SHORTENING THE COLLEGE COURSE 759
ought to be made to lengthen and to strengthen it ; to increase, instead of diminish, the requirements of the physician and the lawyer and the teacher, and above all the politician and the statesman. The doctrine that all young men ought to feel the harness as soon as they pass the twenty-one-year mark is a relic from primitive times; no one today can have faith in it who studies the altered conditions of society, and the factors which contribute to its stability and continuous development. In the place of talk about curtailing the period of training, we should be hearing more about the duty and opportunity of indi- viduals and commonwealths to contribute to the maintenance of men of talent as long as they will continue in study, in the effort to possess themselves of all the race knows and can do in given fields, and make additions thereto. What a warning it ought to be to us to learn, as we seem to be learning today, that there were ancient civilizations whose culture and arts exceeded our own, but they have perished from the earth alto- gether for long ages, and the secrets of many of their accom- plishments are lost forever! Cut short the time which our youth now spend in study, and instead of leading the way in the onward movement of civilization, we shall inevitably begin to retrace our steps, and we must ultimately swell the ranks of decadent nations.
Happily, though, there is no imminent danger; private citi- zens and states alike are constantly lending greater aid to young men and women who have the ability and courage to push on and reach the summit of racial achievement, and it is in this great movement that we must place our faith and hope for the future. And we ought to do all in our power to encourage this tendency; we ought to exalt this and not the other thing. Nothing could be more gratifying to a well-wisher of our nation than to see how our great state universities are meeting their responsibilities in this respect. They not only furnish free tuition for all the gifted youths within their respective domains who have an inclination to engage in mental pursuits ; but they are, in addition, gradually establishing fellowships whereby "lads o' pairts" are relieved for several years from the neces-
