Page images
PDF
EPUB

resignation or otherwise, the Governor may make temporary ap pointments until the next meeting of the Legislature. The Governor shall be ex-officio a member of each of said Boards of Trustees, and shall act as President thereof in all of their meetings when present, but in his absence they may choose a President pro tem. Five of the Trustees of each Board shall be a quorum for the transaction of business.

SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the Secretary of State shall furnish a certificate to each Trustee within ten days after his appointment, notifying him that he has been so appointed; and if any Trustee fail for the space of thirty days to inform the Governor of his acceptance, then his appointment shall be void, and his place filled as heretofore provided in cases of vacancy.

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That each of the Boards of Trustees herein provided for, and their successors in office, be and the same are hereby declared to be a body politic and corporate by their respective names and styles, and shall have a common seal, and each in his own name shall sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with, and may own, purchase, sell and convey property, both real, personal and mixed.

SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the Governor shall, as exofficio President, convene the Board of Trustees of either of said Colleges, to consider any business connected with the same, whenever he shall deem it expedient to do so.

SEC 7. Be it further enacted, That the Trustees of each College shall elect a Secretary of the Board, whose duty it shall be to record in a well-bound book all the proceedings had by said Board, and shall be allowed such compensation for his services as the Board may deem proper.

SEC 8. Be it further enacted, That the State Treasurer shall be ex-officio Treasurer of both Boards of Trustees, whose duty it shall be to secure and safely keep all moneys belonging to the Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges, and to disburse the same under the orders of the Boards of Trustees.

SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That each of said Boards of Trustees shall possess all the power that is necessary and proper for the accomplishment of the trust reposed in them, viz: the establishment and maintenance of a first-class institution, at which the youth of the State of Mississippi may acquire a common school education, and a scientific and practical knowledge of agriculture, horticulture and the mechanic arts; also of the proper growth and care of stock, without, however, excluding other scientific and classical studies, including military tactics. They may also adopt all such by-laws and regulations as they may deem necessary for that purpose, not repugnant to the Constitution and laws of this State or of the United States.

SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That the Board of Trustees shall appoint the President and Professors of the College, and such other officers as they may think proper to put the College into successful operation, and shall make such laws, rules, and regula

tions for the government of said officers as they may deem advis able. They shall regulate the course of study, rates of tuition, management of the experimental farm, the manner of performing labor and the kind of labor to be performed by the students, together with the course of discipline necessary to enforce the faithful discharge of the duties of all officers, professors and students.

SEC. 11. Be it further enacted, That the Trustees to be appointed as hereinbefore provided, shall receive as compensation for their services their actual expenses incurred in attending any of the meetings of the Board of Trustees, payable out of any funds belonging to the College.

SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That the said Board of Trustees shall organize under the provisions of this Act as soon as practicable after their appointment, and the Trustees of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi shall, immediately after their organization, proceed to procure, by purchase or donation, a site for the location of the said Agricultural and Mechanical College, with an experimental farm thereto attached of not less than one hundred and sixty acres of land. In the selection of the said site and experimental farm, the Trustees shall look to the convenience of the people of every section of the State, the proximity of the proposed site to other public institutions supported in whole or in part by the State, with a view to giving the preference to localities least favored heretofore, and also the facilities for going to and from said College, the advantages and disadvantages of the different sites proposed, and shall locate the same at the place where most advantages are offered; Provided, The location shall be at a place known to be healthy; and Provided, That said Trustees shall give notice for sixty days in three newspapers published in this State, that they will receive proposals and examine sites before locating said College.

SEC. 13. Be it further enacted, That the interest arising from the proceeds of the fund known as the agircultural land scrip fund is hereby set apart for the use and benefit of said Agricultural and Mechanical College, to be used in equal proportions for the benefit of the youth of both races and Colleges, and shall be drawn from the Treasury by the Board of Trustees on vouchers audited by the Board and approved by the Governor, and filed in the Auditor's office, and upon the filing of such vouchers the Auditor of Public Accounts shall draw his warrant on the State Treasurer for the same from time to time, as funds may be needed to pay the officers and professors of said Colleges, or for any ofher necessary and proper object connected with the said Agricultural and Mechanical College not inconsistent with the Act of Congress, approved July 2, 1862.

SEC. 14. Be it further enacted, That in order to establish financial equality in all respects between the Colleges herein provided for, a sum equal to the amount heretofore appropriated to the

84

AGRICULTURAL· AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE.

Alcorn University out of the principal arising from the sale of said land scrip, is hereby appropriated to the College provided for in section two of this Act, and the Trustees thereof shall be authorized to use the same in carrying out the provisions of this Act for the benefit of said College not inconsistent with the Act or Acts of Congress donating the same.

SEC. 15. Be it further enacted, That this Act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, Feb. 28, 1878.

[graphic]
[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]
« PreviousContinue »