January 5, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



ness of education belongs to the states and 

 the people in general. The theory that 

 any department or departments of the 

 government are to serve as universities for 

 • the scientific training of young men is, it 

 seems to me, false. The government may 

 properly give information to the public on 

 ■certain questions and, in this sense, it may 

 be regarded as educational, but these ques- 

 tions arise in connection with definite spe- 

 cial problems which necessarily aiJect the 

 whole country, such as the subject of epi- 

 demic diseases of animals and plants and 

 their prevention, questions concerning the 

 preservation of forests, of irrigation and 

 similar subjects which from their nature 

 .are of immediate national importance. 

 This view, however, is not accepted by 

 many, perhaps a majority of scientific men 

 connected with the government. There is 

 •something in the air of Washington which 

 seems to make it inevitable that those in 

 Ihe government employ should believe that 

 it is the business of the government to 

 undertake or control all scientific work. 

 In some eases this belief has been carried 

 ■so far that attempts of the states or uni- 

 versities to carry on explorations or special 

 investigations have been regarded as an 

 encroachment on the field belonging by 

 Tight to the government, and no sooner has 

 some university or private person sent out 

 a party of explorers than a rival party has 

 been sent out from Washington. There is 

 a, tendency to forget that there are several 

 millions of people in the United States not 

 ■connected with the government and that 

 large sums are furnished by institutions 

 and private individuals for the study of 

 scientific questions which can perfectly well 

 be investigated without supervision from 

 Washington. It has been said that the 

 government has at its disposal more money 

 than any state or institution, and therefore 

 it is better able to do all kinds of scientific 

 Tvork. This conclusion does not neces- 



sarily follow from the premises, for the 

 questions arise : Is the money voted by 

 Congress as likely to be spent as econom- 

 ically as the amounts available in institu- 

 tions not under government control, and, 

 in general, is the concentration of scien- 

 tific work under the government as advan- 

 tageous for the development of science in 

 this country as a proper distribution of the ' 

 work among a number of independent in- 

 stitutions? Outside Washington there is 

 a belief that, in accomplishing scientific 

 work, a given amount appropriated by a 

 university or other endowed institution 

 will go farther than the same amount ob- 

 tained by vote of Congress. In its fiscal 

 arrangements the government treats the 

 appropriations for scientific purposes as a 

 part of a general budget, and the annual 

 appropriations which become available in 

 July lapse unless spent before the follow- 

 ing July. Suppose then it is estimated 

 that a given scientific investigation will 

 require a certain amount of money. If 

 that amount is voted it must be spent be- 

 fore the end of the fiscal year, and there is 

 no doubt that it will be spent in some way 

 or other. But, unfortunately, scientific 

 investigations usually require a good deal 

 of time and often very much more time 

 than was anticipated. As a result, there 

 must be additional grants, and to obtain 

 them there is a great temptation to show 

 that something has- been done by printing 

 reports of unfinished work. Outside the 

 government departments grants made for 

 a special investigation do not lapse at the 

 end of the fiscal year and such investiga- 

 tions can, therefore, be planned more intel- 

 ligently and carried out at a less expendi- 

 ture of money. Also, in the matter of 

 printing, the expense under the govern- 

 ment is very great, owing to the large edi- 

 tions which are necessary. In the case of 

 the better scientific works with numerous 

 plates the great size of the edition, which 



