Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-07-07
PROFESSIONAL EARNINGS.
Comparative Advantages of the Law,
Medicine and the Clergy.

The law is probably the most profit
able of the so-called learned profess
sions, says the Medical Record There
are more and larger prizes to be gained
by an acute and eloquent disciple OF
the legal art than are open to the med
ical man or the minister. In this coun-
try and Great Britain the incomes OF
the foremost advocates and of attor-
neys in lucrative practice for the most
part overshadoW the yearly earnings
of the best known physicians and sur
geons. and to a still greater extent
those of our spiritual advisers. Oc-
casionally one hears of very large for
tunes being left by prominent doctors
Sir William Gull Sir Andrew Clarke
DIR. Pepper and Sir William Jenner are
cases in point; but these are exceptions
and sums accumulated by medical men
cannot be compared either in number
or magnitude to the colossal amounts
amassed by members of the legal fra
ternity. When, however. the average
incomes of these three classes of the
community are considered. their rela-
tive position in Great Britain and the
United States will be found to differ.
Viewed thus. in the United Kingdom
the clergyman is at the top of the list
the lawyer second. and doctor last;
while here the lawyer or doctor gets a
larger share of the "loaVes and fishes.
and the minister had to be content
with the crumbs.
The average income of a physician in
large cities on this continent may be
placed at $4,000: in the smaller towns
at $500. and in the rural districts at
$1,000. Two or three New York ply
sicians are said to make over 100000
a year, five or six about $50 600. but the
average income, although higher than
in Chicago, or in other American large
cities, does not greatly exceed $1,000
yearly. The minister averages in the
city perhaps $1,000. and in the country
certainly not more than $500 yearly.
As regards living expenses. both the
lawyer and minister have an advantage
over their professional brother. In New
York. for example. office accommoda-
ton suitable to physician is very
dear in a good neighborhood costing
not less than $40 or $50 a month. which
with board and lodging and other nee
essary disbursements will represent a
sum of S120 monthly, a sufficiently
weighty burden for a struggling youth
full practitioner to bear. The young
minister has no rent to pay. while the
legal neophyte can regulate his outlay
in this respect according to the length
of his purse.
Nevertheless, the lot of the medical
beginner compared with that Of pas
tor in like situation has its compen-
stations. He is at least more or less in
dependent. The minister. on the con-
trary, is as a rule permitted to cXer-
else his own will. but to limited de-
gree. and often is doomed to go through
a lifetime Of toll. subscrVient to the
caprces of censorious elders and dca-
cons. An excellent description of the
trials of an American country minister
and the various unpleasantnesscs with
which he has to contend at the hands
of his congregation. is given in The
Damnation Of Theron Ware" the best
novel written by the late Harold Fred
eric.
When all is said that can he said the
first few years of medical practice are
years Of arduous effort. full of disillu-,
sionment and disappointment. The late
Sir Andrew Clarke told DR.. Osler:
From the vantage ground of more
than 40 years of hard work ! can say
that | have striven 10 years for bread
10 years for bread and butter. and 90
years for cake and ale The truth
undoubtedly is, and especially in the
large centres of population in Amer
lea that the opportunities for a physi-
clan to obtain adequate compensation
for his services are yearly becoming
less.
This is not due to any deterioration
in the quality Of the present day prac-
titioner or an evidence of falling off in
medical or surgical skill. The fact is
irrefutable that the medical profession
in this and in all civilized countries
stands on a higher plane in the matter
Of training and knowledge than ever
before. The reason for the decrease
in medical incomes is indubitably al
most wholly owing to the more eager
competition among regular practition-
ers. to hospital and dispensary abuse
and to the lamentable increase in
quackery. The supply of medical men
is greater than the demand: the market
is flooded and the most potent remedy
we can suggest for this evil is that as
has been many times advised in the
Medical Record. a uniform high stan
dard of medical education should be
established in every state.