such States as Ohio. But how has this bountiful appropriation been applied? This chapter in our history has never been written. No member of this House or the Senate; no executive officer of the government now knows, and no man ever did know, what disposition has been made of this immense bounty. This bill requires the Commissioner of Education to report to Congress what lands have been given to schools, and how the proceeds have been applied. If we are not willing to follow the example of our fathers in giving, let us, at least, perpetuate the record of their liberality, and preserve its beneficent results.

Mr. Speaker: I have thus hurriedly and imperfectly exhibited the magnitude of the interests involved in the education of American youth; the peculiar condition of affairs which demand at this time, an increase of our educational forces; the failure of a majority of the States to establish school systems; the long struggles through which others have passed in achieving success, and the humiliating contrast between the action of our government, and those of other nations in reference to education; but I can not close without referring to the bearing of this measure upon the peculiar work of this Congress.

When the history of the XXXIX Congress is written, it will be recorded that two great purposes inspired it, and made their impress upon all its efforts, viz: to build up free States on the ruins of slavery, and to extend to every inhabitant of the United States the rights and privileges of citizenship.

Before the divine Architect builded order out of chaos, He said, "let there be light." Shall we commit the fatal mistake of building up free States without expelling the darkness in which slavery shrouded them? Shall we enlarge the boundaries of citizenship and make no provision to increase the intelligence of the citizen?

I share most fully in the aspirations of this Congress, and give my most cordial support to its policy; but I believe its work will prove a disastrous failure unless it makes the schoolmaster its ally, and aids him in preparing the children of the United States to perfect the work now begun.

The stork is a sacred bird in Holland, and is protected by public law, because it destroys those insects which would undermine the dikes and let the sea again overwhelm the rich fields of the Netherlands. Shall this government do nothing to foster and strengthen those educational agencies which alone can shield the coming generation from ignorance and vice, and make it the impregnable bulwark of liberty and law?

I know that this measure presents few attractions to those whose chief work is to watch the political movements that relate only to nominating conventions and elections. The mere politician will see in it nothing valuable, for the millions of children to be benefited by it, can give him no votes. But I appeal to those who care more for the future safety and glory of this nation than for any mere temporary advantage, to aid in giving to education the public recognition and active support of the Federal government.

The final action of the House on the bill was not reached till the 19th of June, when the question being taken by yeas and nays, it was passed by a vote of 80 yeas to 44 nays, with the following title and provisions

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be established, at the city of Washington, a Department of Education for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems, and methods of teaching, as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be appointed by the I resident, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a Commissioner of Education, who shall be intrusted with the management of the department herein established, and who shall receive a salary of four thousand dollars per annum, and who shall have authority to appoint one chief clerk of his department, who shall receive a salary of two thousand dollars per annum, one clerk who shall receive a salary of eighteen hundred dollars per annum, and one clerk who shall receive a salary of sixteen hundred dollars per annum, which said clerks shall be subject to the appointing and removing power of the Commissioner of Education.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Education to present annually to Congress a report embodying the results of his investigations and labors, together with a statement of such facts and recommendations as will, in his judgment, subserve the purpose for which this department is established. In the first report made by the Commissioner of Education under this act there shall be presented a statement of the several grants of land made by Congress to promote education, and the manner in which these several trusts have been managed, the amount of funds arising therefrom, and the annual proceeds of the same, as far as the same can be determined.

SFC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner of Public Buildings is hereby authorized and directed to furnish proper offices for the use of the department herein established.

The Bill, in the Senate, was referred to the Standing Committee on the Judiciary, who recommended its passage without amendment; and, after a debate on the 26th of Feb., 1867, on a motion to substitute Bureau for Department, was passed without division on the 1st of March, and signed by the President on the 2d. On the 11th of March, HENRY BARNARD was nominated by President JOHNSON, on the 16th was confirmed by the unanimous vote of the Senate, and on the 17th entered on the duties of Commissioner of Education.

