The New York herald., 1872-10-13

COllege-Bro0 Mem IN New York
There are many sad phases Of life In New
York, but few more so than that tersely touched
upon in one sentence of Mr.. Greeley's speech
before the Normal School at Kutatown, Pa,
reported in the HERALD of Thursday. Said
the Philosopher, "I have known not less than
thousand thoroughly educated, that is, ex-
pensiYely educated, men in New York-men
who have entered German or English or Amer
lean colleges and been sent forth with diplo-
mas-who are yet utterly unable to earn their
bread and who are to-day pacing the stony
streets in a vain search for something to do. :"
This seems strange and hard to hundreds of
thousands who think fine education ALWAYS
removes man from the horrors Of poverty
and want and to thousands of college youths
now strolling under the trees and sunshine of
Alma Mater, fancying that success is assured
in advance to man of classic education,
thinking degree of A. B. sword and shield
that will give them all the advantage in the
battle and make their triumph certain, expect
ing to carry the world by storm and easily secure
position of distinction and worldly comfort.
But Mr.. Greeley's statement is doubtless
within the reality, and his experience is not
exceptional The HERALD could tell the mate
to the story. The Office of great newspaper
naturally has strong attraction for an unpro-
vided-for college graduate and the application
Of such for work or position is matter Of
almost daily experience in the Office Of all the
great dailies There are few occasions when
it is SO hard to say "No'' as to man of fin
ished education and the refinement of feeling
that comes therefrom, when applying for work
which men of much inferior abilities and
general knowledge, it may be, are often en-
ployed to do. All such applicants for work
take it as matter Of course that q man Of
collegiate education can do the work of jour
nalism and make himself useful in the corps
OF great daily. That SO many are rejected
and fail of sought-for positions is because ex-
perience has demonstrated that college train
ing is by no means requisite to an acceptable
discharge of much of the work Of gathering
the material for the supply of a daily paper,
however valuable and requisite some men Of
such training on the journalists staff The
business of journalism, like any other bust
ness, requires men Of tact and talent specially
adapted for certain departments, for certain
kinds of work, and it often happens that a
man who can do nothing else can do a special
line Of work infinitely better than most men of
liberal education. Hence it is that the bache-
lor Of arts often fails to secure the place which
may be filed by man vastly his inferior in
general attainments.
But this is no disparagement of classical
education or Of such courses of training as
are now pursued in our colleges. On the con-
trary, our institutions are doing good work
and turning out men in the main well qualified
for the duties that await them and for useful
citizens and members of society. The
instances here alluded to are small
minority, the exception, not the rule,
and nothing should be judged by
exceptional instances. An American teacher
of some note used to tell his boys,
ssYou can't make Damascus sword blade out
Of shipgle." Out of the large number that
enter and graduate from our colleges there
are, Of course, some men Of such mediocre
abilities that no course of education could
make intellectual men-some whose lack of
character and propensity to evil must inevita-
bly, draw them down in the world when thrown
upon their own resources Hence there is
nothing to be surprised at in the circumstance
that some college-bred men are not successes
in the world-that some who take high rank
in college scholarship wander the streets of
New York in Strengthened circumstances
at the fact, which is within our knowledge,
that the names Of recent graduates Of Harvard
may be found on the roll Of letter-carriers and,
still sadder, on the roll Of the inmates Of Sing
Sing.