= SS eer 
21 
suffer less from their multiplication and the address would be more 
applicable, but they are imported by man in a wholesale manner, and, 
while it has been said that such importations will prove a blessing in 
disguise, in the case of the San Jose scale it is deeply disguised. 
Because efforts at quarantine have not kept out all insect pests, it is no 
reason why they should be abolished. We could not know whether 
they would fail or not. The San Francisco quarantine station, the only 
one we have, certainly indicates that they will afford a very great pro- 
tection. We do not execute our physicians because they do not cure 
all of their patients. 
Mr. Forbush showed that the practical question of exterminating or 
controlling insects had an optimistic as well as a pessimistic side. While 
the extermination of many imported insects was impossible, in other 
cases, where the species was handicapped by physical defects, such 
extermination might be possible. With the gipsy moth the female is 
handicapped by an inability to fly; hence the spread of the species is 
slow. This insect has been absolutely exterminated from hundreds of 
localities and from whole towns. The spread of the insect over Massa- 
_ chusetts and other States has been prevented. Had the laisser-faire 
policy been followed many States would now be suffering from this 
pest. 
Mr. Hopkins congratulated the President on his most interesting and 
suggestiveaddress. He believed it to be the mission of this Association 
to consider and thoroughly discuss just such problems as those pre- 
sented. A knowledge of these broad world movements and the laws 
which influence them for the good or harm of man would help us to 
successfully deal with the small local ones. He fully agreed with the 
President that many of these national problems were beyond the con- 
trol of human agencies and that the let-alone policy would, in most 
cases, aS applied to them, prevent a vast amount of wasted energy, 
time, and money. At the same time he felt that all new problems, 
whether great or small, should be thoroughly investigated by one or 
more specialists in order that it might be determined whether or not it 
were best to adopt the laisser-faire policy. If the economic entomolo- 
gist can give, from facts determined by original research, information 
which will lead to the prevention of great losses to a nation, state, or 
community, by adopting this policy, his services are none the less 
valuable. 
Mr. Johnson said he feared that the deeper meaning of the address 
would not dawn upon the average reader; that he had been unable to 
interpret its real intent; from the philosophical standpoint it was a fair 
production, but from the practical side it would surely be misinterpreted 
and lead to much confusion. He felt it would be useless for him to 
enter into a detailed discussion of the paper, as he could not indorse it 
inany way. His familiarity with the work of Mr. Craw, and his knowl- 
edge of existing conditions in California and the West; his personal 
