LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 01 FT Class The Relation of the College to the Professional School NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY r^^**^: /^^OFTHE^^X I UNIVERSITY | Vp "F ,/ STENOGRAPHIC REPORT OF THE Conference on the Relation of the College to the Professional School CALLED BY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY TO MEET FRIDAY AND SATURDAY MAY EIGHTH AND NINTH J903 PUBLISHED BY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, SOUTH- EAST CORNER LAKE AND DEARBORN STREETS, CHICAGO TABLE OF CONTENTS. Introductory Note 4 Program 8 List of Delegates 10 Report of Proceedings. Introductory Paper The Present Situation, Professor Young, Northwestern Univer- sity 15 I. Has the college a field peculiar to itself, not covered by the tech- nical school or by the demands of preparation for the pro- fessional school? Papers : President Edward D. Eaton, Beloit College 22 President M. P. Dowling, Creighton University 27 President George C. Chase, Bates College 33 Rev. J. H. Thomas, late President of Oxford College 44 President Charles J. Little, Garrett Biblical Institute 89 Discussion : President William F. King, Cornell College 38 President Thomas McClelland, Knox College 40 Professor R. G. Kimble, Lombard College 48 Hon. Arthur L. Bates, Allegheny College 51 President D. W. Fisher, Hanover College 54 Professor Fletcher B. Dresslar, University of California 56 II. Is it desirable that the college course should be reduced in time from four to three or even two years and correspond- ingly in amount of work? Paper : President George E. Merrill, Colgate University 58 Discussion : President Webster Merrifield, University of North Dakota. . 63 President Charles W. Needham, Columbian University 71 Vice-President Francis Cassilly, St. Ignatius College 77 Director George N. Carman, Lewis Institute 78 Professor J. H. T. Main, Iowa College 79 President J. W. Bashford, Ohio Wesleyan University 80 President Charles A. Blanchard, Wheaton College 81 III. What subjects in the typical college course can be accepted by the professional school as qualifying in part for the pro- fessional degree so as to shorten the time required for gradu- ation in the professional school? Papers : President Franklin C. Southworth, Meadville Theological School 84 Dr. R. McE. Schauffler, Kansas City Medical School 96 Discussion : Dean John H. Wigmore, Northwestern University Law School 95 Professor A. T. Robertson, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 92 Dr. Arthur R. Edwards, Northwestern University Medical School 98 Professor John H. Gray, Northwestern University 100 President Charles A. Blanchard, Wheaton College 102 Professor William A. Locy, Northwestern University 103 IV. If reduction is allowed should it be (a) by acceptance of credits in the College of Liberal Arts for work done in the pro- fessional school, or (b) by acceptance in professional school for work done in the College of Liberal Arts, or (c) by combining these plans? Paper: Professor Munroe Smith, Columbia University 105 Discussion : Dean J. L. Goodknight, Lincoln College 114 Professor Ernest J. Wilczynski, University of California 118 Dr. Frances Dickinson, Harvey Medical College 119 Dean John H. Wigmore, Northwestern University Law School 121 Professor C. H. Eigenmann, University of Indiana 125 Dr. Charles E. St. John, Oberlin College 126 V. The Relation of the Technical School to the College. Paper : Dr. Harry W. Tyler, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. . 130 Discussion : Director George N. Carman, Lewis Institute 140 President Frank W. Gunsaulus, Armour Institute 141 Index 145 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. The following letters explain sufficiently the origin of the conference held at the Northwestern University Professional School Building at the corner of Lake and Dearborn Streets, Chicago, on May 8th and 9th, 1903. The program which follows these two letters was based upon replies and suggestions received to the two communications. It is sufficient to say that the program was carried through exactly as it was prepared, no speaker who had promised to be present failing to appear. The list of dele- gates shows the participation in the conference. It may be said further that the social features of the conference, espe- cially the informal meeting of delegates Thursday evening, the luncheon to the delegates on Friday at noon, and the reception to the delegates in the evening, offered opportunities for interesting and fruitful intercourse and for a fuller discussion of the topics of the conference than would have otherwise been possible. The widespread attention which the conference received from the press of the country indicates how important has become this whole topic of the relation of the college to the professional school. The deep felt interest in the proceedings of the conference on the part of those who were present is indicated by the almost unanimous desire to pro- vide for similar meetings in subsequent years, a reference to which will be found on page 124 of, these proceedings. Northwestern University. Evanston Chicago. President's Office, Lake and Dearborn Streets, Chicago. March 12, 1903. MY DEAR SIR : The relation of the college to the professional school, and of col- lege training to professional school work, is receiving today more attention, perhaps, than any other question under discussion by college and university faculties. How to preserve the benefits of the college training while economizing the student's time for both the college and the professional degree is the problem to be solved. The complexity of the questions involved makes it difficult for any single institution to make out and adopt a plan for itself, and the important bearing of any general plan upon our whole American system of education seems to make it desirable that there should be an interchange of views upon this subject by those who are most concerned and who have given it most thought. The question must be considered from the standpoint : First. Of the independent college, that is, one having no organic connection with professional schools. Second. Of the independent professional school. Third. Of the university which embraces both college and pro- fessional schools. As factors in our educational system all three classes of institu- tions are interested in this subject and ought to be consulted and to take part in any general discussion of the matter. With a view to facilitating an interchange of opinions and to securing the best judgment upon this matter, a conference has been called for Friday and Saturday, May 8 and 9, 1903, at North- western University Professional School Building, Lake and Dearborn streets, Chicago. You are cordially invited to participate in this conference. Will you kindly indicate whether or not it is probable that you can be present yourself, and if not, whether your institution may be repre- sented by some other delegate? Faithfully yours, EDMUND J. JAMES. N. B. Please address your reply to this communication in care of the President's Secretary, Northwestern University Building, cor- ner of Lake and Dearborn streets, Chicago. Northwestern University. Cvanston Chicago. President's Office, Lake and Dearborn Streets, Chicago. April 13th, 1903. MY DEAR SIR : The definite acceptances thus far received to the invitation which was sent to you to take part in the conference to be held in the North- western University Building, Chicago, May 8th and 9th, upon "The Relation of the College to the Professional School," would indicate that at least one hundred different institutions will be represented. Two or three institutions have indicated their desire to send repre- sentatives from each of their professional schools, and we should, of course, be glad to have the different departments of the various insti- tutions represented as well as the institutions as a whole. If there are any other members of your faculty who would like to be present and to take part in this conference, we should be glad if you would appoint them, also, as delegates. The interest in the conference has proved to be unexpectedly widespread and intense, and the prospect is that the discussion will throw much light upon present conditions. The following prelimi- nary list of questions for discussion has been made up from sugges- tions made by different institutions which are to be represented. We should be glad to receive other suggestions : I. Has the college a field peculiar to itself, not covered by the technical school and not serving solely as preparatory to the profes- sional school? II. Is it desirable that the college course be reduced in time from four to three years, or even two, and correspondingly in amount of work? III. Is it desirable that the bachelor's degree, based on the course of four years, be required for admission to the professional school ? IV. If the bachelor's degree is not required for admission, is it desirable that there should be reduction of time, i. e., so-called com- bined courses for the two degrees ? What should be the maximum re- duction? Should time in the professional school be counted in meet- ing the minimum requirement of residence in the college ? V. If reduction is allowed should it be (a) by acceptance of credit in the College of Liberal Arts for work done in the professional school, or (b) by acceptance in professional school for work done in the College of Liberal Arts, or (c) by combining these plans? VI. Is the fact that the shorter combined courses are offered with the usual degrees likely to have the effect of discrediting the longer courses and of discouraging the non-professional as well as the professional undergraduate from following them? Is its effect likely to be disadvantageous to the independent col- VII. What is likely to be the effect of the combined courses upon professional education in general, and especially upon the independ- ent professional schools ? VIII. If the bachelor's degree is not a reasonable requirement as a preliminary to professional study, what should be required in the way of preparation ? IX. What method of co-operation is feasible between the inde- pendent college and the university professional schools or independent professional schools by which mutual recognition of work done in the respective institutions may be secured, thus insuring to the