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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. G95 



letter of Marcii 21, the answer to which has 

 been delayed by an unusual pressure of work. 

 As you state in your letter, our rule relative 

 to the widow of a professor does not now 

 deiinitely assure her of a pension. The ex- 

 ecutive committee has, however, voted to 

 recommend to the trustees that this rule be 

 amended by changing the word " may " to 

 " shall." I have no question that this action 

 will be taken. 



I regret that it seems to you that the Car- 

 negie Foundation does not assist the indi- 

 vidual professor, but adds to the income of 

 universities. I do not think this view justi- 

 fied, nor is it one which the foundation seeks 

 to promote. "We are just issuing a bulletin 

 giving the financial status of the American 

 professor and making clear the fact that it is 

 the effort of this agency not only to bring to 

 the teacher's profession a greater security, but, 

 so far as it can, to assist in giving a more 

 adequate salary. I believe that this will be 

 its effect. 



The provision for permitting a retiring 

 allowance to be gained upon length of service 

 seems also to us to add much to the value of 

 the retiring allowance system. Under this 

 provision a professor may, at the end of 

 twenty-five years, retire on a stated proportion 

 of his salary, the proportion increasing with 

 each year of service. It is not likely that 

 many professors will avail themselves of this 

 provision. The man whose heart is in his 

 teaching will not wish to give it up until a 

 much later period. There are, however, teach- 

 ers to whom this provision will be specially 

 attractive, and that is to those who desire to 

 spend the remainder of their active lives in 

 scholarly research or literary work rather than 

 in teaching. I can imagine no better thing 

 for an institution of learning than to have 

 about it a group of men who are engaged in 

 active research and who are not burdened 

 with the load of teaching which falls to most 

 American teachers. In this way the retiring 

 allowance will contribute directly to research. 

 A retiring allowance system, to be effective 

 in the case of a profession like that of teach- 

 ing, ought to do at least three things: (1) 



furnish a temporary salary in case of illness; 

 (2) guarantee a fair proportion of the active 

 pay as a retiring «alary upon the completion 

 of a certain service or upon arriving at a 

 certain age; (3) guarantee a pension to the 

 widow of a professor who has himself earned 

 a retiring allowance. The system of retiring 

 allowances established by the Carnegie Foun- 

 dation does all these things and I can not but 

 believe that to give this security to the teach- 

 er's calling will add to its dignity and attract 

 to it good men. Furthermore, I am sure that 

 these results will be brought about without a 

 diminution of salaries which could otherwise 

 be obtained. Yours sincerely, 



Henry S. Pritchett 

 Professor J. McKeen Cattell, 

 Garrison-on-Hudson, 

 New York 



Columbia University 

 division of 

 philosophy, psychology and anthropology 

 Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y., 

 April 17, 1908 

 President Henry S. Pritchett, LL.D., 

 The Carnegie Foundation for the Advance- 

 ment of Teaching, New York City 

 Dear Dr. Pritchett: 



I learn with much pleasure of the action 

 of the executive committee of the Carnegie 

 Foundation in recommending that the pen- 

 sions of widows shall hereafter be a matter 

 of right and not of charity, and I am 

 gratified if my letter had something to do 

 with this. I trust that it wiU be followed 

 by a similar provision in the case of dis- 

 ability. You say in your letter that the 

 foundation furnishes a temporary salary in 

 case of illness. This, however, is not as yet a 

 matter of right and contract, but of favor; 

 and, as it now stands, the dangers appear to 

 more than counterbalance the advantage to 

 certain individuals. We need especially in- 

 surance against disability, as this is not pro- 

 vided, as are life insurance and annuities, by 

 commercial enterprise. It is of course his 

 wife and children, not himself, which make 

 disability such a serious matter to the pro- 

 fessor. His capital is his ability and his 



