346 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 113. 



amply endowed of our colleges does not hesi- 

 tate to declare for the advisability of the pro- 

 posed action. He opens his appeal with the 

 statement that ' the most important event in 

 the history of modern Germany has been the 

 foundation of the University of Berlin ' — its 

 National University ; and he even tells us that 

 the place at the head of our own American 

 educational system is now held by the universi- 

 ties of a foreign land. 



True it is that the real scholar who has 

 earned his baccalaureate degree turns to a 

 stronger center than his alma mater, if pos- 

 sible, when he enters upon the struggle for the 

 doctorate ; and having taken this, if he deserve 

 it he may sometimes hope for a fellowship 

 from the university that has stamped its oflBcial 

 seal on him as a scholar and an investigator, 

 which enables him to pursue his studies still 

 further — not at home, but in foreign universities. 



Doubtless, this will always be so. Men, if 

 suitably supported, and not places, make uni- 

 versities ; and, with all respect for the learned 

 men who compose the faculty of the Berlin 

 University, it may be said that even the gradu- 

 ate of that great institution finds profit in trav- 

 eling elsewhere, for help and skill not to be 

 found in Berlin. The practical question is : Are 

 Americans in search of opportunity for ad- 

 vanced study which is not afforded by our 

 existing universities ? Are these not increasing 

 in efiiciency and capacity in proportion to the 

 growing demand for the best that they can 

 offer? Are there local obstacles in the way 

 of their fullest utilization ? Will a National Uni- 

 versity attract men who need some special in- 

 ducement to advanced study not now offered ? 

 And can it be made to replace the foreign uni- 

 versity as the Mecca of our graduate students ? 

 Let the university catalogues themselves and 

 the annually collected government statistics 

 answer this in part, nor fear, as some do, that 

 petty ambition and petty jealousy can bias the 

 utterances, on this point, of the oflBcers of any 

 university worthy of the name. Yet, it may 

 well be asked, whatever the answer, who can 

 venture to say that the opening of a National 

 University may not in some real, if not clearly 

 definable, manner appeal to enough men who 

 now stop at the completion of a collegiate 



course, to justify in the most satisfactory man- 

 ner its establishment? 



If, in my own mind, after trying to view the 

 question impartially, I am not perfectly con- 

 vinced that there is a real need for a National 

 University, as a center of advanced instruction, 

 I must admit that there may be other more 

 cogent reasons for the attempt now being made 

 to carry Washington's idea into efifect ; and if, 

 as I cannot help believing, the reasons that in- 

 fluenced his judgment are less weighty to-day 

 than they were a century ago, other reasons, 

 not then revealed, may, perhaps, stand out to- 

 day with greater force than the original reasons 

 ever possessed. 



Frequent comment is made, in the scientific 

 press of other nations, on the wonderful liber- 

 ality of the American government in support- 

 ing scientific investigation of our great natural 

 resources. No branch of applied science, or 

 science capable of economic application, is 

 without representation under government aus- 

 pices. It has been shown recently that no less 

 than 5,225 persons are employed on this scien- 

 tific and economical work, on which is expended 

 annually nearly $8,000,000. 



For some years observing and thinking per- 

 sons have realized that, great as the value of 

 this work is, it is carried on in too irresponsible 

 and disjointed a fashion to permit of the reali- 

 zation of the greatest possible results, and sev- 

 eral more or less successful attempts have been 

 made to secure its partial unification. Quite 

 recently one well fitted to grasp and analyze 

 the situation* has distinctly stated that the 

 time has now arrived when the successful prose- 

 cution of the scientific work of the government 

 requires that the various bureaus should be or- 

 ganized in accordance with a logical plan, 

 either under one of the existing governmental 

 departments or in a new department, under the 

 direction of one secretary or executive head. 



The scientific bureaus now constitute true 

 university departments in this fundamental re- 

 spect that they are primarily and preeminently 

 centers of research, manned by investigators. 



* Dabney, A national department of science neces- 

 sary for the coorclination of the scientific work of the 

 United States government. Science N. S. 5: 73, 15 

 January, 1897. 



