Address in Praise of Founders

"Chancellor Jones Praising the Founders of the U.N.B., Points Out Present Needs of the University --The Impress of the Loyalists" Saint John Standard (28 May 1909): 5-6.

The life of this University is practically coincident with that of the Province of New Brunswick. The same set of influences had much to do with the origin of both. The early history of the country is indeed somewhat obscure. Small fishing stations and trading posts were doubtless established very soon after the discovery of the continent. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the story of eastern Canada is largely the story of the toil and adventure of these hardy traders and fishermen. Up to the middle of the eighteenth century there was little change except that the spoils of the forest were added to the spoils of the sea. The pine of New Brunswick was largely exported to furnish masts and spars for the French navy. Later these same monarchs of our forests were sent out in large numbers to equip the "wooden walls of England" and as we contemplate the almost total destruction of these magnificent trees it may be some satisfaction to remember that the "meteor flag of England" was borne so often to victory and adventure on masts of new Brunswick pine.

Not until 1759 was any real attempt at settlement made. In that year Lawrence, Governor of Halifax, made proclamation in the New England colonies of liberal grants of land to all who were willing to take up their abode in the country across the bay. Fourteen townships were founded in Nova Scotia of which five were in the present province of New Brunswick. In 1767 these latter townships numbered 1,100 souls, and in 1783 the total population of what is now the province of New Brunswick was about two thousand.

This year, 1783, marked the coming of the United Empire Loyalists. The story of their coming has been told so often that it is unnecessary to repeat it here. Nine thousand of these splendid people settled along the valley of the St. John, nearly two thousand around the shores of the Passamaquoddy, and four hundred joined the townships around the head of Chignecto Bay. The incoming of such a large relative population necessarily disturbed existing conditions. A larger representation was demanded in the Halifax Assembly. Governor Parr indicated that it was beyond his power to grant such a request, but men who had defied Congress and who had abandoned their homes rather than suffer political wrong, had little patience with any refusal of their proper right. So they petitioned the Imperial authorities to create a separate province, and with little delay the province, named in honor of the Royal House of Brunswick, was created to the north of the Bay of Fundy.

So in 1784 began the Province of New Brunswick. The paramount influence of the new population may be gathered from the fact that in the first Assembly, out of a total of 26 members, 23 were Loyalists. Most of these men were the product of the splendid public schools of New England and the Eastern States. Many of them were graduates of Harvard, Yale and King's College, New York, (now Columbia University). They were unwilling that to their sons should be denied the advantages of superior education which they themselves possessed. One of the first acts of the new Assembly was to set a part certain lands for the support of a public seminary of learning at Fredericton.

These lands were for a time held in trust by individuals for the support of the seminary, but in the year 1800 and effort was made to extend the scope of the institution and to place the administration upon a business basis and the "College of New Brunswick" was created by charter under the great seal of the Province.

Although thus incorporated as a college in 1800, the institution was continued along much the same lines as before--as a high school or seminary rather than as a college. In the year 1820 a step in advance was made by the appointment of a president of the college and by the laying down of a course of advanced studies to lead to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The Rev. James Somerville, who in 1811 had been appointed to the position of Preceptor of the Grammar School, was made president, but continued for some time after his appointment to act as principal of the school. After a satisfactory principal to succeed him was secured, Dr. Somerville was able to devote his attention largely to pupils in advance of the Grammar School, and college work was for the first time attempted in New Brunswick. In 1828 two pupils were presented to the College Board as having completed so far as possible the requirements for the degree of B.A., and on Thursday the 21st day of February, 1828, the first degrees granted in the province were conferred upon Timothy Robert Wetmore (ad eundem, King's College, N.S.), Daniel Hailes Smith, and Samuel Denny Lee Street.

