The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-16
Are College Men in Demand?

I asked the heads of various universi- ties whether their students were in de- mand by business men. Practically all of them said that they were. l then asked them to give me the ranles of a few of the business men who were seeking their students; there were not more than two or three names given. That oughr to
 be fairly conclusive evidence. Undoubted ly, many people have tried college men.
 but I have yet to find a single instance where they have been satisfactory. | I know of but two or three business men in the United States who favor, or who even make a pretense of favoring, col lege men in their business. hut not one of them is honest in the matter. This fact Is so overwhelmingly conclusive as to the folly of higher schooling as a prep aratlon for business that there is nothing left for the college to stand on. The business men of the United States are as shrewd and leve-headed as any class of people, and their decision on this subject admits of no douht Even if ir could be questioned it would avail you nothing, because you must go to them for employment. Therefore, the only adverse criticism of my position on this question comes from men who arc getting their living out of higher schooling.
 In this connection I might mention letter from a prominent Chicago bus mess man. and referred to in my book, who, in his anxiety to say something good about colleges, claimed that col lege men were a success in bushes. have since had letter from this same man who now makes the statement that he has tried 50 college men and that not single one proved success.
 In Search of Position
 Here is the actual experience of a col lege man seeking position. He is man of exceptional appearance and ad- dress, and voluntarily wtcte the follow ing letter, which I quote:
 T think that my experience may be taken as pretty. fair test of the value of college education in 'lilstling for job Summarized, 1t stood thus I an- swered 45O ads of all kinds, taking every precaution to make my Ter lies as b lsi- ness-like and convincing as possible: sent out over 70 typewritten applications to picked addresses, and made inpumerabe applications in person. In almost every case I was met by the same fatal ques- tion-what do you know about our b,is;- ness? In Chicago, at any rate, the ein- ployer makes it the first condition of engagement that you shall know about hts business if you lack tiia, qualification he cares not how fine your personal qudli- ties may be, how excelen. your mental capacity, and how faithful your zeal He will not even give you a chance to show what you can do.
 Does some one say tho reason why the college man can not find business po- siton is because he is too proud to begin at the bottom and work his way upp There again appears the ignorance o- those who theorize about which they never tried. Tn this city, at least, employ CTS of business help will not take man who is nearly 25 years Of age as a be- ginner without business experience. They want young fellows in their teens, and so specify in their ads; Of course, they can get plenty of them. They are cheap CT, will last longer and lre more easily reduced to mere cogs in the business ma chine. A college man knows too many other things.
 ''As last resort even applied 10 MT. A. c. Bartlett In my innocence I imagined that the friend and advocate of