Evening star., 1934-09-02


which would care for miscellaneous
expenses, and he told me proudly
that he would get SIS and sometimes
$40 month from home. With the
help of our loan fund he was ready
to make the attempt. And by ar
amazing feat Of salesmanship, wher
returning to the Middle West during
vacations, he sold space in his ole
car to classmates who were returning
to that section Of the country. OBJ
tanning his degree In due course, with
more money in his pockets than when
he had started, he found Job and
started his business career.
Then there was the swarthy, part
Indian boy who came out Of a remote
town in British India, where he hat
been q railroad station agent anc
gone as far as he could under the
caste system. He arrived unannounced
and without funds, except for initial
bills, but with the prerequisite educa-
ton and q wife. He was quiet and
unassuming, and it was not until
some weeks after The term started
that the Office became really ac-
quainted with him. By that time he
had rented large house in Cam
bridge, which his industrious wife had
converted into a rooming and board
ing establishment for Asiatic students
AS for himself, he had night job
in a soap factory.
VIII Make q Way.
There is no encouragement great
enough to keep vigorous youth from
its goal. The soft and overpampered
may lack the drive and imagination,
but those from the average American
home will make way. When a
young man with wife and child
and no money, but an allowance oi
S. a week, can enroll in graduate
school, as one did with us last Sep
tember, and have a grin and a fair
record six months later, need we
worry unduly over the problems OF
the college man today? They study
hard and on the side they work
they shovel snow, run filling stations
drive old ladies, wait on table, peddle
papers, care for children, subject
themselves to experimentation In q
physiological laboratory, operate rail-
road signal towers, work on night
shifts in factories and warehouses
teach girls to ride horseback, clean
houses, work In banks, press clothes
censor movies, sing In choirs.
Nor are the opportunities gone
when, their studies completed, they
| face the world for job. Out Of our
graduating class Of Approximately $50
in June, 1884, 80 per cent had jobs
by July /.
tunity knocks, it is not always easy
! to get to the door. Last Spring we
learned of an opening in st. Louis
A personal interview was necessary
for the job, and we suggested to a
likely candidate that he go out there
| during Spring vacation.
| Finding himslf with insufficient
money to buy ticket, he mailed his
good clothes to himself care OF
general delivery in st. Louis, donned
| overalls and boarded a westbound
freight. He reached st. Louis, got
his clothes, cleaned up In the station
wash room, and presented himself at
the office Of his prospective employer.
Unfortunately, that man had gone
to Chicago, but it was suggested te
the candidate that he proceed there
There was no alternative but to re-
turn to the station and the overalls,
mail his presentable clothes to Chicago
and reconnoiter the freight yards for
the next lap. Arriving in Chicago and
reclaiming his clothes, he appeared
for the interview and was promised
the job: then he returned to the
! freight yards with barely enough time
to get back to Cambridge before
the end of the Easter vacation.
1t is an interesting commentary on
young men today that in spite of eco
nomic distress they take their f1nan-
cial obligations seriously. We have
been loaning money to needy stu
dents for tuition purposes ever since
1910-nearly $750.0O0 in all, entirely
unsecured. OF this amount the total
written of and the probably uncol-
lectible notes are less than az per
cent Of the total amount loaned. We
have little confidence in the accuracy
Of this figure, because some of the
amounts written Of have subse-
quently been paid in full.
Repayments have held up remark
ably well during the last two years.
Plans for repayment are always worked
out in accordance with the individual
students financial circumstances, some
loans being adjusted to run over a
period as long as five years. As q
result, right through the depression
the principal amount actually In oul
loan funds has been growing. Be-
tween 200 and 800 men are borrowing
| from these funds at the Business
School each year.
Liquidating Debts.
It would seem to be very concrete
evidence Of the stability of this group
Of men after graduation that in these
times they are earning enough to
hquidate their debts satisfactorily, and
feel q real responsibility to pass ON
to incoming students the funds they
have been using.
The available jobs run fairly well
through the gamut OF business ac-
tivity. Hence 1t Is possible to q large
degree for each man to determine the
area of his job and to follow his par
ticular bent. That the largest group
should 60 into commercial and in
vestment banking is startling refu-
tation Of the feeling that no one In
these times either can or should find
job in that field. Now 1t seems quite
possible that new demand Is coming
| from within banking itself for trained
and alert young men to I'LL positions
OF ultimate responsibility.
It is interesting also to find oppor-
| tunities arising in manufacturing, in
the face of the low ebb Of industrial
production and the excess productive
capacities Of which we constantly
hear. But here again there seems to
be call for men Of ability and train
ing to help solve the problems arising
out Of increased costs, slumping de-
mand and the uncertainties Of the
future.
It is less surprising 10 note oppor-
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