Doe. Report of the Committee on State Affairs relative to a reduction of the Specific Tax imposed on cor- porations engaged in Iron Mining,. Report of the Committee on Federal Relations, rela- tive to the delivering up of Fugitive Slaves,.... Report of the Committee on Banks and Incorpora- tions, relative to the Memorial of the Bay de No- quet and Marquette Railroad Company,.. Minority Report of the Committee on Education, rela- tive to the establishment of School District Li- braries... Communication from the Attorney General,. Petition of Henry Smith, of Watertown, for an appro- priation of one thousand dollars to aid in devel- oping his plan for an elevated Pacific Railway,.. 22 Petition of Conrad Holsinger, and other citizens of Amendments, relative to granting Licenses,.... Report of the Special Committee on Constitutional Amendments, relative to the Right of Suffrage,.. 25 Communication from the State Treasurer, transmitting copies of Reports of the Superintendent of the St. Report of the Select Committee relative to the Manu- 22 Memorial of A. Winchell, Professor of Geology and Zoology and Botany, in the University of Mich.,. 29 Report of the Committee on State Affairs, relative to the Drainage and Reclamation of the Swamp Lands in township six north of ranges thirteen Report of the Minority of the Committee on Printing, 31 Report of the Minority of the Committee on Ways and Means, relative to the State Finances, the Public Debt, and the Levying and Collection of Report of the Investigating Committee relative to the charge of Bribery made against certain Rail road Companies, &c.,. Report of the Committee on Education, relative to 34 1859. No. 1. [ No. 1. ] MEMORIAL of the Board of Regents of the University. To the Legislature of the State of Michigan: This Memorial of the Regents of the University of Michigan, would respectfully represent to your Honorable Body that by an Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled "An Act concerning a Seminary of Learning in the Territory of Michigan," approved May 20, 1826, it was provided that "the Secretary of the Treasury be authorized to set apart and reserve from sale, out of any of the public lands within the Territory of Michigan to which the Indian title may have been extinguished, and not otherwise appropriated, a quantity of land not exceeding two entire townships, for the use and support of a University within the Territory aforesaid, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever." That under this grant, forty-four thousand five hundred and nineteen and twelve one-hundredths acres were selected for the use and support of the University, the proceeds of the sales of which constitute the present University fund. The first constitution adopted by the people of Michigan, in 1835, under which she was admitted as a State into the Union, contained an entire 'article, consisting of five sections, devoted to the subject of education, which, among other things, provided that "the Legislature should" encourage, by all suitable means, the promotion of intellectual, scientifical and agricultural improvement; that the proceeds of all lands that had been or thereafter might be granted by the United States to this State for the support of Schools, which should thereafter be sold or disposed of, should be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which, together with the rents of all unsold lands, should be inviolably appropriated to the support of Schools throughout the State. The fifth section of said article reads as follows: "The Legislature shall take measures for the protection, improvement, or other disposition of such lands as have been or may hereafter be reserved or granted by the United States to this State for the support of a University; and the funds accruing from the rents or sale of such lands, or from any other source for the purpose aforesaid, shall be and remain a permanent fund for the support of said University, with such Branches as the public convenience may hereafter demand, for the promotion of literature, the arts and sciences, and as may be authorized by the terms of such grant; and it shall be the duty of the Legislature, as soon as may be, to provide effectual means for the improvement and permanent security of the funds of said University." The object of the grant of these lands by Congress, as expressed in the grant itself, was for the use and support of a University, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever. This language clearly implied that 2, University was to be created and established by the State, which could use anu De Pried by this fund, and the State, by accepting the grant, became bound to provide and establish a University to use and be supported by this fund. The first constitution for the State provided that the funds arising from the sale of these lands, and such others as might be reserved or granted to this State for the support of a University, should be and remain a permanent fund for the support of said University, and that it should be the duty of the Legislature to provide effectual means for the improvement and permanent security of said funds. These legal provisions clearly show that the Congress which granted these lands, and the people of the State who accepted them, understood the grant to be, not for the establishment of a University, but for the support of one, to be created and established by the State. As a further evidence of the understanding of this grant by the people of the State, t. e Legislature, by an act approved March 18, 1837, provided that as soon as the State should provide funds for that purpose, the Board of Regents should proceed to the erection of the necessary buildings for the University, on the ground to be designated by the Legislature, and in such manner as should be provided by law. This shows that the Legislature of Michigan, in 1837, understood and intended that the State should provide "funds" for the erection of the necessary buildings for the University, and that the proceeds of the lands granted by Congress for the use and support of the University, should forever be and remain a permanent fund, no part of the principal of which should be expended in the establishment of a University, or in the erection of buildings for the same; and that in accordance with the grant made by Congress, the entire income arising from that fund should be sacredly devoted to the use and support of a University. It will be seen that the grant of public lands by Congress to the State for the support of schools, from which the primary school fund originated, was in similar terms, and contained no words indicating more clearly that they were to be used for the support and not for the erection and establishment of primary schools, than are used by. Congress, by the constitutional convention of Michi gan, and by the Legislature, to declare that the grant to the State for the University was to be for its support, and not to erect buildings in different parts of the State for the establishment of a University and its branches, and yet no one, in or out of the Legislature, or the constitutional convention has ever thought of reducing the principal of this fund by appropriations to build school-houses all over the State; on the contrary, the constitution provides, and the practice of the State has always harmonized with that provision, that the proceeds of all lands that have been or hereafter may be granted by the United States to this State for the support of schools, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which together with the rents of all unsold lands, shall be inviolably appropriated for the support of schools throughout the State. In 1838 the Legislature authorized the State Treasurer to deliver to the Board of Regents for the use and benefit of the University and its branches, special certificates of stock to the amount of $100,000, reimbursable after twenty years, in equal annual instalments of not less than ten nor more than fifteen years, bearing interest at six per cent., payable semi-annually in New York, and for the payment of the interest, and redemption of the principal, the faith and credit of the people of this State were pledg ed. The same act pledged all the "disposable income" from the University fund for the payment of the said interest, and the redemption of the said stock. Here was the first departure from the analogy of the legislation of this State relative to the primary school fund, and the University fund. The object of this legislation was to provide funds for the erection of buildings for the University and its branches, and all the "disposable income" of this University fund was pledged for the payment of this hundred thousand dollar loan, and its interest. No such legislation was ever had in relation to the primary school fund. The income of that fund has always been sacred |