Decembee 20, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



847 



individual trustees chosen not for any edu- 

 cational qualification, but solely because 

 they are men of wealth and influence; 

 presidents chosen through personal or po- 

 litical favoritism, whose ideas of education 

 are those of the middle ages, and whose 

 methods of government are those of the 

 tyrant. It would find the conditions men- 

 tioned by President Benton, of the Univer- 

 sity of Vermont, in his inaugural address, 

 1911, the election of new members of the 

 faculty dependent entirely on the dictum of 

 the president, "the administrative office a 

 veritable cesspool where unpleasant experi- 

 ences are deposited," "a coterie of pro- 

 fessors painfully sycophantic in the pres- 

 ence of their lord and master and bitterly 

 denunciatory of him when left to them- 

 selves," "reprehensible hypocrisy by those 

 who teach," etc. President Benton seems 

 to be unaware of the fact that the syco- 

 phancy and hypocrisy which he thus be- 

 wails are the inevitable results of govern- 

 ment by an ignorant despot, and that they 

 can be done away with only by a radical 

 change in the system of government. I do 

 not wish to be understood as believing that 

 the conditions thus described are universal. 

 There are many institutions in which there 

 is no autocratic government, and in which 

 the government approaches in some re- 

 spect to democratic ideals, where free 

 speech is possible, where merit is recognized 

 and rewarded, and where the teaching 

 methods are constantly being improved. 

 Here and there we find evidences of at- 

 tempts to find the best methods, and of new 

 experiments in education whose results are 

 very promising, for example, Professor 

 Franklin's improvement at Lehigh in the 

 method of teaching laboratory physics, the 

 examination of the English teaching in dif- 

 ferent technical schools by Professor Earle 

 of Tufts College, the introduction of the 



preceptorial system at Princeton, Professor 

 Schneider's cooperative system in Cincin- 

 nati, the university extension work at Wis- 

 consin, the investigation by a committee of 

 the Society of American Bacteriologists of 

 the teaching of microbiology, and Dr. 

 Rumely's experimental preparatory school 

 at Interlaken, Ind. 



Mr. Harrington Emerson has written a 

 book entitled "The Twelve Principles of 

 Efficiency. ' ' He wrote it with especial ref- 

 erence to the efficiency of manufacturing 

 establishments, but the principles may be 

 applied to educational institutions. They 

 are the following: (1) Clearly defined 

 ideals. (2) Common sense. (3) Compe- 

 tent counsel. (4) Discipline. (5) The 

 fair deal. (6) Reliable, immediate and ex- 

 act records. (7) Despatching. (8) Stand- 

 ards and schedules. (9) Standardized 

 conditions. (10) Standardized operations. 

 (11) Written standard practise instruc- 

 tions. (12) Efficiency reward. The in- 

 vestigating committee might use this list 

 of twelve principles of efficiency in its ex- 

 amination of the colleges and find to what 

 extent they are in operation. 



Suppose that the Carnegie Foundation 

 were to have an investigation made such as 

 is here suggested, what good would it do? 

 The same good that Mr. Cooke's investiga- 

 tion of the cost of the student-hour did, 

 and something more. It would call public 

 attention to the subject, and might lead 

 some universities to reform some of their 

 methods. It would reveal how bad things 

 are, which is the first step toward reform. 

 The report would be denounced as Mr. 

 Cooke's has been, by college presidents and 

 by editorial writers of conservative ways 

 of thinking, as utterly subversive of all 

 the ancient educational ideals, and involv- 

 ing ' ' a gross and fundamental error. ' ' But 

 it would set men thinking. It would show 

 them that some universities and colleges 



