May 27, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



297 



THE RELATION OF BUSINESS TO COLLEGE EDU- 

 CATION. 



The questiou of the benefit and advantage of a college 

 educatiou in relation to business was some time ago freely 

 discussed in some of our leading magazines. Many of the 

 articles were not without a grain of truth, yet in some of 

 them the authors seemed to disregard certain essential ques- 

 tions. 



It is not the purpose so much of higher education to fill 

 the mind with knowledge as it is to discipline and develop 

 the mind, and it is not so much the object of the college to 

 make professional men as it is to prepare the student for a 

 professional career. 



An inquiry into the psychical constitution of normal beings 

 will show some marked general characteristics. For exam- 

 ple, some possess great executive powers associated with 

 marked powers of application and execution; others possess 

 great reflective powers associated with slight powers of exe- 

 cution and little or no executive ability; and others again 

 may possess all these powers equally strong, or they may 

 be variously combined in individuals as to degree and 

 quality. The intention is not to enumerate any more char- 

 acteristics than such general ones as come into use in busi- 

 ness. All these powers admit only of a certain degree of 

 development. 



It is conceded that every normal being is endowed with 

 certain natural abilities to acquire knowledge. The degree 

 of the development of these abilities and the direction in 

 which they run are often difficult to determine; and here it 

 is where the largest number and most serious mistakes are 

 made. Every individual, no matter what his abilities are, 

 must receive a certain amount of training and education, 

 and these may come to him in one form or another, either 

 practical, theoretical, or both. The acquisition of knowledge 

 through personal experience alone will prove both good and 

 bad, and it is through a theoretical training and education 

 that the bad may be avoided. In discriminating between 

 a,ll the degrees of natural abilities supplemented with prac- 

 tical training and natural abilities supplemented with book 

 learning, an important element will be found which can only 

 be acquired through systematic book training and proper 

 schooling, and that is discipline. Discipline gives discrimi- 

 nating powers and quickness to the perception, lends ac- 

 curacy to the conception, aids the reason to draw proper 

 conclusions from a series of facts, and thereby sharpens the 

 judgment, develops the memory, controls the will, and sub- 

 jects the emotions. In connection with this, the attention 

 may be called to the fact that a methodical mind is not al- 

 ways a well disciplined mind. 



Again, there is a distinguishing element common only to 

 natural ability, and which does not depend upon knowledge 

 alone or any higher psychical organization called knack. 

 Tliis is generally noticeable in powers of execution. For 

 example, if we observe a number of mechanics working at 

 the same job, it will appear that a few of them show excep- 

 tional facility in the execution of their work, while others 

 with all their training and practice cannot attain this facility. 

 The degree of difference in the work may not be great, yet 

 it is noticeable; and the man who is the happy possessor of 

 this particular gift is the man most sought for. 



A comparison of various individuals within the different 

 classes in which men may be classified from the standpoint 

 of vocation will show similar results. As an illustration we 

 need only to take two orators. Suppose them as nearly as 



possible to be equally equipped mentally, morally, and physi- 

 cally, yet when addressing an assembly there will be seen a 

 marked difference in the effect produced upon the audience. 

 To the one they will listen with indifference; to the other 

 they will appear as if they drank in every word that fell 

 from his lips. So again, if two orators unequal in education 

 and training address an audience, it is not infrequent that 

 the one possessed of the lesser education and training will 

 hold his audience spell-bound, while the other will leave his 

 audience cold and unaffected. The question will now arise, 

 To what can this difference be attributed ? The solution un- 

 doubtedly lies in the peculiar, fascinating influence exer- 

 cised over the listeners through the method, the style. 

 It is this which inspires truthfulness, conviction, and confi- 

 dence, and may be considered a quality of executive ability. 

 In every vocation of life we may trace this quality as essen- 

 tial to success. The author, the poet, the lawyer, the actor, 

 the politician, the merchant — all of whatever class will 

 profit by possessing this quality. True, this quality may be 

 developed to a limited extent, yet the possessor of it by 

 nature need have hardly any schooling or training, and he 

 will succeed. 



The questions, which will now present themselves for con- 

 sideration, are, Why is it that so many men of very inferior 

 mental capacity and in some instances of marked natural 

 ability, though uneducated, are so successful in accumulating 

 large fortunes, and why is it that so few college-bred men 

 are successful in the commercial world and become possessors 

 of large fortunes? 



It is not infrequent where men equally equipped mentally, 

 either educated or uneducated, start out in the world both 

 having the same habits of thrift and economy, of industry 

 and energy, of perseverance and endurance, and both having 

 equally good opportunities for making money, that one of 

 them succeeds in accumulating a large fortune, while the 

 other gets along but moderately. The statement is quite gen- 

 erally admitted that a person who is economical, prompt, re- 

 liable, honest, and accommodates himself to the circum- 

 stances, and does not meet with any misfortune, may acquire 

 suSicient means to live fairly well, but to acquire a large 

 fortune something more is requisite. 



To what this difference may be ascribed is the question. 

 Surely, it cannot be maintained that one has more brains 

 than the other or that he possesses better advantage by what- 

 ever means, for the assumption is that they are equal in 

 these respects. Then the only factor to which this can be 

 attributed is unquestionably the style or peculiar influence 

 they exercise over others, and by which they inspire confi- 

 dence and enlarge their circle of patrons. As an argument 

 in favor of this view a reference to cases where men are 

 totally unworthy of confidence needs only to be made. How 

 often does it happen that men morally perverted are capable 

 of inspiring confidence in people, and this not only in the 

 unwary and ignorant but in men of brains and education. 

 How often do men of inferior intellect exercise much influ- 

 ence among the educated and ignorant. To attribute this 

 to any other power than the peculiar fascinating influence 

 that many men have over others is absurd. The average 

 business man, however great his success may be, and who 

 has received no college training, is narrow, emotional, ex- 

 acting, and will often resort to means in accomplishing his 

 purposes which a college educated man would hesitate to do, 

 and most college-bred men of this stamp will possess these 

 traits inherently. 



That the school of experience quickens self-reliance, that 



