The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-06-01

OF which we have pretty accurate records In
tho class histories OF tho different colleges.
But 1t is equally true that some OF them
carry on with their degrees Vicious habits
OF self-indulgence which speedily bring
about their destruction. There Is q per-
centage of nearly every largo class which
goes to the bad but IL is n small percentage,
and very likely college life itself has not
ruined the boys. 1t has only tested them
and found them wanting. But the law OF
the survival OF the llttcst works just rs
much in business as at a college. and the
weak arc bound TO 40 TO the wall wherever
they are placed.
Still, II n young mans tendencies arc
plainly toward vice and IL he is manifestly
lacking in q sense OF duty, college Is poor
place for him. There is no system OF uni
vcrsity discipline which can nut brains into
n boys head, and there is none which can
clean out foul heart. Moreover, the young
men themselves must largely give the moral
tone to n college, and one OF the host SER
vices its education does n student Is the crit
icsm to which It subjects his talents and his
conduct at the hands Of those sharpest and
least lcnicnt Of critics, his mates.
We could namc to Mr.. JONES several rcpu-
table colleges in the country. Indeed, we
should find it hard to pick out one which
was not reputable in the sense he uses the
term, though we could select good many
which do not offer educational advantages
worth going after, and whose degrees are as
cheap as their scholarship. OF iirst-rate
colleges there are very few. You can count
them on your fingers, though some States
alone have what they call colleges by the
score
Harvard is a great college, and is steadily
advancing the requirements for admission
to its privileges. 1t has the reputation Of
being very expensive place to which to
send n boy, and, unquestionaby, the folly OF
some parents enables n portion Of the stu
dents to scatter money too profusely for
their own or their mates good But Prcsi-
dent ELIOT has shown how n young man
can live at Cambridge for a sum not greater
than it takes to support him at the lesser
Institutions, and numerous cndowments are
provided for the benefit OF students too poor
TO get along without pocuniary aid. Yet it
is mainly college for the sons OF wcll-to-do
mon, who can afford their boys an annual
allowance running from $1,000 TO 81, 800 II
year Harvard nowadays. is practically in
Boston, but that circumstance need not
Brighten the parents Of students who are
wise enough not to pamper their sons while
living at the university. The legitimate cx-
pcnscs are pretty heavy and ought to be
less. for money should not tell in the college
democracy
At Harvard, however. there is n standard
Of honor among the students which saves
Them as rule, though they smoke and
drink too much. and the ambition for ac-
quircmcnt is not as great as II once was
STILL no idle nor stupid student gets a
Harvard degree in these days
At Yale. though New Haven is n far
smaller town than Boston, the temptations
of the students are about the same, and
their expenses not much less. II is more
under clerical influence than the Cambridge
University. but that doesn't make the young
men any more strict in their morals. Be-
sides, Yale has pronounced, through its
President, in favor Of Bcechcrism Besides.
at Yale as at Harvard, the college COM
munity is so large that the boys can't be
watched over as II they We're under keepers.
and, indeed, nowhere outside of insane asy-
lums and prisons can they secure that vigil
lance.
Princeton Is a rigidly Presbyterian col
| ltEf. YET INC lIunhN anu thIltiH VI lllt NiA-
u,nts tnere nave furnished much material
for our reporters. Rutgers belongs to the
Dutch Reformed communion, "A very straight
laced body; yet Mr.. JONES says New Bruins
wick Is full of policy shops and gambling
dcns, which might not exist but for the
college boys. Brown is Baptist college,
but Providence, whore 1t is situated, has
long been known as the nursery of gamblers,
| nj f,V -. .iy . tu hal
Trinity is an Episcopalan school, but
its authorities have of late years had
good deal Of trouble in curbing the OK
cesses OF their students. The Roman Cath
Ollie College at Fordham enjoys creditable
reputation for scholarship. and the young
men seem to behave themselves very prop
ery. AT Cornell the students average older
than in our scaboard colleges, and they
perhaps better appreciate the need OF inn
| proving their time, but on the whole boys
morals are no safer there than in the salt
water institutions. Williams, IA Congrcga-
tional college, surrounded by the quiet and
| well-tempered society of an old Massachu-
sets village, offers its temptations also,
while Columbia College planted in the midst
of the hustle and vices Of New York, has as
orderly body Of students as any college
in the country. II lacks, and in some re-
spects gains 10y the lack, the atmosphere of
university town largely peopled by stu
dents.
In fact, Mr., JONES, TO whatever college
you send your boy you will expose him TO
manifold temptations, resisting which he
will gain strength for the battle OF life or
yielding to which he will lessen his ability
to withstand its peril. But you must trust
him away from the nest at some time, and
though colleges may not be dovecots the
average run of students escape the depre-
dations OF the hawks.
Mayor COOpeT's New Police Commits
SiOners.