April 25, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



623 



mal School at Hays City; the Kansas School 

 for Deaf at Olathe, and the Kansas School for 

 the Blind at Kansas City. Even this list may 

 not be complete, as the branch schools have 

 been scattered generously over the state. The 

 members of the board are to receive a salary 

 of $3,500 each per year for their services. 



All attempt to prevent political prejudices 

 is found in the provisions vehieh require that 

 at least tvco political parties be represented, 

 and that not more than one alumnus from any 

 given institution may sit at the same time, on 

 the board. Furthermore, the members must all 

 be chosen from diiferent congressional dis- 

 tricts. Tenure of oiEce as a member of the 

 board is for four years, the appointments being 

 made in such a way that the board can not be 

 completely changed at any one time, except in 

 ease of disqualification and suspension by the 

 governor. 



The board is given a large hand in the man- 

 agement of the affairs of the institutions, be- 

 ing given power to elect the presidents and 

 treasurers, to appoint all professors, instruc- 

 tors, officers and employees; to fix the salaries 

 which shall be paid, and to make all rules and 

 regulations for rank and promotion of the 

 faculty and employees. Apparently the whole 

 administrative policy of the institutions is 

 placed in their hands, the presidents being 

 merely their executors and advisers. The man- 

 agement of all the property, execution of all 

 trusts, the direction of the expenditure of all 

 appropriations, and the investment of funds 

 received by legacy and otherwise, are also 

 vested in this single board. 



The board, which will have its central office 

 at Topeka, will assume charge on July 1, 

 1913. The commission is required to visit 

 each institution at least monthly, and to make 

 reports from time to time of the needs of the 

 institutions which they control for the state. 



The members of the commission appointed 

 by Governor Hodges are Ex-governor E. W. 

 Hoeh, well known as editor and lecturer; 

 Mrs. Cora 6. Lewis, who has been prominent 

 as an organizer of school employment bureaus, 

 and who is well known for her literary attain- 

 ments; and Edward T. Hackney, of Winfield, 



a graduate of the University of Kansas of 

 1895, and a prominent lawyer. The governor 

 seems to have succeeded admirably in a diffi- 

 cult task. There is general agreement that 

 the board is well fitted for the labors devolv- 

 ing upon it, and the friends of all the institu- 

 tions are looking forward to a larger develop- 

 ment under the new leadership. 11 an op- 

 timistic outlook makes for success in these 

 matters, then the Kansas experiment should 

 justify the high hopes entertained for the 

 future. 



Kansas has been exceedingly unfortunate 

 in separating all of its educational institu- 

 tions, and in pursuing the policy of scattering 

 branch schools over the state for political 

 reasons. It is impossible for the student who 

 desires the advantages of the several schools 

 to enjoy the privileges of all of them at once, 

 as in the majority of states where at least 

 agricultural college and university cooperate 

 in education without duplication of forces 

 and instructional staffs. In Kansas such a 

 form of cooperation has been rendered im- 

 possible from the outset by the establishment 

 of the institutions many miles apart. Wise 

 foresight would have made the present condi- 

 tions impossible. In no case have the agri- 

 cultural colleges or state universities suc- 

 ceeded so well separately as when situated so 

 that active cooperation and conjunction of 

 forces are possible; and it remains to be seen 

 whether the creation of a State Board of 

 Administration of Educational Institutions 

 can remedy a fundamental and irretrievable 

 mistake in educational policy. 



Those who have thus far guided the insti- 

 tutions will cooperate with the new board 

 most heartily, and with singleness of purpose 

 will seek to make the departure in administra- 

 tion successful from its inception. If carried 

 out in the right spirit, this attempt at cor- 

 relating and unifying the educational work of 

 the state may result in very great advantage 

 to all the interests concerned. The results 

 of a somewhat different plan in Iowa have 

 been far from satisfactory to any of the insti- 

 tutions. Of course, it is hoped and believed 



