382 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 114. 



often only narrow special rather than 

 broad scientific training. Too frequently 

 the Department secured by this process 

 only amateur scientists, having perhaps 

 some ability and considerable knowledge in 

 certain lines, but without general education 

 and, therefore, limited in their usefulness 

 and capacity to grow. 



Another objection was that the list of eli- 

 gibles provided in this manner was a tempo- 

 rary one only, being designed to get one per- 

 son to fill one place. Under the rules of the 

 Civil Service Commission such a list lived for 

 one year only, and it was, therefore, rather 

 unusual when a second person was taken 

 from it. Such a system of examinations 

 offers too little encouragement to candidates. 

 Since special papers had to be prepared for 

 each one of them and the examinations to 

 be held in different parts of the country 

 wherever there were applicants, the special 

 examinations were troublesome and expen- 

 sive to both the Civil Service Commission 

 and the Department. 



For their best work the scientific bureaus 

 of the government need men of broader 

 training than can be secured in this way. 

 The ideal man, of course, for such a posi- 

 tion is one who has had a liberal education, 

 to which has been added general education 

 in the natural sciences and special training 

 and experience in some special department. 

 In order to secure such a corps of experts 

 it was necessary to establish these perma- 

 nent lists of eligibles and keep them up by 

 regular examinations, held at stated in- 

 tervals. 



After the new men are appointed in the 

 department it is desirable to give them, be- 

 fore they are advanced to positions of re- 

 sponsibility, some preliminary training in 

 the special work of the particular bureau. 

 In the new plan it is provided, therefore, 

 that these candidates shall come into the 

 lower ranks first, where they shall have op- 

 portunities for advancement, if they prove 



worthjr. The outlines of the plan proposed 

 for the Department of Agriculture are given 

 in an appendix to this paper. 



It will be noticed that the examinations 

 are not for specified positions, but for cer- 

 tificates of qualification in specified subjects 

 or groups of subjects. Each candidate can 

 form his own group of subjects to suit him- 

 self. The Civil Service Commission pub- 

 lishes lists of the various positions in the 

 government scientific service and the gen- 

 eral qualifications required for each. When 

 a new assistant is required the Secretary 

 names the qualifications he desires and 

 the Commission certifies the three persons 

 who have the highest grade in the subjects 

 mentioned or come nearest to supplying 

 all of the qualifications required. 



It is hoped that the plan now adopted 

 for the Department Of Agriculture will, if 

 it prove successful, be extended to include 

 the other scientific bureaus of the govern- 

 ment. All that will be necessary in order 

 to do this will be to include other subjects 

 in the examinations. When this has been 

 done it is evident that the scientific service 

 will have a much better list of eligibles 

 from which to draw, and that the scientific 

 students of the country will have, for the 

 first time, a plain way opened up for their 

 admission to these surveys and laboratories 

 and to the enjoyment of the splendid oppor- 

 tunities which they offer. 



From the standpoint of the scientific 

 bureaus this plan has the advantage of sup- 

 plying them with the highest class of as- 

 sistants. Under it they would get persons 

 educated for the work and capable of im- 

 proving the advantages offered instead of 

 persons having no special training and little 

 or no ambition to improve themselves and 

 advance human knowledge. 



From the standpoint of the National Uni- 

 versity the government pay roll would be 

 utilized to support a large body of properly 

 educated scholars and fellows in the various 



