Colleges in America Part 7

Bearing in mind these restrictions in regard to the idea of success, we offer a few suggestive facts to show the number of college men who have made a record in the annals of the country.

The college has been the open doorway to positions of eminence and usefulness in all countries. Lord Macaulay, in one of his speeches in Parliament, said: "Take the Cambridge Calendar, or take the Oxford Calendar for two hundred years; look at the church, the parliament, or the bar, and it has always been the case that men who were first in the compet.i.tion of the schools have been first in the compet.i.tion of life."

Speaking of the advantages of a university education in Germany, Professor J. M. Hart says: "I am warranted in saying that the majority of the members of every legislative body in Germany, and three-fourths of the higher office holders, and all the heads of departments, are university graduates, or have at least taken a partial course--enough to catch the university spirit. All the controlling elements of German national life, therefore, have been trained to sympathize with the freedom, intellectual and individual, which is the characteristic of the university method."

It is estimated that only one-half of one per cent. of the male population in America receives a college education, and yet this small contingent of college men furnishes one-half of the Senators and Vice-Presidents, two-thirds of the Presidents and Secretaries of State, and seven-eighths of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Rev. W. F. Crafts says: "I have examined the educational records of the seventy foremost men in American politics--Cabinet officers, Senators, Congressmen, and Governors of national reputation--and I find that thirty-seven of them are college graduates; that five more had a part of the college course, but did not graduate, while only twenty-eight did not go to college at all. As not more than one young man in five hundred goes to college, and as this one-five-hundredth of the young men furnishes four-sevenths of our distinguished public officers, it appears that a collegian has seven hundred and fifty times as many chances of being an eminent Governor or Congressman as other young men."

The college graduate generally has the pre-eminence among professional men. The proportion of successful men in the professions is difficult to obtain, but if a wide reputation be regarded as the criterion of success, the college-bred men take the lead.

President Thwing has carefully estimated that, of the 15,142 most conspicuous persons of our American history, whose record is sketched in "Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography," 5,326 are college men. Among the latter, the percentage found in the various callings is as follows: "Pioneers and explorers, 3.6 per cent.; artists, 10.4 per cent.; inventors, 11 per cent.; philanthropists, 16 per cent.; business men, 17 per cent.; public men, 18 per cent.; statesmen, 33 per cent.; authors, 37 per cent.; physicians, 46 per cent.; lawyers, 50 per cent.; clergymen, 58 per cent.; educators, 61 per cent.; scientists, 63 per cent." He further estimates that one college man in every forty attains recognition, to one in every ten thousand non-college men; and a college-bred man has 250 times the chance of attaining recognition that the non-college man has.

Dr. Channing says: "The grounds of a man's culture lie in his nature, and not in his calling;" and, in keeping with this, the primary aim of a college is to train men. Yet, it should be the door of approach to all professions. The studies pursued in college are the foundations of the practice of the various professions, and a young man does himself and his profession no credit when he neglects to master a college course because of his impatience to rush into a professional career, and thus help to swell the army of poorly-equipped professional men.

"To practice law or medicine in France," says Matthew Arnold, "a person must possess a diploma, which serves as a guarantee to the public that such a person is qualified for his profession. A licentiate of law must first have got the degree of Bachelor of Letters; have then attended two years' lectures in a faculty of law, and undergone two examinations, one in Justinian's Code, and the Codes of Civil Procedure and Criminal Instruction. The new bachelor must then, in order to become licentiate, follow a third year's lectures in a faculty of law; undergo two more examinations, the first on the Inst.i.tutes of Justinian again, the second on the Code Napoleon, the Code of Commerce, and Administrative Law, and must support a thesis on questions of Roman and French Law. To be a physician or surgeon in France, a man must have a diploma of a doctor either in medicine or in surgery. To obtain this, he must have attended four years' lectures in a faculty of medicine, and have two years' practice in a hospital.

When he presents himself for the first year's lectures, he must produce a diploma of Bachelor of Letters; when for the third, that of a Bachelor of Sciences, a certain portion of the mathematics generally required for a third degree being, in his case, cut away. He must pa.s.s eight examinations, and at the end of his course he must support a thesis before his faculty."

