530 



NATURE 



[October 13, 1923 



endowed with the " political sense." Methods of 

 avoiding it will be considered later ; but here it may 

 be pointed out that an undue insistence on the danger 

 may defeat its purpose. It is fatal to assume at the 

 outset that the body is going to fall into the hands of 

 a clique ; many promising organisations (not neces- 

 sarily in the scientific world) have failed to express the 

 general will merely because a large section of the 

 community, seeing among its original promoters some 

 persons with whom they disagree, have overlooked the 

 presence of others with whom they do agree and have 

 refused to join it. Further, it must be remembered 

 that, if there is not perfect unanimity, the minority is 

 sure to accuse the majority of being dominated by a 

 clique ; it always does. Every political party, for 

 example, when it is really in a minority, always main- 

 tains that the nation is being led astray by some small 

 band of evilly disposed persons. 



Next, if there is a scientific opinion which can be 

 expressed by a representative body, could it be en- 

 forced ? Here any discussion would probably turn 

 on the analogy of bodies representative of other pro- 

 fessions, such as lawyers, teachers, or doctors. The 

 analogy suggests that the outlook is promising, but the 

 differences as well as the resemblances should be noted. 

 Men of science form a much less homogeneous body 

 than any of these three professions ; moreover, the 

 laity is, or was until quite recently, much less firmly 

 convinced of the need for the profession at all. How- 

 ever, this is not the objection usually raised on this 

 score ; it is sometimes suggested that a representative 

 scientific body, though it might exercise great influence, 

 could attain its ends only by means of some coercion 

 on its own members or the outside public, which is 

 intrinsically undesirable. To those who do not believe 

 that all interference with the action of others is 

 illegitimate it may be suggested that " coercion " is a 

 relative term. Most people use the term only when they 

 object to the ends to which the proposed " coercion " 

 is directed ; they seldom shrink from any form of 

 pressure which is unavoidable if ends are to be attained 

 in the justice of which they believe firmly. Objection 

 on this score is usually closely associated with the 

 fear of a dominant and hostile clique. , 



These simple considerations suggest others concern- 

 ing the constitution of a representative body. To-day 

 all will probably agree that its constitution must be 

 " democratic," that its constituents must include all 

 who have any right to be termed scientific workers 

 (and nobody else), and that each constituent must 

 have equal voting power in determining its policy. 

 But that is not enough ; the constituents must be real 

 and active, and must take a constant interest in the 

 body supposed to represent them. This result will 



NO. 2815, VOL. I 12] 



probably not be achieved if all representation is i i 

 direct, and the selection of the council (for some ki: 1 

 of council is clearly necessary) lies in the hand^ ; 

 subsidiary bodies appt^inted by dire 

 indirect election will be all the less sjn 

 subsidiary bodies are selected primarily for s(;i 

 purpose. This point is important, because on( 

 by which a representative body might be est. 

 would be by some kind of federation of exist im- 

 organisations, such as the profe.ssional in 

 While it will probably l)e necessary, «s well as (i 

 that the institutes should be given a constitutional 

 relation to any general representative council, we 

 doubt whether a council based solely on such bodies 

 would remain sufficiently closely in contact with all 

 shades of scientific opinion. A considerable pro- 

 portion of the " franchise " must surely be direct ; 

 and even that part which is indirect should take into 

 account as many and diverse classifications of the 

 scientific community. Even in the initial sta;:r , 

 which lead up to the establishment of the representative 

 body, direct expression of opinion should be encouraged. 

 We think that no steps should be taken until the pro- 

 posals have been fully discussed either at meetings or 

 in the columns of scientific journals. 



But no franchise, however perfectly designed, can 

 secure the continual interest which is the sole guarantee 

 of true representation. The representative body must 

 have some work to do which will affect every con- 

 stituent and make it impossible for any one to remain 

 indifferent. This work need not necessarily concern 

 matters on which there is likely to be general agreement, 

 and on which it is proposed that the body shall make 

 a pronouncement of scientific opinion to the outside 

 world ; indeed, any pronouncement which the body 

 may make with substantial unanimity will have much 

 greater force if it is known that on other matters of 

 internal moment there is no sign of unanimity. The 

 body must not seek to secure an undisturbed atmosphere 

 of philosophic calm ; it must handle controversial 

 issues, because they alone are vitally interestinu. 



Here is the gravest problem ; for if any contro\ersial 

 issue is recognised from the start as within the scope of 

 the body, those who think they will be in a minority 

 on that issue will try to hinder its establishment, and 

 will undoubtedly succeed. We would, therefore, put 

 forward a concrete suggestion. It is that, at the out- 

 set, the body should direct its attention to one problem 

 only, namely, to the establishment of a register of 

 qualified scientific workers. The problem will have 

 to be solved if the body is to be called into existence ; 

 it raises difficult questions on which almost every one 

 has some opinion ; but the controversies that are 

 likely to arise in its discussion will not necessarily be 



