EDITORIAL 701 
subscriptions or contributions that may be obtained from this 
country. 
It is expected that the chief support will come from individual 
subscriptions and from university and public libraries, but it may 
be possible to obtain assistance, in the first years of the under- 
taking at least, from other sources. J. P. IppINGs; 
LE... V: -PIRsson; 
Members of the Committee for America. 
Do Strate Surveys Pay? The question has often heen asked, 
and in the coming legislative season probably will be asked many times. 
An answer is usually desired which deals with dollars and cents, but, 
perhaps, a partial answer may be given by noting the sort of requests 
for miscellaneous information which consume a not unimportant por- 
tion of the time of survey officers. 
For illustration, the requests of a single day in the office of one of 
the smaller surveys may be noted. Two came in the morning mail. 
The first was from a professor in one of the smaller colleges, asking 
for twenty copies of a certain pamphlet to use in the class room. The 
second was from a consulting chemist, retained by some eastern cap- 
italist to investigate the advisability of establishing an important 
manufacturing plant in the state. He wished to know the amount, 
quality, and average cost of certain ores which were being mined there, 
and the probability of larger quantities being mined. A third request 
was made in person, by the engineer in charge of locating an impor- 
tant line of railway. He wished a report upon the mineral resources 
of all kinds along the proposed line. <A fourth request came in the 
afternoon mail. It was from a high-school teacher, who wished for a 
certain report to use in teaching. The last request was from a reporter, 
sent to secure an interview relative to certain reputed iron deposits 
that the local papers of a certain section of the state were making 
much of. ‘The city editor of a big daily wished to know whether there 
was any iron there. If so, how much. What was its quality, and what 
the chances of securing its development if proper publicity were given 
the matter. He wanted “facts which could be relied on,” and so he 
sent to the survey. 
All these requests were attended to in detail, and the tired official 
wondered when he was to get time to write, revise, and print the 
report on the year’s field work. EE b, 
