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The Endowment Act.
An Act to advance, learning, the arts and sciences, and to promote the public welfare by providing for the conveyance, holding and protection of property, and the creation of trusts for the founding, endowment, erection and maintenance within this State of universities, colleges, schools, seminaries of learning, mechanical institutes, museums and galleries of art. (Approved March 9, 1885.)
| Section 1. | The provisions of this act shall be liberally construed with a view to effect its objects and promote its purposes; and in the construction thereof the singular number shall be deemed to include the plural, and the plural shall be deemed to include the singular number, and the masculine gender shall be deemed to include the feminine. |
| Sec. 2. | Any person desiring, in his life-time, to promote the public welfare by founding, endowing and having maintained within this State, a university, college, school, seminary of learning, mechanical institute, museum or gallery of art, or any or all thereof, may, to that end and for such purpose, by grant in
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writing, convey to a trustee, or to any number of trustees named in such grant (and to their successors), any property, real or personal, belonging to such person and situated or being within this State; provided, that if any such person be married and the property be community property, then both husband and wife must join in such grant. |
| Sec. 3. | The person making such grant may therein designate: (1) The nature, object and purposes of the institution or institutions to be founded, endowed and maintained. (2) The name by which it or they shall be known. (3) The powers and duties of the trustees, an J the manner in which they all account, and to whom, if accounting be required; but such powers and duties shall not be held to be exclusive of other powers and duties which may be necessary to enable such trustees to fully carry out the objects of such grant. (4) The mode and manner and by whom the successors to the trustee or trustees named in the grant are to be appointed. (5) Such rules and regulations for the management of the property conveyed as the grantor may elect to prescribe; but such rules shall, unless the grantor otherwise prescribe, be deemed advisory only, and shall not preclude such trustees from making such changes as new conditions may from time to time require. (6) The place or places where and the time when the buildings necessary and proper for the institution or institutions shall be erected, and the character and extent thereof. The persons making such grant may therein provide for all other things necessary and proper to carry out the purposes thereof, and especially may such person provide for the trades
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and professions which shall be taught in such institutions, and the terms upon which deserving scholars of the public and private schools of the various counties of this State may be admitted to all the privileges of such institutions as a reward for meritorious conduct and good scholarship, and also for maintaining free scholarship for children of persons who have rendered service to, or who have died in the service of this State, and also for maintaining free scholarship for children of mechanics, tradesmen and laborers who have died without leaving means sufficient to give such children a practical education, fitting them for the useful trades or arts, and also the terms and conditions upon which students in the public and private schools and other deserving persons may, without cost to themselves, attend the lectures of any university established, and also the terms and conditions upon which the museums and art galleries and conservatories of music connected with any such institution shall be open to all deserving persons without charge and without their becoming students of the institution. |
| Sec. 4. | The trustee or trustees named in such grant a d their successors may, in the name of the institution or institutions as designated in such grant, sue and defend in relation to the trust property and in relation to all matters affecting the institution or institutions endowed and established by such grant. |
| Sec. 5. | The person making such grant, by a provision therein, may elect, in relation to the property conveyed, and in relation to the erection, maintenance and management of such institution or institutions, to perform during his life all the duties and exercise all
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the powers which, by the terms of the grant, are enjoined upon and vested in the trustee or trustees therein named. If the person making such grant and making the election aforesaid be a married person, such person may further provide that if the wife of such person survive him, then such wife during her life may, in relation to the property conveyed and in relation to the erection, maintenance and management of such institution or institutions, perform all the duties and exercise all the powers which by the terms of the grant are enjoined upon and vested in the trustee or trustees therein named; and in all such cases the powers and duties conferred and imposed by such grant upon the trustee or trustees therein named shall be exercised and performed by the person making such grant, or by his wife, during his or her life, as the case may be; provided, however, that upon the death of such person or his surviving wife, as the case may be, such powers and duties shall devolve upon and shall be exercised by the trustees named in the grant and their successors. |
| Sec. 6. | The person making such grant may therein reserve the right to alter, amend or modify the terms and conditions thereof, and the trusts therein created, in respect to any of the matters mentioned or referred to in subdivisions 1 to 6 inclusive of section 2 hereof, and may also therein reserve the right, during the life of such person or persons, of absolute dominion over the personal property conveyed, and also over the rents, issues and profits of the real property conveyed, without liability to account therefor in any manner whatever, and without any liability over against the
