6o6 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



and the unfortunate worker is the loser. Such action is very 

 common ; unpaid Government committees are now becoming 

 the rule, and even reimbursement of travelling expenses is often 

 boggled at. We heard the other day of a man who was actually 

 found fault with for not attending a committee of this nature for 

 which he was not paid. In other words, the State exploits the 

 man of science on account of his enthusiasm for his work and 

 his patriotism. The thing might be excused if the State were 

 to give large funds for scientific work, but as it does not do so 

 such action is extraordinary in its meanness and impropriety. 



Many similar points may be cited. The Board of Education 

 expends annually an enormous sum, amounting to nearly twenty 

 millions a year, on low-class education ; but what does it do for 

 the greatest of educators — science, literature, art, drama, explora- 

 tion, discovery, invention ? As was pointed out in the last issue 

 of Science Progress, the Patent Acts do not cover those whom 

 they should most carefully protect, namely the men upon whose 

 investigations nearly all inventions are founded. Quite recently 

 the House of Commons has given itself payment amounting to 

 over a quarter of a million pounds a year. Perhaps this is quite 

 right; but may we not ask whether a small fraction of the money, 

 properly devoted to scientific investigation in many lines, would 

 not be of much greater benefit to the people than are the wrang- 

 lings of party politicians over questions which will never be 

 honestly decided because they are never honestly considered ? 

 Still more recently the State has given, very wisely, £57,000 

 a year out of the Insurance Fund for medical researches. It was 

 suggested at the committee which organised the management 

 of this expenditure that a large prize should be available out of 

 the fund for important discoveries ; but the money actually 

 offered has now been reduced to a maximum of £1,000. In other 

 words, if a private medical man were to discover the means of 

 prevention or cure of tuberculosis or cancer — which he would 

 not be likely to do without spending years of study over the 

 theme, and probably losing his practice in consequence of his 

 work — his only reward would be £1,000! The discoverer will 

 not be paid ; and yet the country hopes to have discoveries 

 achieved ! And this brings us to what is really the crowning 

 defect of the national attitude towards high effort of such kinds, 

 namely that it makes no attempt whatever to pay for any benefits, 

 however great, which it receives from individuals. A successful 



