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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 793 



sympathizes. If the pro"vision is a mis- 

 take, no one can be expected to make an 

 effort to prevent its withdrawal or to secure 

 larger financial support to make possible 

 its continuance; but if the provision is a 

 most desirable and important function of 

 the foundation, it should be possible to 

 enlist the interest that has already so gen- 

 erously provided these funds to further 

 support the foundation and render it as 

 comprehensively efficient as was originally 

 intended. Here as everywhere in academic 

 administration, it is most essential that the 

 right reasons be stated for the action taken, 

 so that academic interests and financial 

 questions may not be confused. 



President Jordan distinctly states that it 

 is the financial difficulty that is largely 

 responsible for the withdrawal of the pro- 

 vision. If this is the case, the responsi- 

 bility of anticipating this condition four 

 years ago can hardly be avoided; and it 

 becomes difficult to explain how so recently 

 as two years ago an actual extension of the 

 liberality of the retiring provisions was 

 made. Originally the maximum grant was 

 limited to $3,000, but in 1907 this was ad- 

 vanced to $4,000. Now it appears that 

 this change affects on the age basis only 

 those whose salaries range from $5,300 to 

 $7,200, and on the twenty-five-year basis 

 only those whose salaries range from $6,800 

 to $9,200. It is certainly an unpleasant 

 reflection that almost all those who might 

 be affected by this increased allowance are 

 university presidents, many of them per- 

 haps members of the board that made this 

 decision. Surely if funds were likely to 

 be inadequate, this was hardly the point at 

 which an increased generosity was per- 

 missible. 



It should be added that there is another 

 factor in the situation, which appears in 

 the instructions to the executive committee, 

 which is directed 



to safeguard the interests of the following classes 

 of cases: (a) those who have research work in 

 view and have shown themselves unmistakably- 

 fit to pursue it; (6) those whose twenty- five years 

 of service include service as a college president; 

 and, (c) those in whose mind a definite expecta- 

 tion has been created by ofiicial action that they 

 will be accorded the benefits of the foimdation 

 within the year 1910. 



These instructions appear in President 

 Jordan's letter; and it is at least a slight 

 consolation to be informed through his let- 

 ter that there is no intention to enforce the 

 rule retroactively for the present year. 

 The change in the rules consequent upon 

 these instructions indicates that in spite of 

 the withdrawal of the service allowance the 

 trustees are willing to grant an allowance 

 "to the rare professor whose proved ability 

 to research promises a fruitful contribution 

 to the advancement of knowledge, if he 

 were able to devote his entire time to study 

 or research; and the trustees may also 

 grant [a similar allowance] to the execu- 

 tive head of an institution who has dis- 

 played distinguished ability as a teacher 

 and educational administrator." This cen- 

 sorship by the foundation of the merits of 

 applicants clearly destroys the initial policy 

 of the foundation which gave to the pro- 

 fessor the right of a pension. The pension 

 as a favor, with an emphasis upon that 

 aspect of the academic career least germane 

 to the purposes of the foundation, is a to- 

 tally different matter from the far-reaching 

 and beneficent policy which brought to 

 the foundation its most cordial supporters. 

 It is peculiarly difficult to understand why 

 a policy which for the professor has proved 

 to be a mistake shall yet be reserved as a 

 privilege for the president; while again, it 

 seems peculiarly invidious to insert the 

 adjective "rare" before the "professor" 

 and omit it in case of the "president." 



While I can not agree that the service 

 allowance can within so short an experience 



