e
population. Many of those enrolled in college do not complete the
course of study. It is evident that the number of students in our
colleges is proportionately small, considering our population and the
requirements of our age, and the proportion of graduates is even
smaller.

The practical value of a college education is seriously questioned by
many good people unacquainted with the facts. There is abundant
evidence, however, which goes to prove that the college graduate has
better chances for success than the non-graduate.

It is admitted at the outset that some self-educated men have
succeeded without a college education, while some college-trained men
have failed in active life. It should be remembered that colleges do
not exist to make ability, but to develop it. There is certainly
nothing in a college education which unfits men for the practical
duties of life. Some college students have meager talent to begin
with, and a college training aims to help them make the most of
themselves.

The so-called "self-made" men have undergone the severest discipline.
By force of native ability and energy, they have surmounted
difficulties and achieved success which merits the warmest praise.
There is scarcely one of them who would not have availed himself of a
collegiate or technical training if force of circumstances had not
ordered otherwise. They feel keenly their educational disadvantages,
and believe that they would have had greater success if they could
have had the disciplinary training of a college course. Many feel as
did the distinguished orator, Henry Clay, who, when in Congressional
debate with John Randolph, a collegian, is said to have acknowledged,
with tears, the disadvantage he suffered from not having had a liberal
education.

Washington, Franklin, and Lincoln achieved success by their
application, but they were among the foremost to recognize the value
of a college training. These examples show that a college education is
not always essential to the highest service. The only just claim for a
collegiate training is that it increases the probabilities of a
person's success in life.

The criteria of comparison of the achievements of men are imperfect,
and the measure of success is not easily calculated. Great men are not
those who simply climb up to some conspicuous position. It is
important to estimate the quality of the work done, as well as the
place occupied. A greater premium should be placed upon