268 Tin American Geologist. October, 1.^4 
Mich representatives, or <>l' only a portion of the members <>r the con- 
gress coming from the same country, to choose who shall be the vice 
president representing their country, or to take any other steps (in the 
name of their country) without consultation with all their countrymen 
members of t he congress? " 
The words in pareuthesis do nol appear in the printed process verbal, 
hut the omission will doubtless be corrected in the official volume. 
A warm friend of this proposal, who has great influence in the coun- 
cil, proposed thai it should be settled by tlie next day; hut the proposer 
preferred that it hi' left to the careful deliberation of the bureau, insist- 
ing only thai it be nol pigeon-holed, which from its terms it cannot be, 
since the bureau, which consists of that pari of the present council who 
are officers, has engaged itself unanimously to consider it and apply it 
to the next organizal ion. 
The abuse is a Hagranl one. If there isan object above all others for 
the congress to fulfill, it is to open its doors equally to all geologists 
without distinction or favor. Should the congress decide that those 
who hold positions in the departments of the various governments enjoy 
exclusive privileges, and, amongst others, that of constituting their 
permanent organization which keeps the congress alive between its reg- 
ular sessions, then it is a proclamation to the world that this body has 
been transformed into a servant of officialism. It is simply an interna- 
tional geological survey trust, whose mission is to extenuate the errors 
and preserve the power of its constituent geological survey directors. It 
is merely a play upon words to call it an organization of nations, for the 
representatives of the nations have nothing to do with the appointments 
and for the most part are quite in ignorance of the persons who act in 
their name. It is a means of disposing of the always troublesome "in- 
dependent geologists"who owe allegiance only to theirscience, and who 
are taxed at home to provide the salaries of those who would thus deny 
them equal rights in an international institution. These independent 
geologists in all countries are an important factor in the establishment 
of facts, and. apart from the fact that they usually form the large ma- 
jority Of those whose work is geological, they act as a check upon hastx 
conclusions and imperfect work. But it is better that the bureau should 
have full time and liberty to declare itself than that any hasty conclu- 
sions on the questions submitted to it should be made. 
If. as some of the more influential and older members of the congress 
think, the congress has been diverted from its original excellent pur- 
pose and has fallen into the hands of those who, if they cannot use it 
for t heir own selfish purposes, intend to destroy it. the sooner this inten- 
tion is apparent the better. If, on the contrarx, it is to be the highesl 
tribunal of appeal on purely scientific matters, if it is to be outside of 
the influence of partisans, time servers or even governments, it will ad- 
mit to its counsels without distinction all who have earned the right to 
be considered geologists; nor will the decision be embarrassed by the 
adopt ion of a rule which would give to every nation represented only 
one vote. At least all the representatives of each nation would enjoy 
