300 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 791 



modified their domestic arrangements, made 

 personal sacrifices, in order that, with the aid 

 of the pension, they might be able to retire 

 and carry through without distraction some 

 project of study or of literary production. 

 Some, expecting an early relief from all 

 teaching duties, have foregone leaves of ab- 

 sence which they might have claimed; some 

 have taught in summer schools or night 

 schools who would not otherwise have done 

 so; some have made investments or taken in- 

 surance with express reference to the time of 

 their prospective retirement. After institu- 

 tions, families and individuals have thus, for 

 nearly four years, been permitted and en- 

 couraged by the Carnegie Foundation to be 

 vitally influenced in the conduct of their af- 

 fairs by an expectation based upon the foun- 

 dation's explicit announcement, the entire 

 system of service pensions is now abruptly 

 abolished, " except in the case of dis- 

 ability unfitting " the applicant " for work as 

 a teacher as shown by medical examination " 

 — which, of course, is purely a disability pen- 

 sion. 



The question whether the scheme of service 

 pensions for professors under sixty-five and in 

 good health was originally a wise one I do not 

 here discuss; it is a question of policy con- 

 cerning which a good deal might be said on 

 either side. But two considerations in the 

 matter seem so plain as to afford no ground 

 for differences of opinion. One is that, unless 

 the Carnegie Foundation is to be guilty of 

 an act of bad faith it should promptly supple- 

 ment its recent action by the proviso that at 

 least all persons within ten years of the time of 

 eligibility for a service pension, under the old 

 rule, may still claim such pension when their 

 time comes around. The other patent fact is 

 that, unless so supplemented, the latest action 

 of the foundation must hereafter render im- 

 possible any confidence in the stability of 

 policy of that corporation. In the federal 

 act of incorporation by which the foun- 

 dation received legal entity two classes of 

 prospective beneficiaries are specifically dis- 

 tinguished and equally emphasized: college 

 teachers " who by reason of long and meritori- 

 ous service or by reason of old age, disability. 



or other sufficient reason " shall be deemed 

 entitled to pensions. The service-pension 

 feature has similarly been especially empha- 

 sized in the public reports and explanations 

 of policy of the president of the foundation. 

 A body which at a moment's notice abandons 

 one of the two purposes constituting its pro- 

 claimed raison d'etre is equally likely to 

 modify the other to any assignable degree. 



I can scarcely suppose that any one will 

 think it relevant to note that the foundation 

 has always retained the power to alter its rules 

 " in such a manner as experience may indi- 

 cate as desirable." All public bodies, doubt- 

 less, have such power to amend their regula- 

 tions; but it is not commonly conceived that 

 the power can justly be exercised in such a 

 way as to have a retroactive effect, or to nul- 

 lify equities acquired or expectations reason- 

 ably aroused by virtue of the previous regu- 

 lations. — Arthur O. Lovejoy in The Nation. 



THE PRINCETON GRADUATE COLLEGE 



Yesterday's decision by the Princeton trus- 

 tees seems to have met the question imme- 

 diately at issue in a way both happy and just. 

 Few details are as yet published, but the main 

 points are clear. Two gifts for the endow- 

 ment of a graduate eoUege had been offered, 

 one apparently conditioned upon a site on or 

 near the campus, the other contemplating a 

 location at a distance from it. There were 

 also questions about the control of the new 

 institution by the academic governing body of 

 the university. Because it was found impos- 

 sible to unite the two foundations, or other- 

 wise to reconcile the differences about admin- 

 istration, the larger gift was withdrawn. 

 While regretting this, and hoping that an 

 adjustment may yet be found, the trustees 

 distinctly uphold President Wilson. He was 

 right, they decide, in insisting upon a proper 

 university control of the proposed graduate 

 college, and upon its being absorbed into the 

 common academic life at Princeton. Yet they 

 distinctly refer to " dissensions " in the fac- 

 ulty and in the governing board which it will 

 be the duty of the trustees to grapple with in 

 the near future. Thus the particular dispute 