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estate of such person; and if any such person be married, such person may in such grant further provide that if his wife survive him, then such wife, during her life, may have the same absolute dominion over such personal property and such rents, issues and profits, without liability to account therefor in any manner whatever, and without liability over against the estate of either of the spouses. |
| Sec. 7. | The person making such grant may therein provide that the Trustees named in the grant and their successors may, in the name of the institution or institutions, become the custodian of the person of minors, and when any such provision is made in a grant the Trustees and their successors may take such custody and control in the manner and for the time and in accordance with the provisions of sections 264 to 276 inclusive of the Civil Code of the State of California. |
| Sec. 8. | Any such grant may be executed, acknowledged and recorded in the same manner as is now provided by law for the execution, acknowledgment and recording of grants of real property. |
| Sec. 9. | No suit, action or proceeding shall be commenced or maintained by any person to set aside, annul or affect said conveyance, or to affect the title of the property conveyed, or the right to the possession, or to the rents, issues and profits thereof, unless the same be commenced within two years after the date of filing such grant for record; nor shall any defense be made to any suit, action or proceedings commenced by the Trustee or Trustees named in said grant, or their successors, privies or persons holding under them,
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which defense involves the legality of said grant, or affects the title to the property thereby conveyed, or the right to the possession of the rents, issues and profits thereof, unless such defense is made in a suit, action or proceeding commenced within two years after such grant shall have been filed for record. |
| Sec. 10. | The property conveyed by such grant shall not, after the lapse of two years from the date of the filing for record of the grant, be subject to forced sale under execution or judicial proceeding of any kind, against the grantor or his privies, unless the action under which the execution shall be issued or the proceedings under which the sale shall be ordered shall have been commenced within two years after such grant shall have been filed for record. Nor shall such property be subject to execution or forced sale unde any judgment obtained in any proceedings instituted within said two years, if there be other property of the grantor subject to execution or forced sale sufficient to satisfy such judgment; provided, nothing in this section contained shall be construed to affect, mechanics' or laborers' liens. |
| Sec. 11. | Any person or persons making any such grant may at any time thereafter, by last will or testament, devise and bequeath to the State of California all or any of the property, real or personal, mentioned in such grant, or in any supplemental grant, and such devise or bequest shall only take effect in case, from any cause whatever, the grant shall be annulled or set aside, or the trusts therein declared shall for any reason fail. Such devise and bequest is hereby permitted to be made, by way of assurance that the wishes of the
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grantor or grantors shall be carried out, and in the faith that the State, in case it succeeds to the property, or any part thereof, will, to the extent and value of such property, carry out, in respect to the objects and purposes of any such grant, all the wishes and intentions of the grantor or grantors; provided, that no wish, direction, act or condition, expressed, made or given by any grantor or grantors, under or by virtue of this act, as to religious instruction to be given in such school, college, seminary, mechanical institute, museum or gallery of art, or in respect to the exercise of religious belief on the part of any pupil or pupils of such school or institution of learning, shall be binding upon the State; nor shall the State enforce or permit to be enforced, or carried out, any such wish, direction, act or condition. |
| Sec. 12. | This act shall be in force from and after its passage. |
Grant
We, Leland Stanford and Jane Lathrop Stanford, husband and wife, grantors, desiring to promote the public welfare by founding, endowing and having maintained upon our estate known as the Palo Alto farm, and situated in the counties of San Mateo and Santa Clara, State of California, United States of America, a university for both sexes, with the colleges, schools, seminaries of learning, mechanical institutes, museums, galleries of art, and all other things necessary and appropriate to a university of high degree, to that end and for that purpose do hereby grant, bargain, sell and convey to Lorenzo Sawyer, James McM. Shafter, Charles Good all, Alfred L. Tubbs, Francis E. Spencer., Henry Vrooman, Charles F. Crocker, Timothy Hopkins, Henry L. Dodge, Irving M. Scott, William Ashburner, H. W. Harkness, Josiah Stanford, Horace Davis, John F. Miller, John Boggs, T. B. McFarland, Isaac S. Belcher, John Q. Brown, George E. Gray, N. W. Spaulding, of California; Mathew P. Deady, of Oregon; William M. Stewart,
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of Nevada, and Stephen J. Field, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States—Trustees, and to their successors forever, all and singular the following described real property:
That certain tract of land situated in the county of Butte, State of California, and now commonly known and designated as Stanford's Gridley Farm.
Also, that certain tract of land situated partly in the said county of Butte and partly in the county of Tehama, in said State, and now commonly known and designated as Stanford's Vina Farm.
