﻿86 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  THE 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  4 
  

  

  essentially 
  autocratic, 
  and 
  their 
  success 
  can 
  be 
  taken 
  as 
  evidence 
  that 
  

   a 
  wise 
  and 
  benevolent 
  autocracy 
  is 
  a 
  better 
  instrument 
  to 
  advance 
  

   knowledge 
  than 
  a 
  democracy. 
  Indeed, 
  this 
  form 
  of 
  administering 
  

   research 
  finds 
  a 
  close 
  parallel 
  in 
  the 
  government 
  of 
  our 
  universities. 
  

   It 
  appears, 
  therefore, 
  that 
  the 
  centralization 
  of 
  authority 
  in 
  learned 
  

   institutions, 
  be 
  they 
  educational 
  or 
  investigative, 
  is 
  following 
  a 
  natural 
  

   law 
  of 
  evolution 
  and 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  arbitrarily 
  superimposed 
  on 
  science, 
  

   as 
  some 
  believe. 
  Moreover, 
  it 
  is 
  but 
  one 
  manifestation 
  of 
  the 
  very 
  

   general 
  national 
  tendency 
  toward 
  autocratic 
  administration 
  of 
  both 
  

   public 
  and 
  private 
  affairs. 
  

  

  As 
  institutional 
  research 
  is 
  the 
  very 
  keynote 
  of 
  modern 
  science 
  

   and 
  dominates 
  Federal 
  inquiry, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  well 
  to 
  scrutinize 
  its 
  methods 
  

   and 
  to 
  consider 
  its 
  merits 
  and 
  demerits. 
  Research 
  institutions 
  differ 
  

   greatly 
  in 
  their 
  scope 
  and 
  objectives, 
  but 
  the 
  advance 
  of 
  some 
  branch 
  

   of 
  science 
  is 
  the 
  common 
  aim 
  of 
  all. 
  Their 
  chief 
  differences 
  lie 
  in 
  the 
  

   field 
  of 
  investigation 
  chosen, 
  and 
  this 
  is 
  determined 
  principally 
  by 
  the 
  

   terms 
  of 
  their 
  financial 
  support. 
  A 
  few 
  institutions 
  are 
  entirely 
  un- 
  

   trammeled 
  in 
  the 
  selection 
  of 
  problems, 
  but 
  the 
  great 
  majority 
  must 
  

   give 
  preference 
  to 
  this 
  or 
  that 
  phase 
  of 
  science. 
  The 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  

   Federal 
  bureaus 
  is 
  very 
  definitely 
  controlled 
  by 
  law, 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  

   are 
  compelled 
  to 
  give 
  first 
  heed 
  to 
  industrial 
  problems. 
  There 
  are 
  

   also 
  private 
  endowments, 
  like 
  those 
  made 
  for 
  medical 
  research, 
  whose 
  

   principal 
  purpose 
  is 
  to 
  investigate 
  problems 
  of 
  public 
  welfare. 
  Much 
  

   of 
  the 
  investigation 
  of 
  industrial 
  problems 
  is 
  conducted 
  under 
  private 
  

   auspices. 
  This 
  work 
  includes 
  that 
  done 
  by 
  institutions 
  whose 
  pur- 
  

   pose 
  is 
  to 
  advance 
  the 
  common 
  interests 
  of 
  certain 
  industries, 
  but 
  

   much 
  the 
  larger 
  part 
  of 
  it 
  is 
  done 
  to 
  gain 
  information 
  that 
  will 
  be 
  of 
  

   direct 
  profit 
  to 
  those 
  who 
  are 
  furnishing 
  the 
  financial 
  support. 
  In 
  

   an 
  attempt 
  to 
  classify 
  research 
  institutions, 
  two 
  groups 
  can 
  be 
  recog- 
  

   nized. 
  One 
  group 
  will 
  include 
  all 
  institutions 
  whose 
  investigators 
  

   are 
  made 
  directly 
  for 
  the 
  public 
  benefit; 
  the 
  other 
  will 
  include 
  those 
  

   whose 
  investigations 
  are 
  made 
  for 
  private 
  profit. 
  Some 
  measure 
  of 
  

   the 
  public 
  appreciation 
  of 
  science 
  could 
  be 
  had 
  if 
  the 
  ratio 
  were 
  known 
  

   between 
  the 
  expenditures 
  made 
  for 
  these 
  two 
  classes 
  of 
  investigations. 
  

   I 
  venture 
  the 
  opinion 
  that 
  the 
  annual 
  disbursements 
  for 
  commercial 
  

   research 
  far 
  exceed 
  those 
  for 
  public 
  research. 
  

  

  Nearly 
  all 
  research 
  is 
  supported 
  by 
  trust 
  funds, 
  and 
  this 
  fact 
  had 
  

   led 
  both 
  public 
  and 
  private 
  institutions 
  to 
  establish 
  very 
  definite 
  regula- 
  

   tions 
  controlling 
  expenditures. 
  There 
  are, 
  indeed, 
  some 
  who 
  appear 
  

   to 
  hold 
  that 
  the 
  scientific 
  ideals 
  of 
  an 
  investigator 
  are 
  lowered 
  if 
  he 
  

  

  