Civilized countries have long demanded that their youth of all strata be afforded the same opportunities for education. This is only true, however, of the lower branches of learning; for, if we were to include university training, we would find that this demand has not yet been fulfilled in any country. Ordinarily it is a prerogative of the wealthy, or at least the upper middle class, to give their children a university training. But in spite of that, it is a well-known fact that not all young people who are financially able to afford a formal university education are taking advantage of this opportunity. Perhaps they simply lack interest, but on the other hand, poor young people make desperate attempts to complete their education, sometimes at the sacrifice of everything else. In countries with high educational standards, as in Germany, one can observe a constant change and turnover in the academic professions. Whereas children of academically trained parents do not always decide on an academic career, children of parents who are not college graduates are constantly entering the academic 2professions. But the influx was much greater in Germany, with the unfortunate result that there were hundreds of thousands of academically trained people who could not have secured positions in their professions even in normal times. Naturally, there are many among these many thousands who passed their examinations with only an average rating, or even by a hair's breadth. Whether these would have made good in practical life seems very doubtful, considering the great responsibility attached to these professions. Let us just mention the teachers in the higher institutions of learning, the judges and also the physicians. Overeducation of a people promotes mediocrity in the academic professions, and this undoubtedly constitutes a great danger for the nation. The social prestige which accompanies an academic profession proves an irresistible incentive for countless people of lesser talents to squeeze themselves laboriously through examinations and a formal university education. No wonder that in Germany, the country of overeducation, the standards of the examinations are being steadily raised. One has realized by now that it is better for many ambitious people to remain out of the academic professions because they are not equal to the demands made upon them.

In Germany, especially, a university training is made all the more difficult by the fact that the prerequisite for the university, the various Gymnasien, as well as the Oberrealschulen, entail an added expense for the parents. In spite of this barrier, there are far too many academically trained people in the Reich.

The National Council of Education adopted a resolution at the Convention of the National Education Association which demands equal educational opportunities for everybody in America. This also includes free university training for all! We are amazed at such a resolution. The conditions which would prevail in this country if formal university training were not protected by the barbed wire of high expenses apparently does not enter the imagination of the spiritual fathers of this resolution. America forged ahead of other countries with her educational system when she made high school attendance a free affair. If, in addition to that, a university education could be obtained for nothing, a stampede for the universities would ensue, which would lead to an unbearable overflooding of all academic professions within a few 4years. There again mediocrity would be encouraged and would lower the standards of these professions. There are more opportunities for all kinds of education in this country than in any other country in the world. The full-time day worker may acquire a comprehensive education by attending night school courses. And the really talented one will eventually find his way into the academic field--the place for which his talent had predestined him. But the great masses should be restrained from pursuing an academic career rather than encouraged. Ample opportunities exist here in America to satisfy the thirst for free knowledge of any description. The barrier which surrounds the academic professions could not very well be broken down in the future. Only the elite can gain admittance. The fortune of birth will always be the decisive factor in making a selection. The prospective academician must have either wealth, talent, or personal connections to achieve the goal of his ambition. The substitution of a systematic selection for a natural one had best be left to a future generation.