Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-06-19

~ NC AAAACu ny ONAACAS mt
selves, who viii repeat the same
form of collegiate inefficiency and
academic conventionalities, which
they mistake for scholarship and
professional ability.
Southern colleges cannot be built
up by such men, however amiable,
nor by such methods, however
learned they may seem.
We must so endow our colleges
as to be able to hold the best Of our
own men. This means money
much money; but not more than
we are we'll able to supply, and
much less than it will cost us in
men, money and influence If we
continue to allow northern lnsti-
buttons to get from us our best and
give to us their weakest teachers.
Some men among us seem not to
understand why a college needs
any endowment at all. They i'm
agine 1t ought to make money like
a foundry and declare dividends
like a cotton factory.
But let us see the plain reason
why this cannot be the case and
why colleges must be endowed.
The average number of students
to the professor in American col
leges of first grade is approximately
thirteen. If the average number
be raised much above this the per-
sonal influence and teaching power
of the instructor are diluted and
weakened below standard efhcien-
cy. But supposing the figure could
be safely raised to twenty and that
each of the twenty students paid
a tuition fee of $50 per annum, the
usual fee in the best southern col
leges. Then If every student paid his
$50 a year the college would realize
81, 200 annually from the tuition fees
of every twenty students. This
leaves no margin for renting fees
to needy young men; for failure
in collections, for insurance and
repair of buildings, for janitors'
service, fuel and lights and for
chemicals, apparatus and the like.
But II. the entire $1,000, undimin-
ished by any of these fixed charges,
could be applied to the payment of
the salary of the professor required
for every twenty students, it would
not be sufficient to secure the SER
vices of a first class man. A re-
Gently fledged doctor of philosophy
in the absence of anything better
might accept such a salary and
stay for a brief period on 1t, but
he would be constantly looking out
for a more lucrative position and
would soon find 1t, unless he should
prove a failure. in which case he
would stay on his 81. 200 till he wore
out his welcome.
It stands to reason, therefore,
that for every twenty Students on
its roll college ought to have en-
dowment enough to raise independ-
ent of tuition fees at least $1,000
and $500 were a far safer fig
ure. With the present rate of in
come from safe investments that
means at least $4,000 endowment
for every chair in the college.
Northern colleges would laugh at
that figure and call for $4,000 or
100000 for each chair. Just the 9TH
er day some gentleman, under the
leadership of ex-President Cleve-
land, endowed a memorial chair
at Washington and Lee universe
ty in honor OF the late president
William L. Wilson, and they put
down a little more than 800, 900
for it. 1t is safe to say that chair
will always be able to command the
-
If, therefore, say every chair
in our colleges should have under
II an endowment of at least $25. 900,
my affirmation is within the limits
of the most moderate and conserv-
alive demand. But everybody
knows such endowments are not
common in southern colleges.
They must become common or
we must continue to lose our best
men to institutions willing and able
to pay them decently for their SER
vices.
There is perhaps one other RENE
dy for the case, but it is of doubt
full value. 1 mean that our made
quately endowed colleges might re-
reduce their faculties, might pay
we'll and overwork the few best
men they should keep and might
dismiss the rest. That means, how
ever, a wasteful use and the ulti-
mate killing of able men in order
to allow us to withhold our money
from our institutions of learning.
I fear there are some rich men
n n
and wicked thing in order to save
their purses. I know there are
some who make a habit of decrying
collegiate education altogether in
order to save their faces while in
obstinate stinginess they refuse to
do anything for the colleges of the
land. Such men are too dull to
understand these high matters and
too mean to care for. them. 1 have
no hope of getting out Of them any
thing better than a growl in re-
Spouse to what is here written.
But maybe some more thoughtful
and generous souls will be moved
to consider carefully the whole
subject and to do something worthy
of the great interest involved.
Perhaps some broad minded young
man who is in the way to become
wealthy may be to led to do some
thing tomorrow. 1 know too well
the men who are rich today to ex-
pect much from most of them. The
best public service they are likely
to render is one they will put off
as long as they can, but which they
win be forced by nature to render
at last-dying. That event will dis
tribute their ungenerous hoardings.