inde- pendent college equal privileges in this regard with the university college ? The plan is to have the consideration of each of these questions, and such others as may be submitted and accepted, opened by two brief papers and followed by a general discussion by the delegates present. Delegates are requested to register in the rotunda of the North- western University Building, Lake and Dearborn streets, immediately on their arrival in the city. Arrangements will be made for a social gathering on Thursday evening for those who may be able to arrive Thursday afternoon. The first formal session will be held Friday morning, May 8th, at nine o'clock, in Booth hall, on the Law School floor of the building. The university will tender a reception to the delegates present, Friday evening, from 8 to 11 o'clock, in the rooms of the Law School. The Sherman house, which is located opposite the city hall, only two blocks from the Northwestern University Building, will offer a limited number of rooms for one dollar a day, European plan. The Great Northern, five blocks distant on Dearborn street, offers a similar rate. The Auditorium offers rooms from $1.50 up; and the Audi- torium Annex, from $2 up. The Northwestern University Building can be reached conveniently from the Auditorium by elevated road. An early reply, if you have not already answered the communi- cation of March 12th, will be greatly appreciated. Faithfully yours, PROGRAM. THURSDAY, MAY 7TH, 1903 Informal Meeting of Delegates in the Parlors on the second floor of the Building, 8 to 11 p. m. FRIDAY, MAY 8TH, 1903 9:00 A. M. BOOTH HALL, LAW SCHOOL FLOOR GREETING TO THE DELEGATES BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY INTRODUCTORY PAPER "THE PRESENT SITUATION" Abram Van Eps Young Professor of Chemistry in Northwestern University I Has the college a field peculiar to itself, not covered by the technical school or by the demands of preparation for the professional school? PAPERS : President Edward D. Eaton, Beloit College President M. P. Dowling, Creighton University President George C. Chase, Bates College DISCUSSION : President William F. King, Cornell College President Thomas McClelland, Knox College Rev. J. H. Thomas, late President Oxford College GENERAL DISCUSSION 12 :30 P. M. Luncheon to the Delegates in Assembly Hall on the second floor 2:00 P. M. II Is it desirable that the college course should be reduced in time from four to three or even two years and correspondingly in amount of work? PAPER : President George E. Merrill, Colgate University DISCUSSION : President Webster Merrifield, University of North Dakota President Charles W. Needham, Columbian University GENERAL DISCUSSION III What subjects in the typical college course can be accepted by the profes- sional school as qualifying in part for the professional degree so as to shorten the time required for graduation in the professional school? (a) Theological School PAPER : President Franklin C. Southworth, Meadville Theological School DISCUSSION : President Charles J. Little, Garrett Biblical Institute Professor A. T. Robertson, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (b) Law School PAPER : Dean John H. Wigmore, Northwestern University Law School (c) Medical School PAPER : Dr. R. McE. Schauffler, Kansas City Medical College. DISCUSSION : Dr. Arthur R. Edwards, Northwestern University Medical School 8:00 to 11:00 P. M. Faculty Reception to the Delegates Law School Floor SATURDAY, MAY 9TH, 1903. 9:00 A. M. BOOTH HALL, LAW SCHOOL FLOOR IV If reduction is allowed should it be (a) by acceptance of credits in the College of Liberal Arts for work done in the professional school, or (b) by acceptance in professional school for work done in the College of Liberal Arts, or (c) by combining these plans? PAPER : Professor Munroe Smith, Columbia University DISCUSSION : Dean J. L. Goodknight, Lincoln College GENERAL DISCUSSION. 11 :00 A. M. V The relation of the Technical School to the College PAPER : Dr. Harry W. Tyler, Massachusetts Institute of Technology DISCUSSION : Director George N. Carman, Lewis Institute President Frank W. Gunsaulus, Armour Institute 2:00 P. M. CLINICAL LECTURE IN WESLEY HOSPITAL: Dr. Weller Van Hook, Northwestern University Medical School 10 LIST OF DELEGATES. Albright College, Myerstown, Pa., President James D. Woodring. Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa., Hon. Arthur L. Bates. Alma College, Alma, Mich., President August F. Bruske. Armour Institute of Technology, Chicago, President Frank W. Gunsaulus. Augustana College and Theological Seminary, Rock Island, 111., Dr. C. W. Foss. Baker University, Baldwin, Kan., President L. H. Murlin. Barnard College, New York City, Columbia University delegate, Professor Munroe Smith. Bates College, Lewiston, Me., President George C. Chase. Bellevue College, Omaha, Neb., President R. Kerr. Beloit College, Beloit, Wis., President Edward D. Eaton. Beloit College, Beloit, Wis., Professor E. G. Smith. Beloit College, Beloit, Wis.,.. Professor R. C. Chapin. Buchtel College, Akron, Ohio, President A. B. Church. Carleton College, Northfield, Minn., Professor W. W. Payne. Carthage College, Carthage, 111., President Sigmund. Central Female College, Lexington, Mo., President Z. M. Williams. Central University, Danville, Ky., President W. C. Roberts. Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago, 111., Prof. Samuel I. Curtiss. Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, President S. B. McCormick. Colgate University, Hamilton, N. Y., President George E. Merrill. Colgate University, Hamilton, N. Y., Professor M, S. Read. Columbia University, New York City, Professor Munroe Smith. Columbian University, Washington, D. C., President Chas. W. Needham. Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, President William F. King. Creighton University, Omaha, Neb., President M. P. Dowling. Denison University, Granville, Ohio, President Emory W. Hunt. DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind., Professor J. P. Naylor. Detroit College, Detroit Mich., St. Ignatius College delegate, Francis Cas- silly, S. J. Eureka College, Eureka, 111., President A. E. Hieronymus. Ewing College, Ewing, 111., President J. A. Leavitt. Fort Worth University, Fort Worth, Tex., President Mac Adam. Georgetown College, Georgetown, Ky., President B. D. Gray. Glendale College, Glendale, Ohio, President Miss R. J. Devore. Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn., President G. H. Bridgman. Hanover College, Hanover, Ind., President D. W. Fisher. Harvey Medical College, Chicago, Dr. Frances Dickinson. Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Mich., President J. W. Mauck. Hope College, Holland, Mich., President G. J. Kollen. Illinois College, Jacksonville, 111., President C. W. Barnes. Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, 111., President E. M. Smith. Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind., Professor C. H. Eigenmann. Iowa College, Grinnell, Iowa, Professor J. H. T. Main. Iowa Wesleyan University, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, President John W. Handier. Kansas City Medical School, Kansas City, Mo., Dr. Robert Schauffler. Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, President William F. Pierce. Knox College, Galesburg, 111., President Thomas McClelland. Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, 111., President Richard D. Harlan. Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis., President Samuel Plantz. Lenox College, Hopkinton, Iowa, President F. W. Grossman. 11 Lewis Institute, Chicago, 111., Director George N. Carman. Lincoln College, Lincoln, 111., Dean J. L. Goodknight Lombard College, Galesburg, 111., Professor R. G. Kimble. McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Professor Andrew C. Zenos. Marquette College, Milwaukee, Wis., President A. J. Burrowes. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Dr. Harry W. Tyler. Meadville Theological School, Meadville, Pa., President F. C. Southworth. Michigan State Agricultural College, Agricultural College, Mich., President J. L. Snyder. Mills College, Mills College, Cal., Miss Jane Seymour Klink. Missouri Wesleyan College, Cameron, Mo., Professor Agnew. Monmouth College, Monmouth, 111., Acting President Russell Graham. Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa, Professor R. B. Wylie. Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass., Miss Nellie E. Goldthwaite. Mt. Union College, Alliance, Ohio, President A. B. Riker. Northwestern College, Naperville, 111., President H. J. Kiekhoefer. Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, Dr. Charles E. St. John. Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, President J. W. Bashford. Oxford College, Oxford, Ohio, Rev. J. H. Thomas, late President. Palmer University, Muncie, Ind., President John H. H. Latchaw. Park College, Parkville, Mo., President Lowell M. McAfee. Parsons College, Fairfield, Iowa, President F. W. Hinitt. Penn College, Oskaloosa, Iowa, President A. Rosenberger. Penn College, Oskaloosa, Iowa, Professor Robert Meredith. Ripon College, Ripon, Wis., President Richard C. Hughes. Rockford College, Rockford, 111., Miss Julia H. Gulliver. Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, Ind., President C. Mees. Ruskin University, Glen Ellyn, 111., Dean George Miller. St. Ignatius College, Chicago, Francis Cassilly, S. J. St. Louis University, St. Louis, Mo., President W. B. Rogers. Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa, Professor John L. Tilton. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., Professor A. T. Robertson. Tarkio College, Tarkio, Mo., President J. A. Thompson. University of California, Berkeley, Cal., Professor Fletcher B. Dresslar. University of California, Berkeley, Cal., Professor Ernest J. Wilczynski. University of California, Berkeley, Cal., Professor G. T. Lapsley. University of Chicago, Chicago, 111., Professor Albion W. Small. University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo., President James H. Baker. University of Maine, Oronp, Me., Mr. Leroy H. Harvey. University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb., President E. Benj. Andrews. University of North Dakota, University, N. D., President Webster Merrifield. University of the Pacific, San Jose, Cal., President E. McClish. