On 16 Feb. 1857, the State legislature of Michigan appropriated $40,000 for the erec tion of buildings, instruction and maintenance for the years of 1857 and 1858. The institu tion opened to receive students 13 May 1857. State supported colleges of agriculture were es tablished in Pennsylvania and Maryland in 1859.
Land Grant Undoubtedly there would have been a gradual development of col leges of agriculture on the basis of State sup port, but even before the establishment of the Michigan College of Agriculture there had been proposed plans for Federal aid. To whom the credit for this suggestion belongs is in doubt. Probably it had independent origin in the minds of several men. The first bill introduced in Congress touching on this subject was of fered by Justin P. Morrill in 1857. At that time Mr. Morrill was a member of the House of Representatives from the State of Vermont. This bill made provision for granting to each State 20,000 acres of land for each senator and each representative in Congress. It was finally passed 7 Feb. 1859. It was, however, vetoed by President Buchanan. The matter then rested until after President Lincoln's election, when Mr. Morrill again introduced a bill, drawn on lines similar to the previous measure except that it made provision for granting 30,000 acres of land to each State for each senator and representative in Congress. This measure be came a law on 2 July 1862, when President Lincoln's signature was affixed.
It provides that the income from these lands shall be used by each State which accepts the benefits of the act °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 in cluding military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and mechanic arts, in such manner as the legisla ture of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the sev eral pursuits and professions in life." A sup plementary act was passed in 1866 by which provision is made so that when any Territory becomes a State it is entitled to the benefits of the Act of 1862, or the First Morrill Act as it is commonly called.
The Second Morrill Act became a law 30 Aug. 1890. This act provided for an initial allotment to the States of $15,000 per year with an automatic increase of $1,000 annually until the sum of $25,000 was reached in 1900. The
purpose of this legislation was for the °more complete endowment and support of the col leges for the benefit of agriculture and me chanic arts established under the provisions of an act of Congress, approved July second, eighteen hundred and Under the terms of this law, there is provision for the division of the funds between colleges for white and colored students in States where separate institutions are maintained.
The Nelson amendment was approved 14 March 1907. This provided for an increase of $25,000 a year to the allotments made under the Second Morrill Act. The initial grant , was $5,000 and was subject to an annual increase of $5,000 until the maximum of $25,000 was at tained. Under the two acts, the Second Mor rill Law and the Nelson Amendment, the an nual grant to each State is $50,000.
Through the provisions of the three acts there has been a marked development of State colleges of agriculture. As a result there are at the present time 67 of these institutions in cluding those for colored students. There are 17 of these. In 1915 the total income of the land grant colleges was $31,961,765, of which amount only $3,552,077 came from Federal sources. According to a report from the United States Bureau of Education there were in 1915-16 private colleges to the number of 16, giving instruction in agriculture.
The debates that took place in Congress a the time of the passage of the First Morrill Act showed no clear conception as to what these colleges when established were to accom plish. It is also true that much diversity has been shown in the use of the funds by the States. In some of the eastern States the land grant was turned over to privately endowed colleges that were in need of funds and in the Middle West in some cases the grants were used as a basis for the establishment of State universities. In spite of these facts in the half century that has elapsed since the passage of the first act strong institutions have been devel oped that have come to have clearly defined aims and fairly definite means of attaining those ends. At present, in most of the insti tutions three lines of activity are clearly de fined: viz., resident teaching, research and extension.