12 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



income advantageously have been all along so common that 

 their revival in these harder times should not be altogether 

 surprising. It is httle short of amazing, however, to find that 

 many eminent minds outside the Central Empires see no reasons 

 wh}' the Institution may not meet, in the role of research, the 

 needs and deficiencies of other organizations, whose incomes, 

 and presumably, therefore, resources, are in some cases two to 

 four times those of the Institution. Much has been said in 

 previous reports in contradiction of the opinion that the Insti- 

 tution has difficulty in finding capable men and worthy objects 

 for the apphcation of funds in the fields of research. This 

 opinion is httle flattering to thinking men, whether within or 

 without the Institution, since it has no foundation in fact. 

 What was said about this matter after seven years of observation 

 and reflection, in the report for 1912, has been steadily empha- 

 sized by subsequent experience, to wit: 



"That there are the amplest room and the amplest opportunity 

 for research establishments without danger of encroachment on estab- 

 lishments founded for other purposes; that it is not difficult for the 

 Institution to find appropriate ways in which to apply its income; 

 that there are, in fact, in plain sight ten times as many worthy, prac- 

 ticable subjects of research and ten times as many worthy investi- 

 gators as the income of the Institution can advantageously subsidize." 



(2) The other current fallacy referred to arises from the facts 

 that the Institution has a reserve fund, a pension fund, and an 

 insurance fund. Those who take no thought of the morrow do 

 not hesitate to increase the evils of the present by mistaking 

 caution for timidity and by mistaking forethought for incom- 

 petency. Thus it happens that many of our contemporaries 

 think that the existence of these funds is prima-facie evidence of 

 incapacity to make good use of them. Some legislators go so 

 far even as to look upon reserve funds as serving only to rob the 

 present in order to enrich the future, and hence it seems logical 

 to them to tax such accumulations out of existence. Here, again, 

 as in most considerations vital to the Institution, a knowledge of 

 reality is essential to correct the misapprehensions in question; 

 but it is not evident that much progress has been made in the 

 acquirement and in the dissemination of such knowledge since 

 the foundation of the Institution in 1902. 



