L00 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF EDUCATION. 
ap in our own soil and are the result of our laws, traditions, and wishes ; 
they are like the vines of California, which bear the old names but pro- 
duce a vintage with flavors of its own, not yet familiar to European 
palates, but pleasant and wholesome. 
In all these institutions the idea of liberal education has been preserved. 
The best of the technical schools provide generously for instruction in 
languages, and most of them for instruction in abstract science as well as in 
its practical application. The traditional notion of a college training ante- 
cedent to professional courses, and preliminary to advanced work, holds 
its own ; and indeed it seems to gain support by the emphasis that is given 
bo the dividing line between undergraduates and postgraduates. There 
are many open questions as to the period of life which should be allotted 
bo college studies, the proper terms of admission and graduation, and the 
adjustment of freedom in the choice of studies with the obligation to 
choose wisely. But amid all the dissensions upon minor points, it is clear 
that the love of college life is growing ; its methods are improving, and its 
relation to professional and technical pursuits and to careers in science 
and literature ig more and more clear. 
There are many unsolved problems in respect to university education in 
this country to which we may well direct our attention. Among them I 
mention, first, the establishment of a university in the Federal city. The 
opinions upon this subject may thus be grouped. There are those who advo- 
cate the endowment of a national university by the government, and conse- 
juently its administration by such boards as the governmeni may institute. 
[n support of this principle, eminent authorities may be quoted from 
Washington to our own contemporaries. This view is vehemently opposed 
by those who dread the enlistment of Congress in services which it is 
claimed pertain to the separate States and to private individuals. Mean- 
while the Catholics and the Methodists have initiated universities and are 
acquiring the requisite funds for their maintenance. Other religious bodies 
are likely to follow their example, and it is not impossible that there will 
soon be a group of institutions in Washington representing the principal 
Christian sects. There are those who claim, with much force, that the 
charter of the Columbian University would be an excellent basis for a 
national institution, and that money alone is requisite in order to secure 
the highest efficiency. Still, again, there are those who believe that an 
independent foundation by private donations will be more successful than 
any form of political or ecclesiastical endowment. Perhaps the problem 
would be simplified if the idea could be eliminated that a university in 
Washington must of course be a place for the systematic education of 
youth, and for the bestowal of academic degrees. This is indeed a usual 
function of American universities, but it is not essential. If the univer- 
sity in Washington could be so ordered that all the scientific resources of 
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