The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-06-17
ARE PROFESSIONS CROWDED.
Men who Claim TO Know Say There
Is Room for ALL

New York Evening Sun.
A Boston newspaper has been interview
ing the local college authorities to ascertain
whether the professions are overcrowded
if success comes to the average worker.
whether he makes a living the first year
and what percentage OF graduates of the
schools abandon their profession for some
other means of employment Both Dean
Samuel c. Bennett, of the Boston Law
School, and Dean James Barr Ames. of
Harvard, say that the legal profession is
not overcrowded, and that most of the
young men who embrace IL remain in it's
ranks. Prof. Ames scouts the idea that a
young lawyer can make his bread and but
ter the first year. ut Is not to be expected
of him." he says. Prof. Bennett, who goes
! more into particulars, says that fully 90
! per cent. of the graduates of his school
| stick to the law. 1t was only the most
| capable men who paid their expenses in
| the first year of practice. The professor
| believes that any young lawyer who is in
earnest and is determined to succeed will
get on. Nevertheless, he makes the unex-
| pected admission that "two-thirds of the
| lawyers to-day could do practically all the
law business that there is to be done" No
doubt there are men at the bar who would
| say that Dean Benefits proportion is
| flagrantly too large But they are either
! mercenary unduly ambitious-or perhaps
| they are rank failures.
| What about medicine? DR.. j. p. Suther-
| land dean of the Boston University schools
| of medicine, says he knows of only three
| graduates of the schools during the last
! fifteen years who have left the profession.
/ About one-half of the young doctors, he
4 thought. wolf door
| first year. If industrious and temperate the
medical man was bound to succeed. DR..
William II. Richardson, dean of the Har-
ward medical school, was not enthusi-
| astic, but he was sure the practitioner of
| even mediocre abilities would succeed If he
| attended to business. But, said the dean,
he can't go to football games and sail about
| the harbor. AS a rule. no young doctor
paid his bills with the fruits of his practice
| the first year. DR.. Eugene II. Smith, dean
| of the Harvard dental school, declared that
| there were by no means too many dentists.
| The outlook for the beginner, he said, was
| better than ever before. Ninety-five per
| cent. of his graduates were still filling and
| pulling teeth. But the first year it was up
| hill work He knew of several men who had
| made $1,000 the first year, but if novice
| earned $500 he had done WELL
A statement made by Secretary James l..
| Love, of the Lawrence scientific school of
| Harvard, is worth the attention of young
| men who have not chosen a career: II
| should say that there are not one-half
|
| ing to-day. do not think there is the slight
| est fear of overcrowding. In mining. civil,
| mechanical and electrical engineering /
| know of no difficulty that our graduates
| have had in getting started" The average
| student who is in earnest makes a living
and few leave the profession. Secretary III.
| w. Tyler, of the Institute of Technology.
| also said there was abundant room in 1t.
Less than 10 per cent. of the graduates
| gave it up. He thought there were perhaps
too many naval architects at present.
| doubtless due TO recent naval exploits,
| the great increase in shipbuilding, etc."
| There had been rush into this branch.
| Perhaps these gentlemen are not impair
| tial observers, rather they speak with a
| professional eye to their own courses and
! departments, which is natural under the
| circumstances. A dean would not be worth
his salt If he didn't diffuse enthusiasm, and
he would be poor professor who should
| discourage young men from selecting the
| career in which he felt the most interest.
| The thing lost sight OF by pessimists is that
population in the United States increases
| by great strides, and in prosperous times
| there is an ever-growing volume of busi-
| ness for professional men. Perhaps not as
many of them succeed as the college au-
| thorities believe, for appearances are some
| times misleading and your professional
| man is likely TO hide his embarrassment
| from pride. But that most men at the bar,
| and in medicine, dentistry and engineering
| can make a decent living is not to be
doubted, for brains are not so much re-
quired as industry and thrift. If a high or
der of skill were an essential we know that
| most of them would fail. There IS, there
| fore, no reason why they should leave their
| careers in droves. AS 70 making both ends
| meet the first year, 1t is not industry and
| zeal that accomplish it so much as energy,
| assurance and personal magnetism. Many
| a novice who can show bank deposit at
the end of his first year fails to reach high
rank in his profession.