And, also, that certain tract of land situated partly in the county of Santa Clara and partly in the county of San Mateo, and now commonly known and designated as the Palo Alto Farm.
Together with all the tenements, hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging, with the water rights, water ditches, pipes, flumes, canals, aqueducts and reservoirs now used in connection with either of said tracts of land; said tracts of land being more particularly described by metes and bounds in the paper hereto attached, marked "Schedule A," and made part hereof.
To have and to hold said property and all other property, real and personal, which we, or either of us, may hereafter convey or devise to them or their successors, upon the trust that it shall constitute the foundation and endowment for the University herein provided, and upon the trust that the principal thereof shall forever remain intact, and that the rents, issues
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and profits thereof shall be devoted to the foundation and maintenance of the University hereby founded and endowed, and to the uses and purposes herein mentioned.
Now, therefore, further, in pursuance of said desire, and that the trust hereby created may be executed according to the wishes of the grantors and each of them, they do hereby, as it is provided may be done by the act of the Legislature of the State of California, approved March 9, 1885, entitled "An act to advance learning, the arts and sciences, and to promote the public welfare, by providing for the conveyance, holding and protection of property, and the creation of trusts for the founding, endowment, erection and maintenance within this State of universities, colleges, schools, seminaries of learning, mechanical institutes, museums and galleries of art," designate—
I.
The Nature, Object and Purposes of the Institution Hereby Founded, to be:
Its nature, that of a University, with such seminaries of learning as shall make it of the highest grade, including mechanical institutes, museums, galleries of art, laboratories and conservatories, together with all things necessary for the study of agriculture in all its branches, and for mechanical training, and the studies and exercises directed to the cultivation and enlargement of the mind.
Its object, to qualify students for personal success and direct usefulness in life.
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And its purposes, to promote the public welfare by exercising an influence in behalf of humanity and civilization, teaching the blessings of liberty regulated by law, and inculcating love and reverence for the great principles of government as derived from the inalienable rights of man to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
II.
The Name of the Institution.
Since the idea of establishing an institution of this kind for the benefit of mankind came directly and largely from our son and only child Leland, and in the belief that had he been spared to advise as to the is-position of our estate, he would have desired the devotion of a large portion thereof to this purpose, we will that for all time to come the institution hereby founded shall bear his name, and shall be known as "The Leland Stanford, Junior, University."
III.
The Number, Quorum and Designation of the Trustees.
The number of Trustees shall be twenty-four, and fifteen thereof shall constitute a quorum, but the assent of not less than a majority of the whole, to wit, thirteen, shall be necessary for affirmative action in the execution of the trusts herein contained.
The Trustees herein named, and their successors, in their collective capacity, shall be known and designated as "The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford, Junior, University."
IV.
That the Trustees (Subject to the Reservations and to the Rights to Alter and Amend Hereinafter Contained) Shall have Power and it shall be their duty:
| 1. | To meet in the city of San Francisco on the fourteenth day of November, 1885, or as soon thereafter as practicable, and then and there—a majority of their number being present—to organize as a Board by electing one of their number chairman, and to transact such other business as may be proper. |
| 2. | To manage and control the institution hereby founded. |
| 3. | To manage and control the trust property, care for and improve the same, operate or lease it, and apply the net proceeds or profits thereof to the purposes of the trust hereby created. |
| 4. | To, in their discretion, receive grants of property from others in aid of the institution founded, or to establish scholarships therein, providing the same are made upon terms and conditions in harmony with the purposes of the institution as herein declared. |
| 5. | To receive from the grantors, or either of them, by grant or devise, such other property as the grantors or either of them may hereafter elect to give, and to hold such property upon the same conditions and to the same uses and trusts as are herein prescribed. |
| 6. | To make by-laws not inconsistent with the laws of this State, or the purposes of this grant, for the Government of the institution hereby founded.page break |
| 7. | To make rules and regulations for the management of the trust property. |
| 8. | To keep a full and fair record of their proceedings.' |
| 9. | To appoint a President of the University, who shall not be one of their number, and to remove him at will. |
| 10. | To employ professors and teachers at the University. |
| 11. | To fix the salaries of the President, professors and teachers, and to fix them at such rates as will secure to the University the services of men of the very highest attainments. |
| 12. | To use the rents, issues and profits of the trust company (but no part of the principal) in the execution of their trust, and in case such rents, issues and profits, for any one year, exceed the amount necessary to execute the trust and maintain the institution for said year, then to invest the same until its use becomes necessary. |
| 13. | To establish and maintain at such University an educational system, which will, if followed, fit the graduate for some useful pursuit, and to this end to cause the pupils, as early as may be, to declare the particular calling, which, in life, they may desire to pursue; but such declaration shall not be binding if, in the judgment of the President of the University, the student is not by nature fitted for the pursuit declared. |
| 14. | To prohibit sectarian instruction, but to have taught in the University the immortality of the soul,
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the existence of an all-wise and benevolent Creator, and that obedience to His laws is the highest duty of man. |
| 15. | To have taught in the University the right and advantages of association and co-operation. |
| 16. | To afford equal facilities and give equal advantages in the University to both sexes. |
| 17. | To maintain on the Palo Alto estate a farm for instruction in agriculture in all its branches. |
| 18. | To do and perform all things hereinafter provided for, and all things necessary to the proper exercise and discharge of their trust. |
V.
