- 
 politan institution, patronized by the largest groups of European 
 students as well as students from all other progressive countries in the 
 world. The records of immigration to America for the past 50 
 years'" are conclusive of this statement. 
 
 There can not be serious doubt of the effect of such a national 
 university upon scholarship in our own country. Washington long 
 ago had come to be one of the greatest scientific centers of the earth. 
 Here are assembled the most remarkable collections in the way of 
 
4 NATIOlSrAL UlSriVEESITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 scientific i:aaterial known to tlie scientific world. Here the various 
 departments of scientific investigation, headed by the world's best 
 experts, aided by a group of trained workers, with separate labo- 
 ratories and exj^erimental facilities, run up into the hundreds. Here, 
 also, are domiciled 34 associations devoted to the investigations of 
 truth in various spheres. At least that number are incorporated by 
 act of Congress. These make Washington attractive to the scholar 
 of all countries. Many of the societies that are not domiciled here 
 hold their annual meetings at the Capital. 
 
 If anyone should doubt the wisdom of the establishment of such 
 an institution upon the ground that we do not need it, or upon the 
 ground of expense, or of corrupt control, or upon any other ground, 
 a complete answer is the Smithsonian Institution. This institution, 
 established in 1840, with a $500,000 bequest, has proved itself to be 
 one of the most successful in the advancement of knowledge. To- 
 day it is well housed in buildings worth at least as much as the 
 original gift, and it has accumulated collections of books and manu- 
 scripts by the simple method of Government exchange, with slight 
 cost to anyone of an amount beyond the original gift. Besides this, 
 here under such men as Henry, Baird, Powell, Newcomb, Goode, 
 Langley, and others, have grown up these rare agencies of advance- 
 ment in useful knowledge. Here telegraphy was perfected and then 
 turned over to the Government. Research on the lines of climate, 
 meteorology, etc., was conducted by these leaders of science and was 
 finally allowed to grow under governmental agencies into the pres- 
 ent Weather Bureau. Under the direction of Prof. Baird investiga- 
 tions of life in the sea, with special relation to fish purely in a 
 scientific interest, grew into the Government Fish Commission, 
 now so important as an agency under experts attempting to supply 
 needed food from* the wastes of ocean waters. Other important 
 governmental agencies had their beginnings here. The Congressional 
 Library, America's greatest collection of books, housed in the world's 
 most beautiful building, was started in the same way by the same 
 institution. 
 
 In view of such results flowing from this single establishment, we 
 ask, what is the possibility of a national university under a similar 
 management with means multiplied and a field unlimited ? Even 
 to-day there exists in the Capital the university, only awaiting organi- 
 zation, housing, and research students. Probably in no one place in 
 the world is there such a rare and numerous aggregation of material 
 for laboratory use as in Washington. No university could gather such 
 laboratory facilities. 
 
 The bill provides that there shall be established in the District of 
 Columbia an institution of higher learning, to be known as the 
 National University of the United States. 
 
 Its purpose is to promote the advance of science, pure and applied, 
 and of the hberal and fine arts by original investigation and research 
 and such other means as may appear suitable. Furthermore, to train 
 
 men and women for posts of responsibility in the pubhc and private 
 
 /^service of State and Nation; also to cooperate with the scientific 
 departments of the Federal Government and with the various colleges 
 and universities, pubhc and private, tlu'oughout the country. This 
 last purpose is one of the most important. 
 
