14 PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 



of science in this country, of which the future depends, in the 

 first ]>lace, upon the development of its natural resources, which 

 recjuire, alxjve all, a thorouq'h and comprehensive knowledoe C)f 

 science, which should be )jart and ])arcel of the education of 

 every South African." He was referrinq^ particularly to the 

 fact that science was an optional subject for the Matriculation 

 Examination of the University oi the Cape of uood Hope; it 

 was reinstated as a compulsory subject in 1909. 



A pamphlet entitled " The Neglect of Science," which has 

 been widely circulated during the last year, gives a report of a 

 meeting, attended by a hundred and fifty of the most prominent 

 scientific and technical men in Great Britain. The object was 

 to urge upon the Government the necessity of a full recognition 

 of science in schools and ct>lleges and in the examinations ior 

 the Civil Service. Grave blunders, committed at the beginning 

 of the war through the absence of a scientific training on the 

 part of Ministers, were emphasised and. incidentall\-, the reten- 

 tions of Classics as a predominating subject was generall\- con- 

 demned. How engineers and manufacturers view this contro- 

 versial subject mav be gathered from the following remarks of 

 a writer in the technical i)ress when referring to after-war 

 problems : — 



Reforms cutting <k-e]) into all [la.sl luliefs and ijrfjudicc^ will be 

 necessai'i'. Kdiication must be wider and be in closer touch with the actu- 

 alities of life. Xo longer must the phrase " a liberal education ' imply a 

 familiarity with dead languages and ;in ignorance of living ones, an ai)ility 

 to quote classic authors and an ignorance of the rudiments of science, a 

 familiarity with manners and etiquette and an ignorance of the ways in 

 which the masses toil and earn their daily bread. Older methods of 

 training must he discarded. The acquisition of knowledge must be a 

 means to an end. and that end increase in industrial eftlciencs'. 



No one would, however, ^'uggest the total discarding or neglect 

 of cultural subjects, which are essential for the development of 

 all that is Ijest in character. 



For a young and sparsely-]>opulated country such as ours, 

 we can scared}- sa)- that the Go\'ernment has neglected the 

 claims of science; the complaint will i)robably be that it has 

 not gone far enough. By 'his research work into animal diseases. 

 Sir :Vrnold Theiler, our President, of 1912, has rendered in- 

 valualjle ser\ ice to the jjastoral interests of this country. Yet a 

 few months ago he found it necessary to voice a strong j)lea 

 for an increased stalt of properly paid veterinary surgeons to 

 enable his work to be continued efficiently. Considering the 

 vast amouiu of the interests at stake and the rapid rate at which 

 the pastoral interests are developing in this country, which has 

 great ambitions in the direction of an im})ortant meat export 

 trade, it is surely a short-sighted |)olicy to stint a department 

 such as that of the Director of Veterinary Research, which has 

 saved such enormous sums to the n.ation by the ])re\ention of 

 animal diseases. 



riiir (iovernment. I am afraid, has not alwa\s fnllv realised 



