SCIENCE. 



FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 1887. 



COMMENT AND CRITICISM. 



Although congress has not ordered that the 

 "weather-bureau shall be transferred from the sig- 

 nal corps of the army to some civil department, 

 the steps that were taken towards the transfer 

 give strong assurance that it will be made 

 next year, when it can be undertaken more delib- 

 erately. The action was briefly as follows : the 

 house bill No. 5190, to create a department of 

 agriculture and labor, received several amend- 

 ments in the senate, among which the sixth had 

 for its object the transfer of the weather-bureau 

 from the signal office of the army to the new de- 

 partment on the 1st of next July. Although 

 several senators voted on Feb. 23 against this 

 amendment, because they thought the action was 

 too precipitate, it had a majority of thirty-seven to 

 fifteen, with twenty-four absent. It provided that 

 the second lieutenants and the subordinate mem- 

 bers of the corps should be transferred to the new 

 department, without changing their work or their 

 pay ; that the rank of commissioned officers of 

 the signal corps should not be affected by the 

 transfer ; and that the chief signal officer should 

 remain in charge of the bureau after the transfer 

 until a director should be appointed for it. The 

 bill then returned to the house, where, according 

 to the reports we have received, it would have 

 certainly heen passed as amended, had not an un- 

 foreseen obstacle arisen. The President, it seems, 

 does not desire an additional member in his cabi- 

 net : the bill was therefore referred back to the com- 

 mittee on agriculture by his friends in the house, 

 and at this late date in the crowded session it could 

 not again be reached, not being ' privileged busi- 

 ness.' So the matter is dropped for the present. 



This postponement is, on the whole, not to be 

 regretted. It is quite clear that the failure to 

 make the change was not due at all to a belief 

 that it ought not to be made. Senator Edmunds 

 offered the only considerable objection to the 

 transfer during the debate on the amendment. It 

 v^as clear to him, "that the only way to have 



No. 214 — 1887. 



an effective organization is to have it under mili- 

 tary control, so that a man cannot resign because 

 he gets miffed about something, but he must do 

 his duty." This mistaken impression found few 

 if any supporters. It seemed to be generally un- 

 derstood that the loss of individuality and com- 

 plete submission to authority, which constitute 

 the essence of the military spirit, are out of place 

 in a service that wisely makes open declaration 

 of its need of intelligent personal action by calling 

 on college graduates to enlist in it. Senator 

 Dawes thought every one agreed that the service 

 " ought to be transferred to the civil department 

 of the government," but believed that the transfer 

 ought to be made more deliberately than was con- 

 templated in the amendment. Senator Hale ex- 

 pressed the same views, and these two joined Ed- 

 munds and others in voting against the bill. But 

 their favorable votes may be expected next win- 

 ter, when perhaps less political and more appro- 

 priate surroundings may be chosen for the 

 weather-bureau than it would have found in the 

 proposed new department. 



In the mean time the position of chief signal 

 officer is given to Captain Greely, who is thereby 

 promoted to be a brigadier-general, the senate 

 having confirmed the President's nomination at 

 the last moment. So great an advance in rank is 

 unusual, and may be attributed in part to recog- 

 nition of arctic heroism, — for surely the preserva- 

 tion of a complete series of records under the 

 most difficult and tragic circumstances was a 

 splendid achievement, — and possibly in part to 

 the feeling that the office should be given to some 

 one already in the service, rather than to some 

 colonel who stood, indeed, nearer in the line of 

 promotion, but who had had no experience in the 

 weather-bureau. But the failure of the deficiency 

 bill makes the position of chief signal officer an 

 arduous one for the next year, for it is a thankless 

 duty that involves reduction in some of the essen- 

 tials of the service. It is to be regretted that the 

 new chief was not given at least the best oppor- 

 tunity of showing his powers. The remedy for 

 unsatisfactory weather-predictions is not likely to 

 be found while the service is thus embarrassed. 



