RANSOME: NATIONAL GEOLOGICAIv SURVEY 93 



proof that the people are yet ready to contribute their taxes to 

 the support of investigations that, so far as they can see, are 

 neither useful nor interesting. 



CHARACTER OF COMPROMISES 



Lest it be supposed that I am advocating the surrender of the 

 high ideals of science to the political business of vote-getting, 

 I hasten to point out that surrender and compromise are not 

 synonymous and may be very far apart. Some compromise there 

 must be, but in my opinion the most delicate and critical problem 

 in the direction of a national scientific bureau is to determine the 

 nature and extent of this compromise so as to obtain the largest 

 and steadiest support of real research with the least sacrifice. 

 Complete surrender to popularity may mean large initial sup- 

 port, but is sure to be followed by deterioration in the spirit of 

 the organization and in the quality of its work, by loss of scien- 

 tific prestige, and by final bankruptcy even in that popular 

 favor which had been so sedulously cultivated. 



The extent to which concessions must be made will depend 

 largely, of course, on the general level of intelligence of the people 

 and upon the degree to which the less intelligent are influenced 

 through the press and other channels by those who are able to 

 appreciate the value of science. The more enlightened the 

 people the more general and permanent will be their support of 

 science. 



IMPORTANCE OF POPUI^AR EDUCATION IN GEOEOGY 



This leads us to the consideration of what I believe to be one 

 of the most important of the functions of a government scientific 

 bureau, namely, education. Of all forms of concession, if indeed 

 it is really a concession, this is the least objectionable and most 

 fruitful. Its results are constructive and cumulative. It is not, 

 like other concessions to popularity, corrosive of the scientific 

 spirit of an organization and in so far as it calls for clear think- 

 ing and attractive presentation on the part of those putting it 

 into practice as well as the ability to grasp and expound essentials, 

 its educational effect may be subjective as well as objective. 

 Whatever may be true of other sciences, geologists in this country 



