512 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 353. 



Passing these two considerations, ethical 

 and patriotic, the scheme of the Memorial 

 Institution is itself of a character to chal- 

 lenge serious criticism, as its originators 

 will find when they come to a practical 

 test. 



According to Dr. Walcott, it is to be a 

 private foundation, without Government 

 support or control. But he also tells us : 

 " The policy of the Government, as ex- 

 pressed, is to aid in higher education by 

 granting [to the Washington Memorial In- 

 stitution] the use of such facilities as are at 

 its command in the District of Columbia " ; 

 and again, " The Government's part in the 

 work of the Washington Memorial Institu- 

 tion, when once under successful headway, 

 will be to enlarge the quarters of the 

 various bureaus concerned." To be sure, 

 he hastens to add : ' ' This will be neces- 

 sary eventually, even if no student assist- 

 ants are provided for." But it is apparent 

 that if the Memorial Institution is to utilize 

 the Government's collections and facilities 

 for scientific research at Washington, such 

 collections and facilities, now inadequate to 

 such utilization, must exceed the Govern- 

 ment's own demands, and exceed them in 

 proportion to the utilization by the Me- 

 morial Institution ; in other words, that 

 Congress must make constantly increasing 

 appropriations for the benefit of the Memori- 

 al Institution. Indeed, this enlargement of 

 Governmental collections and facilities at 

 Washington is the very sine qua non of the 

 Memorial Institution. Yet we are told the 

 Memorial Institution is to be without Gov- 

 ernment support. 



This is not all. The Memorial Institu- 

 tion is to be also independent of Govern- 

 ment control, says Dr. Walcott. But he 

 then goes on to inform us that the Cabinet 

 and various other Government ofiicials are 

 largely to constitute the advisory board of 

 the Memorial Institution, and that the char- 

 acter and extent of the student-assistants' 



work in the various departments of the 

 Government is to be defined by the heads 

 thereof, so that the same may be without 

 detriment to the public service. And so, 

 after all, there will be considerable oppor- 

 tunity and indeed necessity for Government 

 control. 



It thus appears that the Memorial Institu- 

 tion is to avail itself of the very assistance, 

 and is to be subject to the same influence 

 which its promoters condemn when pro- 

 posed, to a less extent, in connection with 

 a national university. 



Other difiiculties will present themselves 

 after a little careful reflection ; such as 

 these, for example : 



1. The three particular functions of the 

 Memorial Institution — to ascertain and 

 publish the opportunities for students in 

 the Government Departments at Washing- 

 ton ; to receive, enroll and direct such 

 students to the places awaiting them ; and 

 to record their work and certify it, when 

 requested, to any institution of learning — 

 require no such widely scattered board of 

 trustees as is provided, but could be as well, 

 and indeed more effectively, performed by 

 a small local committee. Unlike a national 

 university, with plans and policies to be 

 developed, the Memorial Institution begins 

 with a fixed plan, whose operation will be 

 largely subject to the dictation of the men 

 whom the fortuities of politics have placed 

 in charge of the Government Departments. 

 The number and distribution of the board 

 in question seem but a vain pretension to 

 the nationality to which they are confess- 

 edly opposed. 



2. The number of students of the Me- 

 morial Institution being limited (very lim- 

 ited, in the absence of Congressional ap- 

 propriations), what is to prevent the 

 institution in whose interest the Memorial 

 Institutions was primarily worked up from 

 having an undue share of student-assistant 

 places ? What is to safeguard the interests 



