Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, March 27, 1876
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United States Senate Chamber,
Washington, Mar 27 1876
Prst.
Buckham,
Burlington, Vt.
My dear Sir: Your esteemed favor
of
the 24 inst. is at hand. The league
between the enemies and rivals of our
institution is very obvious and the busy
pens of hostile parties will I fear
stir up some opposition in the next
Legislature. The Grangers, whether numer-
ous or not, are organized and may
be controlled I suppose by the leaders
in almost any enterprise.
To counteract all this I wish we
could obtain the means in some
way to purchase 40 or 50 acres of land
contiguous to the College. Then we
could perhaps satisfy all reasonable
demands of the farmers of the state.
If the Legislature would do as
much as the N. H. Legislature
has done, by appropriations amounting
to $35,000, we could I think con-
duct all interests involved harmoniously,
as they are doing at Dartmouth.
Are there any parties who would
subscribe to a fund for a farm? I
feel certain that this is the cor-
ner that we shall be driven into
and we should provide for it. I
have no means that I can well
spare but I should not fail to
respond to the extent of my ability.
I am surprised at the attitude of
Middlebury but it may be more danger-
ous than you suspect. They will say
that, without any of the land fund,
Middlebury is doing more than Burling-
ton. The sham may delude a good
many people.
I
do not think the candidate for
Gov., mentioned,
will feel strong enough
to run supported by a
third party only
and his chance
to become Governor I judge
cannot be considered
as very great and yet
he may have some
troublesome followers.
Very truly yours Justin S.
Morrill