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., Acting President Birge. Upper Iowa University, Fayette, Iowa, President T. J. Bassett. Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind., President W. P. Kane. Waynesburg College, Waynesburg, Pa., President A. E. Turner. Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., President B. P. Raymond. Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Mich., President John W. Beardslee. Westminster College, Fulton, Mo., President John H. MacCracken. Wheaton College, Wheatpn, 111., President Blanchard. Woman's College of Baltimore, Md., President John F. Goucher. 12 PROCEEDINGS. OPENING SESSION. FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1903, 9 :00 A. M. PRESIDENT JAMES: Will Dr. King of Cornell College lead us in prayer ? PRESIDENT KING : Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the cir- cumstances of favor under which we are permitted to assemble this morning. We pray Thee that Thou mayest give us the guidance of Thy Spirit in the important deliberations in which we are to engage. Prepare us for the best results in reference to the causes which are entrusted to our keeping. Let Thy blessing rest upon every member of this convocation of Thy servants, and we pray Thee that we may have such spirit of deliberation, of cooperation and brotherly feeling as shall lead us to the right conclusions, resulting in the good of Thy cause and the upbuilding of the common cause of education. Be pleased to give us light where we need light and to help us in the great problems which are to be considered, and grant that we may have such light and strength as shall lead us to the proper conclusion. Let Thy blessing rest upon all institutions with which we are connected. May they be fountains of good living as well as fountains of learning, and may the results coming from each of these institutions be such as to glorify God and bless mankind. Let Thy blessing rest upon all interests near and dear to our hearts. Prepare us for the duties and privilege, and when we have finished our work here on earth bring us home to Thy kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. PRESIDENT JAMES : I wish first to extend a word of cordial greeting on behalf of Northwestern University to the delegates and the institutions which they represent. We thank you most heartily for your willingness to participate in a conference upon this subject which we regard as cer- tainly one of the most important, if not the most important educational question in the field of higher education before the people of the United States today. In the educational development of any country we find various kinds of forces at work making for progress. In many cases nearly the entire reliance is upon the public authorities, upc 13 state governments, upon state departments of education, upon state universities. In this country we have been to a very large extent, up to within a comparatively recent time, dependent upon private enter- prise. It is only within the lifetime and memory of most of those present that the state university, the state department of education, has become an important element in the educational life of the country an element destined to become ever more important. It is quite possible in a country where everything has depended so wholly upon private initiative and energy that the strong and vigorous institutions those which from any reason may have been strategically, located and strategically equipped should imagine that to them belongs the leadership in determining the educational policy of the community. We have seen some signs of that in this country. In spite of the fact that we are growing to be a nation and our national sense is increasing and the sense of unity is growing, and we are gradually with every passing year becoming more and more conscious of that feeling of solidarity, I am convinced that this country is so large, the different sections of the country are so different, that no one institu- tion or group of institutions or section, or group of sections can under- take to determine what shall be the educational policy of the United States. We are today in the field of higher education face to face with an important change, a change which is little short of revolution. The external form of that development is the relation of the college to the university, or, as we sometimes express it, toward the profes- sional school which, it seems to me is the better formulation, for ordinary purposes, at least and the relation of these two to the larger organization that we call the university. For my part, I think that no one institution and no one section of the country can undertake to outline any policy in this matter which is wise for the rest of the country to follow. It is only when we get together and discuss the question from every possible point of view, from the point of view of every possible kind of institution, that we are really going to have light thrown upon the problem. We hope here to initiate the beginning of a series of conferences in which finally every kind of institution which may fairly lay claim to be called an institution of higher learning may have its legitimate expression and representation. We thank you most heartily for your presence here. We shall be glad to do whatever we can to make your stay pleasant. Owing to the numerous strikes in the city we have been unable to get our program printed. We have definite information from the printer, however, that in a few moments we shall have the 14 printed program and list of delegates from the different institutions. Take pains to get acquainted with the delegates. We desire especially that you shall go away from here with a pleasant recollection of the social features of this occasion. I feel more and more that the social element, the cultivation of personal acquaintanceship is, among the minor forces, one of the most efficient means to promote that better understanding which will contribute to the solution of all our diffi- culties. The program this morning will be introduced by a paper on "The Present Situation," by Professor Young of Northwestern University. I may say that Professor Young was the chairman of a committee appointed nearly a year ago, and that committee was the continuation of a committee appointed some time before that, to study the relation between the college and the professional schools within our own insti- tution. Certain concessions were sought by the professional schools from the college, and the college asked for the reasons. This led to a very thorough investigation. We have asked the Professor to put the results before us this morning. That will be followed by the discussion of the first topic, "Has the college a field peculiar to itself, not covered by the technical school or by the demands of preparation for the pro- fessional school?" I have invited Professor A. T. Robertson of the Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, to preside. I will ask him to take the chair. PROFESSOR EOBERTSON: I appreciate very much the honor President James has conferred upon me. I am sure that my task will be very easy indeed, as the work is outlined and we have present those who are to read and to speak. It will simply be my part to see that the machine goes. I am sure it will go. The question which we have before us is certainly on.e of the very greatest interest. Although we do not have all the educators of the United States here we have some of all the kinds ; we have some doctors and some lawyers and some university men and some college men and they represent all the different kinds. We shall now go ahead and have the introductory paper on "The Present Situation," by Professor Young of Northwestern University. PROFESSOR YOUNG: The importance of the general topic which this Conference has been invited to consider, viz. : the relation between the college and the 15 professional school, especially in the matter of curricula, has already received wide and merited recognition. It is important in its bearing upon the status of professional education in general. It is important because it involves the fundamental principles of liberal education. It touches the mutual interests of the professional school and the col- lege when they are departments of one institution. It touches vitally the interests of the colleges in their relation to each other. Two features of the existing conditions appear conspicuous. The first of these is the tendency to urge a college course, attested by the bachelor's degree, as preparation for professional studies. Of the value and need of this preparation it would seem that the professional faculties and the professional practitioners should be the best judges. The advocacy of this preparation has been frequently and emphat- ically expressed in public print. Its most effective expression is found in the fact that some professional schools require the bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, for admission and thus constitute themselves truly graduate institutions. This has been the requirement in the Johns Hopkins Medical School since its opening and is now the requirement in the Medical School of Harvard and that of Baltimore University, and in the law school of Harvard, of Columbia and of Leland Stanford. The Medical School of Western Reserve requires the equivalent of three college years; that of Michigan (1901-1902) and of Chicago (1904-1905) require two college years, and that of Minnesota one col- lege year. The Law School of Chicago University requires three and that of Ohio two college years for admission. These are actual require- ments; but in addition we often find formally expressed in the cata- logues of other institutions urgent advice to similar effect. As I desire especially to emphasize this point, I offer some quotations : Pennsyl- vania University Medical catalogue. "It is earnestly recommended that young men, before entering upon the study of medicine at this University should have previously taken the degree either of A. B. or B. S. at some college or university where the standard is equivalent to that of the University of Pennsylvania." Missouri Medical Catalogue. "It is the policy of the Medical Department to encourage in every way possible the gaining of a liberal education as a sound preparation for the professional study of medi- cine. Students are strongly urged to take first a scientific course