ACADEMY OF SCIENCES] BIOGRAPHY 11 



W. H. Holmes, C. H. Merriam, Gifford Pinchot, and O. H. Tittmann, selected from the Govern- 

 ment bureaus to consider the cost and other features of the plan proposed by the National 

 Academy. The board made a report in harmony with the plan of the academy. It estimated 

 the total expense for the first of the 10 years (including an item of $250,000 for the purchase of 

 three small vessels) at $761,950. It also submitted the draft of a bill to provide for these 

 surveys and memoranda as to their administrative conduct. 



For reasons which it is not necessary here to discuss, even were they known, these recom- 

 mendations were never carried out. 



Doctor Becker was also a member of the committee of the ixational Academy of Sciences 

 appointed in 1915 by President Wilson to consider and report upon the possibdity of controlling 

 the slides in the Panama Canal, which then threatened seriously to interfere with its usefulness, 

 but was unable on account of ill health to visit the canal and participate in its deliberations. 

 He had, however, been over the ground in 1913 in company with Geologist D. F. MacDonald, 

 and rendered important service in the preparation of the final report. 



With all his close attention to details in matters of science, Doctor Becker was by no means 

 oblivious to the duties of citizenship. This appears in his correspondence relative to the 

 Philippines, already referred to, and in numerous letters I find in his files. While not obtrusive 

 in his manner, it would seem that he was by no means diffident. Convinced of the soundness 

 of his own opinion or views on any subject, he did not hesitate to make them known wherever 

 he felt they might be useful. The following letters are of interest and self-explanatory: 



Newbury, N. H., Sept. 26, 1901. 

 My Dear Becker: I thank you for your kind letter of the 21st and the speech you made at New York. 

 Roosevelt's hard task would be easy if all men would give him the wise and reasonable consideration which 

 you express in this speech. 



As for myself, I can only thank you for what you say. Nothing can bring me back to where I stood last 

 June. But I must "fight my course" being chained to the stake. 

 Yours faithfully, 



(Signed) John Hay. 



March 4, 1905. 

 Dear Mr. President: I do not feel able to allow this day to go by without expressing my congratulations 

 on your past administration and cordial good wishes for that which begins to-day. You have justified the 

 predictions which were made by some of your friends, including myself, at the time of Mr. McKinley's death, 

 and have earned the confidence which the nation has lately expressed in you. 



May nature continue to smile upon you and may the country continue to sustain you in raising the standard 

 of national life. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



(Signed) George F. Becker 



Nov. 15, 1912. 



Dear Darwin: has informed me of your illness, bad news which at once recalled the 



details of many pleasant hours I owe to you. 



Illness and suffering sometimes make a body lonely; and that is why I write to say how much I wish I 



could cheer you now as you cheered me when I lay ill at McKinney Hughes house. You have a host of willing 



friends who hope all good things for you and know that you have deserved them. May our wishes be efficacious. 



Pray do not dream of answering this greeting or of asking any one to do so. I sympathize too keenly with 



Lady Darwin and your children to burden them with needless letters. 



Most cordially yours, 



(Signed) G. F. Becker. 



So. Lee, July 16, 1915. 

 Doctor Otis Smith. , 



Dear Doctor Smith: I have read your Greek * B K address with pleasure and I think it ought to ao 

 good. 



There is an argument for public spirit on the part of university men which I have never heard emphasized. 

 Perhaps you might like to use it in some future address. University education is to a large extent gratuitous; 

 for the undergraduates at Harvard or the Johns Hopkins do not pay fees covering more than a fraction of the 

 expenses of their education. Men who seek or use their university training solely for their personal service are 

 almstakers. Only by public service can educated men repay the debt they incur and thus fulfill the designs of 

 the founders. 



Cordially yours, 



(Signed) George F. Becker. 



