Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/412

 398 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

unfounded. Every department of the college was brought into close scrutiny, all accounts being audited in itemized bills, and no purchase, outside of ordinary current expenses, being made without direct authority from the board. At each quarterly meeting, board and faculty held a joint session, in which every teacher presented the condition and needs of his department, with the exact work going forward, and answered freely all questions as to means and methods.

During the campaign of 1896 some feeling was aroused in political circles through an address given by Professor Will upon the Coinage Act of 1873, in which he showed by an elaborate chart the progress of the bill, and by artful insinuations of motive claimed to prove Hon. John Sherman, author of "The Crime." The chart, without insinuations, was printed in the college paper. After the announcement of victory for the fusionists Professor Will publicly challenged several local politicians to a debate of the question, flippantly hinting that they might even secure the aid of Hon. John Sherman himself.

At various times Regent Hoffman was closeted with Professor Will in long conferences, and Mr. Leedy, candidate for governor on the fusion ticket, in a public address, while complimenting the students' Free Silver Club, said that with the present profes- sor of political economy, all would soon be for free silver.

When the campaign was over, threats were frequent from various sources of an entire change in the college. The county and senatorial district had given a republican majority, and leaders blamed the college. Students quoted the son of Regent Hoffman, himself a student, as authority for such rumors. A former regent, seeking endorsement from the county committee of his party for reappointment, was informed that another prom- inent local politician had been selected, in order that they might "get rid of" certain members of the faculty.

In the legislature of 1897 the needs of the college were treated somewhat grudgingly by committees, and Regent Hoffman, as a member of the legislative committee of the board, urged the keeping of Professor Will in the lobby most