in the Academic Department." Nebraska University Medical Catalogue. "Whenever it is possi- ble the student is advised to take this work, viz.: two years medical preparatory. It lays a broad foundation for the technical work of the 16 last two years and gives the student not only the best possible training but also the advantages which accrue from the possession of the bach- elor's degree." Iowa State University Medical Catalogue. "These combined courses are especially recommended to all students who intend to enter the profession of medicine." Eush Medical College (Chicago) Catalogue. "The necessity, how- ever, for a broader and more thorough preparation than one college year for the study of medicine is strongly emphasized, and every stu- dent is advised before taking up the study of medicine to procure a lib- eral education such as can be obtained only in a well-equipped college or university." University of California Medical Catalogue, 1902. "The need of a broad foundation in general culture can not be overestimated and students should extend their studies in the culture courses as much as possible beyond the prescriptions of two college years here laid down." American Academy of Medicine. From data collected for the Academy of Medicine and presented June, 1902, it appears that fifty- two medical schools replied out of the one hundred and forty*-three to which was sent the question, "Do you believe that a general insistence on a college education for physicians is desirable ?" Twenty-four of the fifty-two answered "Yes" and nineteen, "No" without qualification. University Presidents : The presidents of Harvard, Yale, Colum- bia, and Cornell have given lengthy consideration to this matter in their last reports. President Eliot earnestly advocates requiring the bachelors degree for admission. President Butler. "It is held to be the settled policy at Columbia University that the several technical and professional schools shall rest upon a college course of liberal study as a foundation (although not necessarily upon a course four years in length) either at once or as soon as practicable. The School of Law has already been placed upon the basis of a graduate school to take effect July 1, 1903. On Decem- ber 20, 1898, the University Council recommended that the College of Physicians and Surgeons be made a graduate school as soon as such a step is financially practicable." Presidents Had ley and Schurman, however, argue strongly against the requirement. The second feature to which I refer is the tendency to cut down the time of the college course and therefore the meaning of the bache- lor's degree in order to reduce the time necessary for both degrees. President Butler, in his last report, earnestly advocates the reduction 17 of the course for the bachelor's degree to two years. In many colleges the fourth year is allowed to go to professional study and in the Uni- versities of Michigan, Chicago, Nebraska, Missouri and Colorado the fourth and the third year are allowed thus to go. Clearly these two tendencies are glaringly inconsistent. For let the movement for time economy go on only so much further and in the same direction as it has already gone in comparatively few years and logically the bachelor's degree should be given along with the pro- fessional degree of M. D. for four years of study in the professional school. This would oe a fine reductio ad absurdum. The professional degree would maintain its full and unmodified significance but the bachelor's degree would mean nothing. It would be an empty symbol, an atrophied appendage to the professional degree. Thus between the tendency of the high schools to cover the fresh- man and even the sophomore work and the desire of the professional schools to have their alumni labeled with two degrees instead of one, it looks to some, and I surmise their number is considerable, as if the peculiar usefulness of the colleges, so far as the professional students are concerned, was fast approaching zero. / In these days of strenuous competition and rapid evolution in matters academic as well as matters industrial, it behooves one to study carefully what basal facts and principles he should take for grounding. There are those who find little comfort or encouragement save in keeping close to the proposition that the professional school and the college have each its peculiar, legitimate function and usefulness ; that of one is not that of the other. That of the professional school is very distinctly defined. Indeed its status in law and medicine is more or less established by statute. It is to make lawyers and physicians, good at least up to a standard defined by law and better according to the measure of opportunity. The function of the college is less sharply definable. It certainly is not to make lawyers and physicians, but it is to make men, men liberally educated. Now liberal education has, so far as I am aware, no definition in law and perhaps it would be difficult to define it satisfactorily, but that it is none the less real and none the less valuable is believed by many. Therefore it has been thought that this topic might suitably be made the starting point in the discussions of this conference. The desire that the academic and the professional degree should be obtainable without the full expenditure of time required for both independently has led to the institution of the so-called combined courses providing for reduction of total time. The economy of time 18 thus made possible is in some institutions one year, in others two years. Of the first group, allowing one year of economy in the combined Aca-- demic and Medical courses, may be mentioned Yale, Columbia, Penn- sylvania, Cornell and Minnesota. Reduction of two years is allowed by Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, California, Chicago and others. In the combined law courses the reduction is generally one year. Examples: Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Michigan, Indiana, Wis- consin, Iowa, Chicago, California and Leland Stanford. To effect the economy of one year in the combined Medical courses, two methods are found in use : First : Seniors or Juniors in the college take work to the extent of one year in the professional school and credit for this is transferred to the college. Examples: Columbia, Pennsylvania, Cornell, Minnesota. Second: Professional students are released from items in the Medical school by credits in the college for corresponding items. Example : Yale. For the economy of two years in the combined medical courses, three methods are found: First: Most of the work of the first professional year is done within the first three years of the college and credits therefor ac- cepted in the professional school; Seniors in the college do the second year's work of the professional school and credit therefor is accepted, by the college. Examples: Illinois, Northwestern. Second: Two years of the professional school work are done in the college and credits accepted by the professional school. Ex- amples: Missouri, Nebraska, Chicago. Third: After the first two years of college work are com- pleted the student gives his whole time to the professional work extending over four years. Examples: Michigan, California. In the combined Law courses two methods are found in use : First: Seniors or Juniors in the college are allowed to take work in the professional school and credit is transferred to the college. This transfer to the extent of one year's professional work is allowed in Columbia, Cornell, Nebraska, Chicago, California. Second: Exchange of credits between the college and the pro- fessional school. Examples : At Wisconsin the college allows twelve semester hours from the Law school, and the Law school allows eight semester hours from the college. At Iowa University the college allows ten semester hours from the Law school, and the Law school allows ten semester hours from the college. The method of economy followed by this or that institution is probably determined largely by local conditions. Nevertheless it 19 may be hoped that profit will come from exchange of ideas as to the merits and demerits of the several plans. Some of those insti- tutions which offer combined courses with reduction of time and unmodified degrees can hardly avoid the appearance of discrediting the work of their own college, since they practically say to the pros- pective professional undergraduate at the end of his second year: "Our third and fourth years of college work are of no account to you; we give you exactly the same degrees if you take them or if you do not." This seems a strange state of affairs when one has in mind the statement often heard that colleges are useful mainly for those intending to enter the professions. Nor is it surprising in view of this treatment of the prospective professional student that the question arises as to the value of the last year or the last two years to the non-professional undergraduate. Indeed, so conspicuous an educator as President Butler advocates reduction of the college term to two years for all. This movement may be regarded as the natural outgrowth of the reduction of time for the professional student without change of degree. There are those I doubt not in this conference who will see in this situation a com- petition between the interests of the college and the professional school and having the interests of the former at heart will regret the apparent tendency of this movement. Again, those institutions which offer the combined courses with time reduction by whatever method can hardly avoid the appear- ance either of belittling time as a factor in education or else of be- stowing degrees with less than the conventional meaning. It would not be wise to attach too great significance to degrees. Still it may be fairly said that they constitute a trade-mark with more or less of legal status and of commercial and sentimental value. The degrees of Law and Medicine imply, according to statute in many states, three years in the one and four years in the other school respectively. The bachelor's degree implies almost universally in this country the equivalent in work at least of the old-fashioned course of four years. Now if the two degrees are desired on the one hand and given on the other, it should be for the things which they imply, otherwise they are the outward and visible sign with- out