Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 7.pdf/154

148 proposing to donate to the State a site and building worth $50,000, the Union University Association ought to have a right to elect a certain number of the board to govern the State University. So the bill provided that the board of directors to govern the State University should consist of nine members, six of whom to be appointed by the Governor of the State, and three to be elected by the Union University Association. The bill provided that the Union University Association should select a site, to be approved by the State Land Commissioners, and erect thereon a building worth $50,000, and deed the same to the State Of Oregon on or before the first day of January, 1874, and on failure to do so the act should become null and void. It was the intention and purpose of the incorporators of Union University Association, and those working with them, to raise the sum of $20,000 by subscriptions and donations principally in Eugene, and the remaining $80,000, by a tax levy on the assessable property of Lane County.

A bill authorizing the county court of Lane County to levy a tax on the assessable property of the county sufficient to raise the sum of $30,000 to aid in erecting the building for the university was drawn by a committee appointed by the Union University Association, and submitted to the legislature at the session thereof in 1872.

The incorporators of the Union University Association held a meeting October 23, 1872, to organize, and elected J. M. Thompson, chairman, and J. J. Walton, secretary. At that meeting a committee, consisting of J. M. Thompson, J. J. Walton, W. J. J. Scott, and B. F. Dorris, was appointed to solicit subscriptions. The sum of $20,000 was raised by subscriptions and donations, principally by the people of Eugene, but not without a struggle and persistent effort, for at that time Eugene was a small place. But the people were enthusiastic and enterprising, and very liberal in their donations.