58 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1281 



It appears to us that the duty-free privilege 

 has, in a measure at least, defeated its own 

 end in depriving the Aimerican manufacturer 

 of means necessary to put the time, thought 

 and experiment into high-grade scientific in- 

 struments which is requisite for real progress, 

 leaving us dependent on foreigners for such 

 investigations and the advancement incident 

 thereto. If a few have apparently been able to 

 make a notable exception of their products, 

 this has been accomplished only by placing on 

 a purely commercial basis an industry which 

 jOUght to be, in fact, must be, for long-con- 

 tinued success based on the firm foundation of 

 scientific research. The impossibility of prop- 

 erly conducting such research has often re- 

 duced us to the status of imitators dependent 

 for our own progress upon investigations con- 

 ducted on the other side of the ocean. 



If it has been imposible, under existing con- 

 ditions, to manufacture or properly develop 

 instruments already known, what can be ex- 

 pected in the way of new instruments to accom- 

 iPlish new purposes. Increasing and expand- 

 ing research calls for new and modified instru- 

 ments and, vice versa, new instruments un- 

 cover new lines of research. In other words, 

 the two go hand in hand. The retarding of 

 one retards the other, and the stimulation of 

 one stimulates and helps the other. 

 I What is true in regard to science in the ab- 

 stract is equally true in regard to men doing 

 scientific work. The development of the 

 manufacture of scientific instruments imder 

 a protective policy will thus react favorably 

 on the educational institutions themselves by 

 building up a demand for their graduates. 

 ■; It is manifestly absurd to endeavor to dis- 

 criminate between a policy beneficial to edu- 

 cational institutions and one desirable for the 

 people as a whole. Our educational system 

 from the kindergarten to the university is our 

 very life blood; we can not promote the insti- 

 tution to the detriment of the people, nor can 

 we favor other interests at the expense of the 

 institution. 



The great bulk of education in our country 

 is supported, as it should be, by taxation. Is it 

 best to contribute to their support by the kind 

 of subsidy that grants them special privileges 



in regard to certain classes of goods, at the 

 same time making them dependent on foreign 

 manufacturers; or by the very slightly in- 

 creased taxation necessary to develop Amer- 

 ican independence in scientific instruments as 

 in other lines of industry ? 



C. H. Ash 

 , Buffalo, N. Y., 



THE DIVISION OF ENGINEERING 

 NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCILi 



The War Organization of the Engineering 

 Division comprised four sections ; a section on 

 metallurgy, a section on mechanical engineer- 

 ing, a section on electrical engineering, and a 

 section on prime movers. The work of each 

 section was under a chairman, who was 

 directly responsible to the chairman of the 

 division. 



The section on metallurgy had for its prin- 

 cipal work the solving of metallurgical prob- 

 lems arising in connection with the conduct of 

 the war, more particidarly those brought to it 

 by the military. This work was accomplished 

 through the mediimi of committees, whose 

 personnel included leading authorities upon 

 metallurgy. 



The section of mechanical engineering es- 

 tablished a drafting room in charge of a chief 

 draftsman at research council headquarters 

 and through the generosity of the Carnegie 

 Institute of Technology a machine shop at 

 Pittsburgh under the direction of a foreman. 

 These were used for the development of in- 

 ventions referred to the section by the physics 

 and engineering divisions. 



The section on electrical engineering con- 

 centrated its efforts upon the problem of elec- 

 tric welding, more particularly electric weld- 

 ing as applied to ship building. This section 

 worked in very close cooperation with the 

 Emergency Fleet Corporation, who financed 

 its investigative work. 



The section on prime movers devoted its at- 

 tention chiefly to the design and development 

 of power plants for aircraft. 



1 Address given at joint session of the National 

 Academy of Sciences with National Research 

 Council, April 30, 1919, Smithsonian Institution, 

 Washington, D. C. 