The Powers and Duties of the President of the University.
| 1. | To prescribe the duties of the professors and teachers. |
| 2. | To remove professors and teachers at will. |
| 3. | To prescribe and enforce the course of study and the mode and manner of teaching. |
| 4. | Such other powers as will enable him to control the educational part of the University to such an extent that he may justly be held responsible for the course of study therein, and for the good conduct and capacity of the professors and teachers. |
VI.
The Faculty.
The Trustees shall constitute the President and professors the Faculty of the University, and prescribe their powers and duties as such.
VII.
The Manner, and to Whom, the Trustees Shall Report.
The Board of Trustees shall annually report all their proceedings to the person who, for the time being, shall fill the office of Governor of the State of California, and shall accompany such report with a full account of their financial operations for the preceding year, and with a statement of the financial affairs of the institution.
VIII.
The Mode and Manner, and by Whom, the Successors to the Trustees Named in the Grant are to be Appointed.
Any Trustee named in this grant, or the successor to any Trustee, may for good cause be removed by a proper court of equity jurisdiction, after notice to him, and upon the application of the grantors herein, or either of them, or upon the application of the Board of Trustees.
Any Trustee named in this grant, or the successor of any such Trustee, may, in writing, addressed and delivered to the Board of Trustees, resign his office as
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Trustee, and every vacancy in the Trustees which shall occur during the lives of the grantors, or during the life of either of them, either from the failure of any Trustee named in this grant to accept the trust, or from death, resignation or otherwise, shall be filled by the grantors, or either of them, as the case may be, and every vacancy occurring thereafter shall be filled by the surviving or remaining Trustees, by ballot.
IX.
The Place where, and the Time when, the Buildings Necessary and Proper for the Institution Shall be Erected; Character and Extent Thereof.
| 1. | Within two years from the date hereof, select and lay off" on the Palo Alto farm a site, and adopt a general plan, for the construction of the University buildings. Such buildings shall be plain and substantial in character and extensive enough to provide accommodations for the University and the colleges, schools, seminaries, mechanical institutes, museums, laboratories, conservatories and galleries of art, part thereof. They shall be built as needed, and no faster, and in a manner which shall allow for additions and extensions from time to time, as the necessities of the University may demand, the trustees bearing in mind that extensive and expensive buildings do not make a University; that it depends for its success rather upon the character and attainments of its faculty. In this behalf, and to the end that the endowment may not be wasted or impaired by the premature construction of
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expensive buildings, the trustees shall be the exclusive judges, free from all interference from any source whatever, of the time when buildings are needed, and of the time and manner of their construction, and of the time and manner of making additions thereto. |
| 2. | Lay off on the Palo Alto farm one or more sites for buildings for the officers and employees of the institution, and erect and maintain thereon such buildings as may be necessary. |
| 3. | Lay off on the Palo Alto farm one or more sites for dwelling-houses for parents or guardians and their families, and for such other persons as the board may direct, and erect thereon buildings and lease the same, or lease the land and permit the lessees to erect such buildings, on such terms and conditions as the board may direct. |
| 4. | Lay off on said Palo Alto farm a lot of about ten acres, and suitably improve and maintain the same forever as a place of burial and of last rest on earth for the bodies of the grantors and of their son, Leland Stanford, Junior, and, as the board may direct, for the bodies of such other persons who may have been connected with the University. |
| 5. | Lay off on the Palo Alto farm a site for, and erect thereon, a church. |
X.
The Scholarships and Other Matters Connected therewith.
