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The Green flag.
self would lessen our percentage of profes sionally educated lawyers, in the whole num ber enumerated by the I2th census. If, how ever, as we have a right to suppose there were still alive in 1900 legal graduates of classes previous to 1876 this fact would tend to raise that percentage. It seems to be probable that the two factors practically equalize one another and that we are safe in assuming that about 40 per cent, of our pres ent-day lawyers, or one in two and one-half, have had the education of the professional school. So much for their education along the technical lines of their profession. How about the broader academic basis? Although the bar examination varies materially in dif ferent States, it is probably true that it is equivalent in most to what may be expected from the graduates of the average American High School; not the best, but the aver age. The same degree of academic profi ciency is demanded, too, for entrance to the law school, with requirements in this respect rapidly stiffening. Roughly speaking then, the profession has at least, the secondaryschool equivalent along the broader lines. How much farther they have gone we have no means of knowing, except for the 45,000 or so graduates of law schools. The United States Commissioner of Education helps us on this point, for in the reports already al luded to, he gives the percentage of students taking their degrees each year in the profes sional schools, who had already taken the bachelor's degree in arts or science in some college or university. That is, the percent age of law graduates who are also college graduates. Unless a man took his academic degree after he had taken his professional degree, which would probably occur but sel dom, the percentages in the Commissioner's reports would be valid for the broadly edu cated lawyer. They are as follows for as many college years since 1881, as I could secure them:
Year. 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
Per cent. 34 34 not given 36 34 34 29 29 25 30 23 18 not given 12 13 20 20 16 16 17
The average of these percentages for the twenty year period is about 20, when the varying numbers in the classes is taken into consideration, showing that one profession ally educated lawyer in five has also the broader academic degree. As has already been said we have no means of knowing the proportion for those who have entered the profession through the office rather, than the law school, but it seems safe to assume that it is at least no greater for them. The per centages given above for the definite classes show very conclusively that the numbers taking the academic college course as- a pre paration to law are rapidly decreasing, the average for the first five years of the period studied being 34 per cent., while for the last five it is but 17 per cent., or exactly one-half. This, it seems to me, is contrary to the gen eral supposition, and certainly contrary to what must be the case when the present ten dency to place the law schools on a post graduate basis is more widely administered, and has time to make itself felt.
