Page:The Wisconsin idea (IA cu31924032449252).pdf/51

 When Sumner was in his prime and the eastern colleges were dominated by his great mental strength and the clearness and force of his lectures and writings, a student left Columbia university and went to Germany to study under Carl Knies and Wagner; there he absorbed the inspiration of New Germany. He saw an empire being fashioned by men regarded in his own country as merely theorists; he realized that these Germans were more than mere theorists; that they studied the problem of human welfare; that they were laying the foundations for a great insurance system; that they foresaw the commercial prosperity of the country built upon the happiness, education and well-being of the human units of the empire; that order, intelligence, care and thought could be exercised by the state. Imbued with inspiration by these great teachers, this young man returned to America. He walked the streets to obtain employment as a teacher, and after nearly starving, was engaged by a kind Jew as tutor to his children. Finally, after many vicissitudes, he became an instructor at Johns Hopkins university. Gradually the country began to understand that a new teacher had appeared in America. Books on economics were issued which actually seemed to deny the old "wages fund" doctrine and the theories of value which were promised by the economist in England and in this country. In fact, many thought that what he wrote was not