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than a department of athletics。(10*) Both alike give training
that is of no use to the community;except; perhaps; as a
sentimental excitement。 Neither business proficiency nor
proficiency in athletic contests need be decried; of course。 They
have their value; to the businessmen and to the athletes;
respectively; chiefly as a means of livelihood at the cost of the
rest of the community; and it is to be presumed that they are
worth while to those who go in for that sort of thing。 Both alike
are related to the legitimate ends of the university as a drain
on its resources and an impairment of its scholarly animus。 As
related to the ostensible purposes of a university; therefore;
the support and conduct of such schools at the expense of the
universities is to be construed as a breach of trust。
What has just been said of the schools of commerce is; of
course; true also of the other training schools comprised in this
latterday university policy; in the degree in which these others
aim at the like emulative and unscholarly results。 It holds true
of the law schools; e。 g。; typically and more largely than of the
generality of professional and technical schools。 Both in point
of the purely competitive value of their training and of the
unscientific character of their work; the law schools are in very
much the same case as the schools of commerce; and; no doubt; the
accepted inclusion of law schools in the university corporation
has made the intrusion of the schools of commerce much easier
than it otherwise would have been。 The law school's inclusion in
the university corporation has the countenance of ancient
tradition; it comes down as an authentic usage from the mediaeval
era of European education; and from the pre…history of the
American universities。 But in point of substantial merit the law
school belongs in the modern university no more than a school of
fencing or dancing。 This is particularly true of the American law
schools; in which the Austinian conception of law is followed;
and it is more particularly true the more consistently the 〃case
method〃 is adhered to。 These schools devote themselves with great
singleness to the training of practitioners; as distinct from
jurists; and their teachers stand in a relation to their students
analogous to that in which the 〃coaches〃 stand to the athletes。
What is had in view is the exigencies; expedients and strategy of
successful practice; and not so much a grasp of even those
quasi…scientific articles of metaphysics that lie at the root of
the legal system。 What is required and inculcated in the way of a
knowledge of these elements of law is a familiarity with their
strategic use。
The profession of the Law is; of course; an honourable
profession; and it is doubtless believed by its apologists to be
a useful profession; on the whole; but a body of lawyers somewhat
less numerous; and with a lower average proficiency in legal
subtleties and expedients; would unquestionably be quite as
serviceable to the community at large as a larger number of such
men with a higher efficiency; at the same time they would be less
costly; both as to initial cost and as to the expenses of
maintenance that come of that excessive volume and retardation of
litigation due to an extreme facility in legal technique on the
part of the members of the bar。
It will also be found true that both the schools of law and
those of commerce; and in a less degree the other vocational
schools; serve the advantage of one class as against another。 In
the measure in which these schools accomplish what they aim at;
they increase the advantage of such men as already have some
advantage over the common run。 The instruction is half…way
gratuitous; that is the purpose of placing these schools on a
foundation or maintaining them at the public expense。 It is
presumed to be worth more than its cost to the students。 The fees
and other incidental expenses do not nearly cover the cost of the
schools; otherwise no foundation or support from the public funds
would be required; and the universities would have no colourable
excuse for going into this field。 But even if the instruction and
facilities offered by these schools are virtually gratuitous; yet
the fees and incidental expenses; together with the expenditure
of time and the cost of living required for a residence at the
schools; make up so considerable an item of expense as
effectually to exclude the majority of those young men who might
otherwise be inclined to avail themselves of these advantages。 In
effect; none can afford the time and expense of this business
training; whether in Commerce; Law; or the other professions;
except those who are already possessed of something more than the
average wealth or average income; and none; presumably; take
kindly to this training; in commerce or law; e。g。; except those
who already have something more than the average taste and
aptitude for business traffic; or who have a promising 〃opening〃
of this character in sight。 So that this training that is desired
to serve the private advantage of commercial students is; for the
greater part; extended to a select body of young men; only such
applicants being eligible; in effect; as do not on any showing
need this gratuity。
In proportion to the work which it undertakes; the College of
Commerce is or it would be if it lived up to its professions
the most expensive branch of the university corporation。 In
this connection the case of the law school offers a significant
object…lesson of what to expect in the further growth of the
schools of commerce。 The law school is of older standing and
maturer growth; at the same time that its aims and circumstances
are of much the same general character as those that condition
the schools of commerce; and it is therefore to be taken as
indicating something of what must be looked for in the college of
commerce if it is to do the work for which it is established。 The
indications; then; are (a) that the instruction in the field of
commercial training may be expected gradually to fall into a more
rigidly drawn curriculum; which will discard all irrelevant
theoretical excursions and will diverge more and more widely from
the ways of scientific inquiry; in proportion as experience and
tactful organization bring the school to a maturer insight into
its purposes and a more consistent adherence to its chief purpose
of training expert men for the higher business practice; and (b)
that the personnel of its staff must increasingly be drawn from