Young men with talent and ambition are led to believe that the professions are so over-crowded that there is very little opportunity, in these days, for a collegian to succeed in a professional career. A comparative study of the number of students in the professional schools in Germany, France, and the United States, for 1890 reveals the following facts:

KEY:

A: _Law._ B: _No. to every 100,000 population._ C: _Medicine._ D: _No. to every 100,000 population._ E: _Theology._ F: _No. to every 100,000 population._

A B C D E F

Germany, 6,304 13 8,886 18 5,849 12 France, 5,152 14 6,455 17 101 ..

United States, 4,518 7 14,884 24 7,013 11

We glance briefly at the promises which the so-called learned professions hold out to young men. The opening for young men in the legal profession has many difficulties, but it is not without its rewards. David Dudley Field estimated that in 1893 there were 70,000 lawyers in the United States. If we estimate the population of the nation at 70,000,000, there would be one lawyer for every 1,000 of the population. a.s.suming that three-fourths of the population are women, children, and men under age, there would be one lawyer to every 250 males of full age in the United States.

Germany, with a population of 50,000,000, has about 7,000 lawyers, or one to every 7,000 persons. In the State of New York, with a population of 6,000,000, there are 11,000 lawyers, or one for every 545 of the population. Of this number of lawyers, there is a great proportion engaged in real estate business, or other outside matters, which enables them to secure a maintenance. Others have entered the law because of its promise of social position and honor.

Aside from the numbers in the legal profession, there are other considerations in the problem. The people of to-day are less disposed to controversy, and avoid employing lawyers to settle disputes and differences in court, and others often hesitate to employ a lawyer for fear of being made a victim of the rapacity of some who have brought the profession into disrepute. Again, there is less confusion in the laws. They are being collected, condensed, arranged, and simplified, and people are coming to understand the codes. Likewise, the courts are adopting simpler rules and codes of civil procedure, which give less room for pettyfogging hindrances and delays in litigation. A lawyer of talent, with the aid of a good stenographer and typewriter and other advantages of to-day, can do double and treble the work of a lawyer twenty-five years ago.

Finally, the qualifications of a lawyer never reached so high a standard. To attain the greatest professional success, it is indispensable to get the highest development which a college training can give. Chauncey M. Depew says that three-fifths of the lawyers are unfit for their profession from lack of ability or training. The people demand abler and better lawyers. The requisite qualities of a good lawyer to-day are not only knowledge and a good judgment, but patience, industry, honesty, and certain other apt.i.tudes for his work.

He must be ready to compete with a trained and talented rival. Special training is of great value. A lawyer of several years' standing at the bar in New York, in a recent conversation, remarked: "I studied law in a lawyer's office. My brother, here, several years younger than myself, went through the law school, and he has so much the advantage of me, in consequence of that training, in the studious habits he has formed, in being brought into immediate contact with the best legal minds, in being held to the highest standards, that this fall I shall enter the law school and take the entire course."

In facing these difficulties, let it be remembered that there are always openings for young men of superior qualifications. Some one asked Daniel Webster whether the legal profession was not over-crowded, and he replied that there was always room at the top. An ambitious young man of ability can win his way to the front, while mediocrity will wait for patronage. There is jostling and crowding in the rear ranks of every profession. It is surprising how few thoroughly trained men are entering the profession. In 1890 there were in the various law schools in this country 4,518 students, and only 1,255 of these had degrees in letters or science. In the same year, 1,514 were graduated in the schools of law, which was only 2.4 in every 100,000 of the population. There is a demand for specialists.

The field is enlarging in the department of patent law, railroad law, and other legal specialties. The business transactions of this age are more complex, and the interests more important. Corporation controversies need to be adjusted by those who thoroughly understand the principles and practices of equity. "I was a teacher of law to young men for more than twenty years," says Judge Hoadley, "and have never seen any reason to discourage a sober, honest, and industrious young man from studying law. He needs, first of all, absolute fidelity, trustworthiness, and integrity; secondly, devotion to his calling--in other words, industry that will not be interfered with by the distraction of society or pursuit of politics. If he be honest and willing to work, he will, with reasonable intelligence make a sufficient success, if he have the patience to wait for success. If, in addition, he have what I may call the lawyer's faculty--that G.o.d-given power to appreciate leading principles and apply them to facts as they arise, coupled with ability to reason, and to state results cogently and persuasively,--he will make a shining success."

