August 12, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



197 



of the professors as over against those of 

 the president, but the duties and responsi- 

 bilities that belong to all in virtue of their 

 membership in the common corporate life 

 of the university. As has been frequently 

 remarked, "liberty" and "equality" are 

 one-sided and inadequate ideas until they 

 are completed by the conception of "fra- 

 ternity." And within this idea of fra- 

 ternity the president, as well as all other 

 members, should be included. He is not 

 to be regarded as an Vehermensch, stand- 

 ing in special relations to the Absolute, or, 

 on the other hand, as lacking in the virtues 

 and loyal feelings of his colleagues. He is 

 a man and a brother on whom great re- 

 sponsibilities rest. But he has received no 

 new baptism which should set him apart 

 from his fellows. The burdens and re- 

 sponsibilities he carries are shared by his 

 colleagues, who gladly yield to him the hon- 

 orable position of Primus inter pares, be- 

 cause he is, to a greater extent than any 

 other member of the faculty, the servant of 

 all, and because they recognize also that in 

 him is embodied and personified the cor- 

 porate authority and dignity of the uni- 

 versity more fully than in the person of 

 any other member. When these relations 

 are realized the strength of the president's 

 position is greatly enhanced and dignified, 

 because it is inclusive and represents the 

 authority of a self-governing faculty. In 

 universities, as in all social organizations, 

 absolute power is the weakest form of au- 

 thority, because it is exclusive and disin- 

 tegrating. In denying the rights of others, 

 it establishes a system of potential war, 

 where there is no law but the will of the 

 strongest. On the other hand, real au- 

 thority only exists in so far as it is shared 

 by others. Its impregnable rock of sup- 

 port is found in the fact that it expresses 

 the will and consent of the governed. 

 These principles are, of course, very old. 



but they never become trite. They seem to 

 furnish the only practical solution of the 

 problem of university government. For 

 they make clear the hopeful line of ad- 

 vance. Faculties must rise to a realization 

 of what is involved in their responsibility 

 for educational affairs. ' ' It devolves upon 

 the faculties," says President Eliot in his 

 book on "University Administration," 

 ". . . to discern, recommend, and carry 

 out the educational policies of the insti- 

 tution. ' ' Let us take our stand upon this, 

 and proceed to act without stopping to 

 debate constitutional questions. Hie Bho- 

 dus, hie salta. By accepting their respon- 

 sibilities, the faculties will regain their 

 rightful authority. "The way to resume 

 is to resume." It is not by any great ex- 

 ternal revolution in the form of university 

 organization that the system is to be 

 changed, but by gradual evolution from 

 within through a movement from which we 

 may hope that ' ' freedom will slowly broad- 

 en down from precedent to precedent." 



If objection be brought to this program 

 on the ground that it is unpractical — an 

 objection that is often mistaken for the 

 voice of an oracle — I would reply that it 

 is only necessary to lift up one 's eyes to see 

 that the program is already in course of 

 fulfilment. The very fact that the subject 

 is being discussed shows that a change has 

 come: ten years ago the importance of the 

 problem was realized by scarcely any one. 

 Studies like that of Professor Marx, on 

 "The Problem of the Assistant Professor" 

 have emphasized the need of more freedom 

 and democracy in the organization of fac- 

 ulties. President Hill of the University 

 of Missouri, in reply to one of Professor 

 Marx's questions, writes: "A more demo- 

 cratic organization of department faculties 

 seems to me one of the most important and 

 pressing reforms demanded in educational 

 institutions. ' ' President Hill was thinking 



