Funding the University
Legislators move to secure $6,000 in funding for the Territorial University, framing the institution as vital to the future of all Washington youth.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
There lies before us Council Bill No. 9 of the present session of our Territorial Legislature. It was introduced by Mr. Collins of this city, and is entitled 'An Act to appropriate money for the University of Washington Territory.' The sum of three thousand dollars ($3,000) is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the Territorial Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the purpose of paying salaries of teachers and supporting the Territorial University for the year ending upon the thirty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-three; and the sum of three thousand dollars ($3,000) more is hereby appropriated for the purpose of paying salaries of teachers and supporting the said Territorial University for the year ending upon the thirty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four. This bill should be passed through both houses without a dissenting vote. The passage of this bill will be but an act of tardy justice toward an educational institution of which every citizen of our prosperous and growing Territory should feel proud. It is a righteous bill; it is in furtherance of a noble purpose. The money asked for is but a pittance. During the past two years, the University has struggled for its maintenance. It is not local in its benefits; it is open to every youth of our territory.
“It is not local in its benefits; it is open to every youth of our territory.”
Long before it became a premier research institution, the University of Washington relied on precarious, hard-fought legislative appropriations to survive. This struggle highlights the perennial uncertainty of public funding for higher education in the state.
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