The Trustees shall have power, and it shall be their duty:
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| 1. | To establish and maintain, in connection with the University, such a number of free scholarships as the endowment of the institution, considering all its objects, will justify. Such scholarships must be given either to those who, by good conduct and study, have earned the right thereto, or to the deserving children of those who, dying without means in the service of the State, or in the cause of humanity, have a special claim upon the good-will of mankind. |
| 2. | To fix the terms and conditions upon which the students generally may be admitted to all or any of the privileges of the University. |
| 3. | To fix the terms and conditions upon which the students of the public and private schools and other deserving persons may attend the lectures of the University, or engage in original research thereat, and the terms and conditions upon which the agricultural farms, laboratories, museums, art galleries, mechanical institutes, conservatories and other institutions, part of the University, shall be opened to deserving persons, without their becoming students thereof. |
| 4. | To establish and have given at the University, by its ablest professors, courses of lectures upon the science of government, and upon law, medicine, mechanics and the other arts and sciences, which shall be free to the post-graduates of the colleges of the University hereby founded, and to post-graduates of all other colleges and universities, and to all deserving persons, to the full capacity of the lecture rooms, under such rules and regulations as the Trustees may adopt. |
XI.
Election of the Grantors to Control the Property and the Execution of the Trust During their Lives, or the Life of Either.
| 1. | In relation to the property hereby conveyed, and in relation to such other property as may hereafter be conveyed or devised by them or either of them, to said Trustees for the purposes of this trust, and in relation to the erection, maintenance and management of the institution hereby founded, to perform during their lives all the duties and exercise all the powers and privileges which by the terms of this grant, are enjoined upon and vested in the Trustees therein named. |
| 2. | That the survivor of either of said grantors shall, after the death of the other, and during the life of the survivor, in relation to all of said property, and in relation to the erection, maintenance and management of the institution hereby founded, perform all the duties and exercise all the powers and privileges which, by the terms of this grant, are enjoined upon and vested in the Trustees therein named. |
| 3. | That upon the death of both grantors, then all such duties shall devolve upon, and all such powers and privileges shall be exercised by, the Trustees named in this grant, and by their successors forever. |
XII.
Reservation of the Right to Alter, Amend, or Modify the Terms and Conditions of this Grant, and the Trust Therein Created, in Certain Respects.
The grantors hereby reserve to themselves, during their lives, and hereby reserve and grant to the one who shall survive the other, during his or her life, the right to alter, amend or modify the terms and conditions of this grant, and the trusts therein created, in respect to the nature, object and purposes of the institution founded, the powers and duties of the Trustees; the manner in which and to whom they shall account; the mode and manner, and by whom, their successors shall be appointed; the rules and regulations for the management of the property conveyed; the time when, and the character and extent of, the buildings which shall be erected; the right to provide for trades and professions which shall be taught in the institution, and the terms upon which scholarships shall be founded.
XIII.
Reservation of other Rights.
| 1. | The right to absolute dominion over the personal property, which they, or either of them, may hereafter give to said Trustees, or their successors, and over the rents, issues and profits thereof.page 23 |
| 2. | The right to absolute dominion over the rents, issues and profits of the real property hereby granted. |
| 3. | The right to improve, manage and control the trust property, as if this grant had not been made; but this reservation does not include the right or power to sell or encumber any of the real property granted. |
All these rights, and all other rights reserved by and all powers and privileges given, or duties imposed upon, the grantors, or either of them, by the terms of this grant, shall be exercised, enjoyed and performed by said grantors, or either of them, as the case may be, without let or hinderance, and free from all interference from any source whatever, and from all duty to report their action, and from all liability to account in any manner therefor, and from all liability for waste, loss, misappropriation, or for any act or deed whatever, by them, or either of them, done or permitted.
XIV.
The Custody of the Persons of Minors.
And further, in pursuance of said desire, the grantors hereby provide that the Trustees named in this grant, and their successors, may, in the name of the institution, become the custodian of the persons of minors, taking such custody in the manner, and for the time, and in accordance with the provisions of sections 264 to 276, inclusive, of the Civil Code of the State of California.
XV.
Limitations Upon the Powers of the Trustees.
| 1. | Neither of the Trustees herein named, nor their successors, shall have power to sell or convey the real property hereinbefore described and granted. |
| 2. | The Trustees herein named, and their successors, shall serve without compensation. |
XVI.