Several years previous to this an agitation had been begun with a view to the extension of the college work, with a suitable building to furnish accommodation for the professors and students engaged in that work. The Governor of the Province, Sir Howard Douglas, gave himself heart and soul to the interests of this forward movement. Chiefly through his efforts the sum of 6,000 pounds was procured from the royal revenues. This sum was supplemented by a generous grant from the provincial finances, and the year which marked the first convocation in New Brunswick saw the erection of this magnificent building, which it is hoped may for centuries stand as a monument to the noble men who in the early days of the Province's history and in the days of small finances wrought so well for the future welfare of the young men of New Brunswick. Not content with thus building so well for the future, the men of the time further showed their zeal for the educational welfare of the province by fixing the endowment of the College at the generous sum of 2,200 pounds annually. It is scarcely a matter for congratulation that the endowment was allowed to remain at this figure until two years ago, 1907.

With all of this progress the name of Sir Howard Douglas is inseparably linked. It is a happy circumstance that the name of this man is perpetuated at the University through the medium of the Douglas gold medal. It should be said that this medal is the gift not of the University nor of the Province, but was provided for through the private munificence of Sir Howard Douglas himself. This may be of special interest to the young lady who has honorably won the medal on this occasion. It is doubtful, however, whether with all of his vision for the future Sir Howard ever anticipated that the medal would be carried off so often by young women, who at that time seemed to have been left out of the reckoning altogether so far as matters educational were concerned.

In the royal charter granted in the year 1829 the name of the institution was changed to King's College. There was a staff of three--later four--professors, including the professor of theology. In the thirty years of its existence King's College graduated an even hundred men. The names of these men are almost without exception prominent in the political, commercial and religious life of the province and Dominion. The King's College period was characterized by steady growth and by a high relative standing among the other institutions of the country. For the whole period the administration was in the hands of Dr. Edwin Jacob. 

In 1860 the institution was made strictly non-denominational and the name changed to the "University of New Brunswick." I wish to call your attention to the fact that the next year will complete half a century of existence for the "University of New Brunswick." May not the graduates and friends of the institution keep this in mind and work together to make the year a memorable one in her history. I shall later on take occasion to point out some of the needs of the immediate future. May we not nope that many of these may be supplied to the University during the year of her jubilee?

During the first years of the University the staff was the same in number as during the latter years of King's College, but the professorship of Theology was abolished. In the second year Dr. E. B. Jack, a professor of King's College, was appointed president. In 1863 an additional professor was appointed to take over the work in English and Philosophy. Dr. Thomas Harrison assumed the presidency in 1885 and in 1889 the staff was further increased by the addition of two professors, a professor of physics and a professor of civil engineering and surveying. This movement was particularly fortunate from the University standpoint. Although for several years students in engineering were far from numerous, yet when the call came in Canada for young men with technical training, the University of New Brunswick, already accomplishing splendid results along this line, assumed a leading place in the preparation of young men for this occupation in life. The result was a marked increase in attendance and a corresponding invigoration of the whole life of the institution. As the demand for such young men becomes in a measure supplied, other opportunities for technical training must be presented, and in this connection the necessity of increased revenue become imperative.

In the year 1900 the erection of the new Science Building marked an important stage in the development of the University. Our present efficiency along lines of practical science would have been utterly impossible without this increased accommodation. It is extremely probably that before many years have been passed another movement of the same kind will have to be inaugurated looking toward further increase in accommodation for various departments of the University.

In 1907 the science work received a further impetus because of an addition of $5,000 to the annual grant for the purpose, among other things, of extending this branch of the work. A Forestry Department was added, which bids fair in time to become a very large and important part of the University's activity. At next Encoenia we hope to confer for the first time the degree of Bachelor of Science in Forestry upon several stalwart sons of this University. As a further result of this grant, the department of Chemistry, organized by Dr. John Brittain, has been made a permanent department. This has greatly strengthened the Arts course essential need of the Applied Science departments. The last chair to be established is that of Mechanical Engineering and Drawing. While no attempt thus far has been made to give a separate course in mechanical engineering, this work has proved a valuable adjunct to the courses in civil and electrical engineering. This department has further served to relieve the professor of civil engineering of a large part of the work in drawing, and to remove to some extent the congestion of subjects belonging to that professorship.

