Page 1

Strafford, Vt. Sept. 9th, 1882
My dear Sir:
I have your favor of the 8th inst.
and I congratulate you upon all of the evidence
of your prosperity. I should be reluctant about
opening any campaign with Middlebury and
Northfield, although I think Burlington is
growing stronger every year, and that there
is a wider sentiment now than ever in
favor of a support of but one college. Still
I fear you are not sure yet of carrying
the legislature and, if you should not, then
a spasmodic effort would be made to
introduce new blood into the other inst-
tutions to give a few years more of life,
and that might retard your advance.
I hope your advantages soon will be

Page 2

such as to satisfy the whole state that it is
best to support but one college and that with
a more vigorous and liberal policy.
There will be time to consider how much
it will be proper to ask. I have no hope
of a very large annual appropriation. It
may be best to offer free-tuition to one from
each county or to a fixed number, if the
state will make permanent provision for
an equal number. But this even I have
not revolved sufficiently to have any
very fixed opinion.
I may add that I have sometimes
had an apprehension that some sensa-
tional member of the legislature might
want to make his mark by proposing
either to pay off the fund in the hands
of the state or to reduce the interest to
4 p. ct. But this I think could be

Page 3

Private

defeated. If the state had done this
15 years ago, you might have been
much better off than you are now with
the 6 p. ct. coming from the state. The
election of Jo. Battell suggested these
thoughts, but I hope they are without any
foundations and unjust to that disting-
uished gentleman.
Very truly yours
Justin S. Morrill
Prst. M. H. Buckham,
Burlington, Vt.

Page 4