The undersigned desires to obtain, as early as practicable, accurate but condensed information of the designation, history, and present condition of every Institution and Agency of Education in the United States, and of the name, residence, and special work of every person in the administration, instruction, and management of the same. Any response to this Circular in reference to any Institution, Agency, or subject included in the following Schedule, addressed to the Department of Education, Washington, D. C., and indorsed "official," is entitled, by direction of the Postmaster General, to be conveyed by mail free of postage, and will be thankfully received by HENRY BARNARD,

Commissioner of Education, Washington, D. C.

SCHEDULE OF INFORMATION SOUGHT RESPECTING SYSTEMS, INSTITUTIONS, AND AGENCIES OF EDUCATION.

A. General Condition, (of District, Village, City, County, State.)

Territorial Extent, Municipal Organization, Population, Valuation, Receipts, and Expenditures

for all public purposes.

B. System of Public Instruction.

C. Incorporated Institutions, and other Schools and Agencies of Education.

I. ELEMENTARY OR PRIMARY EDUCATION.

(Public, Private, and Denominational; and for boys or girls.)

II. ACADEMIC OR SECONDARY EDUCATION.

(Institutions mainly devoted to studies not taught in the Elementary Schools, and to preparation for College or Special Schools.)

III. COLLEGIATE OR SUPERIOR EDUCATION.

(Institutions entitled by law to grant the degree of Bachelor of Arts or Science.)

IV. PROFESSIONAL, SPECIAL, OR CLASS EDUCATION.

(Institutions having special studies and training, such as-1. Theology. 2. Law. 3. Medicine. 4. Teaching. 5. Agriculture. 6. Architecture, (Design and Construction.) 7. Technology-Polytechnic. 8. Engineering, (Civil or Mechanical.) 9. War, (on land or sea.) 10. Business or Trade. 11. Navigation. 12. Mining and Metallurgy. 13. Drawing and Painting. 14. Music. 15. Deaf-mutes. 16. Blind. 17. Idiotic. 18. Juvenile offenders. 19. Orphans. 20. Girls. 21. Colored or Freedmen. 22. Manual or Industrial. 23. Not specified abovesuch as Chemistry and its applications-Modern Languages-Natural History and GeologySteam and its applications,-Pharmacy-Veterinary Surgery, &c.)

V. SUPPLEMENTARY EDUCATION.

1. Sunday and Mission Schools. 2. Apprentice Schools. 3. Evening Schools. 4. Courses of Lectures. 5. Lyceums for Debates. 6. Reading Rooms-Periodicals. 7. Libraries of Reference or Circulation. 8. Gymnasiums, Boat and Ball Clubs, and other Athletic Exercises. 9. Pub lic Gardens, Parks and Concerts. 10. Not specified above.

VI. SOCIETIES, INSTITUTES, MUSEUMS, CABINETS, AND GALLERIES FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND THE ARTS. VII. EDUCATIONAL AND OTHER PERIODICALS.

VIII. SCHOOL FUNDS AND EDUCATIONAL BENEFACTIONS.

IX. LEGISLATION (STATE OR MUNICIPAL) RESPECTING EDUCATION.

X. SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE.

XII. PENAL AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.

XII. CHURCHES AND OTHER AGENCIES OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. XIII. REPORTS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS ON SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. XIV. MEMOIRS OF TEACHERS, AND PROMOTERS OF EDUCATION. XV. EXAMINATIONS (COMPETITIVE, OR OTHERWISE) FOR ADMISSION TO NATIONAL OR STATE SCHOOLS, OR TO PUBLIC SERVICE OF ANY KIND.

EDUCATIONAL LAND POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.

The Act establishing the Department of Education makes it the duty of the Commissioner in his first report "to present a statement of the several grants of land made by Congress to promote education, and the manner in which these several trusts have been managed, the amount of funds arising therefrom, and the annual proceeds of the same as far as can be determined."