Having briefly outlined the past of the University, I wish to summarize in a few words the present status of the institution. The University has now a staff of ten professors. It offers a complete course in Arts and three courses in Applied Science--civil engineering, electrical engineering and forestry. The Arts course furnishes an excellent preparation for professional and commercial life. It aims to give a thorough all-round education--absolutely the best equipment for a young man or woman in any walk in life. Experience has demonstrated the wisdom of the present arrangement of the course, largely prescribed studies for two years, followed by two years with a generous range of electives. The Applied Science courses afford adequate training in the departments indicated. While the student may not become acquainted with the great number of technical appliances possessed by the larger technical schools, he finds sufficient to give him adequate illustration of his subject, and he has an opportunity to develop that spirit of originality and self-reliance which is far better than familiarity with an extensive of illustration the principles of which are imperfectly understood, and the value of which does not appeal to him because of the fact that its use is only remotely anticipated. In short, the young man of New Brunswick may find here at home and as a part of the scheme of public education for his own province the best general preparation for a life of usefulness and culture; and also, if he is of a practical turn, equally good preparation for future employment in the important sciences of engineering and forestry.

A few words as to the future. A believe the most pressing need is a chair of English Language and Literature apart from the present chair of Modern Languages. Such a department would do much to strengthen the Arts course which we can by no means afford to neglect. It would also be of great value in the technical courses. It is an evident advantage to the engineer and forester to be able to write a correct and intelligible estimate of work to be done or an equally clear and correct estimate of work accomplished. This accomplishment or lack of it may easily make or mar the future fo the young engineer. Another considerable advantage would be to provide opportunity for greater attention to modern languages and to give fair prominence to the study of German, which is now almost wholly neglected. The value of German for a future post-graduate or professional student does not need to be dwelt upon here.

The University has contributed very largely to the teaching corps of the province. A very large proportion of the leading teaching are graduates of the University. The University is itself a part of the provincial scheme of public instruction. It would seem advisable through a department of education to furnish means of training the young people whom we send out from year to year to occupy prominent places in the teaching profession. We could then have a reasonably close affiliation between the University course on the one hand and the examinations required for teachers' license on the other, to the mutual advantage, I am sure, of the University and the public school system of the province.

Another need is for instruction in the important subject of history. Our own country has a history of which we may justly be proud. It is important that the future leaders of the province should be familiar with the details of its history. There is much to be done in the collection of historical documents and their preservation for the future. A chair of history might easily accomplish more for the future welfare of the province than one which might appeal to many people as being of more immediate practical value. Men cannot accomplish great things without an adequate source of inspiration.

I might continue along this line, but I wish to confine my outline within the bounds of what might reasonably be anticipated for the near future. We are not without hope that next year--the year of our fiftieth anniversary--the public-spirited men occupying responsible positions as legislators for the province may see their way to provide for these necessary departments and at the same time to provide adequate remuneration for the men who are doing faithful service in all of the departments of the University. No better record for broad statesmanship and zeal for the public welfare can be presented to posterity than one which shows hearty support of the best public institutions of the country.

I wish also to refer very briefly to the suggested extension of our technical work by the foundation of a department of Agriculture. This work is manifestly beyond the ordinary funds of the University to accomplish. However, by the use of the other departments the work can be done here for a fraction of the cost of having it done in an independent institution. We have also the advantage of adequate grounds and a considerable farm, which may be used for experimental purposes. There is doubtless a strong and growing demand for this form of technical training in the province. In my opinion it would be a huge mistake to meet it by a pretence at agricultural education or by the adoption of a policy which would admit of no reasonable expansion for the future.

There can be little doubt but that the place for such education is in connection with the other forms of technical education at the University. This connection would be a decided advantage to the farming interests of the Province, as well as to the University. Both wold be materially benefited by closer relations between them.

