User:Sarcasmboy/sandbox/Douglas-Rose Controversy
The Douglas-Rose Controversy, also referred to as the Rose-Douglas Controversy, was a political controversy that lasted from 1875 until 1881 in the state of Michigan. It stemmed from an accounting discrepancy at the University of Michigan but grew to encompass a public feud between various Protestant denominations, an investigation by the Michigan legislature, and a series of court battles that reached the Michigan Supreme Court.
Background[edit]
The controversy began with a routine audit of student laboratory fees at the University of Michigan. The Board of Regents passed a resolution in October 1875 that required the university's chemical laboratory to perform a quarterly accounting of all of the laboratory fees students had paid, consistent with how such accounting was done in other departments. Upon performing the first audit, the director of the laboratory, Professor Silas H. Douglas,[a] found a discrepancy of $831.10 (equivalent to $23,059 in 2023[b]) for the 1874–1875 school year. The student fees had been collected by an assistant professor, Preston B. Rose, who turned them over to Douglas for transfer to the university treasury. Rose repaid a portion of the missing funds immediately and took out a mortgage on his house to furnish the remaining $645 that November.[1]
Further discrepancies dating back several years were found as the audit continued, and after university president James B. Angell informed the regents, they demanded Rose provide a deed of trust of his house as security against further losses. The regents' own investigative committee reported on December 21 that a total of $4,718.62 (equivalent to $130,920 in 2023[b]) was missing.
Public controversy[edit]
The matter had become public knowledge by now, and Rose stopped cooperating with the investigation, professed his innocence to the regents, and demanded an impartial hearing. Instead, the regents found him responsible for $1,681.53 of the funds and suspended him from his duties. Between December and the end of the 1875–1876 academic year, the regents reinstated and then fired Rose, and two more committees found additional discrepancies that brought the total to $6,984.01. Records indicated Douglas was in possession of $1,174.65 of this; he claimed the records had been forged and an attempt by the regents to fire him failed by a four to two vote.[2]
Religious and political allegiances began to shape the public debate. Douglas was well-known in the area, having been on the faculty since 1844 and served as mayor of Ann Arbor from 1871 to 1873.[citation needed] Rice Beal, the publisher of the Ann Arbor Courier, was an influential Republican in the state and, like Rose, a Methodist.[2] Beal saw Rose as the underdog in a fight against Douglas, an Episcopalian, and used the paper to defend Rose and attack Douglas, the university, and Angell. [3]
Notes[edit]
- ^ He used the spelling Douglass prior to 1873, and is listed as such in many historical records, but the spelling Douglas is used in all documentation related to this controversy.[1]
- ^ a b 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
Citations[edit]
- ^ a b Vander Velde 1942, p. 208.
- ^ a b Vander Velde 1942, p. 209.
- ^ Smith 1954, pp. 110–111.
References[edit]
- Smith, Shirley W. (1954), James Burrill Angell: An American Influence, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, retrieved 2018-10-19
- Vander Velde, Lewis G. (1942), "The Douglas-Rose Controversy", in Shaw, Wilfred B. (ed.), The University of Michigan, an Encyclopedic Survey, vol. 1, University of Michigan Press, retrieved 2018-10-21
Further reading[edit]
- Michigan Legislature Joint Committee on the University of Michigan (1877), Report of the Joint Committee of the Michigan Legislature of 1877, on an Alleged Defalcation, and Matters Connected Therewith, in the Laboratory Department of the University of Michigan: Together with the Testimony Taken in the Case, W. S. George
- Rose, Preston B.; Storrs, Emery Alexander (1877), The Regents of the University of Michigan, Vs. Rose, Douglas, Et Al: Argument for Dr. Rose, by Hon. Emery A. Storrs, of Chicago, Delivered August 9, 10, and 11, 1877, Before Judge G.N. Huntington, at Ann Arbor, Michigan; Trial Commenced July 5th, and Ended August 11th, Courier
- The Regents of the University of Michigan Vs. Preston B. Rose, Silas H. Douglas, Rice A. Beal, and Willard B. Smith, Harvey S. Street and John Q. Wilson, Executors--Original Bill. Silas H. Douglas, Appellant, Vs. The Regents of the University of Michigan--Cross Bill: Brief on Behalf of Silas H. Douglas, Appellant. Sam'l T. Douglass, Solicitor for Appellant. Ashley Pond, of Counsel, Detroit Free Press, 1880