the thing signified. Of the thing signified, time is surely an important factor and an essential one, although not the sole stand- ard of measure. As matters stand at present, three men may hold the same degrees from the same institution, for instance, A. B. and M. D. All may have started at the same point, have done 30 work of equally good grade and at the same rate per year. One has worked eight years, one seven, and one six. These years would be made up in most instances four years in the Medical school and four or three or two in the college. Yet all are put under the same label. Some simple-minded people are puzzled to understand how time should be so important a factor in liberal education, that it may be discounted fifty per cent without disturbing values, while in professional education it is so important that its integrity is pro- tected by law. Others, perhaps, think that there is a real disturb- ance of values by the giving of the two degrees for the reduced courses, and they may object to the plan altogether on the ground of principle because it implies the false pretense that six years are as good as eight in matters educational. Another significant feature of the existing conditions is found in the fact that comparatively few of the institutions which have established the combined courses with reduced time require that their professional students shall follow these courses in order to secure the professional degree. In many instances the requirements for admission to the professional school are no higher than those for admission to the college. The result is that the preparation of the professional undergraduates in the same school may vary from that given by the high school to that given by one, two, three, or four years in college. Michigan University in her Medical school requires the six years course of all. Chicago University in her antic- ipatory announcements makes these requirements in Medicine and in Law. Western Eeserve does the same in Medicine. So far as I am aware these instances are exceptional. This con- dition seems to imply the desire to induce some professional students to secure a better preparation than the minimum which the profes- sional school requires of all for admission to its courses. The in- ducement consists in cutting by twenty-five and fifty per cent the cost, in time, of the collegiate degree for those who take the two degrees instead of one. To some this seems an expedient of doubtful wisdom so far as the interests of the college are concerned, one likely to prove a transitional measure leading from four years to three as the term of the college course for all. Those who view these tendencies with some anxiety may perhaps find a hopeful token of favorable reaction in the fact that Cornell University has withdrawn (December, 1901) the combined Medi- cal course of six years and allows the economy of only one year. And Dean Vaughan, of the Michigan University Medical depart- 21 ment said before the American Academy of Medicine (summer of 1902), "Our faculty may think it wise in the future to extend our combination course to seven years. In fact our Medical faculty is ready to do so at any time." With these facts in mind those who have been interested in calling this conference have thought that there might be profit in dis- cussing the multiform aspects of the subject, and that discussion might possibly help to improve the situation which reveals so much of confusion and inconsistency. THE CHAIRMAN: Professor Young must have read his paper beforehand; it was exactly twenty minutes long. He has given us a condition and not a theory. Now we will have a theory. "Has the college a field peculiar to itself not covered by the technical school or by the de- mands of preparation for the professional school?" The first paper will be by President Edward D. Eaton, of Beloit College. PRESIDENT EATON: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: The higher education, we are all agreed, should make a man at home in his world, and fit him to do well his part in his generation; so far as in him lies improving the world for the use of his own and succeeding generations. To this end his education must give him a large amount of useful knowledge and must train him for the practice of his pro- fession if he is to have one. But we are not satisfied unless it does more than that. The educated man belongs to the minority of priv- ilege. He is literally one among a thousand. Shall he regard himself as belonging to a privileged class, the aristocracy of culture, prepared to get ahead of his fellow men and justified in doing it, or secluding himself in the enjoyment of learning? This insidious tendency lurks in all education. It is especially to be regretted if it develops in a republic where the welfare of the nation is condi- tioned upon the sympathetic interaction of all classes of society, and where the educated must be the recognized leaders of the masses. The ignorant vote will wreck the commonwealth, unless trained in- telligence is willing and able to transform the ignorant voter. There is no question that the American college has been a dis- tinctive and potent influence in this direction during all our na- tional life thus far. From the day when the pioneers of Massa- chusetts Bay, in 1636, established Harvard College, down to the present hour, college men have been founders of commonwealths, 22 makers of constitutions, state and federal, and interpreters of the same, leaders of public opinion, framers of laws and moulders of institutions. Has this been an accidental distinction of the college, due to the fact that it chanced to be the opportunity for education open to American youth hitherto? Would other educational institutions, had they existed, have served the purpose equally well, and may the college be retired with thanks if educational convenience suggests that it be superseded? On the contrary, we believe it can be shown that the college is organically connected with our national welfare; that its educational service is unique; and that it can not be dis- carded except with distinct and serious loss. The limits of the present paper will permit but the merest outline of some of the grounds for such a conviction. First: College life is a fellowship of the ages. One of the essentials of an adequate education is that it give the young fellow some true perspective of life; that he should see not merely the foreground of the picture where he and his set or even his country happen to be figuring, but that these should be placed in the wide landscape of human experience. It is an essential advantage of the / college that it takes one before his eyes are focused upon his own life-work, and gives him opportunity of intelligent participation in \ the struggles and achievements of many centuries and many lands. It was for him that Socrates trod the streets of Athens, inspiring men with love of virtue. For him Dante was led, with blanched cheek and burning spirit, through the circles of the inferno. For him the Greek scholar, fleeing from the doom of Constantinople, carried in his bosom the manuscripts of Homer and Sophocles. For him Milton poured forth the organ tones of his soul. For him Bacon and Newton and Kant were sunk in thought. For him Coper- nicus and Herschel sailed the ocean of the sky; for him Agassiz built his hut upon the glacier's stream, and Darwin gathered facts with endless careful scrutiny of Nature. With all these and such as these he lives from day to day, and the breadth of their existence enters unconsciously into his. Second: There exists in college a unique comradeship of vari- ous social classes, and interaction of diverse tastes. It is the only ideal democracy in existence. The son of the man "of wealth is fellow to the boy who is dependent upon jobs of work for his food and clothes. One who is later to be a manufacturer or merchant or teacher is now in close intimacy with others who are to become 23 physicians or politicians. In the informal relationships and inti- macies of class room, athletic field and dormitory the most various points of view are presented, the most dissimilar interests are re- garded. This inestimable freedom of relationship is due in part to the fact that all are living more or less completely in a spacious world of the humanities, and in the fellowship of pursuits which encourage the recognition of their common young manhood. I have seen a student with negro blood in his veins reach his college town after winning honors in an interstate contest in oratory, to be seized, as the train stopped, by his white fellow students, and borne in triumph on their shoulders to the college buildings. Could such a thing be even imagined anywhere else? The greater the univer- sity, the smaller the circle of friends, in the case of many students; while some are absolutely solitary, others gravitate into a select group of those of their own standing or predilections. But the college is a republic where all are fellow citizens. How much it is worth to have these young men think out into life along such a variety of lines, and realize something of the importance of various callings, before they join the company of those whose whole study and talk is of cadavers and diagnosis, or those whose attention is concentrated upon points of theology or heads of sermons. How much it is worth to have the bread of truth not yet continually thick buttered with professional advantages. It is little wonder that as a rule college friendships retain through life so much more charm than ever attaches to the acquain- tanceship of the professional or technical school. To know well through life so many men in callings wholly unlike my own, and to have our friendship invested with the glamour of college days, so that we are to each other always boys when by others we are discounted as old men, is not this alone worth all the college course may cost ? This may be a matter of sentiment ; but was not Charles Kingsley right when he said, "By sentiment well directed, as by sorrow wisely used, great nations live"? Third: The college is the best agency ever devised for the de- velopment of character under the touch of inspiring teachers. Per- sonality is evoked and molded most of all by personality. The skilful and sympathetic teacher has an opportunity with his college pupils that is almost limitless. Our age rightly sets great store by the inves- tigator. The strides we are making in knowledge, the conquests of applied science, would be impossible without him. The develop- ment the universities are to have in his interest no one can measure. 