came.

the year, and their pocket books would not stand the additional drain for the military suits that were required. The answer was awaited in trembling expectancy for the brave nineteen had resolved to go to some other school rather than submit to such tyranny. The answer It said (1) that for the coming year since no announcement of the requirement had been made, suits need not be purchased; (2) that two companies would be formed, one for those with military suits, and one for those who had none. The noble nineteen met, and consulted. They agreed that the faculty had outgeneraled them; eighteen of them fell into line and drilled, known in the squibs of the time as the "ragamuffin squad." The nineteenth got excused on the ground of manual labor, and set type on the Hesperian Student to prove it. He has not been unknown in Republican political circles since.

RELIGION.

Three distinct eras are clearly traceable in regard to the relation which it has been supposed religion should sustain to the University. In the first period the idea seems to have been that the University was to be so related to the churches that they might divide the professorships, among themselves in such a way that no one church should have the controlling influence. Merit was of course to be considered in selecting teachers, but merit must bend to accommodate itself to this condition of affairs. Certain religious bodies in the state did actually present the names of certain men as their candidates for professorships. Orthodoxy was taken for granted as an essential requisite. That merit alone should be the standard seems to have been foreign to the phase of thought then prevalent. In this period the rules required attendance upon chapel exercises; and that each student should attend regularly at some church once at least each Sunday. The latter requirement was changed March 28, 1877, to read "attendance on Sunday worship shall only be necessary when required by parent or guardian." The second era was a period of reaction, when an attempt was made to separate the University entirely from religion. No religious exercises were to be allowed, and chapel meetings were to be held for business purposes only. Of course the attempt was entirely unsuccessful. While in its immediate results this contest was disastrous to all concerned, it ushered in, through its outcome, the third or present era. This second era

assumed such a form that perhaps its best history is oblivion. For those who care to know more let them search the newspapers from about 1880 to 1882. In the third period perfect toleration is accorded to all, and is recognized as right. Moral and intellectual qualifications are the only ones known to the regents, the faculty and the students. Chapel exercises are not compulsory, yet they are cheerfully and generally attended. The students are free to meet in their Y. M. C. A. rooms for religious exercises unhindered; prayer meetings are common and attended by all who wish to attend. The fact is fully recognized that the age demands that no question should be asked regarding religion, and that perfect freedom is the fundamental idea of our country and of our civilization.

THE RELATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AND THE HIGH SCHOOLS.

The charter itself recognizes the intimate connection existing between them. As early as 1872, a committee was appointed by the regents, consisting of Chancellor A. R. Benton, Superintendent J. M. McKenzie, and Regent Bruner, to discuss, with the State Teachers' Association, the relation existing or that ought to exist between the University and the high schools of the state. No definite arrangements were made. In the spring of 1881, a committee of the faculty was appointed to investigate the matter. After a long correspondence with the officers and principals of the high schools in the state, and after a careful investigation of the plans existing in other states where the graduates of high schools are admitted to their uni versities without examination, the committee reported that the time had not yet arrived when any satisfactory arrangements could be made in Nebraska. Thus the matter ended for a time. In 1882 State Superintendent Jones began agitating the matter again, but he was unable to accomplish anything definite until Chancellor Manatt's arrival in the early part of the year 1884. Chancellor Manatt joined heartily in this work, and soon the plans were perfected that are now in operation. In Kansas the terms are much more strict for accrediting schools than in Nebraska, and we might well learn something from them in this matter.

THE STUDENTS.

A constantly increasing proportion of the students comes from other states, or from other portions of Nebraska than Lincoln.

In

the first catalogue, of the 130 students named, 88 are credited to Lincoln. The catalogue of 1887-88 contains the addresses of 324 students belonging to the college proper; of these, 140 reside in Lincoln, and 184 elsewhere; or at the beginning of the University twothirds of the students are credited to Lincoln, now only a little over one-third. The increase of the numbers in the college classes has been very marked during the last few years; and should the same ratio of increase continue for the next seven years that has prevailed during the last seven,-and the prospects are exceedingly bright for such a growth-the number in 1895 in the college classes alone would be 430. The total number of graduates, including the class of 1889, and excluding the medical classes, has been 156. Of this number 50 graduated from the classical course, 49 from the literary, 35 from the scientific, each from the Latin scientific and from the engineering courses, and 6 from the agricultural. Approximately the total number of different students for the same time has been 1,869; young women about 650, young men 1,219. Of the young women who entered the University, about one in twenty remained to graduate; of the young men, one in twelve. The following table furnishes some interesting statistics in regard to student life in the University.

(a) This Catalogue published in the fall. Really embraced a large part of

the attendance for two years.

(b) Returned to system of counting for academic year.

(c) Two classes-1881 had 12 members; 1882 had 7 members.

Agricultural lands, from leases..

Agricultural lands, from interest on sales.

Agricultural lands, interest on permanent investment..

University lands, from lease....

University lands, from interest.

University lands, from permanent fund..

Total annual income from lands.

$ 6,566.35

16,761.59

1,500.00

3,676.47

7,931.05

1,590.00

$38,025.46

Each year some lands revert to the state from the inability of the purchaser or lessee to pay the interest or lease rental, hence a deduction of from $2,000 to $3,000 per annum must be made for such losses. In the year 1888 the arrears amounted to a little over $2,300, the total income being $35,694.25 instead of $38,025.46. The maximum income has not yet been reached, and will not be for several years. The limit will probably be about $60,000 per annum. The following table shows approximately the total income, and the sources from which it has been derived: