EARLY HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY 21 



As the Council nominated the regular ticket, which was always elected, 

 selections were made with regard for efficiency. The ablest men are frequently 

 not the best for cooperation and team-work on committee. 



In the first years three names were submitted for each office, but it was 

 prettj'^ well understood that the first name of the three was the Council's real 

 choice, and consequently the defeated two accepted their sacrifice. But the 

 method was invidious, and in 1893 the rules were so changed that the Council 

 could submit a single nomination for each office and not make unpleasant use 

 of other names. 



Another custom, since changed, was the practical selection of the President 

 two years in advance, by first making him Second Vice-President and pro- 

 moting. This plan had decided advantages. Everybody knew what to prob- 

 ably expect, and no one was hurt by being made Vice-President as a consola- 

 tion. Moreover, it gave three continuous years in the Council, culminating as 

 President, and until such culmination he was quite sure to attend meetings 

 and take interest. Under the present plan, the ex-President is kept two years 

 on the Council, but he has less personal incentive to hold him to the work. 



The smooth running of the Society has been attributed by the writer to the 

 laissez faire policy of the officers. We did not suggest changes unless they 

 were so evidently desirable that they would be cordially accepted. The few 

 changes in the Constitution were made with some difficulty, not from opposi- 

 tion, but because of the difficulty in securing a three-fourths vote from the 

 widely scattered membership. The inertia of the Society kept it going and 

 the officers had only tO' keep the machinery well oiled. The reports of the 

 officers and Council were never even questioned, which is perhaps the best 

 evidence of confidence in the administration. Up to 1896, during the years 

 that the regular ticket carried only a single nomination for each office, there 

 was never a single dissenting vote for the Treasurer and only one for the 

 Secretary. We sometimes wondered if we were doing anything, since no one 

 seemed disgruntled ; or if our work was worth while, since no one seemed to 

 desire the positions. The Editor could never have had such mental troubles, 

 as he always had negative votes in plenty. 



Membership. — Fortunately the Society came in time to have on its roll many 

 of the great names in American geology — ^the men who were self-taught in 

 the science, but who founded the schools. To many of the younger Fellows 

 these men. are only revered names, but to others of us they were admired and 

 honored friends. Of those who have passed away, Hall and Alexander Win- 

 chell were at the organization meeting. *Hall, Dana, Alexander Winchell, 

 Dawson, Shaler, Le Conte, and Orton lived to become President. Newberry, 

 Lesley, and Powell died before the Society could so honor them. Seven of the 

 men who were at the meeting of organization are still with us — C. H. Hitch- 

 cock, Kemp, Stevenson, I. C. White, H. S. Williams, N. H. Winchell, and the 

 writer. 



The men who gave their adhesion to the Society by January 1, 1889, and 

 known as "Original Fellows," numbered 112. In two years the Fellowship 

 rose to 197, and increased to 237 in 1898. During those first ten years, which 

 covered a time of financial depression, 37 Fellows were dropped from the roll 

 for non-payment of dues, 10 resigned, and 21 died. The total number whose 

 names had been on the roll during the first ten years was 305. 



