862 



SCIENCE 



[N". S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1015 



brought to bear upon the problem of flood 

 control, and also a great aid to navigation and 

 irrigation, because of tbe better conservation 

 of water in the soil for springs and streams. 



It is a problem with which the individual 

 farmer of an intellectual turn of mind can 

 experiment in a small way, but above all it is 

 one which needs, even demands, the attention 

 of the federal government and many of the 

 agricultural experiment stations. 



J. Russell Smith 



IjNn'ERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 



THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF 

 TECHNOLOGY AND THE STATE 



In an address at the annual banquet of 

 Technology alumni in January, Governor 

 Walsh suggested a closer cooperation between 

 the institute and the state. The result has 

 been, in its successive steps, the appointment 

 of a special committee to consider the matter 

 by Jasper Whiting, president of the alumni 

 association, a conference with the governor in 

 March, an investigation of all the sources of 

 information and a report to the alumni coun- 

 cil on May 25. The latter while it has natur- 

 ally been based on the institute and its 

 resources proves to be so broad in its applica- 

 tions that there is place in the plan for all the 

 institutions of the state that can give advice. 

 " When they are so harnessed to the state's 

 interest," the report reads, " they will consti- 

 tute a great state university geographically 

 diversified, possessing the momentum of valu- 

 able traditions, the strength of long years of 

 experience and moral influence through their 

 great alumni bodies — all this making of them 

 units, which if assimilated by a wise state 

 policy will form a coordinated system of edu- 

 cational facilities, which in its broadest sense 

 is a university." 



First there is recommended legislation which 

 shall increase and regularize the services of 

 members of the faculty of the institute (and 

 other institutions, to be specified in the act) 

 on state boards and commissions, either as 

 members or in an advisory capacity. Such 

 legislation should be applicable to all state 

 commissions which conduct work requiring 



scientific or technical skill or advice. Sug- 

 gestions for direct payment for such services 

 direct to the institution are made, since it is 

 best fitted to apportion such payments between 

 individual service and the use of the labora- 

 tories of the school. 



The second recommendation is that the use 

 of the laboratories and shops of the institute 

 be placed at the service of the state under 

 appropriate conditions which will safeguard 

 the educational purpose of the institute and 

 the administrative needs of the state. No 

 direct charge should be made for the use of 

 these laboratories, but the state should bear 

 the expenses of labor and material plus a 

 fixed sum to be added to cover wear and depre- 

 ciation. Provision should be made for an 

 equitable adjustment of this charge. 



For its third suggestion the committee ad- 

 vises the establishment of a bureau of technical 

 information, which shall without charge fur- 

 nish to the state and the public, advice which 

 may be obtained without substantial expense, 

 either in furnishing ordinary scientific in- 

 formation or indicating the lines of inquiry to 

 be followed. 



The committee recommends the appoint- 

 ment by the governor of a permanent com- 

 mittee on cooperation to carry into effect these 

 recommendations, to study further the needs 

 of the state as to closer cooperation between 

 it and the institute and additional means of 

 making such cooperation efl:ective. Such a 

 committee would also look forward to a sys- 

 tem of cooperation between the state and the 

 various other educational institutions. 



The committee finds that from its inception 

 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was 

 intended to serve the scientific needs of the 

 state and its people. Its charter looks to aid- 

 ing the advancement, development and prac- 

 tical application of science in connection with 

 the arts, agriculture, manufacture and com- 

 merce. In this department of its activities the 

 committee finds momental achievements to the 

 credit of Tech in many different divisions of 

 work. In fact the whole history of the insti- 

 tute shows that the institute has given to the 

 state and that the state has drawn freely from 



