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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 633 



faculty, no group of men will come to any agree- 

 ment upon such a scale. 



Most men are so constituted that their opinion 

 of the qualifications of others depends largely 

 upon their personal likes and dislilces (I know 

 that 1 am personally very strongly influenced by 

 such considerations), others are so constituted 

 that they yield to persistent pressure on the part 

 of one who is working for an increase of salary, 

 and still others may be influenced by the cliques 

 which are always formed in a faculty for the 

 purpose of boosting their members. Hence, when- 

 ever a man receives a higher salary than others 

 whom the general consensus of opinion would 

 rank in the same class, there are apt to be 

 charges of favoritism or ' pull.' In this way, the 

 influence of the president who has the fixing of 

 salaries is bound to be greatly weakened. * * * 



Again, assuming that a man of absolutely im- 

 partial mind and of wide information could be 

 given the authority to fix salaries, there is no 

 general agreement as to the grounds upon which 

 distinctions should be based. One man is an ex- 

 cellent teacher and exerts a great influence upon 

 the lives of his students; another is a great in- 

 vestigator and does not know the names of his 

 students. Which should receive the greater 

 salary? Most men are neither great teachers nor 

 great investigators, but one excels in some par- 

 ticular and another in something else. How shall 

 we say which is entitled to the greater salary? 



I am aware that absolute uniformity is im- 

 possible, even if it were desirable. Certain de- 

 partments are compelled to pay more for men of 

 equal ability and preparation than other depart- 

 ments. At any one time, there are living in the 

 world only a few first-class men in any pro- 

 fession and a university which is able to afford 

 the luxury of such a man should be compelled 

 to pay for it. However, the total number of 

 such men in the world is not large enough to 

 make it necessary to take them into consideration 

 in deciding upon the general policy of a univer- 

 sity. So I believe that university salaries should, 

 as far as possible, be fixed upon an arbitrary 

 basis, taking into consideration the rank and 

 time of service of the men, and that departures 

 from this fixed scale should be made only for 

 weighty reasons, reasons which would be recog- 

 nized by the faculty as a whole. 



13. 

 I may now say very briefly that I think uni- 

 versity teachers of the same title should not re- 

 ceive the same remuneration. With such a plan 



I believe we would have too serious an inter- 

 ference with the great law of supply and de- 

 mand. In our academic guild there are already 

 too many impediments to the free working of the 

 law of the ' struggle for existence and the sur- 

 vival of the fittest.' The principle of the ' re- 

 demption of the unfit,' which our too pious 

 altruistic brethren are introducing as a counter 

 law to the law of evolution, is being overworked 

 in these times. 



Everywhere in life, a man should be paid what 

 he is worth. I know that many of my colleagues 

 say that this would introduce commercialism into 

 university life. It is often said that university 

 men can not do their best work if they have to be 

 continually thinking about their salaries. This 

 is in one sense profoundly true, but I believe that 

 it is often the argument under which idlers take 

 refuge. 



14. 



Fundamentally, a sharp distinction must be 

 recognized between the academic and the adminis- 

 trative requirements of the institution. This 

 underlies the question at issue. The university 

 is required to exist in a commercial world, and 

 meet financial conditions on a commercial basis, 

 while, at the same time, it must meet its obliga- 

 tions to the ideals for which it stands. The uni- 

 versity thus is forced to maintain its standards 

 at variant costs, and direct its progress by pay- 

 ing prices that it does not itself control, when 

 they are disproportionate to the true academic 

 returns. This is because of the outside standards 

 of value, which do not accord with the necessary 

 ones within. The discrepancy holds true for 

 every item of expenditure, and among the other 

 items are included the salaries. 



There then arise two classes of considerations 

 for which salaries are paid. One is that for serv- 

 ices which perhaps have little or no commercial 

 value, rendered by persons who are thoroughly 

 dependent upon college interests and college 

 standards. The other is for services purposely 

 attracted away from commercial competition by 

 liberal payment. Tlie two classes, or purposes, 

 are separate and must be regarded separately; for 

 they are made necessary by different causes, they 

 administer to different needs, and they bring 

 about difi'erent results. One is strictly academic, 

 and the other is thoroughly commercial; and each 

 is a factor in practically every salary. 



The true academic purpose is steady, con- 

 tinuous, uninfluenced directly by commercial con- 

 siderations, and ultimately is desirable. Such 

 services are easy to grade. Salary in that case 



