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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. I 



the future. The view that each one gets is 

 imperfect, and there are few of us who feel 

 that we have risen high enough to command 

 a really broad and comprehensive survey of 

 the situation. For my part, it is with great 

 difSdenee that I express any opinion, espe- 

 cially in the presence of the deservedly 

 famous scholar and investigator who fol- 

 lows me, and who has contributed in many 

 ways so definitely and richly to the progress 

 of the nation in medical matters. And yet 

 there are some elements in the responsibil- 

 ity, as I see it, of this institution to the 

 community which has founded and is sup- 

 porting it, that are unmistakable in their 

 appeal to every one. If they appear to you 

 so commonplace that you wonder at their 

 recital here, may I suggest that the restate- 

 ment of fundamental relations is not only 

 valuable but indispensable when, on such 

 occasions as this, men and women come to- 

 gether to do honor to a great institution and 

 set the seal of public approval on the facili- 

 ties which it has created for work, as well as 

 to give inspiration and direction to the in- 

 creased influence and opportunity that 

 grow out of the greater possibilities in the 

 new environment. There is always some 

 danger that a new movement loses sight of 

 fundamental responsibilities, and in em- 

 phasis upon one opportunity forgets to do 

 equal justice to the others that surround it 

 and rightly expect their appropriate atten- 

 tion and emphasis. What are the primary 

 duties of this school in its new home ? Only 

 those laid upon it at its organization, even 

 though now in a richer environment they 

 acquire, a new and stronger emphasis. 



The first duty that suggests itself in any 

 discussion of the state university is that of 

 education, and in the minds of many the 

 duty is limited to its narrower significance 

 of the word, i. e., to training in set classes 

 and courses those who present themselves 

 with adequate preparation and fixed pur- 



pose to achieve the special end they seek. 

 But many universities have neglected to 

 consider that it is neither possible nor desir- 

 able for the single institution to give in- 

 struction in this narrow sense to each and 

 every citizen desiring the training. Many 

 of our state universities have hampered 

 their usefulness by striving to teach more 

 students in more ways than the means at 

 their command would justify. They have 

 duplicated opportunities of the routine sort 

 and have been overwhelmed by masses of 

 elementary students whose training added 

 little except political strength to the influ- 

 ence of the university or to the welfare of 

 the state, and only mere commonplace 

 finish to the training of the individual. 

 Every time the university takes a student 

 from another institution, either high school 

 or academy, college or technical school, 

 before he has legitimately utilized the op- 

 portunities which that institution offers for 

 his purposes, it has contributed to the dis- 

 integration and destruction of the educa- 

 tional strength of the community. Every 

 time a university admits a poorly trained 

 or mentally incompetent student or retains 

 in its class-rooms a time-serving, shirking 

 idler, indifferent to his opportunities, it 

 does a grave injustice to the energetic and 

 ambitious workers in its halls, and may 

 fairly be charged with misuse of public 

 funds. In the mad rush after students, aU 

 of our institutions alike have added to 

 their own weakness rather than to their 

 own vigor, and have wasted the resources 

 of the people insofar as they have taken 

 part in the struggle after mere bigness. 



If it be no proper ideal to gather in num- 

 bers at the expense of fitness, it is certainly 

 a clear function of the state institution to 

 set minimum standards for the entire com- 

 monwealth, to indicate what is reasonable 

 training in a given field, and to prevent 



