278 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



to secure the satisfaction to which he conceives himself to he entitled. 



Kow when the question of title is raised, he is quite likely to be 

 reminded that his occupation is a rather pleasant one and possesses 

 many features very delightful to a man of scholarly tastes. We need 

 not deny this. In fact, if the college professor is not to lose an im- 

 portant part of his case, it would be well to remember that his demands 

 are not for bread alone. But the beauties of the professorial life are 

 such for the academic man ; for the average business man the life would 

 be intolerably dreary. And in this respect, that there is a certain cor- 

 respondence between work and tastes, the occupation is singularly like 

 many others, and it is not to be seen why the profession of teaching 

 should be specially penalized. It is all very well to talk about " plain 

 living and high thinking." I admit that it is not for the college pro- 

 fessor to aim at the pace set by fashionable society. But I can see no 

 virtue in plain living just for itself. Its only value for the scholar is to 

 leave the mind free for high thinking. And if living is too plain, the 

 result may be easily the reverse. Such, in fact, is the present situation. 

 Few college men would be " living high " at twice their present salary. 

 Indeed there are rather few cases where this would constitute more than 

 a properly liberal allowance for the best "performance of function." 



But the question as I am endeavoring to state it is not primarily one 

 of abstract justice or social function. It is the more direct question, ad- 

 dressed to the college professor, namely, What are you going to do 

 about it? How are you going to make your claims good? As the 

 question is often put, it takes the form of a dilemma : on the one hand, 

 the dignities and privileges of a learned profession, if you will accept 

 a life of poverty; on the other hand, a better chance of a comfortable 

 living, but no opportunity for the things that are specially dear to you. 

 Choose and remain silent, for you may not have both. But most dis- 

 junctions are fallacious, and valid only for the stupid. If the college 

 professor is as intelligent as he claims to be he may refuse to accept the 

 choice of alternatives and assert his intention of securing for himself 

 both a liberal living and the opportunity for an intellectual life. And 

 he will do so, as I have suggested, by applying to his own case the 

 principle of organized self-assertion which is illustrated in the trade- 

 union. 



The mere suggestion is too much. Imagine, if you please, a strike 

 of the college faculty for an eight-hour week, a cordon of police about 

 the university, the professor of education, as walking-delegate, puffing 

 a black cigar into the president's face, while " scab " instructors, sup- 

 porting a family on a thousand a year, are teaching depleted classes in 

 fear of their lives ! Yes, but why imagine all this ? I am speaking 

 presumably of the self-assertion of intelligent men, of men, indeed, 

 who claim to embody the highest intelligence of the community. And 



