EDITORIAL. 
5 
of the situation as enunciated in the above quotations is, in the 
main, shared by those members of the profession in America 
who have studied the question and know the contending elements 
which are to be harmonized. The necessity of such a consum« 
mation is admitted ; the means for its accomplishment is at 
present a very live issue, which cannot be other than benefitted 
by the freest discussion and most earnest study by the most 
active minds of our members, both in our association meetings 
and in our professional journals. 
At the meeting of the Association of Veterinary Faculties- 
of North America, held at the same time as the one to which 
the above-mentioned report was made, this same matter was very 
thoroughly discussed, and the benefits of uniformity in college 
requirements and in examining boards was fully appreciated, 
culminating in the naming of a committee (consisting of the 
editors of the Jotir^tal^ Magasme^ and Review) to confer with 
and urge upon the promoters of State laws establishing such 
boards the urgent necessity of securing uniformity in require¬ 
ments in the several commonwealths. The Review pursued 
the subject in the issue for November, presenting the same as¬ 
pect’ of the proposition, and invited the co-operation and opinions 
of all in the effort to attain that object. 
The question of a national licensing board is not a new one,, 
but it is a vexed one. Examining boards, as they are being 
formed, are State institutions ; for the Federal government to 
create a power superior to these boards would be an interference 
with the rights of States under the Constitution, and therefore 
inadmissible. There is no law, however, to prevent an amalga¬ 
mation of State boards of examiners, by mutual consent, and 
the selection of an examining committee, consisting of a dele¬ 
gate from every represented State, these members to be the ex¬ 
aminers of applicants in every portion of the United States, thus 
exacting a uniform requirement of proficiency and conferring a 
uniform degree. A position upon the “ National Board of Vet¬ 
erinary Medical Examiners,” or the “ Veterinary Medical Ex¬ 
amining Board of America,” would be a trust of the highest pro- 
