COMMENT

In this age of democracy and Bolshevism it is probably heresy to declare that the theory that every boy should have a college education is thoroughly untenable. But any man who has had any experience or practical contact with college students knows that the theory is untenable. There are those who are actually harmed by going to college. Some are wholly spoiled. They forget whatever habits of industry they may have had and they cultivate extravagant tastes. If they were learning something the situation wouldn't be so bad, but usually they are the very ones who take the most care not to expose themselves to education for fear that they may catch it.

Then too there is the other type of boy who is industrious, ambitious, conscientious and tries his hardest to learn, but simply has not the brains to go through with the task. He is really a pathetic figure. He is wasting valuable money and even more valuable time, but he is so serious and faithful about it that everybody hates to tell him that he ought to be working in a blacksmith shop or a factory. It is true that he often succeeds in obtaining a degree, but he would be just as well off without it. He is the one who has caught education but, having caught it, doesn't know what to do with it. He cannot make it serve any useful purpose. It is unfortunate, of course, that the cost of going to college has followed the cost of living in its upward flight. But even now there is nothing in the situation to discourage the poor but bright boy. The doors of higher education are still open to him and the sacrifice he will have to make today is comparatively no greater than that of five years ago. --Boston Transcript.