XLII PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 
lic? JI do not think so. On the other hand the things that are 
purely commercial may generally be left to themselves. 
But if the Government is to doscientific work it should have the 
aid of men of science. We all know the tendency of public offi- 
cials to fall into habits of routine, and to spin out their work to an 
almost interminable length. There should be, therefore, a body of 
men who can criticise kindly, but boldly and justly, the labors of 
officials, and make them perform their duties as they ought. This, 
I think, should be one of the functions of the National Academy 
of Sciences. But to make this advice influential the Government 
must recognize the scientific men of the country, and give them 
some regular channel of communication through which their opin- 
ions can be made known to the public and to the executive author- 
ities. Thus far in the history of our Government the scientific man 
has generally been regarded as an expert who is to be carefully 
watched, lest he get the better of the officials who are set over him, 
and who sometimes undertake to manage affairs of which they have 
but little knowledge. The jealousy thus engendered is unfortunate. 
The man of science should be treated just as other men are treated, 
and there should be no grumbling at paying him a fair recompense 
for his labor. Our national military and naval academies are costly 
institutions, and fortunate is the young man who has a Congressman 
for an uncle or a cousin; but I have never heard a word from any 
scientific man against the cost of these establishments. So far as I 
know, their universal sentiment is, let us have the best of instruc- 
tion in military and naval science, for this is the cheapest. Our 
public buildings cost vast sums of money, but there is no objec- 
tion to such expenditures if the buildings are well and solidly 
constructed, since here, also, the best is the cheapest. On the 
other hand, is there not something very absurd in the manner 
the politician looks on the small expenditures for science, and 
the lavish ones that are voted for other purposes? Let us take a 
single case. A public vessel is “repaired,” to use an adopted 
euphemism, at one of our navy yards, and the cost of the repairs 
amounts to a million of dollars, or more than double the original 
cost of the ship. There is some astonishment at this, but we are 
told in a confident manner that the ship is greatly improved in 
strength and speed. The trial comes off, and while the ship is going 
along at her utmost speed, with the velocity of nine miles an hour, 
the engine breaks down. Here is a serious collapse, since before 
