228 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. V., No. 111. 



THE JOINT COMMISSION AND THE 

 SIGN A L-SER VICE. 



One of the last acts of the late congress 

 was to continue in power the joint commission 

 appointed "to consider the present organiza- 

 tion of the signal-service, geological survey, 

 coast and geodetic survey, and the hydrographic 

 office of the navy department, with a view to 

 secure greater efficiency and economy of the 

 administration of the public service in said 

 bureaus." 



Thus far this commission seems to have 

 elicited from the witnesses who have testified 

 before it a considerable diversity of opinions, 

 although each one is positive that his own ser- 

 vice is properly conducted and needs no change. 

 Major Powell and the committee of the Na- 

 tional academy of sciences undoubtedly take 

 a broad view of the questions at issue, and 

 defend the abstract and theoretical importance 

 of a union of all scientific work under one 

 head, which may be either a person or a com- 

 mission. The others generally defend special 

 questions ; such as, Is each organization effi- 

 cient or economical? Does each co-operate 

 with other departments? Is there an immedi- 

 ate need for any change ? 



Man}^ of the questions and replies imply 

 that there are some underlying fundamental 

 questions that should be discussed and settled 

 before considering the matter of efficiency and 

 economy. Some of these may be suggested, 

 as follows : Shall pure science be separated 

 from applied science ? Shall the refined opera- 

 tions of the coast-surve} T , signal-office, etc., be 

 classed as science, or as economic arts? Shall 

 the civilian scientific element in the country 

 be intrusted with applied sciences, or shall it 

 only be employed to teach these to military 

 and naval officers ? Shall such officers be taken 

 awa} T from their proper work, thereb} T spoiling 

 the little nucleus of an arnry and navy that the 

 government maintains in times of peace? 

 Shall the ten or twenty millions spent annually 

 b}' government in internal improvement be dis- 

 bursed hy officers skilled in military engineer- 

 ing, or by civilian engineers especially fitted 



for the task ? Shall all executive work be in 

 the hands of various bureaus, including one of 

 public works, while all scientific questions are 

 referred to a special bureau of science whose 

 members devote their whole time to the gov- 

 ernment service? Will education, science, and 

 knowledge, and the progress of the people 

 throughout the land, be stimulated more by 

 giving scientific work to army officers, or by 

 giving it mostly to civilians? Shall West 

 Point, Annapolis, Willets Point, Fortress 

 Monroe, Fort Myer, Fort Leavenworth, be- 

 come not merely military, but also scientific, 

 schools, with the understanding that the gradu- 

 ates of the civilian scientific schools at Cam- 

 bridge, Ithaca, New York, New Haven, and 

 elsewhere, cannot hope to receive much encour- 

 agement in the wa} T of government employment ? 

 Shall our government make a decided effort to 

 stimulate the general spread of education and 

 scientific investigation by throwing its patron- 

 age into the hands of competitors from every 

 rank of life ? Shall not army, nav}~, and civil- 

 ians at least stand on an equal footing in times 

 of peace, and in questions of fitness to conduct 

 works of applied science or higher engineering ? 



A slight examination will certainly show 

 that very many of the public works carried 

 on by the executive branch of our federal gov- 

 ernment have been assigned, whether by the 

 president or by congress, in a very unsyste- 

 matic manner, to the various departments and 

 bureaus at Washington. Sometimes this has 

 occurred, to the detriment of the work ; but 

 generally it has been to suit the exigencies of 

 some temporary condition of affairs, and fre- 

 quently for some political or personal reason. 

 There is need, in fact, of considering the 

 question of re-organization of all the govern- 

 ment work. 



However, the special and present business 

 of the joint commission is to suggest, if pos- 

 sible, how to infuse a little harmony, efficiency, 

 and economy into some or all of the public 

 work ; and most of the witnesses have confined 

 their remarks to this restricted temporary as- 

 pect of affairs, leaving it to the commission, by 

 cross-questioning, if possible, to draw more 



