SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 44G. 



In passing judgment upon any particular case 

 these broad relations should be kept in mind, 

 and in what I have to say I do not wish to 

 be understood as expressing any opinion con- 

 cerning- the conditions which have existed at 

 the Agricultural College in the past, or at the 

 Normal School at the present time. There 

 are, however, two points in Professor Cock- 

 erell's communication to which I desire to 

 call especial attention. ISTot that the pro- 

 fessor . has intentionally misrepresented the 

 matter, but because of the inference which 

 might easily be drawn. The conditions in 

 two of the several public institutions of the 

 territory are made the basis of several broad 

 and general inferences. I am assured by 

 President Light of the Normal School of 

 Silver City that the relations of the board 

 of regents of that institution, and the faculty 

 have been uniformly harmonious, and that 

 the institution is wholly free from political 

 influences in its administration. Professor 

 Cockerell states in his article that the Normal 

 School at Las Vegas 'has had until now a 

 most fortunate immunity from political inter- 

 ference/ And I wish to state that it has 

 never been my pleasure to loiow of a public 

 institution so free from political influences 

 as the University of New Mexico, over which 

 I have the honor to preside. 



Again, Professor Cockerell says : ' It can 

 not be overlooked that the governors of New 

 Mexico, who appoint the regents of the higher 

 institutions, are responsible for the general 

 unsatisfactory character of these bodies.' I 

 wish to object to the professor's use of the 

 term ' general ' and ' these bodies,' and to state 

 that, at least in the case of the University of 

 New Mexico, a more estimable body of men 

 could not be selected from any community 

 either in this territory or any of the eastern 

 states of the Union. 



Hon. Ex-Governor E. S. Stover has always 

 been a staunch friend of education. Hon. F. 

 W. Clancy is one of the old and leading at- 

 torneys of the city of Albuquerque. Dr. 

 James H. Wroth is one of the leading physi- 

 cians of the city and surgeon for the Santa 

 Fe Eailroad. Hon. Henry L. "Waldo, of Las 



Vegas, is general solicitor for the Santa Fe 

 Railroad and ex-chief justice; and Hon. E. 

 V. Chavez is another of the leading attorneys 

 of Albuquerque. There are three Democrats 

 and two Republicans. These men are all 

 appointees of governors of New Mexico, and 

 three of them originally by Governor Otero, 

 and all have been reappointed by him at the 

 expiration of their terms. 



As to the other institutions of the territory, 

 I can only say that their boards, as far as I 

 know, are made up of men who are leading 

 and influential citizens. 



In closing, permit me to say that, in my 

 judgment, the higher institutions of learning 

 of the territory of New Mexico are in general 

 fully as free from political influences as are 

 those of any other state of our Union, and it 

 is hardly right to take the exceptional un- 

 fortunate cases of disorder as indicative of 

 the general condition. 



W. G. Tight. 



IJlN'IVEESITY OF NeW ]MeXICO, 



Albuquerque, N. M. 



the proposed biological stations at the 

 toktugas. 



To THE Editor of Science: Referring to 

 the correspondence from zoologists as to the 

 need for one or more stations for biological 

 research work in southern waters, I notice the 

 preponderance in favor of Tortugas. Aside 

 from its suitability for deep-sea fauna there 

 seem to be other items to commend it, such 

 as: The flag which floats over it, available 

 buildings, subsistence, accessibility and, not 

 the least in importance, communication. It 

 may not be known to the committee or to 

 your readers that the United States govern- 

 ment departments are planning a chain of 

 wireless telegraphic communication along the 

 coast and to the Antilles. Among those now 

 installed are stations of the De Forest Com- 

 pany at Hatteras and Porto Rico; others are 

 proposed at Miami, Key West, Havana, etc. 

 These will be in demand for commercial 

 marine as well as naval and military purposes. 



A glance at the map will show that Tortu- 

 gas can easily be hitched on to this system 

 via Key West (and equally a station at Cul- 



