THE 
m PHYTOIiOGIST. 
Vol. XVII, Nos. i & 2. Jan. & Feb, 1918. 
[Published March 11th, 1918.] 
THE NATIONAL UNION OP SCIENTIFIC WORKERS. 
T the request of the Executive Committee we enclose in the 
x~\- present issue of the New Phytolooist a memorandum on 
the aims and provisional constitution of the organisation which has 
recently been formed under the above title. This act is not to be 
taken by our readers as equivalent to an editorial expression of 
approval of the Committee’s statement, but is rather an expression 
of the belief that any proposal for the establishment of a national 
organisation of men and women of science has a prinia facie claim 
on the very serious attention of all scientific workers, and certainly 
not least of botanists. 
We do not propose to discuss the memorandum in detail at this 
time, but we should like to suggest the view that the Committee 
may actually be taking that “ false step” which “might be disas¬ 
trous ” “ by exciting antagonisms ” among those scientific workers— 
probably, we think, numerous and many influential—who are 
exceedingly unlikely to approve of the formation of a Union, the 
aims (not one of the aims) of which are specifically stated to be 
“ the promotion by corporate action of the economic interests of its 
members.” It is true that the Committee are at some pains to 
explain and qualify this statement of aims, but the explanation and 
qualification do not remove the objection referred to, so long as 
this resolution stands alone as the key resolution of those who are 
promoting the formation of the Union, and especially since it is 
emphasized by the remark that “ economic questions must always 
be the primary concern of the association.” 
We must not be misunderstood. We are not prepared to deny 
that the formation of an association having the functions of a trade 
union may be necessary, in order to give the individual scientific 
worker a status commensurate with the importance we all hope 
his work will acquire in the future national life ; and if any union 
of the kind is to be formed it is clear that it should be on a strictly 