34 But the investigator may be a failure as a teacher, and be destitute of power to realize the best possibilities of young lives. The college teacher, at once companion and guide, mentor and friend, restrainer and quickener, is a true maker of men. Hopkins, Woolsey, Wayland, McCosh, Fairchild, Haven, Chapin, Cummings, and hundreds of others, were great as college men, in close and stimulating touch with generations of students who owned through life the decisive influence upon them of these builders of manhood. Such college men have richly supplied our country with the maintainers of her freedom characterized by Lowell as "Men by culture trained and fortified, Who bitter duty to sweet lusts prefer, Fearless to counsel and obey." The work they did must be done again for every generation if our^ "national life is to be maintained at a high level. It can not be adequately done in the professional and technical schools, with their loose-knit organization and necessarily impersonal relation of lec- turers ; it can nowhere be done so well as in the college. Fourth: The college is the best instrumentality we possess for awakening the sense of social responsibility. In the university or professional school a student must tend to exist for himself. He is intent on carrying out his own plans for his personal career, and his success depends in large measure upon his aloofness from other interests. But in college every man is organically related to other men and to a great variety of interests. His class makes de- mands upon him which are reinforced by his own class-feeling. Col- lege athletics, college literary and oratorical events, Christian asso- ciation work, fraternity life with the intimacies and responsibilities of a home, claim his activity, and assess him in their various enter- prises.)^ He is judged at the bar of college public opinion by his serviceability to the college community. There is a constantly act- ing and powerful influence organizing the student into the life of the community, and developing in him an instinct of obligation to public service, which is an invaluable preparation for citizenship. College men as a rule manifest public spirit in their subsequent career, and 'are ready to shoulder the burdens of the public weal. The title ) of President Woodrow Wilson's inaugural address, "Princeton for the Nation's Service/' gives true expression of the fundamental value of the American college. The high school is anchored to secondary methods and ideals. Thus its honor is its fatal limitation when it is tempted to do col- 25 lege work. The high school senior measures himself with children. What he needs is to become a Freshman as soon as possible, and instead of being promoted to a double senior and triple senior in the high school, be set down on the lowest bench in college, with Sophomores ready to teach him humility. Irreparable damage will be done to American education if the high schools, already over- loaded, are stimulated to imagine they can be colleges also. President Nicholas Murray Butler, in his introduction to Paul- sen's Essay on German Universities, has justly remarked that it is a false assumption that the American college is to be classed with the German gymnasium as a secondary school; and that to confuse the American college with the German gymnasium is inexcusable. Serious evils result in Germany from passing at once from the gym- nasium, all discipline and textbooks, to the university, all lectures and lernfreiheit. These evils have been largely obviated in the Amer- ican system. At the college age our youth are not boys and are not fully men. It is a time of promise and of peril. To herd them with boys or subject them to the discipline of boys, is futile, if not disastrous. To free them from control and relegate them to their own immature self-determination, is certainly disastrous. The union of wise guidance and freedom has been found in the college. The Emperor William is not alone among Germans in thinking and declaring that Germany has too many university-educated men, crowd- ing the professions and leading the ranks of the discontented classes. But we can hardly imagine too many young Americans getting a college training. They are quickly absorbed in the varied life of business, of industry, or the professions, after securing in some de- gree a disciplined breadth, quite other than the breadth acquired through unrelated elections and lectures. They are saved for life from the conceit of erudition and the provincialism of the specialist. While safeguarded from many of the recognized evils of over-spe- cialization, they are also delivered from the complacency and the contracted outlook which are the perils of the "self-made" man. They are enhanced in value as American citizens, whatever their calling. If there is force in the considerations suggested in this discus- sion, is it unreasonable to think that one source of the efficiency and flexibility of the Anglo-Saxon race is the college system, which has been for so many centuries the distinctive characteristic of the English universities, and which was so early planted and so deeply rooted in American soil, but which among us has for a generation 36 and more been fed from German rather than English scholarship, so that the German ideals of scientific research and productive scholar- ship have united fruitfully with the English college system in the development of the typical American college. As President Butler has said in the paper already quoted, "the college has proved to be well suited to the demands of American life, and to be a powerful force in American civilization and cul- ture." We all acknowledge the personal obligation of reciprocal social service; does not this obligation extend also to corporate mem- bers of society? Is it not incumbent upon the colleges to give the best possible training to large numbers of young people for gradu- ation into the rich opportunities and special development afforded by the universities, and to co-operate intelligently with the univer- sities in the due adjustment of courses of study that delay and dupli- cation may be avoided? And is it not also the privilege of the universities so to administer their work and direct their influence as not to cripple and throttle the colleges, but rather to uphold and stimulate them in their unique contribution to American life? THE CHAIRMAN: We shall now be favored with a paper by President M, P. Bowling, of Creighton University. PRESIDENT BOWLING: As the great mass of children never go beyond the elementary grades, the studies laid down for the pri- mary schools should not be dominated by the requirements of the high school, but should aim at giving the best life equipment to the multitudes who can not hope for a higher education. As the large majority of the high school pupils do not take a college course, the needs of those who stop within the twelfth grade should mainly be considered in formulating a high school curriculum. As many col- lege graduates do not undertake professional or technical studies, they should not be compelled to take a course adapted only, or mainly, to the wants of the future specialist, but should have the advantage of a liberal education, calculated to prepare them for any pursuit which they may afterward choose. I hold, then, that the college has a distinct scope of its own, and I answer in the affirmative the first question: Has the college a field peculiar to itself, not cov- ered by the technical school and not serving solely as preparatory to the professional school? If, as seems likely to happen, the col- lege course be reduced to two, or even three years, there would be still stronger reason for an affirmative answer. Even for those who afterward take up professional and tech- 27 nical studies, the time spent in purely college work is not only not lost,, but is an invaluable help for more thorough and effective work in their chosen vocation. It gives the student a firmer grasp of principles, a superior mental development and qualifies him better for specialization. It makes him more penetrating, masterly; it secures quicker and more telling results; it enables him to over- come difficulties and solve problems more speedily and make more headway in a shorter time; it gives him greater assurance of success I in any field. If the university reaching downward and the high school reach- ing upward should finally absorb the college, till it disappears alto- gether as a distinct entity, this present question will still be far from settlement, will still demand an answer; because the branches now forming the main staple of the accepted college course contrib- ute so unmistakably to the best mental endowment, that they can not, without loss to culture and serious detriment to the proper development of the human mind, be diverted or passed over, for the benefit of any special education. Seth Low gives this testimony : "It is doubtless true that the college graduate entering on a busi- ness career is at a disadvantage the first few years of his business life as compared with one who entered business when he entered college. If, however, the man has a capacity for business, I ven- ture to say that in five years, certainly in ten, he will find himself more than abreast of his friend who did not go to college. The trained mind can master the problems of business better than the untrained mind, and it can master other problems better for which it has itself any natural capacity." Very opposite, too, are the words of Dr. Louis H. Steiner, addressed to the American Academy of Medi- cine: "On the whole it must seem almost incredible to any one who has availed himself of the advantages furnished by a faithful study of Latin and Greek before entering on his medical studies, that a student could deliberately forego these that he would under- take to fight his way without the assistance they are able to render at almost every step of his progress. In all my experience I never heard a physician who had faithfully gone through a classical course under competent teachers, regret the time spent in forming an acquaintance with these ancient languages, while it has