The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-06-02
THE AGE-HERA1 1LD, THURSDAY. JUNE 2, 1901.

rom rom eVgry department of human en-
 tto,.a1 l.i governmental religious, educa-
 Ilonal' professional. commercial and in-
 oustrial affairs. the call is loud and per-
 sistent and imperative
 Ane 1ohtge Man in Governmental Is
 q 1eli,iail saying that of the number of
 .,,-, Nno % enter the universities there, 1 Vhe-tnifo ialis' another third goes to the
 devil and the remaininr third governs
 Europe. AS whole. this statement may | or may not be true. but so far as Ger
 many IS concerned the correctness of the
 last part of the saying cannot be ques- l tioned.
 The college man. the educated citizen.
 governs not only In Europe but by our l Cwn government he is heinz called more
 and more into positions of honor and trust
 and profit. This is true in both general i and local government The time once was l when little or no attention was maid to
 a candidates fitness for public offiaa. In
 many sections of the country thaf time
 has gone-gone to come no more. let us l hope. This change has been wrought by
 the spread of education Universal edll- cation in free government works won
 drous changes. An intelligent and pa- 1 triotic people will not long be satisfied with incompetency in high places
 Notwithstanding less than one per cent
 of the people of the United States have
 received college training, oyer 50 per
 cent of the civic positions of honor. re- sponsibility and salary are today filled !. by men from that class. In the very high positions, the percentage is even greater The demand for the educated man in government grows stronger year 1 by year. As this demand Is supplied. the number of opportunities for preferment 1 open to the non-college trained man ] grows smaller and smaller, Within the next generation, probably all of the gov ernment positions which are regarded as great prizes will be given to the we'll educated man. Already one-third of the members of Congress have had college training. One-half of the Presidents and vice presidents were educated at col 1ege. Two-thirds of the associate justices and seven-eighths of the chief justices of the supreme court of the United States have come from the list of college-bred men.
 Demand Will Increase.
 As the civil service system is perfected the governmental demand for college men will increase Native talent. com bined with education and culture and character makes stronger, better and more desirable official than does native talent alone. The people have learned this lesson, and the man who aspires to leadership in affairs of state will prob- ably never hear the call unless he quail flies himself as well or better than his opponent.
 College-bred men. in matters of gov ernment your opportunity Is great equally great is your responsibility.
 The College Man In Professional Life What is true of the college man in poli- tics is equally true of him in the learned professions of the ministry, law medi- cine, and teaching. While it has long been conceded that these callings required special prepartion not thought to be nec- essary in others, competition Is becom- ing so great, and the demand for ef- ficient service is becoming so strong, that the man without training above the ele- mentary and secondary schools courses is at a great disadvantage.
 The Ministry-The demand for educated men in the ministry keeps pace with that in secular life. The pulpit has never been so strong intellectually as at present. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century the number of college graduates in the ministry increased IA per cent. For the same period the increase in population was only S7 per cent. If there is any decrease in the number entering that service, as Is claimed by some it is among those without the higher train ing. The pulpit call is for high scholarship as well as for a knowledge of homiletics. That the call is heard and to some ex- tent needed, is shown by the figures given.
 Desire for Better Education.
 The falling off in the number of unedu- eated aspirants but multipres the chances for success of, and increases the demand for, the educated wearers of the min isterial toga. Among people of ignorant communities even, there exists a percept- ibe and growing desire for more eff ficient church leadership. In proportion as the number of well educated men en- tering the ministry has increased, have denominational prejudice and religion in- tolerance and wicked superstitution de- parted from the minds and hearts of the people
 Practically all of the most desirable of fees of church are now occupied by col- lege-br men. They are the leaders in the great march of religious thought and action To them must we look for the continued spread of the glorious gospel of love and light and life.
 Medicine-In medicine the same is true. Of the 132.225 physicians in the United States at the beginning of this twentieth century. 1,149 were graduates of med teal schools. Deducting 10 per cent for those who quit the profession and follow other pursuits. 75 per cent of those in the practice hove been trained profess sionally While the percentage of col lege trained physicians is much below that in the ministry. such training seems to be more necessary for eminent suc- cess in that profession, and the number of college men seeking 1t is growing at a wonderful rate.
 Reliable statistics show that the phy- siclan with the college degree in addition to the professional degree. has great advantage over the one with the profess sional degree only. The chances for sue cess and distinction are six to one In his favor.
 Is a Gradual Dlminution. There is noticed gradual dimnution in the number entering the medical pro- fesson with no training above the ele- mentary schools. For fifty years there has been a gradual increase In the mum Der combining college and professional courses. Within that period the number taking post graduate courses at Ameri- can and European universities has n- creased more than 300 per cent. Twenty-Five years ago but few medical school paid any attention to academic entrance requirements Now all of them | enforce to some extent such require ments. The time seems to be near when | the bachelors degree or it's equivalent | will be required of all who are permitted | to enter upon the study and practice or | the science and art of healing. Nnpf btfta