852 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 439. 



man is at war with his neighbor advance- 

 ment is slow. 



The sti'.ength of organization has long 

 been recognized. The political 'machine' 

 may not number many politicians, but its 

 power is well known. Church organiza- 

 tions have for centuries been powerful 

 agencies among men, controlling both 

 thought and action. Capitalists organize, 

 making many monopolies into one gigantic 

 monopoly, and threatening the peace of the 

 world. Nations form alliances for pro- 

 tection. Laborers unite as a unit to bring 

 about reforms and better to protect them- 

 selves from abuses of employers. The 

 wave of organization is sweeping onward 

 with great force. Nothing to-day prom- 

 ises success without organization and con- 

 certed action. Proof of this is the great 

 number of societies of various kinds, with 

 titles expressive of their importance and 

 work. 



This banding together of human beings 

 for mutual good is usually of two grades 

 or degrees, i. e., local and state or national. 

 Local associations deal with affairs iiame- 

 diately at hand. State and national socie- 

 ties discuss subjects broader and more far- 

 reaching in scope, omitting such details as 

 refer to single localities. There is thus a 

 double tie of strength in organization. 

 The strength of the national or state so- 

 ciety is measured in great part by the 

 strength of the local associations. Each 

 aids and supports the other. 



If the foregoing is sound reasoning there 

 is much to be expected from such an or- 

 ganization in the state as that proposed in 

 the Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. 

 The teachers of the state have their state 

 association, with its various departments. 

 "With this we do not wish to interfere. 

 The agriculturists, wool-growers, cattle- 

 men, horticulturists, laborers of various 

 callings, physicians and others have their 

 local and state organizations or both, in 



order the more effectually to accomplish 

 the work the individual members see should 

 be done. By such an association an indi- 

 vidual idea soon becomes common prop- 

 erty. The good things are quickly sifted 

 and are pressed by the power of the whole 

 association instead of by the individual 

 who first conceives them. 



Most of the great achievements of the 

 world have come about through exchange 

 of ideas. The occasional meetings of 

 kindred spirits for the discussion of topics 

 in which there is mutual interest are pro- 

 ductive of far more good and are much 

 more effective than is usually considered. 

 At such gatherings there is an unusual 

 stimulus for thought. Business or profes- 

 sional cares are subordinated to the work 

 of the association, and the thought and 

 attention are directed solely to the subjects 

 presented. A single suggestion from some 

 paper may start a flow of ideas which may 

 develop into work of vast importance. 

 Often it happens that at such gatherings 

 are found men and women so full of sug- 

 gestive ideas that it is impossible for one 

 person to operate them all. Those less 

 fertile in originality may receive sug- 

 gestions which otherwise could not possibly 

 be obtained. This exchange of ideas is all 

 important in such gatherings as this, and 

 its value can not be over-estimated. 



"We can not live without friends. If we 

 were cut aloof from the aid and com- 

 panionship of our fellows life would be 

 profitless. It is give and take. Some give 

 more than they take, others take more than 

 they give. It is certainly true that the 

 wider one's circle of friends and acquaint- 

 ances becomes the greater is the oppor- 

 tunity for giving and receiving ideas and 

 suggestions, hence of receiving hdp and 

 becoming a helper. Occasional fraternal 

 gatherings widen one's circle of friends, 

 bind closer the bonds of unity in work. 



