Little Visits with Great Americans, Vol. 2 (of 2): Or Success, Ideals and How to Attain Them
History
Little Visits with Great Americans, Vol. 2 (of 2): Or Success, Ideals and How to Attain Them
Success; United States -- Biography; United States -- History -- 19th century -- Biography
“It is only within a very few years that we have begun to take hold of
this work with the zeal and determination that brings success. With
this twentieth century there has been born in Canada a new spirit
of enterprise. Even here in the University its effects have been
strongly felt. It was not long ago that a large proportion of our
graduates became teachers, or entered some other professional sphere,
and in these fields most of them sought their opportunities in the
United States. At the present time the majority of our students have
turned toward commercial, mechanical or scientific pursuits, and they
are finding their openings within our own domain. The standard of
pecuniary compensation is advancing, not only in commerce but also in
the professions. For example, even as comparatively a short time as
a decade ago the largest fees or salaries for legal services never
rose above a very few thousand dollars. Now we often hear of Canadian
lawyers receiving many thousands in single fees or in yearly salaries
from railroad, banking and other corporations. The general tendency
is in this direction, and it is a direct result of our industrial
expansion. The interests of Canadian employers of brains and labor are
becoming larger. They want more men, and better trained men, and are
willing to pay them more than in former years.
“Since a university does not completely fulfil its functions unless it
keeps in touch with the life of the people and the currents of broad
activity, we of the University of Toronto are aiming to keep pace with
the new development in Canada. We are equipping young men for many
practical pursuits, and are even establishing close relationships with
numerous specific industries. Often of late we have had applications
from employers for young men capable of assuming responsibilities. We
keep track of the demand for youthful brains and university training,
and make a point of being always ready to supply it. A notable factor
in the practical work of the university is the Agricultural College,
which is located at Guelph, Ontario, and controls 550 acres of land,
upon which all phases of farming are carried on and taught to nearly
six hundred students. We feel that this college is doing work which
is very important. Much of the future wealth of Canada will be
derived from agriculture, and especially from wheat growing in the
Northwest, where hard wheat, the finest in the world, can be produced
in sufficient quantities to supply all the markets of the earth. To
adequately develop the possibilities of this territory we must have
scientific farmers, and this is the kind we are doing our best to train.
“But with all this effort along material lines, we are by no means
forgetting at the University of Toronto what we used to call the broad
humanities. The play of the spirit, the exercise of the imagination,
the stimulus of literature and art, a tolerant and cheerful philosophy
are, after all, the things which make life worth living.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account