been my lot to meet many who deeply lamented their error in neglecting them in their youth, and labored zealously to repair the same afterward by private study at an advanced age." If you ask what kind of a college I have in mind in giving as this affirmative answer, I reply, it is one that gives a general or liberal education, one that stands for a well-balanced system, pref- erably a rigid system. It need not offer a great multiplicity of courses, or pretend to satisfy every applicant, by allowing him to select at will from many branches, sometimes incompatible and often of only secondary importance, thus leaving considerable gaps in the knowledge of essential subjects. It maps out a curriculum which makes obligatory such branches as in some form, however elementary, are deemed absolutely essential for a liberal education. It does not promise that the youth who takes this course will have a spe- cialist^ knowledge of any individual subject, nor does it say that he will be completely educated at the end of his course, but he will have a more harmoniously rounded education and will be fairly acquainted with a greater number of essential branches, than by fol- lowing a system based on electives and specialties. The plan may not suit all comers, but it does afford a good, sound, thorough edu- cation. It does not pretend to teach everything, but it teaches thor- oughly and successfully what it undertakes to teach. Its motto is "non multa sed multum" '; it believes in "unum post aliud," in thor- oughness, concentration, method, ^fn other words, it is an institu- tion that furnishes a good, general, classical, literary and scientific education. Moderate electives for undergraduates and limited spe- cialization for particular students are not necessarily out of har- mony with such a college. v With such a^ clearly defined scope, a sphere of activity distinctly marked out, the college could and should be kept free from all entangling alliances likely to divert it from its purpose of giving a good general education. My ideal college opens up the treasures of ancient and modern literature and languages, and establishes a familiarity with the best authors; it gives a working knowledge of physics and chemistry, a fair acquaintance with sur- veying and astronomy, a systematic training in fundamental mathe- matics. It teaches ancient and modern history, the various kinds of composition, elocution and oratory; it cultivates a graceful deliv- ery, trains for the discussion of live questions, forms the taste, en- ables the student to think, write and speak correctly and elegantly. It promotes acquaintance with sociology, political science and eco- nomic laws, it finds place for the rules of harmony, it unfolds the constitution of the United States and the principles underlying pop- ular government. Who will say that these are superfluous or useless accomplishments, which even the specialist may ignore? We have excellent authority for saying that the main end of education should 39 be to unfold the faculties. It is not so much the actual impart- ing of knowledge as the development of the power to gain knowledge, the ability to apply the intellect, utilize -the memory, make use of observation and facts. It is not essential that the studies pro- ducing these results have a direct bearing on after life, any more than it is necessary for the athlete in the development of his powers to wield trie blacksmith's hammer instead of dumb bells, which play no part in his subsequent career; he discards them all when the physical powers have been developed. "The business of educa- tion," says Locke, "is not, I think, to perfect the learner in any of the sciences, but to give his mind that freedom and disposition and those habits which may enable him to attain every part of knowledge himself." Speaking of Plato, Bishop Spalding says: "The ideal presented is that of a complete, harmonious culture, the aim of which is not to make an artisan, a physician, a merchant, a lawyer, but a man alive in all his faculties; touching the world at many points; for whom all knowledge is desirable and all beauty lovable, and for whom fine bearing and noble action are indispen- sable." "With such education," says another authority, "as a basis, the young man may become a specialist not with a warped mind, >ut with one capable of receiving aid in his own particular science )m all studies." In my opinion, specialization should begin only after the mind has been well formed and strengthened by general studies; other- wise, there is a one-sided development. It will doubtless be ad- mitted that premature specialization has a tendency to make men I narrow, to take away breadth of mind, soulful sympathy, correct- ness and justness of judgment outside their own chosen sphere; that it often dwarfs the mind, blunts the finer sensibilities, dries up the esthetic and emotional nature, makes men hard, dry, arrogant, un- yielding and impervious to argument, producing effects the very oppo-_ site of humanism or the humanities. YOne of the most influential scientific journals in this country complained several years ago of a condition directly traceable to early specialization and to the neg- lect of general education. The charge was that scientists, however well informed in their chosen branches, are often unable to write a clear, forcible, and intelligent paper on any subject. They are weak in grammar, punctuation and phraseology, unacquainted with the value and force of words; they seldom do justice to themselves or their conceptions, on account of their defective composition. Early specialization is also injurious because many young people do not 30 know what their life work is to be. Their tastes and predilections are often founded on circumstances entirely accidental. They fre- quently change their object and sometimes finish with some subject of r specialization very different from that for which they originally ^nought themselves best fitted. sS*C I plead, then, for a general or liberal education, a good founda- \ tion for specialties, technical and professional work. I incline to | what some call the rigid system, that is, few electives, and those well measured, and dependent on the judgment of the master rather than the disciple. I am well aware that such a view places me irre- deemably in the class of "old fogies." This being the case, I have nothing to lose by disapproving of that empiric or experimental method which today is considered quite as essential in the educa- tional field as in the scientific workshop. The treasured wisdom gathered from long and costly experience is readily cast aside and little appears worthy of acceptance unless it be new. Few are con- tent to be mere educators, working along the safe line of established knowledge; every elementary teacher, no matter how imperfect his mental endowments, must be a reformer, an inventor, a discoverer. When will educational leaders learn that it is better to be right than to be original, better to propose something safe than something startling, better to base a system on sound philosophy, even if others have done the same before, than to leave the beaten track in search of untried and, perhaps, dangerous novelties? There are established principles and practices that must always have place in education, because they are based on the nature of the human mind and the perennial needs of man, because they respond to aspirations as deep- seated as human nature itself. Customs and habits and men may change, but human nature never; and, therefore, the essential land- marks in mind development mist ever remain immovable. The view presented does not forbid studies aimed at professional work, for those who insist on them. It does plead for liberal studies, and encouragement of them, in behalf of the vast majority, that is, for those who can afford to spend more time before beginning their life work, and for those who never intend to enter a profes- sion at all. For smaller colleges, especially, this method is pref- erable. They have a clearly defined scope. By keeping to their own field they will do more for their clients than by undertaking work for which they have neither financial resources, facilities, ap- pliances nor demand. Strange as it may seem, it is really possible to obtain the degree of bachelor of arts with less scholarship, by 31 selecting easy courses in some colleges of higher standing, in which the elective system prevails, than it is under the so-called rigid system, which prescribes a definite course and leaves little latitude of choice. The opinions advanced are based on these principles: First: There are some branches of study absolutely necessary in any schema of liberal education. Without a knowledge of these no man can be called educated. Second: For a finished education there is, in each of the de- partments of study, a minimum of knowledge essential for a man of culture. Third: The aim of a truly liberal education is the harmonious development of all the faculties, the careful training of mind and heart, and the formation of character, rather than the actual im- parting of knowledge and the specific equipment for a limited sphere of action. Fourth: All branches of study are not equally serviceable for the mental and moral development. Some contain mind-developing factors and character-building elements which no electivism should replace. Fifth: Precepts, models and practice should keep pace in every well-ordered system; all the branches should be directed to some one definite end. Sixth: Young students are not the proper judges of the studies essential for a systematic and thorough development of their faculties, or even for success in after life. Seventh: Selection of branches should be permitted to none but those whose minds have already been formed by the studies essential to character-building and who have themselves practically determined on their own life work. Eighth: There is no royal road to knowledge. Placing the name on the register of a college does not make a student; a multi- plicity of courses, which a student is free to ignore, does not make a scholar. Ninth: The studies pursued need not be directly useful in after life. Some of you educators may tell me that the scheme proposed is too ambitious, the course prescribed purely ideal, that neither college nor university does anything like the work mapped out, that anyone