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SCIENCE 



[N. s. Vol. XXV. No. 633 



tunities for study, research, and to the love 

 for his work as a teacher for the rewards 

 of his success rather than to financial re- 

 wards. This is unquestionably true to 

 some extent. Nevertheless, within the 

 limits of salaries at present existing in the 

 universities, the fact remains that univer- 

 sity teachers are appreciative of and de- 

 sirous of such increases in their remunera- 

 tion as lie within the range of present 

 possibilities in any university. Until the 

 range of university salaries is distinctly 

 higher than at present, university teachers 

 will find that the minimum salaries paid in 

 any institution are not so large but that 

 they are compelled to deny themselves and 

 their families many reasonable comforts 

 and luxuries which are greatly desired by 

 all people of similar culture and social 

 status. And so long as this is true, the 

 university must face the necessity of com- 

 peting with the world outside for the serv- 

 ices of thoroughly competent and ambi- 

 tious men in many lines. For the less 

 wealthy universities particularly, the com- 

 petition for the best teachers would under 

 a fixed salary scheme render it impossible 

 for them to hold their strongest men, if 

 to do so they were compelled to pay an 

 equal salary to all holding the same title. 



In consideration of all these factors in 

 the problem, is it not probable that the 

 gain of simplicity of administration and 

 some measure of harmony in the faculty 

 by the system of equal pay to equal rank 

 would be made at too great an expense of 

 efficiency ? 



We must not overlook the fact that if 

 equal pay to equal rank were the rule, dis- 

 criminations would still have to be made 

 in the matter of promotions from one grade 

 to the next. In promotions, not only the 

 pecuniary consideration is concerned, but 

 a piiblic honor is conferred. Precisely the 

 same variety of considerations enters into 

 the qualifications for promotion as into 



salary differences. The same lack of agree- 

 ment as to what relative weight should be 

 given to teaching power, productivity as a 

 scholar, personal influence and character, 

 etc., exists here, and the same possibilities 

 of jealousies, suspicions of favoritism, 

 'wire-pulling' and personal influence. The 

 writer is inclined not to lay great emphasis 

 on the dangers of such influences as neces- 

 sarily incident to either system under dis- 

 cussion. 



Wherever discriminations have to be 

 made into which enter estimates of the 

 relative values of such services, whether 

 by differences in pay within the same grade 

 or by promotion, there is bound to be some 

 dissatisfaction and discontent. A just and 

 wise administration will reduce these evils 

 to a minimum by inspiring the faculty 

 generally with confidence in the fairness 

 and general good judgment with which 

 such discriminations are made. Entirely 

 eliminated, dissatisfaction and discontent 

 can never be. At best they can be con- 

 fined to those members who differ with the 

 constituted authorities as to the relative 

 value of their services, and, perhaps, to 

 their particular friends. Under either sys- 

 tem these administrative difficulties will ' 

 exist and remain the same in character 

 though differing possibly somewhat in de- 

 gree. These difficulties will be lessened to 

 a great extent by avoiding the making of 

 small differences in pay between men of 

 the same rank. For while the reasons may 

 be readily apparent to the university com- 

 munity why a considerably larger salary 

 must be paid to certain individuals, it will 

 be much more difficult to justify small dif- 

 . ferences in salary to men of the same rank. 

 For small differences in general usefulness 

 or value to the university it will be admit- 

 ted are not possible of fair estimation. 

 They are not justified either on theoretical 

 or on economic grounds. They tend toward 

 discontent and irritation without material 