NATIONAL UNIVEESITY OP THE UNITED STATES. 5 
 
 Located in various parts of the city are museums, bureaus, observa- 
 tories, exchanges, laboratories, etc., any one of which is not to be 
 found in equal richness of material in any place in the country. The 
 Agricultural Department alone is a good example. Here in one 
 department of investigation are found: (a) The Weather Bureau, 
 with almost a score of experts at work; (b) the Bureau of Animal 
 Industry, with over a dozen experts; (c) the Bureau of Plant Indus- 
 try, with nearly 40 experts; (d) the Forest Service, with about 30 
 experts; (e) the Bureau of Chemistry, with at least 35 experts; 
 (/) the Bureau of Soils, with 7 experts; (g) the Bureau of Ento- 
 mology, with more than a dozen experts; (h) the Bureau of Bio- 
 logical Survey, with a half-dozen experts; besides experts from 6 to 
 15 in charge of separate Bureaus of Accounts and Disbursements, 
 Pubhcations, Statistics, Library, Experiment Stations, and PubHc 
 Roads. This last is the youngest of many research foundations here 
 in the Capital which fitly represent the scientific operations of the 
 Government. There is scarcely a single field of expert investigation 
 that is not well worked here, and by the world's greatest experts, and 
 with the highest results. The annual reports of these various bureaus 
 that number in the hundreds would make a Mbrary. The monetary 
 value represented wiU reach into the millions of dollars. To operate 
 them requires about five millions a year. The experts employed, and 
 those elsewhere affiliated with the work here, will number into the 
 hundreds. 
 
 The new discoveries announced from time to time are world-wide 
 n import, and some of them revolutionize scientific knowledge. Air 
 navigation was solved by governmental investigation. The Panama 
 Canal was made possilble by governmental engineering skill. YeUow 
 fever was annihilated by a Government expert. Probably more use- 
 ful applications of scientific knowledge have been perfected in Wash- 
 ington than in any other place in the world. 
 
 The easy possibility of utilizing these unequaled resources for stimu- 
 lating wide-awake students is the chief and immediate ground for the 
 proposed institution. 
 
 It is to be a graduate institution. 
 
 The ultimate authority in the government of the institution is 
 vested in a board of trustees appointed by the President of the United 
 States; but this board must consult and consider the counsel and 
 advice of a national advisory council, consisting of one representative 
 from each State in the Union, this representative to be the president 
 of the State university in those States in which there is a State uni- 
 versity, and in those States where no such institution exists a person 
 to be appointed by the governor of the State. This form of organi- 
 zation secures two great advantages. It secures the efficiency, 
 economy, promptness, and vigor of administration characteristic of a 
 small board vested with full authority to act. 
 
 The institution is authorized to accept gifts and donations of money 
 or property from any private citizen or pubhc body, provided these 
 gifts be given with no conditions attached for the general purposes of 
 the university. This university will have an organic affiliation with 
 educational institutions of other countries by which we wiU have the 
 exchange of professorships. It would be difficult to estimate the 
 influence upon a better understanding and relationship with all 
 countries of ideas as an organization of this sort located at the capital 
 
6 jSTATIONAL UlSriVEIlSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 of the nation. It would be a far greater insurance against world 
 warfare than battleships. Now, when Europe is in the tliroes of war 
 and all education is at a standstill, is the time to establish this 
 institution. 
 
 It goes without saying that such an institution must be free from 
 all characteristics that dominate modern college life. Modern ath- 
 letics, college spirit, and the consec{Ut3nt police disciplinary features, 
 all proper in their places, will have no place here. Even degrees are . 
 not to be sought. 
 
 In this beautiful Capital of the Nation, with the galaxy of great 
 buildings, housing such treasures of art and science, with its many 
 associations, representing great learning, the significant item of 
 world meaning, the crown of it all is lackmg — a national university. 
 
 If the Government would make good the $25,000, the gift of the 
 father of the country for this purpose, it would materialize now not 
 less than S4, 000, 000. If we add to this such gifts as may be offered 
 by benefactors the endowment can be placed easily in the $100,000,000 
 mark. 
 
 The bill carries an initial appropriation of $500,000. The organi- 
 zation and location of buildings will be left to the board of control. 
 The committee believes such an institution is demanded in the interest 
 of learning by the highest dignity and welfare of the Nation and the 
 honor of the founder of the Republic who urgently recommended it 
 together with other distinguished Americans. 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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