dent of public instruction, Joseph F. Daly, a former justice of the supreme court in the first district, Robert F. Wilkinson, and William Kernan. At the request of the commission I attended its meetings and prepared the bill embodying its proposed plan of unification. The commission held several consultations with Governor Roosevelt, who gave the subject careful consideration and referred to it at some length in his annual message of 1900, saying, among other things, that "it has, for a long time, been the well-nigh unanimous opinion of all those conversant with the history and practical working of the educational system of this state that the laws in reference to the official oversight and superintendence of education by the state government ought to be revised and unified for the sake of greater general efficiency, economy, and entire harmony wherever there may be confusion and friction resulting from the needless overlapping of jurisdictions;" and, after referring to the work then being done by the two great departments, said "that their work could be done better if the two systems were unified." He informed the legislature of the action of the Convocation of 1899, and the appointment of a commission by him to consider the subject of unification, and commended to the favorable consideration of the legislature the plan proposed by the commission, which he said "deserves the cordial support of all friends of public education; and this means, of every patriotic citizen of the state."

A few days after this message was sent to the legislature the commission presented its report to the Governor, which was by him transmitted to the legislature in due course. The bill proposed by the commission was subsequently introduced, but no action was taken upon it by the legislature. The bill provided for a new department, to be known as "the state department of education," to

include the University and public schools, and to be in charge of an officer, to be known as the chancellor, who was to be appointed by the Governor and senate, and hold office eight years. His successor was to be chosen by the Regents. The bill proposed five bureaus, including respectively public instruction, higher education, home education, law, and administration and finance, each to be under the immediate supervision of a director, to be appointed by the chancellor, and the office of superintendent of public instruction was to cease after the expiration of the term of the incumbent. The plan continued the Regents, but provided for a gradual reduction of the number of active Regents to fourteen and abolished the ex officio Regents except the Governor. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of the superintendent of public instruction under existing law were to be transferred to the chancellor. It will be observed that this bill, while proposing a state department of education, continued the University, and to a high degree vested the Regents with the control of the department which had formerly been under the supervision of the state superintendent of public instruction; and I may here quote Governor Roosevelt's remark in his message of 1900, that "the University is continued, and has its oversight extended to cover the entire field of education, so that its real authority and opportunity for public service will be much increased."

While the legislature of 1900 gave no special consideration to the plan of unification proposed by the commission, the study of the subject by the commission and the Governor and other friends of education, and the consequent public discussion incident to the renewal of the agitation concerning unification, were not in vain, and the work of the commission bore fruit much sooner than might have been expected from the apparent lack of interest in the subject manifested by the legislature of 1900

This lack of interest, however, was more apparent than real, for, while nothing was actually accomplished until 1904, several bills relating to the subject were introduced during the preceding years and the legislature was rapidly coming to the conclusion that the time was ripe for practical unification. The legislature of 1903 appointed a joint committee of the two houses to consider this subject. That committee presented its report to the legislature of 1904, recommending a bill which, with modifications, became the new unification law now in force. It seems clear from a comparison of the new bill with the bill presented by the unification commission in 1900 that the legislative committee made free use of the commission bill and approved its general policy.

The new law provides for a commissioner of education and abolishes the office of superintendent of public instruction and secretary of the University, making the new commissioner the chief executive officer of the entire educational system. The new commissioner was to be elected by the legislature for six years; but, after the first six years, he is to be chosen by the Regents, and hold office during their pleasure. The number of Regents is reduced to eleven, and the law required a new board to be chosen from the Regents in office, and the Regents thus chosen and the commissioner were to take office on the 1st of April, 1904. The new bill became a law on the 8th of March. On the 10th, the legislature elected the new Regents and the commissioner. Andrew S. Draper was elected as the first commissioner. He had formerly been a resident of this state, and had held the office of superintendent of public instruction; but, at the time of his election as commissioner, he was president of the University of Illinois. The act authorizes the commissioner to create such departments as he may deem necessary, and appoint deputies or heads of departments, sub

ject to the approval of the Regents. Under this authority three assistant commissioners have been appointed. The first assistant to have charge of universities, colleges, professional and technical schools, and of the execution of the laws concerning the professions; the second to have charge of high schools and academies and of the training of teachers therefor; and the third to have charge of elementary schools and of the training of teachers therefor. Several subordinate divisions were organized, to be under the supervision of directors or chiefs of divisions. The plan of organization recommended by the commissioner has been approved by the Regents, and the new department is now in full operation.

The consolidation of the two great educational departments has become complete under the new law. The result of the new statute is more than unification, or, rather, it is unification by a process of absorption; for under it the University has absorbed the department of public instruction, and the University has been charged with the duty and responsibility of administering, through the commissioner of education and otherwise, the entire educational system of the state. In the article on education I have called attention to the provision in the revised university law of 1787 which vested in the Regents authority to "visit and inspect all the colleges, academies, and schools which are or may be established in this state, examine into the state and system of education and discipline therein, and make a yearly report thereof to the legislature." The meaning of the term "schools" was originally somewhat uncertain; but in view of the fact that there were then no public schools, it was doubtless intended to include schools other than colleges and academies which might be thereafter established; but, by the new legislation, the term has been given an enlarged

meaning, and by legislative construction is made to include all schools, public or private, which are subject to state supervision. The desire of the friends of the University, that it become the head of the entire system, has at last been realized; but it is a curious fact in our educational history that many of the Regents vigorously opposed the bill which was enacted by the legislature of 1904, partly on alleged constitutional grounds, because it legislated out of office the existing board of Regents, but also because the bill was supposed to have been prompted by improper political motives. The legislature ignored these objections, and, almost in spite of themselves, the Regents have been clothed with the largest administrative powers, and have become the governing body of the greatest educational system in the Union. The care of the common schools represented in some 11,000 school districts and in scores of cities and villages, involving an increasing annual expenditure which already amounts to $42,000,000 and the instruction of nearly two millions of children, has been transferred to the Regents, and they have become the active agents of the state in fostering the common school system, which, by § 1 of this article, the legislature is commanded to maintain, and they must also encourage all institutions for higher education.

§ 3. [Education funds.]—The capital of the common school fund, the capital of the literature fund, and the capital of the United States deposit fund, shall be respectively preserved inviolate. The revenue of the said common school fund shall be applied to the support of common schools; the revenue of the said literature fund shall be applied to the support of academies; and the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars of the revenues of the United States deposit fund shall each year be appropriated