THE PRESENT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CON- 
DITIONS AS RESULTS OF APPLIED 
SCIENCE AND INVENTION 
By Hon. George \V. Perkins 
Late President of the Coinuiissioncrs of the Palisades 
Interstate Park 
[This paper, by the late Hon. George \V. Perkins, President of the Com- 
missioners of the PaHsades Interstate Park, was presented before the Section 
of Social and Economic Science of the American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science, Dr. George F. Kuntz, Chairman, at Pittsburgh, 
December 29, 1917. At the conclusion of the ensuing discussion, Mr. Perkins 
presented me with a copy of the manuscript, from which this paper is 
published. 
This paper has been considered particularly appropriate to publish in this 
Bulletin, because it outlines in a striking manner the precise relation that 
scientific research and invention bear to practical proi)lems. It has an added 
interest in coming not from a professional scientific man, but from a leader 
in large constructive business enterprises. The dependence which he recog- 
nizes between research and practice is the same relation that the research 
of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station should bear to practical wild life 
problems. 
An early number of this Bulletin will contain a paper by me entitled 
" Forestry and the Food Problem," in which it will be shown how intimately 
research on wild life is related to practical problems, as exemplified oy 
the production of food for man from the non-agricultural or forest lands 
and waters. 
Mr. Perkins was a close personal friend of Mr. Roosevelt, and his 
active, practical cooperation in the wild life research of the College, and 
of the Roosevelt Station, has been much appreciated. The first financial 
support which the Roosevelt Station received from outside sources was 
through Mr. Perkins' cooperation in the Palisades Interstate Park. His 
interest was further shown by his suggestions. He said: "As a matter of 
actual fact I think that any Roosevelt Memorial along the lines you suggest 
ought in some way to be connected with the Palisades Interstate P'ark, 
because, as you doubtless know, Roosevelt started it and was interested in 
it for many years, and it has come to be a very large undertaking. However, 
I do not feel like advocating this, because I am President of the Park Commis- 
sion and ha\e been since it started. However, since you bring up the 
question of using the Park in connection with the matter in which you are 
interested, I will say frankly that I think this is where it ought to be 
located. ..... I am iust at the eve of starting out to raise a consider- 
able sum of money for the Park. Would there be any w-ay of our getting 
together on the undertaking? " 
Plans were later presented to him, and were under consideration by him 
when overtaken by his last illness. To his wife, Evelina B. Perkins, 
the Station is greatly indebted for permission to publish the address that 
follows, as well as for the excellent portrait accompanying it. — C. C. A.] 
As recently as when our fathers were boys, Samuel F. B. Morse 
flashed to the world the first message ever carried by electricity. 
That message was the query, " What hath God wrought ? " How 
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