362 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVir. No. 427. 



rections in which I had been brought into 

 practical contact with educational work, I 

 was encouraged to hope that if I accepted 

 this office my lack of training and experi- 

 ence in the school might in part be com- 

 pensated for by these experiences and my 

 sympathy with the aspirations of youth. 



Finally my action was determined by 

 the fact that the call was made "by the 

 trustees, faculty, ahunni association and 

 many of the alumni individually. 



Since I have been in daily contact with 

 the duties and responsibilities of the office 

 I have been more and more impressed with 

 the largeness of my undertaking and with 

 the practically unlimited opportunities af- 

 forded for the exercise of a wise, patient, 

 firm and energetic leadership. 



As all this and more is included in my 

 view of the situation, necessarily then I am 

 profoundly sensible of my new responsi- 

 bilities. But I must ask those at whose 

 instance I have accepted this office to un- 

 derstand that they have not shifted their 

 responsibilities to my shoulders. I shall 

 look to them to help me to carry my new 

 burdens and to be patient with me when I 

 hesitate or stumble on the way. 



As the circumstances imder which I have 

 accepted office are somewhat imusual, I 

 have, at the risk of being misunderstood, 

 decided to thus briefly refer to some of the 

 influences under which I have acted. 



The responsibility rests upon us all — 

 trustees, faculty and alumni— to preserve 

 and further extend and perfect that which 

 has been so well built on the noble bene- 

 faction of E. A. Stevens. The admirable 

 record which has been made during the 

 thirty years of Dr. Morton's brilliant, wise 

 and self-sacrificing administration will not 

 alone carry the institute over the obstacles 

 surely to be met in the years to come. 



This reference to the work of our hon- 

 ored late president leads me to recall with 

 a reverent sense of appreciation the de- 



voted services of Professors Wood, Mayer 

 and Leeds, who are with him now resting 

 from their labors. 



While resolving to zealously preserve and 

 develop that which has been passed on for 

 a while to our stewardship, let us consider 

 whether this calls for any departure from 

 the established ways. My four months' 

 experience as acting president, added to 

 that gained as alumnus, trustee, engineer 

 and man of business, leads me to say em- 

 phatically that though there is much to 

 be done, there is no change in principle or 

 policy to be desired or tolerated. 



The changes to be made are chiefly those 

 called for by the increase in the number of 

 students. A glance at the register shows 

 that the equipment, methods and admin- 

 istration of twenty years ago are no longer 

 adequate to meet our present requirements. 

 Even with his own repeated benefactions 

 Dr. Morton was unable to keep pace with 

 the requirements as they developed. 



The first ten classes graduated numbered 

 as follows: 



'73, 1; '74, 3; '75, 10; '76, 17; '77, 10; 

 '78, 22; '79, 14; '80, 9; '81, 17; '82, 14. 

 Total for first ten years, 117. 



The last ten classes graduated numbered 

 as follows: 



'93, 43; '94, 39; '95, 45; '96, 64; '97, 

 63; '98, 57; '99, 53; 1900, 53; 1901, 40; 

 1902, 54. Total for last ten years, 511. 



There have been 987 graduated up to 

 date, of whom 54 have passed on to that 

 other life where their records as engineers 

 are only of moment as affecting their rec- 

 ords as men. 



These figiires alone do not furnish a fair 

 comparison and should be supplemented 

 by a comparison of enrollments. 



The enrollment at the end of the first 

 ten-years period was: 



Freshmen 53 



Sophomores 47 



