EDITORIAL. 
367 
hard-fought battle, and the whole field should be well studied 
in advance and no hasty action taken, and all parties to the 
conflict should be prepared to gracefully submit in the end to 
the will of the majority. The solution of this question is of 
grave import, and involves questions intimately connected 
with the welfare of our society, profession and veterinary 
colleges, and we need to study the question in relation to all 
these in all their bearings. 
To fully comprehend the possible effect of such restric¬ 
tions upon the Association one must become fully conversant 
with its history from birth, and learn therefrom from what 
class of colleges it has heretofore drawn its chief support, who 
were the leading workers, essayists and discussants. If in the 
past these have been drawn mainly in proportion to numbers 
from the alumni of three-year colleges, it will be reasonably 
safe to conclude that the proposed restriction would, for the 
most part, reduce numbers without materially reducing the 
strength of the body as a whole. 
A careful study of Dr. Huidekoper’s address before the 
twenty-sixth annual meeting of the Society will shed much 
light upon this phase of the question, while the last two 
meetings, the most important so far held, are fresh in the 
memories of all. The men who do earnest and effective 
organizing work, present learned and valuable papers and 
reports, and lead in the discussion of scientific subjects, are 
the support of the Association, and the colleges from which 
J ate constitute our “ base of supplies ” which we 
should in no wise cut off. 
It is a notable fact that even in our largest meetings, when 
subjects come up for discussion from a purely scientific 
standpoint, the debate is generally confined to five or six 
members, and a recollection of who they are, proportionately, 
should indicate the possible result of the proposed amend¬ 
ment in our future discussions, which are, or should be, the 
most valuable part of our meetings. We should also count 
the possibility of schism or desertion, and carefully weigh its 
probable effect. We now have, in many respects, a very esti¬ 
mable Association, and we can ill afford to wreck it. Will 
