June 12, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



863 



the institute. The state has availed itself of 

 the faculty of technology and of the shops, 

 laboratories and experiment stations and it has 

 furnished problems for the student body. But 

 all of this, the committee believes, has been 

 in an incidental and casual way. There has 

 been cooperation undefined, unguided and 

 fragmentary. It has lacked the stimulus of 

 continuity or organization, the spur of recog- 

 nized state service. " The time has come," 

 writes the committee, " to formulate the union, 

 to make it oiEcial, to the end that the institute 

 may be strengthened, in power and prestige, 

 and that the state may derive in full the 

 benefit at hand." 



PEESEMVATION OF THE NATIONAL MONU- 

 MENTS OF CHINA 



President Henry Fairfield Osborn of the 

 American Museum of Natural History has 

 addressed under date of May 14, 1914, to 

 Secretary of State Bryan and to President 

 Yuan Shih-k'ai of China, the following letters 

 relative to the preservation of the art and his- 

 torical monuments of China. 

 Honorable William J. Bkyan, 



Secretary of State, 

 Washington, D. C. 



Sir: The Chinese race furnishes perhaps the 

 greatest of all records of human society, and its 

 future is closely associated with the destiny of so- 

 ciety in this hemisphere. Our country contains an 

 ever-increasing number of men and women devoted 

 to the hope of China's triumph in modern civili- 

 zation and government, in which ease she will ex- 

 tend her matchless social and human experiment 

 continuous from the remotest times unbroken. In 

 this connection interested persons and institutions 

 in the United States are seeking to establish in 

 China a school of archeology as a means to encour- 

 age protection of the antiquities of China and pro- 

 vide for study there of China's ancient history. 



On account of the ruthless destruction and 

 plunder of antiquities in China since 1900, involv- 

 ing American citizens, the following individuals 

 and organizations represented, having memorial- 

 ized President Yuan Shih-k'ai as shown herewith, 

 have the honor to request your aid in the official 

 transmission of their memorial herewith enclosed, 

 directly to Peking. 



Furthermore, we have the honor to request: 



First, That the Department of State, through its 

 officials in China, use such means as it may deter- 

 mine to discourage all American citizens from van- 

 dalizing in China and from trafficking in broken. 

 and stolen sculptures and other archeological and 

 art works of historical value belonging to the 

 people of China, and to render aid with counsel 

 wherever possible to shield Americans from be- 

 ing involved with plunderers of Chinese antiquities, 

 and in all ways possible assist in preserving the 

 good name of the United States, its citizens, 

 agents and institutions, free from connection with 

 the destruction of Chinese monuments and antiqui- 

 ties and the traffic in stolen and otherwise immor- 

 ally or criminally obtained Chinese objects of an- 

 tiquity. 



Second, That the Department of State, officially, 

 semi-offieially or unofficially, as possible, through 

 its officials in China and elsewhere, discourage the 

 plunder and destruction of Chinese antiquities in 

 times of peace or war in China, whenever opportuni- 

 ties permit, and support and encourage the Chinese 

 officials and people in taking effective means to 

 conserve their antiquities for China's benefit and 

 the benefit of other nations. 



Respectfully submitted, 

 (Signed) Henry Fairfield Osbokn, 



President 

 President Yuan Shih-k'ai. 



Sir: We have learned with profound concern, 

 that through various evils of modern origin, mon- 

 uments and antiquities in China invaluable to pres- 

 ent and future generations of Chinese and to the 

 world, have been irreparably lost and destroyed; 

 that the high material value put by Western civili- 

 zation upon antiquities and products of art show- 

 ing the progress of mankind, has lately resulted in 

 the commercialization, plunder and destruction of 

 antiquities in China beyond the power of ordinary 

 influences to control; furthermore, that such 

 plunder and destruction not only are despoiling 

 China of some of the garments of her ancient civ- 

 ilization, but actually tend to break down Chinese 

 society by depriving the Chinese people of their 

 heritage, besides crippling research and education, 

 and retarding progress; 



Therefore, having a friendly interest in the good 

 of China and the republic, and having in mind the 

 interests of enlightenment of human welfare gen- 

 erally, as well as the responsibilities devolving 

 upon the nations and upon all well-wishers and 

 friends of China, we have the honor herein to 

 memorialize your Excellency and respectfully and 

 earnestly to urge as follows: 



