Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-11-14
LOW PAY FOR BRAINS.
Services Of Scholars Command Slight
Compensation in Germany.

us In the chicago RecOrd-Herald. y
The price of brains in Germany
like other marketable commodities
seems to be regulated by the law ol
supply and demand. The was
pointed out to me other day one oi
the most eminent and learned scho'
ars in the world, whose compensa
ton for the last eight or ten years
has been $50 month, and the COOL
man seems to be satisfied with his
income. Another of the most fam
Gus pundits in Germany has been Iiv,
ing on $50 a month sience he could
remember. with an occasional honor.
arium from magazine for an article
We have heard how much Mr. Astor
pays his cook and Mr.. Whitney the
jockey that rides his horses at the
races, and the profits derived by the
authors of sensational novels are
enough to hire whole faculty Of
the ablest and most learned German
professor
AS rule salaries are much lower
in this country than in the United
States, except in a few official posi-.
tons. The ministers OF the empire
receive three or four times the
amount paid to our cabinet ministers
in Washington. and they all have
handsome houses TO live in free of
cost and servants paid by the gov
eminent. but their subordinates have
about one-third of the salaries paid
to men occupying similar positions
in the executive department of the
United States.
The greatest differences in salaries.
however. Is among the learned pro-
fessions. tutor in a German uni
versity will do well If he gets $25 or
$50 month, and professor Is fort
innate If he gets sl00 a month. Some
of the professors who are dependent
upon their fees do not make more
than $500 or $400 year. Their com
pensation depends largely upon their
ability and popularity. because as
rule, 1t depends upon the number of
students attending their lectures
Several specialists in law. medicine,
chemistry and other sciences are
handsomely paid; that is. their in
comes are nearly as large as that Of
of Mr.. Astor's cook, and if they have
reached a degree ofeminence which
causes them to be regarded as auth
orlty upon certain subjects they
sometimes receive retainers as coun-
sci for manufacturing companies or
other corporations which can make
good use of their brains. One pro-
fessor in the Berlin University is
said said to make $4,000 a year,
most of it as fees for giving his ad-
vice to corporations that are working
in the line of his special ability
University professors. however,
are not permitted to enter into the
active practice Of any profession.
Law lectures often write opinions
which have great weight and are
sometimes filed as arguments in the
court. or give advice to regular prac-
ticing lawyers. Formerly litigants
could appeal to the law faculty of the
university instead of TO the supreme
court, but that is no longNr author
lied. Lectures in the medical de-
partment are often called upon for
consultation in serious cases of sick
ness. Chemists and specialists in
other lines receive fees for labor
tory work, or for ging opinions upon
the value of inventions or discov-
cries. Just now certain eminent
professor in the university has been
employed to give an opinion upon
the value OF recently invented cleo
trical appliance, for which he he will
receive a thousand marks. But it is
only the select few who enjoy these
pecuniary advantages. AS rule the
faculties of the univ T'sities in Ger
AIRY public school teachers in the
United States, and there are 1855
regular professorships in the twenty
one institutions. Perhaps their ser
vices would be more highly appre
ciated ii they wede not so numerous.
A young man, the son of Berlin
capitalist, was attending one of the
universities in the interior last year.
and toward the close of the semester
became frightened lest he should fail
to pass his examinations. He ap-
pealed to one of the faculty to coach
him and ypromised to pay him GER
tain fee and study highland day if
the professor would assist him. The
professor smiled and accepted the
proposition, remarking that the fee
Woulu diioW uiIu anu edCn Oh HIS SONS
a new suit of clothes and his wife
and daughters each new dress, a
luxury they had not indulged in foI
a year-''and perhaps" he added. "we
may save enough to pay the expen-
ses OF a little visit to the mountains"
The amount offered by the rich
young man was twice the professors
annual salary.
The banks of Berlin have branches
in all parts of the city for the con
venience of the public, and their own
profit of course, because they are no
more benevolent than similar insti-
tutions in other countries. The Deut-
scher Bank, for example. has twenty
two suboffices located where they are
most convenient. at which deposits
are received, drafts sold notes paid.
letters of credit purchased, orders
left for the purchase of stocks and