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 ORGANIZATION 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 ENLARGEMENT 
 
 AND EXTENSION BY 
 
 THE STATE OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY PLAN OF 
 
 HIGHER EDITCATION 
 
 IN TEXAS 
 
 THE HOGG ORGANIZATION 
 
 BY 
 
 S. E. MEZES, PRESIDENT 
 
 OP 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 
 
 OFFICE OF 
 
 EXECUTIVE SECRETARY 
 
 AUSTIN. TEXAS 
 FEBRUARY 10. 1»12 
 
 Von Boeckmaun-Jones Co., Printers, Austin, Texas. 
 
or; 
 
 '•^i'^ 
 
ORGANIZATION FOR THE ENLARGE- 
 MENT AND EXTENSION BY THE 
 STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 PLAN OF HIGHER EDU- 
 CATION IN TEXAS 
 
 THE HOGG ORGANIZATION 
 
 BY 
 
 S. E. MEZES, PRESIDENT 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 
 
 NAME. 
 
 The by-laws provide that this undertak- 
 ing shall be named the ^'Organization for 
 the Enlargement and Extension by the State 
 of the University Plan of Higher Education 
 in Texas." This title has the advantage of 
 making plain to the discerning reader the 
 pui-pose of the Organization; it was selected 
 for that reason. But no prophet is needed 
 to foresee that the title of convenience and 
 appreciation will be "The Hogg Organiza- 
 tion." 
 
 The shorter title is made especially ap- 
 propriate by the fact that the idea of this 
 enterprise had its birth in a series of con- 
 versations between former Governor James 
 S. Hogg and his son, Will C. Hogg, held 
 during the last six months of the former^s 
 life. Always a fearless and convinced 
 friend of education, during his later days 
 Governor Hogg came to turn his thoughts 
 more and more in this direction, and, as he 
 did so, became increasingly convinced that 
 thoroughgoing education from the primary 
 grades up through the University was one of 
 the most vital needs of the State. \Yhy his 
 interest during his last days came to con- 
 centrate on hisrher education can nnlv be 
 
surmised. No doubt the interest of his son 
 in it was a potent factor. No doubt his 
 knowledge that the people of Texas were 
 fully alive to the need of strengthening the 
 common schools in every possible way, while 
 they appreciated in a lesser degree the equal 
 need^ in their own interest, of properly 
 equipping the institutions of higher educa- 
 tion, also afforded a strong reason to a man 
 of Governor Hogg's big ideas and sturdy 
 native sense of proportion. But, whatever 
 the cause of the interest, it was genuine and 
 persistent, and during many an intimate 
 talk those last six months the plan was 
 gone over by father and son. At the time 
 there was no immediate prospect of carrying 
 it out, and it was a dream and an aspira- 
 tion, rather than a set proposal. But when 
 men big in heart and brain set themselves 
 to dreaming, results of importance are likely 
 to appear, and the ensuing reality, whether 
 exactly patterned after their dreams or not, is 
 likely to be something noteworthy, that 
 makes for the welfare of men. It may well 
 be that in years to come this contribution 
 of the elder Hogg to the well-being of Texas 
 will be ranked alongside of those achieve- 
 ments of his as the State's Chief Executive, 
 which have been assigned a high place in 
 the annals of statesmanlike work in the 
 Commonwealths of this nation. It was his 
 purpose, had he lived, to have conducted in 
 person the campaign throughout Texas to 
 free our higher educational institutions from 
 all disturbing political entanglements and 
 to keep them free by putting them on an 
 independent financial basis. 
 
 PLAN. 
 
