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WRITINGS OF Snr HousToN, 1860
415
if, on the other hand, the deficit arises from the fact that a part of the time of that department is occupied by business for which no fees are· provided by law, those who consume the time of the employes in the transaction of their business should be compelled to pay for the same. In my opinion, the affairs of that office can best be brought to a self-supporting standard, by providing an entire system of fees, _covering the entire ground of its opera- tions, and providing at the same time for payment of its employes, wherever the same is practicable, in proportion to the labor they perform. I can not press too earnestly upon the Legislature the subject of common school education. The success of the system already in operation is established beyond a doubt. Its application is general, and its defects as few as any system which could be applied to a population as scattered as ours. The nucleus of a complete system exists already; and we have in our public domain the means of strengthening it until its capacity will equal the demands made upon it as our population increases. No better use can be made of the proceeds of the sale of the alternate sec- tions of land reserved to the State for any cause, than to apply the same to this fund. I would also commend to your consideration the importance of extending a reasonable aid to institutions of learning, now in operation in our State, supported by private enterprise, and en- courage by a general law the establishment of others. Our citi- zens have already displayed much zeal and enterprise in rearing up in our midst institutions which are accomplishing great good. To sustain these is difficult, and as the benefits arising from these are to be felt in the general prosperity of the State, and the intelligence of its entire people, a proper encouragement at the hands of the Legislature should be extended. Surrounded by proper guards, a measure of this character would be productive of great good. The establishment of a university is in my opinion, a matter alone for the future. At this time it is neither expedient nor is it good policy to provide for the sale of those lands set apart for the university fund. If at some future period it should be deemed expedient or in keeping with a more enlarged policy to devote our entire energies to a more general diffusion of knowledge than a university would afford, or even if the voice of the State should demand the establishment of one, these lands will then provide the means of advancing the cause of education. When that period
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