The relation of the manufacturing company to the technical graduate

Even though in times of business depression it may seem to us as if there were more applicants than positions, yet no thoughtful man denies that, while the number of positions in such times may have greatly decreased, the importance of filling them by thoroughly capable and competent people has correspondingly increased. For example, a position which, in times of exceptional prosperity may be filled fairly well by an average man, will be sorely in need of a man of exceptional ability when business prosperity is on the wane. If there is any one fact more patent than another it is the fact that there is always room at the top of the ladder for men of integrity, of moral courage, and of intellect. There are plenty of men who possess any one of these qualities; there are few who possess all three, and these the manufacturing companies, or the world at large, most require. In their anxiety to secure the raw recruits for officers thus endowed, the manufacturers turn of necessity to the universities and their graduates.