practically acquainted with the atmosphere of the class room will laugh at the grotesque appearance of this stuffed curriculum. To this 32 I answer, that I would form the same judgment myself, if there were question of the minutiae of specialization, instead of the general cul- tu/e intended. ~^r To sum up the contentions of this paper: A general or liberal education is advantageous, and to some extent necessary, for all who aim at culture, even for those who enter professional and technical schools. The college which stands for a well-balanced and fairly rigid system is preferable. The ideal college is one that promotes general culture, one that is free from entangling alliances and premature specialization. There are established principles and practices in educa- tion, based on the nature of the human mind and responding to aspira- tions as deep seated as human nature itself. These cannot be ignored. I have said that a certain kind and amount of training is necessary and that the college gives that peculiar training. I will go a step further, and add explicitly, that nothing else can supply it. The times in which we live, our social, economical and political conditions, call for cultivated and cultured men, such as are produced only by the col- lege. Unfortunately, time does not allow the development of this familiar idea, which is really the pith of this question, the gist of every argument. Suggested, though not expressed, it formed the undercur- rent of my thought throughout. But if we need the end, we need the means essential for obtaining it. So I claim f -hat the college furnish- ing this liberal culture performs a necessary function, which no other educational agency can replace. THE CHAIRMAN : We shall now be favored with a paper by President George C. Chase, of Bates College. PRESIDENT CHASE: Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen : The Place of the College in our System of Education. Fifty years ago few thinkers would have cred- ited the United States with an educational system. Have we such a system today? A system may be defined as "the combination of parts into a whole in accordance with some uniform law, principle or purpose." What is the uniform principle or purpose in accordance with which the schools of our country are combined into a symmetrical whole ? We are forced to admit that no such principle or purpose has yet become fully operative. Yet we notice the partial working of a principle that is evidently destined to issue in a complete educational system. It is the principle of promoting the common welfare, economic, political 33 and moral moral in the broadest sense as including the intellectual, the aesthetic and the ethical. The democratic spirit that constructed the Constitution of our government has expressed itself hardly less definitely in our schools. Often ill adjusted to one another, sometimes duplicating or repeating the work of the same student., not infre- quently presenting huge gaps in the natural order of succession, and usually dwarfed and hindered by inadequate resources and appliances, the schools of our country have gradually been approximating a sys- tem whose unifying principle is the promotion in due relation to one another of the many-sided well-being of the people. In this developing system there is now evident a division and correlation of work that is full of promise. Schools for culture, for technical and professional ends, and for research, are falling into a complete and orderly whole. There are four ways in which educational institutions may pro- mote the general welfare : By giving their recipients more productive efficiency ; by elevating them as moral beings ; by engaging their ener- gies in research ; and by preparing them to be the active and faithful guardians of all the interests of a civilized people. All true education will contribute something to each of these results, but in proportions varying with the agencies employed. Our elementary schools seek and find their chief return in produc- tive efficiency; but they also prepare the way for the attainment of the other results, and even actively contribute to them. Our secondary schools, also, aim chiefly to promote productive efficiency ; but place a stronger emphasis upon -the other ends, especially upon the moral ele- vation of their pupils.^Our technical and professional schools are established expressly to promote efficiency, their products ministering to higher needs and demanding the exercise of higher powers. The university, in the narrowest meaning that educators tend to give the word, has as its chief function, research extending the bounds of knowledge. The preparatory school and the college aim both to give their students moral elevation and to prepare them to be the disinter- ested and devoted guardians of the general welfare. The preparatory school aims more at moral elevation and the college more at social and public service. The primary purpose of the college is to promote the general welfare. Its second conscious aim is to impart to its students true moral elevation. Indeed, the higher satisfactions of the soul satis- factions intellectual, aesthetic, and ethical are the main spring of that discipline and culture indispensable to successful service in the interests of the community. Nor does the college ever lose sight of 34 the conditions of that material progress which, by increasing comfort, economizing strength, providing needful appliances, and insuring leisure, powerfully contributes to character and happiness. It promotes research only incidentally, by inspiring the love of truth and developing the aptitude for investigation. Its paramount aim is the highest well-being of the community. Harvard's "Christo et Ecclesiae" as representing her noblest conception of worthy aims was an adequate motto for the college. Her earlier "Veritas" fore- shadowed the university. How shall the college attain her paramount aims ? First, by de- veloping men who exemplify the elements and the resources in which well-being consists men trained to observe, compare, generalize, rea- * son ; men who think and feel worthily, express themselves appropriate- ly, decide wisely, and act promptly; men who delight in those all- inclusive moral laws love to God and loving service to man; men by instinct and habit pure, earnest, humane, and just, apostles of "sweetness and light/' It is the mission of the college, through her graduates, to save and exalt the home, to make honesty, sound finance, and reciprocal advantage the accepted maxims of business, and disinterested helpfulness the common law of society. YjTfc is the V worthy aim of the technical and the professional school to prepare f men to get a living. It is the distinctive aim of the college to teach v men to live, to insure the* dominance of the soul. / f Equally definite is the duty of the college "to prepare men for public life. The founders of the first college in America gave as the warrant for the undertaking "the furnishing of the common- wealth with leaders and the churches with a learned and godly min- istry." The founders of Yale, also, proclaimed the distinct purpose of educating men "for the public service." Almost without excep- tion the colleges of our country, whether founded by state appropria- tions or private benevolence, originated in the purpose to insure to the people competent and patriotic leaders equal to all exigencies. Service to country is part of the implied contract between the stu- dent and his college as a guardian of the public welfare. Even if it "be not writ" in precise terms, as at Annapolis and West Point, it is there for every true college man whenever the State needs his service. If there is a growing reluctance among college men to go to the front in the battles for civic progress, where lies the responsibility? In changed curricula, or the decline of early ideals? Or in both? In our day the public service is infinitely more varied than even a generation ago. The Civic League, the Associated Charities, the Church Guilds and Christian Associations, the University Settle- ments, the literary clubs, the hundreds of organized philanthropies and reforms are so many opportunities for the college graduate, so many tests of his loyalty. Such an age obviously needs the college woman quite as much as the college man. The unique aim of the college gives it a field peculiar to itself "not covered by the technical school, not serving solely as preparatory to the professional school," and not occupied by the university. The man who is in any true sense to be an active, responsible guardian of the welfare of the community, of the interests of his state and coun- try, must be broadly educated, liberally educated. A narrow curricu- lum will not meet his need. He must know both men and things. He must know the conditions under which men have developed on this planet. He must be acquainted with that action of forces, phys ical, biological, psychic, social, political and ethical, by which human beings have reacted upon their environment and upon one another. It were well could he know the beginnings and the progress of civili- zation as disclosed by archaeology, history, literature, ancient and modern, the arts and the philosophies of all schools and all ages; could he trace those changes in governments, laws, customs, indus- tries and ideas which have issued in the modern state and modern society. He should at least thoroughly understand the principles embodied in the government of his own country and their relation to the popular movements of his own time. He should be acquaint- ed with the social conditions of his age and land and should be in- telligently interested in improving them. He should have studied the elements of political economy and the laws that govern commerce and industry. He should know the general results of modern sci- ence, should possess its spirit, and be able to apply its distinctive methods in some of its branches. He should know and appreciate the spiritual forces that have shaped and unified the life and the in- stitutions of his country. He should have learned his own powers and aptitudes and found the appropriate place for their use. He should be thoroughly democratic, a man among men, sincerely rev- erent, true to duty and conscious of his responsibility to God. All this he should be if he is amply to fill his place as a college man. r