554 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



either in salary payment or in honor. As a matter of fact, both the 

 salaries and the honors go to this very "swivel-chair" forester of which 

 Mr. Kneipp complains. Mr. Kneipp himself (p. i6i) very specifically 

 repudiates any other kind of success than that laid down in his "specifi- 

 cations" which describe the activities of the all-around administrative 

 officer. The technical man who cannot meet these specifications "may 

 be able to find some niche which he can satisfactorily fill, but he will 

 not be able to realize his highest ambitions unless he squares with the 

 specifications laid down herein." 



The man who has executive ability or its frequent substitute — skill 

 in handling red tape according to the prescriptions of the hour — gets 

 both the honor and the income, while the man who is able to contribute 

 to silvicultural science may be looked upon tolerantly as a semi-failure. 

 There is also a large class of field activities, such as timber-survey 

 work, whose proper performance requires skill of the highest order. 

 Since this skill is not recognized by adequate promotion in salary, men 

 skilled in these lines cannot afiford to spend a lifetime in the work they 

 can do best, and must leave it because even indifferent performance in 

 administrative work gets higher rewards. I am personally familiar 

 with several misfits due precisely to this situation. I should like, then, 

 to inform Mr. Kneipp and his cobelievers that when excellence in field- 

 work is adequately recognized the "swivel-chair" jobs will not be so 

 much sought after. 



This subject is not without its broader aspects. Mr. Kneipp's policy 

 of keeping employees in a state of "where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly 

 to be wise" is already played out. An especially good example of the 

 failure of this policy is forest industry itself. Failure to make avail- 

 able more liberalized training to more men in this industry, combined 

 with improper social conditions characteristic of the timber-mine policy 

 in forest use. has formed fertile ground for propaganda of the apostles 

 of unrest. These doctrines, which have a basis of truth and might lead 

 to progress if 'properly balanced by liberalized training in science and 

 liberal arts, come dangerously near to overturning the foundations of 

 industry as now organized. 



It is no longer safe to deny liberalized training to any citizen capable 

 of profiting; but to deny employment to trained men is the same as 

 denying training. Forest industry is undoubtedly the most backward 

 of any industry in employment of trained men. Even the Forest Serv- 

 ice seems opposed, if we may judge by Mr. Kneipp's address. Agri- 

 culture is far more appreciative. Demonstration by farm surveys that 

 whereas the average farmer had a labor income of less than $300 per 

 annum, the man with high-school training received about $1,200, and 



