Examination Fees. 
181 
CHAPTER IV. 
EXAMINATION FEES. 
It has already been pointed out incidentally that some of the 
commonwealths very early required those desiring to enter a 
particular profession to have certain qualifications. One or two 
states created medical boards, in the beginning of this century, 
to examine all candidates and grant certificates; but the ex¬ 
tension of the state examination system to other professions is 
a very late development. Many of the so-called license fees are 
often partly in the nature of examination fees, and vice versa. 
The early pilot licenses were of this nature. The applicant had 
to furnish evidence that he had served the required number of 
years as apprentice on a regular pilot boat, and was often also 
required to pay a fee for a certificate. Experience brought to 
light the dangers due to incompetent pilots much earlier than 
those due to incompetency in other pursuits. The candidate 
was often required to prove his ability to manage vessels of dif¬ 
ferent tonnage in the presence of the licensing body. As the 
vessels have increased in size and carrying capacity, the diffi¬ 
culty of piloting them has increased proportionately, and the 
risk which would be run by entrusting them to incompetent 
men has increased to such an extent that state examination of 
pilots has become almost a necessity. 
It would be difficult to name the order in which the different 
professions came under state supervision in this way. Some of 
the colonies required lawyers to pass a sort of examination be¬ 
fore their admission to the bar. It has been customary in most 
of the new states to allow anyone to practice lav/ who could 
satisfy very slight educational qualifications. The growth of 
the country has been so rapid, and the spread of population so 
sudden, that legal and medical services by properly educated 
and qualified lawyers and physicians were, in many localities, 
out of the question. The pioneers, therefore, had to take what 