Miscellaneous.
| 1. | That all the property hereby conveyed was acquired by them during coverture, and was, until this grant was executed, their community property, and for that reason, and because of their mutual desire to be associated in this undertaking, they, in accordance with the provisions of the aforesaid act of the Legislature, have joined in this conveyance. |
| 2. | This grant, and all grants and devises hereafter made by the grantors or either of them for endowing and maintaining the institution hereby founded, shall be liberally construed, and always with a view to effect the objects and promote the purposes of the grantors, as herein expressed. |
In testimony whereof, the said Leland Stanford, and Jane Lathrop Stanford, his beloved wife, have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals, at the city and county of San Francisco, State of California,
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United States of America, this eleventh day of November, in the year of our Lord and Savior one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five.
Leland Stanford
,Jane Lathrop Stanford.
In the presence of Stephen T. Gage, E. H. Miller, Jr., Nicholas T. Smith, Herbert C. Nash, and Creed Haymond.
On this fourteenth day of November, a. d. one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, before me, Holland Smith, a Notary Public in and for said city and county, duly qualified and acting as such, personally appeared Leland Stanford, known to me to be one of the persons whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged to me that he executed the same.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my official seal, at my office, in the city and county of San Francisco, the day and year last above written.
Holland Smith
, Notary Public, 307 Montgomery Street.On this fourteenth day of November, a. d. one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, before me, Holland Smith, a Notary Public in and for said city and county, duly qualified and acting as such, personally
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appeared Jane Lathrop Stanford, known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument, and therein described as a married woman, and, upon an examination without the hearing of her husband, I made her acquainted with the contents of said instrument, and thereupon she acknowledged to me that she executed the same, and that she does not wish to retract such execution.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my official seal, at my office in the city and county of San Francisco, the day and year last above written.
Holland Smith
, Notary Public, 307 Montgomery Street.Note.—" Schedule A," referred to in the foregoing grant, is annexed thereto and contains a complete description by metes, and bounds and legal subdivisions of all the property granted.
The undersigned Trustees named in the foregoing grant do hereby accept the trust thereby created.
- Lorenzo Sawyer,
- James McM. Shafter,
- Chas. Goodall,
- Alfred L. Tubbs,
- Francis E. Spencer,
- Henry Vrooman,
- Chas. F. Crocker,
- Timothy Hopkins,
- Henry L. Dodge,
- Irving M. Scott,
- Wm, Ashburner,
- Matthew P. Deady,
- By Lorenzo Sawyer, His Attorney in fact.
- H. W. Harkness,
- Josiah Stanford,
- Horace Davis,
- John F. Miller,
- John Boggs,
- T. B. McFarland,
- Isaac S. Belcher,
- John Q. Brown,
- George E. Gray,
- N. W. Spaulding,
- Wm. M. Stewart,
- Stephen J. Field,
- By Lorenzo Sawyer, His Attorney in fact.
Mr. Stanford's Address.
Following is the text of the address of Leland Stanford to the Trustees, at their first meeting, November 14, 1885:
Gentlemen—
In the trust deed providing for the endowment and organization of the University, the nature, objects and purposes of the endowment are very generally stated. We deem it appropriate, however, to enlarge somewhat upon what is therein set forth.
The reasons hat impelled us to select the Palo Alto estate as the location for the University, are its personal associations, which are most dear to us, the excellence of its climate, and its accessibility.
The deed of trust conveys, and at once irrevocably vests in you the title to all the real property described therein.
The endowment of lands is made because they are in themselves of great value, and their proper management will insure to the University an income much greater than would be realized were their value to be invested in any reliable, interest-bearing security; again, they can never be alienated, and will, therefore, be an
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unfailing support to the institution which they are designated to benefit.
As a further assurance that the endowment will be ample to establish and maintain a University of the highest grade, we have, by last will and testament, devised to you and your successors additional property. We have done this as a security against the uncertainties of life, and in the hope that during our lives the full endowment may go to you. With this in view, we have provided in this grant that you may take such other property as we may give to more fully carry out the objects of this trust.
The Palo Alto farm furnishes a sufficiently diversified soil, with a topography which admirably fits it as a place for agricultural education. In time, also, a handsome income will be derived from the rental of desirable residences to parents and others who will choose the place as a residence on account of its social, intellectual and climatic advantages. Of course, the Trustees will see to it that no objectionable people are allowed to reside upon the estate, and that no drinking saloons shall be opened upon any part of the premises.
Broad and General Ideas of Progress.
