β [400] before me of solving the financial problem of making one half or two thirds of the land purchased pay for the whole. This I have done. My success has been a happy surprise to myself. My work is open to fair criticism, but I am not willing to be subjected to unjust censure.β He just then demurred at the yoke of extraordinary surveillance that was sought to be imposed upon him, and he asked them to find another agent in whom they could repose ordinary confidence exercised among business men. In the same paper, Whittlesey said:
The truth is, the board of trustees have had very little to do with the purchase of this property. They did not encourage it. Several members expressed opposition to the whole project. The work was done by General Howard and by me, acting under his authority. The entire responsibility was thrown upon us. Had it been a failure, we should have borne the disgrace, and the board would have declared itself free from all blame. It has not failed, and every person in the land, who has at heart the welfare of the university and the good of those for whom it is designed, must rejoice.How to meet the primary payment was my first problem. Some gifts had come to our university treasury, but they were not enough. The university treasurer showed that the first amount to be paid to Mr. Smith was twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). To meet that and other expenses in starting this enterprise, there was in the hands of the Bureau disbursing officer a residue of βthe refugees and freedmen's fund.β And as I had the authority of law in the Appropriation Act for March 2, 1867, to use it at my discretion for education, after reflection, I resolved to