EDITORIAL. 5 



ratus or equipment and with station funds, are the sole and exclusive 

 property of the station." On the other hand, officers severing their 

 connection with a station and leaving behind unpublished work 

 should be assured of full credit when the work is published by the 

 station. 



The lack of care in the citation of references in American scientific 

 publications was deplored, as was competition in the same lines of 

 work, resulting in many cases in '' bidding " for men and unnecessary 

 and wasteful duplication. AA^iile duplication of work within rea- 

 sonable limits was held to be commendable, cases were cited which, 

 in the speaker's opinion, could scarcely be called duplication, but 

 rather " a deliberate attempt on the part of one station to enjoy the 

 benefits of the ingenuity of another." 



President Waters favored " the utmost freedom and frankness 

 between station officials, not only within the institution but between 

 the officials of different institutions. There should be no occasion for 

 an investigator withholding from his colleague in another station 

 information regarding what he is doing, what his plans for the future 

 are, and what results he thus far has attained," but this information 

 should be considered strictly confidential and under no circumstances 

 be made improper use of. 



In the speaker's opinion, too large salaries are now being paid for 

 young men fresh from college, and there is too much shifting from 

 one institution to another. This is a matter to which speakers in other 

 sessions of the convention called attention. As a remedy for the 

 present indiscriminate and reprehensible " bidding " for men to 

 recruit the station force, the fixing of " a maximum beginning salary 

 and a somewhat uniform maximum rate of promotion " was recom- 

 mended. 



In discussing the ethics of station work as between the institution 

 and the individual, Director R. W. Thatcher maintained that, while 

 " the very atmosphere of these research stations ought to be con- 

 ducive to high moral standards, and the principles of common 

 honesty and of fair play ought to find here their highest exemplifica- 

 tion," there still exists a disposition in some cases to adopt different 

 standards for official and private conduct. 



Considering the " institution " as the employer and the " indi- 

 vidual " as the employee, the speaker proceeded on the assumption 

 that the institution " has the right to create a position, to define its 

 duties and limitations, and to offer a salary or stipend for the work." 

 On the other hand, " it is obviously the right of the individual to 

 have a clear, thorough, and comprehensive statement of the duties 

 and the limitations of the position before he accepts it." Failure of 

 executives of experiment stations to supply this definite information 



