Februaky 15, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



245 



saving to the university treasury, and they 

 can not command the general approval of 

 the university public. When certain men 

 stand out so prominently as to deserve to 

 be recognized by the authorities by a larger 

 reward than their associates, the university 

 community generally recognizes the fact, 

 but the reasons for such recognition should 

 be such as to be clearly recognized. Where, 

 however, such is not the case, then equal 

 pay to equal rank is the safer and fairer 

 basis. The practical working out of the 

 salary problem to my mind shotild be on 

 some such lines as the following: 



Each grade or title should have a mini- 

 mum salary pertaining to it. This salary 

 should be large enough to insure comfort- 

 able living with due regard for the reason- 

 able demands of cultured taste. Much 

 discontent arises because the minimum sal- 

 ary of the various grades is often so low 

 that men can not live as the requirements 

 of their profession and social status de- 

 mand. This inadequate minimum compels 

 the authorities to make advances of salary 

 to meet personal necessities, which are not 

 always justifiable on the grounds of rela- 

 tively greater service rendered. Appoint- 

 ments to the lower ranks should be proba- 

 tionary and the university should be con- 

 sidered perfectly free to terminate such 

 positions, to continue them, or to promote 

 to a higher grade in due time. Within each 

 grade certain allowances of increase in pay 

 should be made for length of satisfactory 

 service. Above these minimum salaries 

 there should be the power to advance the 

 salary of any man when it is clearly for 

 the interest of the efficiency of university 

 work to do so. Generally speaking, the 

 maximum salary of one grade should be 

 less than the minimum of the grade above, 

 though even here it is imaginable that a 

 departure occasionally from this rule might 

 become a justifiable exception. In each 

 grade the authorities should have the op- 



tion of leaving a particular teacher undis- 

 turbed at the minimum of his grade and 

 time of service, or of advancing him in 

 recognition of extraordinary ability or un- 

 usually-valuable service. They must also 

 have the option of promoting or of passing 

 by any individual, according to his deserts 

 or the university's needs. In the lower 

 grades, below that of professor, while the 

 deserving character of a member must be 

 considered, it must also be kept in mind 

 that the scope of the university work and 

 the financial limits of the university may 

 prohibit promotions even when fairly de- 

 served. Even very good men must often 

 look abroad for their promotions. In the 

 higher grades it is assumed that perma- 

 nency of position is reasonably assured, 

 and this should guarantee the minimum 

 salary of the grade and time of service 

 without any presumption of further in- 

 crease unless fairly won by unusual dis- 

 tinction and recognition; but the univer- 

 sity should then be free to recognize such 

 service freely, both for the encouragement 

 of scholarly ambition and to be able to re- 

 tain its strongest men. 



Briefly summarized, we may say that the 

 maximum efficiency of the university work 

 and a minimum of administrative difficulty 

 resulting from inequalities in pay in the 

 same grade, will be attained by a minimum 

 or normal salary for each grade large 

 enough so that men of reasonable desires 

 may live and do their work and maintain 

 their families without worry and discom- 

 fort; by reasonable increases dependent 

 upon length of efficient service, and with 

 freedom to recognize unusual ability or 

 distinguished service as the requirements 

 of the case may demand. Such recogni- 

 tion, however, should be made for reasons, 

 the reasonableness of which should appeal 

 to the university faculty generally. 



Upon the assignment of this topic to 

 Stanford University, President Jordan is- 