While this provision would meet in a large measure the demand for sound agricultural education, it might be well at the same time to provide in a broad way for the dissemination of some elementary principles of agriculture through the common schools of the province. This should be done here as elsewhere by having teachers for a short period attend the Agricultural department of the University during the time of year when instruction in this work can be carried on with advantage. It would scarcely be feasible to carry on Nature study in New Brunswick during the months from October to April inclusive. Far better work cold be accomplished by a few weeks attendance at an agricultural department than be scattered exercises running through the whole year.

In conclusion I wish to offer a few remarks of a general nature. The yearly increase in the population of Canada through immigration is now estimated at four per cent of the total. 

This is said to establish a record in immigration, being a much larger percentage than has at any time prevailed in the United States. The population of the United States was twenty millions before the total growth through immigration was equal to that of Canada to-day. This immigration is largely due to the demands of the labor market, which has been greatly stimulated in recent years through the building of large public works and through the demands of many considerable private enterprises which employ skilled and unskilled workmen. Large numbers have also come to occupy the fertile lands of the west and to establish permanent homes in that section of Canada.

This enormous influx of laborers and settlers has created a large demand for educated and trained men--men who are capable of leading and dominating other men. The tendency has so far been against the importation of such men, and the demand has come largely to the native born population of the country to supply the leaders in the commercial, industrial and professional life of the nation. To the colleges and universities of the east the call has come with particular force. Our forefathers have laid wide the foundations of opportunity. There is some indication that our public men and men of means are not unwilling to aid in the extension of these opportunities. Our young men are abundantly demonstrating their willingness to accept them and their ability to profit by them. They are taking prominent places in the national life and are filling them in a manner to win well merited approval. There is scarcely a place for the fear that our colleges are education our young men away from the eastern provinces. Can we not afford a few boys from our farms to supply the material for the future leaders of our young nation? This is scarcely an opportune time to exaggerate the provincial and ignore the national. The answer of the young men themselves is clear and is being manifested by the increasing attendance at all of our colleges. This University has surely demonstrated its usefulness in this connection. We at present supply a minister of the crown and a prominent leader of the opposition at Ottawa. We furnish Chief Justices for two provinces and the Lieutenant governor of another. The Premier and two members of his cabinet in our own provinces are also our graduates. In educational and professional activities the record is equally as good.

The Maritime Provinces should be to Canada what the New England States have been to the United States. There the colleges of the east have given many great men to the life of the country. The President and one other member of his cabinet are Yale men. Two of the cabinet are Harvard men, and a fifth is a graduate of Williams. At least one half of the cabinet are thus from New England colleges. And this is not an unusual record in that country. Surely nothing can give the New England States greater prestige or be to them a source of greater pride than this. And it is doubtless in a large measure due to their excellent provision for college and university education.

The men of the Maritime Provinces have demonstrated their capacity for as great service in this Dominion. Surely this is a thought to fire the minds and quicken the ambition of our self-reliant young men. No young man of energy and ambition can afford to neglect the opportunity for a good college education. The University of New Brunswick can show in its list of successful graduates the advantages of its particular course of training. Our country needs scores of public and professional men of just the type furnished by an institution of broad ideals such as this. The need of the hour is for men well educated and well trained, men capable of weighting great questions with deliberation and find judgment, men with their impulses well under the domain of their reason and their will. It is to the credit of the eastern colleges that they are able to furnish many such men, and it is the good fortune of our young men that the doors of the colleges stand open to receive them without distinction of race, rank or creed, to be trained for lives of usefulness and service.

We have before us in the graduating class of to-day a body of young men and women who illustrate the type of personality referred to as well as any similar group I have ever known. During your period of training here you have wrought distinctly well. Be true to your best ideals of life and service, be true to the historic institution which to-day sends you on your way to the battle of the morrow.

The best is yet to be,
The last of life for which the first was made;
Our times are in His hand
Who saith, "A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God
see all, nor be afraid."