I02 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN S ASSOCIATION. 



than 3 per cent, of those whose vocations are remunerative 

 and reputable. 



Nearly 50 per cent, are engaged in agriculture, while 

 the combined industries give employment to upwards of 80 

 per cent, of all those who, by their own labor, either mental 

 or physical, add to the wealth and prosperity of this great 

 republic. 



Now, if it be true, as is claimed by many, that the 

 course of study in our high schools is equally well adapted 

 to the needs of all classes, it would be expected that not 

 over 3 per cent, of the graduates would attempt ±0 gain a 

 livelihood by professional services. Either this must be true 

 or else there is a demand for a greater proportion of pro- 

 fessional men, which no one beheves. 



What are thefacts ? 



More than 60 per cent, of the male graduates become 

 professional men. The vocations, present and prospective, 

 of the male graduates of several high schools which are 

 believed to represent fairly the high schools of Illinois, are 

 as follows : Ministers, 14 per cent.; teachers, 24 per cent.; 

 lawyers, 14 per cent.; mechanics, 10 per cent.; physicians, 

 II per cent.; merchants and mercantile clerks, 14 per cent.; 

 undecided, 10 per cent.; farmers, 3 per cent. 



One high school in Northern Illinois, than which few 

 rank higher, numbers among its graduates during the past 

 twelve years, 128 persons, of whom thirty-two are males; of 

 these, three are mechanics, and one is a farmer. And yet 

 they tell us that the course of study in our high schools is 

 equally well adapted to the needs of the farmer, the 

 mechanic, or the lawyer. 



Another school, which, in point of popularity, has no 

 superior, boasts of 29 male graduates ; of this number three 

 are farmers, and one is a mechanic. 



Of the male graduates of either of these schools, not 

 14 per cent, become handicraftsmen ! 



Send a young man into one of these schools in order to 

 make .an intelligent farmer of him, and before the course is 

 half completed he will tell you he wishes to study law. 



The tendency of our high school system is away from 

 the farm, away from the workshop, and towards the pulpit 

 and the bar. 



Our present system of public education is a long and 

 costly stairway, near the bottom of which may be found the 