The following account of the Educational Land Policy of the United States, and of the disposition of the Congressional land grants in Minnesota are printed in advance of the report, not only to diffuse information, but to indicate the nature of the statistics that the Department desires to receive.

The growth of the public sentiment that led Congress to inaugurate the system of land grants for education was gradual. The first settlers of Massachusetts and Connecticut from the earliest period set apart lands for schools. In other colonies, before the Declaration of Independence, intelligent men felt the importance of some public provision for the education of the people, as private benevolence was found to be fitful and wholly inadequate. Doctor Samuel Johnson, President of King's (now Columbia) College, in New York city, on April 10, 1762, wrote to Archbishop Secker

I beg leave, my Lord, to observe that it is a great pity when patents are granted, as they often are, for large tracts of land no provision is made for religion and schools. I wish, therefore, instructions were given to our governors never to grant patents for townships or villages or large manors without requiring the patentees to sequester a competent portion for the support of religion and schools.

Early in 1784 Georgia, in an act relative to the survey of lands in the western part of the State, uses this language:

And whereas the encouragement of religion and learning is an object of great importance to any community, and must tend to the prosperity, happiness, and advantage of the same,

Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the county surveyors, immediately after the passage of this act, shall proceed to lay out in each county twenty thousand acres of land of the first quality, in separate tracts of five thousand acres each, for the endowment of a collegiate seminary of learning.

The next year an act establishing a university was passed, a trustee of which was William Houstoun, a member of the Congress of the United States from that State, and one of the committee, as will be seen,

that reported a bill with the provision setting apart a certain portion of land in each township of the western territory for school purposes.

On the 17th of May, 1784, Mr. Jefferson, as Chairman of a committee for that purpose, presented to the Congress of the Confederation an ordinance respecting the disposition of public lands. This draft contained no reference to schools or education. On the 4th of March, 1785, another bill for the sale of western lands was introduced, by whom not stated, and on the 16th was recommitted by Congress to a committee of twelve.*

This committee on the fourteenth of April reported "An ordinance for ascertaining the mode of disposing of lands in the western territory," which contained the following paragraph :

There shall be reserved the central section of every township for the maintenance of public schools, and the section immediately adjoining the same to the northward for the support of religi n. The profits arising therefrom in both instances to be applied forever according to the will of the majority of the male residents of full age within the same.

On the twenty-third of the same month, Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina, seconded by Mr. Grayson, of Virginia, moved to strike out "for the support of religion," and insert "for religious and charitable uses." Mr. Ellery, of Rhode Island, seconded by Mr. Smith, of New York, moved to amend the amendment by striking out the words “religious and." On the question, Shall the words moved to be struck out stand?

* The committee were Pierce Long, of New Hampshire, Rufus King, of Massachusetts, David Howell, of Rhode Island, Wm. S. Johnson, of Connecticut, R. R. Livingston, of New York, Charles Stewart, of New Jersey, Joseph Gardner, of Pennsylvania, John Henry, of Maryland, Wm. Grayson, of Virginia, Hugh Williamson, of North Carolina, John Bull, of South Carolina, and Wm. Houstoun, of Georgia.

Rufus King graduated at Harvard, in 1777.

David Howell, born in New Jersey, graduated at Princeton, in 1765, and was at one time Professor of Mathematics in Brown University.

Wm. S. Johnson, son of Dr. Samuel Johnson, graduated at Yale, 1744, a fellow of the Royal Society, and received the degree of LL.D. from Oxford, and at a later period President of Columbia College, New York city.

John Henry graduated at Princeton, in 1769.

Hugh Williamson graduated at College of Philadelphia, now University of Pennsylvania, in 1757, and had been Professor of Mathematics therein.

R. R. Livingston graduated at King's (now Columbia) College, New York city, in 1765, and in after life encouraged Fulton in propelling boats by steam, and was President of the Academy of Fine Arts.