76 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



SPEECH OF HONORABLE THOMAS R. MARSHALL 



Vice-President of the United States 



THE VICE-PRESIDENT: Mr. Toast master and Fellow Scien- 

 tists (laughter) : I thank the Toastmaster for his frankness in 

 reading my scientific biography; and yet I think that, perhaps, I 

 am as much a scientist as some men who pretend to know more 

 about science than I do, for I may declare with ( I believe it was) 

 John Stuart Mill, that much of the discussions of life arise over 

 the fact that men do not understand each other's language. 



I think that nothing in the world could be finer than to belong 

 to a body of scientists, and to pretend to be " scientific," because 

 it is such a variable word — it is like our currency, so elastic; it 

 embraces not only what you know, but what you think you know, 

 and what you ought to know. ( Laughter. ) 



And so, almost anybody in America can claim to be a scientist. 



There is, although you may doubt it, gentlemen, a science of 

 government in America that consists in putting the other fellow 

 out and getting in yourself. (Laughter.) 



Among some of the civilized peoples of the world, however, 

 there are certain scientific rules that have much to do with 

 government; but, seriously, I am glad to be present at the 

 Fiftieth Anniversary of the National Academy of Sciences, and 

 I am glad to say that, much as it has accomplished in the past, 

 I believe it can accomplish much more in the future for the 

 Republic. 



Perhaps Mr. Edwin Chadwick (I think the distinguished 

 Ambassador from England will admit) was a great Englishman, 

 and Mr. Chadwick — while I do not quote him accurately — has 

 said that there was hardly any subject about which legislators 

 were willing to legislate where, when investigation was made, 

 it was not found that they were willing to legislate on the wrong 

 side of the question. (Laughter.) 



I think he produced some illustrations of the falsity of the 

 views which are held in political life when the trained men have 