It should be the aim of the institution to entertain and inculcate broad and general ideas of progress and of the capacity of mankind for advancement in civilization. It is clear that to insure the steady advancement of civilization great care must be exercised in the matter of the general development of the great body of the people. They need education in the fundamental principles of government, and we know of no text so plain
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and so suggestive as that clause in our Declaration of Independence, which declares that 'among the inalienable rights of man are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.'
A government founded on such principles commands for the support and protection of individual rights the force of the whole people. With these principles fully recognized, agrarianism and communism can have only an ephemeral existence.
The merely physical wants of civilized man are not much greater than those of the savage, but his intellectual wants are bounded only by his capacity to conceive. His wants, therefore, will always depend upon his advancement in civilization, and the demand for labor will be measured accordingly. The rapidity of the communication of modern thought and the facilities for transportation make the civilized world one great neighborhood, in whose markets all producers meet in competition. The relative compensation to the producer must depend upon his powers of production.
Desires of Civilized Society.
When we consider the endless variety of the wants and the desires of civilized society, we must fully appreciate the value of labor-aiding machinery and the necessity for having this of the best character. Too much attention, therefore, cannot be given to technical and mechanical instruction, to the end that from our institution may go out educators in every field of production.
[unclear: out] of these suggestions grows the consideration of
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the great advantages, especially to the laboring man, of co-operation, by which each individual has the benefit of the intellectual and physical forces of his associates. It is by this intelligent application of these principles that there will be found the greatest lever to elevate the mass of humanity, and laws should be formed to protect and develop co-operative associations. Laws with this object in view will furnish to the poor man complete protection against the monopoly of the rich, and such laws properly administered and availed of, will insure to the workers of the country the full fruits of their industry and enterprise. They will accomplish all that is sought to be secured by the labor leagues, tr des-unions and other federations of workmen, and will be free from the objection of even impliedly attempting to take the unauthorized or wrongful control of the property, capital or time of others.
Hence it is that we have provided for thorough instruction in the principles of co-operation. We would have it early instilled into the student's mind that no greater blow can be struck at labor than that which makes its products insecure.
Articles of Endowment.
While the articles of endowment prohibit sectarianism, they direct that there shall be taught that there is an all-wise, benevolent God, and that the soul is immortal. It seems to us that the welfare of man on earth depends on the belief in immortality, and that the advantages of every good act and the disadvantages of every evil one follow man from this life into the next, there attaching to him as certainly as individuality is maintained.
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As to the manner in which this shall be taught and whence the confirmations shall be derived, we are not prepared to advance any thought other than that they may be sought from every available source that tends to throw light upon the subject.
While it is our desire that there shall be no sectarian teaching in this institution, it is very far from our thoughts to exclude divine service. We have provided that a suitable building be erected wherein the professors of the various religious denominations shall, from time to time, be invited to deliver discourses not sectarian in character.
We deem it of the first importance that the education of both sexes shall be equally full and complete, varied only as nature dictates. The rights of one sex, political and otherwise, are the same as those of the other sex, and this equality of rights ought to be fully recognized.
We have sought to place the free scholarships upon the basis of right to the student. We think this important, in order that his dignity and self-respect shall be maintained, and that he may understand that in his political relations he is entitled to nothing he does not earn.
With respect to the expenses of the students of the University, we desire that the Trustees shall fix them as low as possible.
The articles of endowment are intended to be in the nature of a constitution for the government and guidance of the Board of Trustees, in a general manner, not in detail. We hope that this institution will endure through long ages. Provisions regarding details of
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management, however wise they may be at present, might prove to be mischievous under conditions which may arise in the future.
In the deed of trust we have designated the purpases of this University. The object is not alone to give the student a technical education, fitting him for a successful business life, but it is also to instill into his mind an appreciation of the blessings of this government, a reverence for its institutions, and a love for God and humanity, to the end that he may go forth and by precept and example spread the great truths by the light of which his fellow-man will be elevated and taught how to attain happiness in this world and in the life eternal.
The Growth of Time.
We do not expect to establish a University and fill it with students at once. It must be the growth of time and experience. Our idea is that in the first instance we shall require the establishment of colleges for both sexes; then of primary schools, as they may be needed, and out of all these will grow the great central institution for more advanced study.
We have fixed the number of Trustees as twenty-four, that the institution may have the strength which comes from numbers. There is little danger of divided counsels, for the Educational Department will be under the control of the President of the University, who will have and exercise all the power necessary to make him responsible for his successful management. In order that he may have the assistance of a competent staff of professors we have provided that the best talent obtain-
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able shall be procured, and that liberal compensation shall always be offered.
