| Law. | No. to every 100,000 population. | Medicine. | No. to every 100,000 population. | Theology. | No. to every 100,000 population. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany, | 6,304 | 13 | 8,886 | 18 | 5,849 | 12 |
| France, | 5,152 | 14 | 6,455 | 17 | 101 | .. |
| United States, | 4,518 | 7 | 14,884 | 24 | 7,013 | 11 |
We glance briefly at the promises which the so-called learned professions hold out to young men. The opening for young men in the legal profession has many difficulties, but it is not without its rewards. David Dudley Field estimated that in 1893 there were 70,000 lawyers in the United States. If we estimate the population of the nation at 70,000,000, there would be one lawyer for every 1,000 of the population. Assuming that three-fourths of the population are women, children, and men under age, there would be one lawyer to every 250 males of full age in the United States.
Germany, with a population of 50,000,000, has about 7,000 lawyers, or one to every 7,000 persons. In the State of New York, with a population of 6,000,000, there are 11,000 lawyers, or one for every 545 of the population. Of this number of lawyers, there is a great proportion engaged in real estate business, or other outside matters, which enables them to secure a maintenance. Others have entered the law because of its promise of social position and honor.
Aside from the numbers in the legal profession, there are other considerations in the problem. The people of to-day are less disposed to controversy, and avoid employing lawyers to settle disputes and differences in court, and others often hesitate to employ a lawyer for fear of being made a victim of the rapacity of some who have brought the profession into disrepute. Again, there is less confusion in the laws. They are being collected, condensed, arranged, and simplified, and people are coming to understand the codes. Likewise, the courts are adopting simpler rules and codes of civil procedure, which give less room for pettyfogging hindrances and delays in litigation. A lawyer of talent, with the aid of a good stenographer and typewriter and other advantages of to-day, can do double and treble the work of a lawyer twenty-five years ago.
Finally, the qualifications of a lawyer never reached so high a standard. To attain the greatest professional success, it is indispensable to get the highest development which a college training can give. Chauncey M. Depew says that three-fifths of the lawyers are unfit for their profession from lack of ability or training. The people demand abler and better lawyers. The requisite qualities of a good lawyer to-day are not only knowledge and a good judgment, but patience, industry, honesty, and certain other aptitudes for his work. He must be ready to compete with a trained and talented rival. Special training is of great value. A lawyer of several years' standing at the bar in New York, in a recent conversation, remarked: "I studied law in a lawyer's office. My brother, here, several years younger than myself, went through the law school, and he has so much the advantage of me, in consequence of that training, in the studious habits he has formed, in being brought into immediate contact with the best legal minds, in being held to the highest standards, that this fall I shall enter the law school and take the entire course."
In facing these difficulties, let it be remembered that there are always openings for young men of superior qualifications. Some one asked Daniel Webster whether the legal profession was not over-crowded, and he replied that there was always room at the top. An ambitious young man of ability can win his way to the front, while mediocrity will wait for patronage. There is jostling and crowding in the rear ranks of every profession. It is surprising how few thoroughly trained men are entering the profession. In 1890 there were in the various law schools in this country 4,518 students, and only 1,255 of these had degrees in letters or science. In the same year, 1,514 were graduated in the schools of law, which was only 2.4 in every 100,000 of the population. There is a demand for specialists. The field is enlarging in the department of patent law, railroad law, and other legal specialties. The business transactions of this age are more complex, and the interests more important. Corporation controversies need to be adjusted by those who thoroughly understand the principles and practices of equity. "I was a teacher of law to young men for more than twenty years," says Judge Hoadley, "and have never seen any reason to discourage a sober, honest, and industrious young man from studying law. He needs, first of all, absolute fidelity, trustworthiness, and integrity; secondly, devotion to his calling—in other words, industry that will not be interfered with by the distraction of society or pursuit of politics. If he be honest and willing to work, he will, with reasonable intelligence make a sufficient success, if he have the patience to wait for success. If, in addition, he have what I may call the lawyer's faculty—that God-given power to appreciate leading principles and apply them to facts as they arise, coupled with ability to reason, and to state results cogently and persuasively,—he will make a shining success."
Again, the advantages of a thorough medical education are generally recognized. The sacred work of ministering to the suffering demands the most thorough instruction in medicine and methods of treatment. In 1890 there were 15,404 students in 116 medical schools in the United States, distributed as follows: Regulars, 13,521; eclectics, 719; homeopathists, 1,164. For the same year there were 4,492 graduates, or 7 in every 100,000 of the population. Sixteen of the medical schools had no students enrolled who had previously obtained a literary or scientific degree. Only 15 per cent. of all the students matriculated had obtained a degree before entering the medical schools. There is an evident lack of thorough preparation in foundation studies on the part of the students. The medical profession is second to none in importance, and the students of medicine who will give time to the more extended culture of a college course will naturally obtain greater skill and a broader range of thought, which will contribute to their efficiency as practicing physicians.
It is also encouraging to know that the statistics of each decade indicate that an increasing proportion of young men entering the ministry have received a college education. There were 112 theological schools in 1890, that reported 7,013 students, of whom 1,372 were graduated, or two for every one hundred thousand of population. This is certainly not over-crowding.
Of the students in theology enrolled in the schools of the various denominations in 1890, the proportion was as follows: Baptists, 15.6 per cent.; Presbyterians, 15 per cent.; Methodists, 14.9 per cent.; Lutheran, 14.7 per cent.; Roman Catholic, 13.4 per cent.; Congregational, 9.7 per cent.; Christian, 5.5 per cent.; Episcopal, 4.7 per cent.; Hebrew, .5 per cent. Of the total enrollment, 7,013, only 1,559 students had received degrees in letters or science. The church demands educated men for the pulpit. A call to the ministry in these days means that a man should prepare for the work. God does not honor the slothful, but the man who seeks to make full proof of his ministry. This is done when a man of piety takes the time to acquire mental culture and refinement, and to become able properly to guide and instruct the people. Such ministers, "thoroughly furnished unto every good word and work," honor the church, and strengthen the cause of Christ. Their mental endowments command respect and inspire confidence. There never has been a time in the Christian ministry when there was such a demand as now for ministers with minds cultivated and well stored with knowledge, and hearts set on fire by the Holy Ghost.
The old idea that a college graduate must study for medicine, law, or the pulpit, has attracted a large number of them into these professions. We have learned, however, that these professions are not superior to other avenues in science and business. A college training is only a means to an end. It is giving a man fitness for work of any kind. The departments opening up to college-trained men in all lines of work are multiplying and expanding with each succeeding year.