or of a church until he has been something else
for several years and knows something of life." There is a very real
demand for any one, man or woman, who ventures to deal with the
spiritual life that he or she shall have more than youth can give of
sympathy and understanding. There is need also for larger experience
and greater breadth of view in professional social work of all sorts,
more than the young man or woman can give who has had college, plus
"School for Social Work," and nothing else; but who, because
"trained," feels expert. There could not be a greater social mistake
than is made by schools which attempt to train for child-care, family
visiting, rehabilitation of the dependent, aid to the "down-and-out,"
succor to the tempted and help to the weak, and yet deny the
opportunities of their classes to men and women over thirty-five. The
giving of "auditors' privileges," or "special courses for volunteers,"
or like makeshifts for regular student privileges is not what is
required; for such provisions carry with them the idea of less than
professional standing and usefulness. The initiation and maintenance
and increase of schools of training for social work is one of the
great educational and social achievements of the past quarter-century,
but the age-limit for entrance in many such schools is a huge mistake.
The very essence of true social service to individuals is experience
in life. The girl or boy who has had none or little may make a good
technician in many departments and may make a fine showing in work
that is not personal, and may collect material or knowledge about
groups of persons who need help. But the man or woman who is able to
be of great value as a "social doctor" is not only born to such
service but also is one who has not begun a specialty of social
technic too young to have learned something of the difficulty of
living. Young students? Yes. But many more who have come later in life
to a sense of their social responsibility and to a desire to learn how
best to serve society with all that they have gained in rich
experience. The psychology of social training must envisage a wider
range of years to be most effective.

=Prepare Vocationally for Old-age Needs.=--The third demand, that
every man and woman in early youth or in later youth shall be trained
in some light and agreeable occupation that can be pursued, perhaps to
economic return, in the days when strenuous labor can no longer be
carried