856 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 752 



len^h of time of greater or lesser duration, 

 and upon evidence of ability and progress 

 along required lines, that promotion and sal- 

 ary will come of themselves. 



That the expectation is small and that the 

 realization is still smaller is a fact which soon 

 impresses itseK upon all in the teaching pro- 

 fession. 



From personal observation, I believe that 

 many are enticed into the career of teaching 

 without due regard as to the discouraging 

 pecuniary future, and I wish to suggest that 

 all those desiring to teach be carefully made 

 to see what the future has in store for them. 



A teacher's salary is notably smaller than 

 that which men of the same or even lesser 

 ability obtain in other occupations; but I be- 

 lieve that teachers, as a class, have considered 

 this but of small consequence and are not, as a 

 class, envious of the far greater incomes of 

 most of those with whom they meet in a social 

 way. 



They come under the class of salaried men 

 who take no risks and hence do not share in 

 the excess profits. A distinguished sociologist 

 on my enquiry as to the position of the pro- 

 fessor in the sociological order answered " You 

 are all parasites." To a great measure this 

 is correct, we are parasites, happily useful 

 ones, but still parasites. 



We are resigned to our fate ; but lately some 

 facts have come to my notice that have 

 aroused my sense of justice and made me 

 view with much less equanimity the low 

 financial position of the teacher. 



I have before me an authoritative manu- 

 script by Colonel H. O. S. Heistand, of the 

 Adjutant General's Department, U. S. Army, 

 entitled "The United States Army as a 

 Career." 



The following extract is the portion which 

 excites these feelings and also others which I 

 believe most of those that read wiU have in 

 common with me: 



THE AEMT AS A CAEEEB 



Let us see what the enlisted man is able to do 

 in the way of accumulating a competence to pro- 

 vide for the declining years of his life. 



If he has been an improvident spendthrift 



throughout his entire career and has not saved a 

 penny, he will have as long as he lives his retired 

 pay, which at the very least is equal in yalue to 

 a paid-up insurance policy of from $10,000 to 

 $20,000, non-forfeitable and guaranteed by the 

 government. But a careful man would save half 

 his cash pay when all necessaries are provided, 

 and let us see what would be the result if he 

 did so. 



If he has remained a private soldier — ^the very 

 lowest position in the army — during his entire 

 twenty-five or thirty years' service, without ever 

 having received any " extra-duty " pay or other 

 special increase, and has saved and deposited with 

 the government one half of his pay, and the 

 amounts due him on discharge each time he re- 

 enlists, he finally quits the active list with the 

 snug sum of more than $9,000, the income of 

 which at four per cent, would yield over $30 per 

 month; this added to his retired pay gives him 

 a monthly income of nearly $65 per month for the 

 rest of his life, and he is free to go wherever and 

 occupy himself as he pleases. 



Please notice that in this case and in the 

 following cases the men own their capital and 

 may withdraw it to go into business ; and also 

 that they are still comparatively young, that 

 is, between 43 and 50 years of age, assuming 

 that they enlisted between the ages of 18 

 and 25 years. 



But for a soldier lo remain a private so long is 

 almost impossible; such a condition could result 

 only from excessive indolence or a degree of stu- 

 pidity that would seem to be a bar to original or 

 subsequent enlistment. A fair supposition and 

 one easy of realization would be that of a soldier 

 who remains a private half of his first enlistment, 

 then becomes a corporal; is made a sergeant upon 

 reenlistment, and remains a sergeant the re- 

 mainder of his career. Such a soldier, saving as 

 above, would receive on final discharge nearly 

 $15,000, this amount at four per cent, together 

 with his retired pay would give him a monthly 

 income of over $100 for the remainder of his life. 



If instead of remaining a sergeant he reaches 

 the grade of first sergeant and holds that position 

 during the last nine years of his service, he will 

 have saved about $16,000, which at four per cent, 

 will yield an amount, which addra to his retired 

 pay, gives him over $120 per month. If the sol- 

 dier is a private during his first enlistment, a 

 sergeant in his second and third enlistments and 

 then becomes a non-commissioned staff ofiicer, say 

 a commissary sergeant, his savings of one half 



