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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY

OF DHE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF THE

Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts

COLLEGE.

NOVEMBER 7, 1867.

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REPORT.

OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE AGRICULTURAL,
MINING AND MECHANICAL ARTS COLLEGE,

Sacramento, November 25th, 1867.

To the Senate and Assembly of the State of California:

The Legislature, at its last session, passed an Act providing for the establishment of an Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College, and in joint convention a Board of Directors were appointed for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the Act. The Board were authorized to purchase or accept donations of land suitable for the purposes of such a college, the minimum quantity of the same being fixed at one hundred and sixty acres. In the autumn of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, the Board invited proposals by advertising, as required by law, for donations of lands, and in response received propositions from individuals resident in the Counties of Santa Clara, Alameda, Napa, Sacramento, and El Dorado. In October of that year the Board visited Santa Clara, Alameda, Napa, and Sacramento Counties, made a personal inspection of such tracts of land as seemed at all suitable for the required institution, and adjourned without arriving at any definite conclusion.

On the fourteenth day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the Board again met, all the members being present. After thoroughly considering the advantages and disadvantages of each locality visited by them, it was decided to locate the college in Alameda County; thereupon a committee was appointed of three members of the Board to negotiate for a proper site. On the fifth of November, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, at the sixth meeting of the Board, the committee above named made a report presenting a proposition from the Board of Trustees of the College of California, in terms as follows:

"At a regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the College of California, held at the City of San Francisco, on the ninth day of October, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the following resolutions wree adopted, namely:

"Resolved, That the President and Board of Trustees of the College of California hereby offer to donate and convey to the State Board of Directors of the 'Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College,' one hundred and sixty acres of land in the Township of Oakland, Alameda County, including the lands between the two ravines, commonly known as the California College site, for the site and farm of the said State College.

"Resolved, That in making this donation the College of California is influenced by an earnest hope and confident expectation that the State

of California will forthwith organize and put into operation, upon this site, a University of California, which shall include a College of Mines, a College of Civil Engineering, a College of Mechanics, a College of Agriculture, and an Academical College, all of the eame grade, and with courses of instruction equal to those of eastern colleges.

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Resolved, That the President and Secretary of this Board be authorized to enter into a contract on behalf of this corporation with the State Board of Directors of the Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College, to the effect that whenever a University of California shall be established, as contemplated in the next preceding resolution, then the College of California will disincorporate, and after discharging all its debts, pay over its net assets to such University.

Attest:

"S. H. WILLEY,

"Secretary Board of Trustees of College of California."

The Board, after making a personal inspection of the tract of land proposed to be donated by the College of California, unanimously voted to accept the donation as set forth in the first of the foregoing series of resolutions. The title is now being examined by the Attorney-General, and, if found satisfactory, the fee simple title to the lands will pass to the State. The provisional contract, suggested in the last resolution of the Trustees of the College of California, was not acted upon, as it was not considered within the province of the Board to go further than to accept the donation, or make the purchase of the lands desired.

The Board of Directors are gratified at the favorable results of their labors, and they are firmly of the opinion that the location fixed upon for this important enterprise is the most desirable to be found in the State. In its climate, soil, and beauty of scenery, it is peculiarly adapted to the wants of a great practical and educational institution, and it is to be hoped, for the credit of California, that the youth of the State and the working classes may here find the means of enjoying a liberal and thorough education, as complete in all its appliances and as entirely within the reach of all who studiously prepare themselves for it, as is to be found in the best of kindred institutions of the older States.

The Act of March thirty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, under which the college is to be organized, appears to contemplate the establishment of a university which shall combine, under one management, schools or colleges in which shall be taught all the higher branches of learning. While it is the unanimous opinion of the Board that the apparent aim and intent of the Legislature should be carried out, they beg leave to suggest that such amendments should be made to the Act as will more clearly define the intent of the Legislature.

It will be found that the available means arising from the land grants will be entirely inadequate for the erection of suitable buildings and the establishment of the college on anything like a proper basis. In view of this, and recognizing the great necessity of prompt action on the part of the State to put this institution into successful operation as early as may be, the Directors earnestly recommend an appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars, to be expended during the next two years in the erection of suitable college buildings and the arrangement of the grounds.

W. E. BROWN,
Secretary of the Board.

MINORITY REPORT

OF THE

Committee on Federal Relations

CONCERNING

ELECTORAL VOTES OF STATES ORGANIZED UNDER THE RECONSTRUCTION ACTS OF CONGRESS.

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