We are impressed with the deep responsibilities of this undertaking, and invoke at all times your aid and the Divine help and blessing. During our lives we hope that we shall be compelled to make little draft upon the time of you, gentlemen, members of the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford, Junior, University, yet we trust that you will be ever ready to assist us with your counsel.
Minutes of the First Meeting of the Trustees of the Leland Stanford, Junior, University.
November 14, 1885,
At twelve o'clock, M.Pursuant to the invitation of the grantors, a meeting of the Trustees of the Leland Stanford, Junior, University was held at the time and place above mentioned, in the library of the residence of Leland Stanford, in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California.
- Lorenzo Sawyer,
- Charles Goodall,
- Alfred L. Tubbs,
- Francis E. Spencer,
- Henry Vrooman,
- Charles F. Crocker,
- Timothy Hopkins,
- Henry L. Dodge,
- Irving M. Scott,
- William Ashburner,
- H. W. Harkness,
- Josiah Stanford,
-
Horace Davis,page 36
.gif)
- John Boggs,
- T. B. McFarland,
- Isaac S. Belcher,
- John Q. Brown,
- George E. Gray,
- N. W. Spaulding,
- W. M. Stewart.
The meeting was called to order, and upon motion, Lorenzo Sawyer was chosen Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and H. C. Nash, Secretary, pro tern.
Leland Stanford, and his wife, Jane Lathrop Stanford, were then presented to the members of the Board of Trustees, and thereupon they delivered to the Trustees the grant made by them, duly executed and acknowledged, founding and endowing the Leland Stanford, Junior, University.
Upon motion of Mr. Spencer, the following resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, That the Trustees receive said grant, "and accept for themselves and their associates the "trusts therein imposed."
On motion of the Chairman, the following resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, That the Secretary be authorized for and "as the act and deed of the Trustees to have the grant "herein properly recorded on the records of the coun" ties of Tehama, Butte, San Mateo, and Santa Clara, "State of California."
On motion of Mr. Vrooman, the Trustees adjourned to meet at the call of the Chairman.
Lorenzo Sawyer
, Chairman.H. C. Nash
, Secretary.
Trustees.
The Trustees of the Leland Stanford, Junior, University are as follows:
Lorenzo Sawyer, one of the presiding Judges of the United States Circuit Court, San Francisco.
James McM. Shafter, San Francisco, lawyer, formerly State Senator, and ex-President of the State Agricultural Society.
Charles Goodall, San Francisco, of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, formerly a representative of San Francisco in the Legislature.
Alfred L. Tubbs, merchant, St. Helena, Napa County, formerly a State Senator from San Francisco.
Francis E. Spencer, Judge of the Superior Court, San José, and formerly a Representative from Santa Clara County in the Assembly.
Henry Vrooman, lawyer and State Senator from Alameda County.
Charles F. Crocker, San Francisco, Vice President of the Southern Pacific Company.
Timothy Hopkins, San Francisco, Treasurer of the Southern Pacific Company.
Henry L. Dodge, San Francisco, merchant, formerly a State Senator from San Francisco and ex-Superintendent of the Mint.
Irving M. Scott, San Francisco, of the Union Iron Works.
William Ashburner, San Francisco, Regent of the State University.
Dr. H. W. Harkness, San Francisco, of the Academy of Sciences of San Francisco.
Josiah Stanford, viniculturist, Warn Springs, Alameda County.
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Horace Davis, merchant, San Francisco, ex-Member of Congress from San Francisco.
John F. Miller, Napa, United States Senator from California.
John Boggs, farmer, Colusa, formerly State Senator from Colusa, a Director of the State Agricultural Society and of the Board of Prison Directors of the State.
Hon. T. B. McFarland, Sacramento, formerly in the Legislature of the State from Nevada County, and at present a Judge of the Superior Court of Sacramento.
Isaac S. Belcher, Marysville, formerly of the Supreme Bench of California.
John Q. Brown, Sacramento, Mayor of Sacramento.
George E. Gray, San Francisco, ex-Chief Engineer of the Southern Pacific Kail road Company.
N. W. Spaulding, manufacturer, Oakland, ex-United States Sub-Treasurer, and Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of California.
Matthew P. Deady, Portland, presiding Judge United States Circuit Court of Oregon.
William M. Stewart, Virginia City, ex-United States Senator from Nevada.
Stephen J. Field, Washington, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States at Washington, D. C.