September 11, 1885. 



SCIENCE. 



237 



the poorest and most inefficient peoples, who, as they 

 rise in the scale, abandon it, as is now coming to be 

 the case in southern France. The argument, that we 

 shall save the $20,000,000 which we now pay for im- 

 ported silk, is fallacious. Wlien we exchange articles 

 produced by labor costing $1 per day, for the silk of 

 China or Japan raised by labor costing five or ten 

 cents per day, we gain and not lose. We cannot 

 afford to do for ourselves what foreign paupers will 

 do for us cheaper. A power-loom for weaving silk 

 has probably been invented in the United States; and 

 when this is perfected, we may buy raw silk, and 

 manufacture it here at a profit. 



The afternoon session was opened by a long and 

 interesting paper by Gov. John W. Hoyt of Wyom- 

 ing, on the need of a systematic reorganization of 

 the executive departments of the government in the 

 interest of science and of public economy. After 

 describing the gradual growth of these departments, 

 and pointing out forcibly the many incongruities and 

 disadvantages of their present organization, and the 

 need of a reorganization, the writer proceeded to 

 describe his plan, which he supported with powerful 

 arguments. It is in brief outline as follows: First, 

 the transfer of the bureau of Indian affairs to the 

 war department, and the separation from the interior 

 department of various technical and scientific bureaus. 

 Second, the separation from the treasury depart- 

 ment of similar bureaus not properly belonging 

 to it. Third, the expansion of the department of 

 agriculture into a real department of industry and 

 commerce, presided over by a cabinet officer. Fourth, 

 the expansion of the post-office department into a 

 department of post-offices and telegraphs. Fifth, the 

 erection of a department of science under a cabinet 

 officer, to include the bureau of education, the govern- 

 ment-surveys, the signal-service, the naval obser- 

 vatory, the national museum, the library, a bureau 

 of charities, the charge of government scientific expe- 

 ditions, an advisory superintendence of public works, 

 and, in short, all the scientific work of the govern- 

 ment. 



An interesting discussion followed, turning largely 

 upon the fundamental points of the legal right of the 

 government to undertake scientific work, and the 

 desirability of its so doing. 



The president of the section next presented a paper 

 entitled 'Competition and cooperation synonymous 

 terms,' in which he maintained that the final result 

 of competition is to better the condition of the laborer, 

 and to improve the quality of the product. Like the 

 forces of nature, it produces occasional great disasters, 

 but produces its beneficent results silently and un- 

 noticed. The competition of laborer with laborer is 

 occasional ; that of capital with capital constant, and 

 to the advantage of labor. Since the beginning of 

 this century, working-people have been receiving an 

 increasing share of an increasing product. 



The day's session was concluded by a paper by Mr. 

 Charles W. Smiley upon some defects of our savings- 

 bank system, and the need of postal savings banks in 

 the United States, in which the writer presented the 

 well-known arguments in favor of postal savings 



banks, some of which were rather severely handled 

 in the ensuing discussion. 



The short morning session on Monday was occupied 

 with a paper by Dr. G.W.Hubbard of Nashville, Tenii., 

 on vital statistics of the colored people of the south- 

 ern states. The death-rate among the negroes in the 

 cities and large towns is much greater than among 

 the whites; while, so far as the confessedly imperfect 

 statistics sliow, the birth-rate is not greatly different. 

 The writer instanced the three cities, Chattanooga, 

 Memphis, and Nashville. In the latter, very care- 

 fully kept statistics for the past ten years give an an- 

 nual death-rate per 1,000 of from 17 to 26 for the 

 whites, and of from 27 to 50 for the blacks. The 

 other two cities showed nearly the same proportion. 

 The birth-rate in Nashville, according to official sta- 

 tistics, was in the proportion of 1 white to 2 colored in 

 1881 and 1882, as 1 to 1 in 1883, and as 1 to a trifle over 

 1 in 1884. These figures, however, the author put but 

 little confidence in. The causes of the greater mor- 

 tality among the negroes the author classed under 

 the three heads of ignorance, poverty and its attend- 

 ant evils, and race characteristics. He considers that 

 the condition of the negroes is gradually improving 

 in the first two particulars. In regard to the pros- 

 pects of an amalgamation between whites and blacks, 

 attention was called to the fact, that, in most of the 

 southern states, intermarriage of the races is a crim- 

 inal offence; and that the proportion of illegitimate 

 births of mixed parentage is small and decreasing. 



The afternoon session was opened by a paper from 

 Hon. C. S. Hill, statistician of the U. S. department 

 of state, upon the science of statistical analysis, 

 giving some account of the collection and publica- 

 tion of statistics by means of the consular service of 

 the United States, and emphasizing the need of the 

 application of a scientific method to the interpreta- 

 tion of statistics. This was followed by a paper upon 

 social economy, by Dr. John Miiller, which closed 

 the day's session. 



In his paper upon the silver question, Mr. E. 

 B. Elliott of Washington, D.C., after recounting 

 briefly the history of silver money in the United 

 States, and alluding to the danger which at present 

 menaces the finances of the country, proceeded to 

 enumerate briefly the remedies, which were: 1°, to 

 coin no more legal-tender dollars, but only subsidiary 

 coins ; 2°, to increase the weight of these subsidiary 

 coins from 12.5 to 15 grams per half dollar, and to 

 stamp each coin with its weight and fineness; 3°, 

 to base all statements, weight of bars, bullion, etc., 

 on the metric system. An interesting discussion fol- 

 lowed, in which Professor William Harkness pointed 

 out most clearly the great gravity of the problem, 

 and commended the recent action of the New-York 

 banks in endeavoring to tide over the danger of the 

 payment of silver by the U. S. treasury in its settle- 

 ments through the New- York clearing-house. He 

 also alluded to the great temptation to counterfeiting 

 which the present law offers, and stated that it was 

 pretty well ascertained that a considerable amount of 

 it had been done. He closed with the statement that 

 we had allowed ourselves to be made a cat's-paw to 