Again, the advantages of a thorough medical education are generally recognized. The sacred work of ministering to the suffering demands the most thorough instruction in medicine and methods of treatment. In 1890 there were 15,404 students in 116 medical schools in the United States, distributed as follows: Regulars, 13,521; eclectics, 719; homeopathists, 1,164. For the same year there were 4,492 graduates, or 7 in every 100,000 of the population. Sixteen of the medical schools had no students enrolled who had previously obtained a literary or scientific degree. Only 15 per cent. of all the students matriculated had obtained a degree before entering the medical schools. There is an evident lack of thorough preparation in foundation studies on the part of the students. The medical profession is second to none in importance, and the students of medicine who will give time to the more extended culture of a college course will naturally obtain greater skill and a broader range of thought, which will contribute to their efficiency as practicing physicians.

It is also encouraging to know that the statistics of each decade indicate that an increasing proportion of young men entering the ministry have received a college education. There were 112 theological schools in 1890, that reported 7,013 students, of whom 1,372 were graduated, or two for every one hundred thousand of population. This is certainly not over-crowding.

Of the students in theology enrolled in the schools of the various denominations in 1890, the proportion was as follows: Baptists, 15.6 per cent.; Presbyterians, 15 per cent.; Methodists, 14.9 per cent.; Lutheran, 14.7 per cent.; Roman Catholic, 13.4 per cent.; Congregational, 9.7 per cent.; Christian, 5.5 per cent.; Episcopal, 4.7 per cent.; Hebrew, .5 per cent. Of the total enrollment, 7,013, only 1,559 students had received degrees in letters or science. The church demands educated men for the pulpit. A call to the ministry in these days means that a man should prepare for the work. G.o.d does not honor the slothful, but the man who seeks to make full proof of his ministry. This is done when a man of piety takes the time to acquire mental culture and refinement, and to become able properly to guide and instruct the people. Such ministers, "thoroughly furnished unto every good word and work," honor the church, and strengthen the cause of Christ. Their mental endowments command respect and inspire confidence. There never has been a time in the Christian ministry when there was such a demand as now for ministers with minds cultivated and well stored with knowledge, and hearts set on fire by the Holy Ghost.

The old idea that a college graduate must study for medicine, law, or the pulpit, has attracted a large number of them into these professions. We have learned, however, that these professions are not superior to other avenues in science and business. A college training is only a means to an end. It is giving a man fitness for work of any kind. The departments opening up to college-trained men in all lines of work are multiplying and expanding with each succeeding year.

The future is bright for those who will take up statesmanship as a profession. Nothing has a more important bearing on the social interests of the people than the science of civil government. The nation is burdened with politicians, but intelligent Christian statesmen are few. The intelligent people of this nation are asking for men educated in history, political and social science, who, with clear heads and loyal hearts, will use their ability for the welfare of the public. Good citizens have too long held themselves aloof from the great concerns of our organized society. All civic matters are worthy of our best thought and n.o.blest effort. The management of our political and social interests has too often been usurped by politicians, who, with little self-respect, efficiency, or character, have worked not for the public good, but on the principle that "to the victors belong the spoils." Their rapacity and greed have led them to sacrifice principle to party. They aim to manage caucuses, pervert elections, override the wishes and defy the moral sense of the people, and corrupt the sources of national life.

We have come to ask for a remedy. Its answer must be found in the young men whose patriotism will lead them to thoroughly prepare themselves for public service and make statesmanship a profession.

Along with a broad and comprehensive knowledge of the science of government they should cultivate the capacity for effective public speech, in order to present political and social themes with such power as to guide public opinion in the right direction. They must be willing to carry their independent convictions into civil affairs, and help to enn.o.ble the national spirit, and purify public life, and make it expressive of the highest intelligence and the best moral sentiments of the people. Statesmanship is a sacred calling, and the people are ready to uphold and encourage young men who will dedicate themselves to this exalted work.

