German vs. American University Salaries.

Under this title the current number of the Nation publishes an article which is valuable inasmuch as it corrects very absurd opinions frequently expressed on the subject. Following are some of the extracts:

The fact is, that for a German professor ordinarus or well-established extraordinarius with fair prospect of a successful career, the American university salary will offer no possible attraction; and the reason is not far to seek. It may lie partly, to be sure, in the natural disinclination to expatriation so notably characteristic of the German official as well as military and aristocratic class, especially in so far as expatriation is supposed to involve retirement from the arena of advanced investigation. This explanation is, however, unnecessary. The German professor is decidedly better off financially than the American; and we shall deceive ourselves if we think the German Gelehrter oblivious to financial considerations, or in any wise disinclined to estimate the value of his services in terms of the worldly mammon.

The German salary will stand the test of a direct comparison of marks and dollars much better than has been generally believed. Salary must, however, be understood in the sense of income, and must, for purposes of comparison, include the various lecture fees, examination fees, both for the civil examinations and doctor examinations, the allowance for rent, and occasional immunity from various taxes, to say nothing of the various travelling stipendia, of the definite prospect of pension, and of the permanency of tenure.

The average salary at Leipzig - i. e., the salary proper in distinction from the other sources of income - of the sixty three regular professors is said to be 5,525 marks, or about $1,300. The average salary of the forty-eight assistant and honorary professors is reported as 2,400 marks.

Heidelberg is poor, and some of its younger men are very poorly paid, but the smallest income of any full professsor is about $1,500. If this seem small it is to be remembered that the average professor's salary in America is scarcely more. Relatively few colleges pay over $2,600-$2,200. On the basis of the bare figures alone, the Germans are better off; the advantage of cheaper living and different social requirements is clear gain. The grevious side of the German university cereer is the period of probation; the Privatdocent butters his bread with hopes."