Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-10-10
GERMAN UsssERsiTsts'
A Ge,I,n Professor Creates hensa-
sfOH.

GERMAN UsssERSiTsts.
A 0c,I,n Professor Creates "a hen.s-
siOn.
The following i an extract from an open
I,tirr liz Professor Schm0.ltr, one NJ The
n o,t influential men in The Law faculty Of
lie Unvcr,iiy Of Berlin. It's publication
Lcs called forth q storm Cf controversy IN
no German newspapers. The fact Ia 4
German students frequently spend The flr,t
baif OF theif university course IN idlenc,-
i not. denied even Ly those who oppose the
yitws OF The learned professor, and their
cliCi arauuent of dcicnce + thli these
,cais Of idlcnos, make UP the only season
~ romance in the Otherwise uubroken life
OF examination and posiiiOn-hunting 10
which German youths afo'G9omcd;
What I want TO see done away with !,
ihc ohIcally.Organizcd ubtruth, which eN-
cites NV indignation every time | have t.
carry II into execution. Every professor
" ice year tc,tife, that dozens OF student,
have been present at his lectures, who, he
knows. have never set loot in his room' II
has happened repeatedly that student
cuioles sly presented to me Prof ssor Eck's
Iandccls Tor me 10 sign, thereby admitting
that they did not know either Professor
Eek or nc hy sight. don't want 10 force
ANYBODY 10 hear tedious lectures; I've
cut many lecture myself, and know
well enough that hard reading and
industry i'm bis own room are in the cud
more important. perhaps, to a student
than bearing the university courses. But
cannot persuade myself that this Industry
Is 10 be found IN the case Of those who at
tend no lectures the tr-t two or four
semtsitrs and calculate from the very be-
ginning on the ability OF a paid "cOlch "
"a cIam them up for examination. The
number Of these men, however, is very
Iargc-amCng the law students certainly
from one fourth to one third; and 80 the
question simply is, Cannot a system Of
marking, without cOmpul,iOn, be en-
ploycd: To al industrious students this
would be matter OF Indifference. Would
it not save the majority Of the lower layer
II our future government officials from that
"brmming' hich must occur when one
wastes from one 10 three years OF bis
life? Tht academic freedom would not be
ale ctcd in the least by thi, plan, only the
Iieht 10 conceal laZiness from parents,
guardians. and the university officers
would be put an end to. admit that the
cMIyipg ont Of such a change would not
lie easy. II il be deemed unworthy the
dignity OF a student 10 be thus daily con-
troltd, let me merely call attention 10 0ur
great military. educational establishments.
The officers in the war academy and in the
artillery school, who are on the average
much older than university students, who
are in possession OF offices and rank, and
ore many OF them married men, must daily
nut up with having their ottendlncc al
courses Of instruction marked.
The Berlin ReichSbate. commenting edi.
torially on This letter, i much Sharper In
IT, criticism:
II any form Of life has remlined in tn
rear q reform It is the academic, and only
the romance Of student life and the easy
going plrtialily Of wider circles in the
outer world have kept the public eye closed
10 this fact. There j. mistaken idea cur
rent a. TO the position OF the better and
more caratlc class Of students In regard to
the existing state Of affairs. The general
opinion + hat this class would bitterly re.
sent any change a. an attack upon their
traditional privileges. We should like to
emphasize The fact that, on the contrary,
a deep desire to reform the present
evil circumstances has long been
akipg itself felt in academic cir
cles. There i great discomfort and
lmpaticncc, especially with the eXtraordi-
harry arrangement Of lecture courses. the
lack Of system. the indigestibility and even
the partial absence Of spirit OF the great
II ass Of information offered In The universe
ties, one OF the most alarming features l.
the complete responsibility OF the profeS'
sor for the intellectual progress OF his hear
ers. From this result the wilfulness with
which every instructor, according to his
personal inclinationS, chooses and handles
his subject, the dry, uninterested tone
which makes most lectures an abOminati0n
TO the youthful fermeniing spirits OF the
auditors, and tie remarkably slight
personal relations which nowadays eX.
Isl between proif ssOrS and students,
IN scientific matters. One can bold
iv say that II student really does
any good work. he owes this 10 his own
self.telching industry, good school pre-
paratOn. or perhaps to the personal inter
est 0! some professor, but least OF al, to
the institutions OF the university. When
one adds to this the evils in the system OF
salaries, which have turned the Office OF
private decent into a money speculation,
in the one sided education Of whole pro-
feSsions, rs OF the philnlogianS and theolo-
niaus. who receive fOm the university a
good as nothing fer their practical call
ing in life, in the lad arrangement OF
examinations, in the social life OF the stu
dents. as in the dueling abOminltIOn. the
awarding Of scholarships, and 80 forth, one
is forced to wish with all his soul that at
last some Gdipus might arise to undertake
the solution Ct these complicated riddles.
II is only a consequence OF the want Of
earncslness with which. owing To all sorts
OF sentimental "reminiscences, this subject
is usually dealt with, that in no walk OF
life does an equal number Of persons, NOR
ally and physically, 90 10 ruin as in the
STUDENT World, before they have done any
thing for the good Of the community. Sta
ti,iics on this subject would bring some
surprising facts h light facts that would
oren the eyes Of the blindest.
We believe that we are within the truth
when We say that not half OF our students
reach that degree OF attainment which they
could through quietcr and more earnest
development, and that large proportion
actually go to the bad. This is not qlcs-
ton Of limiting academic freedom; THU
shall continue in it, noble sense-that Is,
that the student have the greatest possible
amount Of opportunity and time 10 form
himself and his intellect in an individual
way, but not until he has performed those
duties which life with its necessities de-
mands OF him as a scholar. Only freedom
based on fulfilled duty has any worth, but
not a freedom associated with inactivity
and prickings OF conscience, which often
apnihlates the noblcst powers in the very
germ.
The Dispatch very APPLY asks:
care the men who have funded under the
. L.. oil 10, q