740 
EDITORIAL. 
the State, and certainly very few are bold enough to enter it in i 
quest of medical, veterinary or .dental education. A dental col- i 
lege of this State, we are told, which normally has about 500 i 
students, has this year about 135, while a like institution in a 
neighboring State, which formerly had fewer students than the 
New York school, has this year nearly 1000. A study in cause 
and effect. Even when such an instance as this is considered 
it must be borne in mind that the New York colleges are carry¬ 
ing considerable “ held over ” material this year: those who 
entered under the lesser requirement, those pursuing a post¬ 
graduate course, and “ plucked ” students. Eliminate these, | 
and make an estimate based upon the present demands of the 
Regents, and the percentage will drop to such a figure that even 
our hopeful correspondent will substitute “ruin ” for “boon.” 
Is all this in the interest of higher education ? It is said 
that it is easier to pass the Board of Examiners for the licens¬ 
ing degree than it is to pass the Regents to enter the schools. 
This means that students will prepare themselves for the Ex¬ 
aminers in other States, and if they fail to secure their licenses 
they have simply to shift the scene of their endeavors outside 
of New York. Therefore, our near-sighted law-framers have 
failed to raise the standard of education ; they have merely de¬ 
creed that young men shall not be taught the medical sciences 
in this State. No matter how poor a standard shall be set else¬ 
where, she will force her citizens to accept it or go without. 
The law is a failure, and the sooner it is made to conform with 
common sense the less injury will be inflicted upon the fame 
and fortune of the Commonwealth. She could by a generous 
graduation have raised the requirements for entrance into her 
schools to a point higher than any other State dared to follow, 
and yet retained her own citizens as pupils and invited those of 
her neighbors by virtue of her superior facilities for imparting 
knowledge, clinical and otherwise ; but this was not logical to 
those who are responsible for the obnoxious law, and the dis- j 
aster which is impending is as inevitable as night is to follow i 
day, unless the representatives of the schools act with prompt- 