It is an omen of good that chairs of political and social science are being established in all our high grade colleges to train young men for this service. They ought to prosper, and will. Milton saw this need years ago, and said: "The next remove must be to the study of politics, to know the beginning, end, and reasons of political societies; that they may not, in a dangerous fit of the commonwealth, be such poor, shaken, uncertain reeds, of such a tottering conscience, as many of our great counsellors have lately shown themselves, but steadfast pillars of the state."

Those who are to be trained for this leadership, and expect to gain a strong hold on society, should be taught and trained to think upon complicated questions, and able not only to frame platforms and shape legislation, but to grapple with modern social problems, and lead the people to n.o.bler action.

Journalism is another important field for talented young men and women. The journalists of to-day need breadth and concentration of mind to meet the demands of a reading and thinking people. They need a knowledge based on history, literature, and politics in order to report speeches correctly and to discuss living questions clearly, cogently, and with a broad knowledge of principles and facts. The press wields an influence next to the pulpit, and it should be consecrated to the highest service through men qualified for editorial work.

The profession of teaching has justly a.s.sumed a position in this country second to none in influence and power.

There are 15,000,000 pupils in the public schools of this country.

There are 364,000 teachers employed in giving instruction to this army of youth. College graduates are rapidly acquiring a control of the high positions in these schools. The superintendents, princ.i.p.als, and the majority of the male a.s.sistants are college graduates. A college education is fast becoming an absolute necessity to secure a position in the best schools. School boards will rarely select a superintendent or a princ.i.p.al of the high school who has not received a collegiate education. There is an increasing demand for thoroughly trained men and women in this work. Few teachers can hope to attain prominence in their profession without these advantages.

There is, likewise, a rich and fruitful field opening up to those who receive a careful scientific education. The application of science to the arts and industries is rapidly changing the social and economic conditions of the people. We are unable to conceive of the ever-widening field in which educated men will be needed to discover new methods of concentrating and transmitting electrical and mechanical power, thereby reducing the cost of production, and adding to the comfort and happiness of the human family. There is a growing demand for men versed in electrical science, who can take charge of establishments for the transmission of power. Civil and mechanical engineers are needed, who can wisely and economically construct our bridges and highways of commerce, and who can apply the highest scientific skill to all the constructive enterprises of the country.

"The Swiss and Germans aver," says Matthew Arnold, "if you question them as to the benefit they have received from their _realschulen_ and _polytechnic.u.ms_, that in every part of the world their men of business, trained in these schools, are beating the English when they meet on equal terms as to capital, and that where English capital, as so often happens, is superior, the advantage of the Swiss or German in instruction tends more and more to balance this superiority. I was lately saying to one of the first mathematicians in England, who has been a distinguished senior wrangler at Cambridge and a practical mathematician besides, that in one department, at any rate--that of mechanics and engineering,--we seemed, in spite of the absence of special schools, good instruction, and the idea of science, to get on wonderfully well. 'On the contrary,' said he, 'we get on wonderfully ill. Our engineers have no real scientific instruction, and we let them learn their business at our expense by the rule of thumb, but it is a ruinous system of blunder and plunder. A man without a requisite scientific knowledge undertakes to build a difficult bridge; he builds three which tumble down, and so learns how to build a fourth which stands, but somebody pays for the three failures. In France or Switzerland he would not have been suffered to build his first bridge until he had satisfied competent persons that he knew how to build it, because abroad they cannot afford our extravagance.'"

We find, likewise, that our industries are demanding men trained in applied chemistry. The application of the principles of chemical philosophy to manufacturing steel, chemical fertilizers, artificial preparation of articles of food, bleaching, dyeing, and printing of cloths, offers a very inviting field of study. We might multiply instances, but enough has been said to suggest to our minds the rich possibilities before educated young men and women. We are only on the edge of the future of applied science.

We need, also, to carry our culture and training into business careers. Business is conducted by different methods than in the past.