 The plan outlined in these conversations 
 was kept in mind by the younger Hogg for 
 a number of years, awaiting the time when 
 
he could set to work with his characteristic 
 vigor, and bring it into being as a vital 
 factor in the educational development of 
 Texas. During this interval he thought 
 over the plan from time to time and per- 
 fected it in a number of its undetermined 
 details. It was in June, 1911, that he be- 
 came assured of his ability to do his pnr^, 
 and of the ripeness of the educational situ- 
 ation in Texas for launching his proposal. 
 He then presented it to the Alumni Associa- 
 tion of the University at its annual meeting, 
 and asked that this Association adopt and 
 approve it, pledging himself to secure the 
 handsome endowment necessary to its suc- 
 cess. His fellow alumni willingly gave him 
 their endorsement; and, after consulting 
 with the three men picked out by the Asso- 
 ciation to co-operate with him in launching 
 the enterprise, Mr. Hogg set about the large 
 task of securing the promised financial sup- 
 port. 
 
 The assurance given the Alumni Associa- 
 tion was that subscriptions aggregating not 
 less than $25,000 a year for five years 
 would be secured by the first of November, 
 1911. Although he was delayed by unex- 
 pected but imperative business calls, and was 
 hampered by personal illness for a portion 
 of the time, by the 20th of October Mr. 
 Hogg had secured the amount promised, and 
 by the first of November had secured sub- 
 scriptions aggregating $29,800 for each of 
 the five years contemplated, or a total of 
 $149,000. No subscription larger than $250 
 a year was accepted, and no person or firm 
 was put down for more than one subscrip- 
 tion. No subscription smaller than $25 a 
 year was accepted. Four hundred and forty- 
 three individual subscriptions were received, 
 and Mr. Hogg was, and is, convinced that 
 as manv more could easilv be secured, in an 
 
equal length of time, by visits to many places 
 in the State which he had no time to mai:e. 
 A large number of his subscriptions came 
 from men who never attended a college or 
 university, but had become convinced by their 
 observation and reflection that higher edu- 
 cation is one of the prime needs of the State 
 and its people. 
 
 CONSTITUTION, BY-LAWS, COMMITTEES. 
 
 After the promised subscriptions were 
 secured, the Chairman of the Board of 
 Regents, the President of the Alumni Asso- 
 ciation, and the President of the Univer- 
 sity, to whom this task was entrusted, 
 drew up a constitution and by-laws and pro- 
 ceeded to complete the organization for the 
 administration of the fund, after having 
 presented the plan in detail to the Board of 
 Eegents of the University, and having re- 
 ceived its approval at a meeting held October 
 17, 1911. Two committees with similar, but 
 slightly different functions, known as the 
 Standing and the Advisory Committee, with 
 the advice and assistance of a Corresponding 
 Committee, constitute the Board of Control 
 of the Hogg Organization. The Standing 
 Committee consists of Messrs. Clarence 
 Ousley, Fort Worth; S. B. Mezes, Austin; 
 E. B. Parker, Houston; R. L. Batts, Austin; 
 W. H. Burges, El Paso; John W. Hopkins, 
 Galveston; F. C. Proctor, Beaumont; George 
 A. Robertson, Dallas, and M. Sansom, Fort 
 Worth; the Advisory Committee of Messrs. 
 S. P. Brooks, Waco; Will C. Hogg, Hous- 
 ton; Frank Kell, Wichita Falls; C. Lom- 
 bardi, Dallas; E. 0. Lovett, Houston; 
 Charles Schreiner, Kerrville; Ed. C. Lasa- 
 ter, Falfurrias, and F. M. Bralley, Austin. 
 The members of the Correspondence Com- 
 mittee are to be non-resident former Texaus 
 of National reputation; their names will be 
 
published later. Mr. S. E. Mezes is Chair- 
 man, Mr. R. L. Batts, Vice-Chairman, and 
 Mr. Arthur Lefevre, Secretary of the Board 
 of Control. A Finance Committee consist- 
 ing of Messrs. Parker, Hogg and Mezes is 
 empowered to act for the Board in cases of 
 emergency, when it is not in session. 
 
 PROGRAM OF WORK. 
 
 So much for the steps leading to the es- 
 tablishment of this important organization ; 
 now for a brief description of the work it 
 proposes to do. For the present two lines 
 of activity have been mapped out: first, an 
 investigation of higher educational institu- 
 tions, and, second, an educatioiial campaign, 
 acquainting the people of the State with the 
 present status of such institutions in Texas 
 and with the enlargement and extension of 
 their service that would be beneficial to the 
 State. 
 
