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SCIENCE 



[JSr. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1048 



and impartial and objective considerations 

 to come to the front. The very existence of 

 a recognized free forum of discussion with 

 one 's fellows gathered from all parts of the 

 country will make for sanity and steadi- 

 ness quite as much as for courage. 



The fear that a "trade-unionism" of 

 spirit will be cultivated is ungrounded. I 

 have great respect for trade unions and 

 what they accomplish. Many of the ques- 

 tions which have been suggested for con- 

 sideration by this body have their economic 

 aspect. Since economic conditions seriously 

 affect the efficiency and scope of our educa- 

 tional work, such topics are surely legiti- 

 mate ones for inquiry and report. But the 

 term trades unionism has been used to sug- 

 gest a fear that we are likely to subordinate 

 our proper educational activities to selfish 

 and monetary considerations. I have never 

 heard any one suggest such a danger 

 for the American Bar Association or the 

 American Medical Association. Pray, are 

 the aims of college teachers less elevated? 

 Or is it that our position is so much less 

 assured that any organized association must 

 take on such a color ? Are we animated by 

 a narrower or more sordid spirit ? Is there 

 anything in the history of our body which 

 indicates materialism of spirit, or indeed 

 anything but an idealism which lends itself 

 to being imposed upon rather than to prop- 

 aganda in behalf of narrow trade interests ? 

 Ladies and gentlemen, I resent such insinu- 

 ations. I can not believe that we are fallen 

 so low that association for the purpose of 

 careful investigation and discussion of 

 common educational interests can be inter- 

 preted by any right-minded person as a 

 rebellious and mercenary organization. If 

 we have so fallen, something immensely 

 more radical than the formation of this 

 organization is the indicated remedy. 



A word upon the subject of the relation 

 of the association to academic freedom 



may be in place, especially as it has been 

 mistakenly stated in the public prints that 

 this matter is the chief cause of the forma- 

 tion of this organization. I do not know 

 any college teacher who does not believe 

 that cases of infringement may arise. I do 

 not know any who does not hold that such 

 infringement, when it occurs, is an attack 

 i\pon the integrity of our calling. But 

 such cases are too rare to demand or even 

 suggest the formation of an association like 

 this. Existing learned societies are already 

 disposed to deal with eases of infringement 

 as they may come to light, and in my opin- 

 ion it is a matter of detail rather than of 

 principle whether they should be dealt with 

 by such special bodies or by a more inclu- 

 sive body like this. In any case, I am confi- 

 dent that the topic can not be more than an 

 incident of the activities of the association 

 in developing professional standards, stand- 

 ards which will be quite as scrupulous re- 

 garding the obligations imposed by freedom 

 as jealous for the freedom itself. The 

 existence of publicly recognized and en- 

 forced standards would tend almost auto- 

 matically to protect the freedom of the 

 individual and to secure institutions 

 against its abuse. 



In conclusion, let me say that proposing 

 such an association as this is to my mind 

 but proposing to apply to our common call- 

 ing the standards and ideals to which 

 we have been trained, each in his special 

 line of work. In his own branch, each of 

 us recognizes how little he can do by him- 

 self; how dependent his efforts are upon 

 cooperation and reinforcement by the work 

 of a multitude of others. Let us cultivate 

 a like social sense of the wide educational 

 interests we have in common; of our de- 

 pendence upon one another as institutions 

 and as teachers. In his own specialty, 

 each of us recognizes the need of careful 

 study of facts before coming to a conclu- 