The management affords a broader field for judgment and thought. Many, in the future, may succeed without a college education, but they will work at a disadvantage. The chances are always in favor of the man who is well educated. It is a common belief that a college education unfits a man for practical work. He often does appear at a disadvantage on leaving college, but, other things being equal, he will distance, within a few years, the man of like ability who has not been rigorously trained to see, think, and judge. "Experience also confirms this impression by the decisive testimony gathered from a mult.i.tude of witnesses," says Noah Porter, "that the young man who leaves college at twenty-one, and enters a counting or sales-room, will, at twenty-three, if diligent and devoted, have outstripped in business capacity the companion who entered the same position at sixteen and has remained in it continuously, while in his general resources of intellect and culture he will be greatly his superior."

Germany has for more than fifty years insisted that her youth should not only have the foundation of a general education, but that opportunities should be given for higher commercial instruction. This superior education and training is producing its legitimate results.

Notwithstanding the many unfavorable circ.u.mstances which have combined to prevent her growth in commerce and industry, Germany has gained an amount of skill and experience in mercantile training that has no parallel in France, England, or America. The advance of German trade is due to the superior fitness of the Germans through their systematic training in technical schools.

M. Ricard, in his report to the French Chamber of Commerce, said: "Every intelligent man must admit that the invasion of our commerce by foreigners is due entirely to this educational inferiority. The Germans are taking our places everywhere. They even supplant the English. Let the merchants of France take warning in time. German commerce has better instruction, better discipline, and greater enterprise than French commerce; it is at home everywhere; no languages are foreign to it; it keeps a lookout over the world; it is not ashamed to go to school, and if you do not awake from your lethargy, it will annihilate you."

The London Chamber of Commerce found, on examination, that ninety-nine per cent. of Englishmen who take to commercial life are unable to correspond in any foreign language. The comparative disadvantage, on all commercial lines, of England with Germany, is owing to "a higher average of mercantile intelligence all round." It is not to be alleged that the English are mentally inferior to the Germans, but, as Professor W. G. Blackie said before the Educational Inst.i.tute of Scotland: "The question is solely an intellectual one, and must be solved through educational means. It a.s.sumes the aspect of an educational duel between the mercantile population of this country and their compet.i.tors on the continent, in which the mastery is sure to remain with those who are the most fully equipped for the contest."

The report on the superior instruction of Antwerp contains the following words: "Men have seemed to imagine that, in order to prosper, commerce and industry have only required money and favorable treaties of commerce. Governments have occupied themselves with the material side of the future merchant, without taking care to develop his intellectual capacity, which is, indeed, the spirit of his operations, without taking care to improve his intelligence, which is the germ of enterprise in the commercial life of a nation."

Young men and women are often led to believe that there is no chance for them to have a successful career, and so fail to attend college and develop their capacity, and, as a consequence, often become restless and idle. But this is no age for triflers. The world is in need of educated men in all of the higher walks of life. There is abundant room for men of ability and culture who can bring things to pa.s.s. The fact that earnest, talented, and consecrated men and women are overworked in their professions shows that there is a place in the front ranks of all useful professions and vocations.

The door of the twentieth century swings open and invites the ambitious men and women of talent and consecration to the service of humanity, and extends the widest opportunities and the most exalted privileges ever vouchsafed to man. Will the youth of the land be ready to enter?

VIII.

OUR INDEBTEDNESS TO COLLEGES.

The American colleges hold the most intimate relation to the whole community, for which they have done a vast work. They rightly enjoy the confidence and esteem of the American people, since they have infused into society some of the most purifying and life-giving influences. Many of the first settlers were among the best educated men of England, and they recognized that education was the corner-stone of civil and religious liberty. Pembroke, Delaware, William Penn, Roger Williams, the Winthrops, and a large number of worthy men who settled in the early colonies came from the cla.s.sical shades of Oxford and Cambridge, and retained the educational predilections which were so firmly established in their mother country. The spirit and principles of our wise and G.o.dly ancestry were early introduced into the colleges, which have conserved and perpetuated them down to the present day.

The American people owe much to the colleges for training capable and worthy men to fill the posts of honor and power in the nation. The men who have given shape and character to the early political organizations and spirit have been mostly collegians.