 The work of investigation will be in the 
 hands of Mr. Lefevre, as Research Secretary, 
 except for one of its special but important 
 departments, dealing with the constitutional 
 and legal status of the higher educational in- 
 stitutions of Texas, which will be studied 
 by a committee of lawyers on the Board of 
 Control, with Mr. Batts^ of Austin, as Chair- 
 man. Both the general and the legal in- 
 vestigations will undertake to secure facts, 
 to digest them, and to present proposals to 
 the Board of Control for its consideration, 
 modification, if necessary, and adoption. As 
 a result of these investigations, the Organ- 
 ization expects to recommend to the people 
 of Texas a plan outlining in some detail the 
 activities that should be undertaken by 
 higher ediTcational institutions in Texas, in 
 the service of the people of the State, and 
 the constitutional and legal changes neces- 
 san^ for the carrying out of these plans. 
 
The purpose of the educational campaign 
 to be carried on by the Organization is, in 
 its own words, "to distribute, as widely as 
 possible throughout Texas, information on 
 the following points: (a) The present 
 plant, activities, and amounts and methods 
 of support, of the University of Texas, the 
 Agricultural and Mechanical College, the 
 College of Industrial Arts, and the State 
 Normal Schools. (b) The needed im- 
 provements of, and additions to, the plants 
 and activities of these institutions, and the 
 increased income and support necessary to 
 make those improvements and additions, 
 based upon a study of similar institutions 
 elsewhere, (c) The value to the people of 
 Texas of the present services of these insti- 
 tutions, and the increased benefit to them of 
 the services that could be rendered with im- 
 proved and additional facilities.'^ 
 
 In distributing this information, the fol- 
 lowing means and methods, among others, 
 with such modifications as may prove ex- 
 pedient, will be employed : "(a) Bulletins 
 and special articles, (b) Charts to be 
 posted in courthouses, public libraries, cham- 
 bers of commerce, and other suitable public 
 places, (c) Special articles and other mat- 
 ter in the leading daily papers, and appro- 
 priate matter in the country papers, (d) 
 Attendance on and addresses at, all impor- 
 tant teachers' and other public meetings and 
 fairs in the State, (e) Special mailing 
 cards to be sent to a list of several thousand 
 selected persons, (f) Suitable exhibits for 
 the State and principal county fairs, accom- 
 panied wherever sent by some person compe- 
 tent to explain them." 
 
 ALL HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 While this plan for the enlargement and 
 extension of higher education in Texas was 
 
launched by the University Alumni Associ- 
 ation, neither its promoters nor the commit- 
 tees in charge of the fund are willing that 
 the University alone should profit by the 
 activities to be undertaken. All realize that 
 all parts of the educational system of the 
 State are of vital importance to its welfare, 
 and that any selfish or exclusive concern for 
 any one institution or educational subdivi- 
 sion would be improper and unworthy of the 
 support of the people. The Organization, 
 therefore, proposes, as its plan of campaign 
 outlined above makes plain, to give due at- 
 tention to all the higher educational insti- 
 tutions, and to conduct its campaign in com- 
 plete harmony with the interests and devel- 
 opment of the State system of common 
 schools. In order to insure the carrying out 
 of this broad programme, the control of the 
 educational campaign is put in the hands of 
 a committee, consisting of two members of 
 the Organization, and of representatives of 
 the University of Texas, the Agricultural 
 and Mechanical College, the College of In- 
 dustrial Arts, the State Normal Schools, and 
 The Conference for Education in Texas; 
 and the executive management of the cam- 
 paign is entrusted to the Secretary of this 
 committee, Mr. F. M. Bralley, who as State 
 Superintendent of Public Instruction, and, 
 in that capacity, the people's highest elective 
 educational officer, is in a position to carry 
 it on in harmony with the State's educa- 
 tional policies. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRE 
 
 019 885 460 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 019 885 460 ! 
 
 Hollinger Corp. 
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