36 
P. 8. KILLINGS 
repeat vvliat others had said; and thirdly, the successful candidate 
should receive the appointment for at least ten years; otherwise, 
I do not know a man who could afford to take the position for 
$4,000 per year, as proposed by Mr. Kiefer, and give up a suc¬ 
cessful practice. 
It is a disgraceful characteristic of our National as well as 
State Governments that, so far as suitably rewarding the work of 
scientific men, they are dead beats in comparison to the world at 
large. They seem to think that the “ honor ” pays. They for¬ 
get that “ honor ” and starvation wages do not find bread and 
butter for wife and children, or supply the means for a comfort¬ 
able old ao;e. 
Civil service reform, moderate pay, and pensioning on retire¬ 
ment is the only way by which a Government can ever hope to 
procure the services of really able scientific men. 
To my colleagues of the veterinary profession, I have this 
word to say : Do not undervalue the truth of my words, that it is 
of the utmost importance to us as a profession, and to our future 
as well, that this position be filled by a man who will work to 
bring our profession into prominence ; who will, while making a 
name for himself, do it by working entirely in the interests of the 
profession and the people. The plan proposed by Mr. Lefevre is 
crude in the extreme. It is nothing more or less than our old 
“ Commission ” over again—a one-man power. State veterinari¬ 
ans are to be hydra-headed monsters, or mediums, all over the 
State at one time. It knows nothing of local veterinary officers. 
Owners are to report cases to the Governor of the respective 
State, who is to send the State Veteiinarian to investigate the 
case. Poor fellow ! It will be hard if four or five notices, in as 
many distant parts of the State, should be sent in at once. Like 
a bee in a bucket, he would scarcely know which way to go to get 
out of the scrape. 
The plan of Mr. Kiefer, or a somewhat similar one, is far 
more likely to lead to favorable results. Let us learn to hasten 
slowly—to look before we leap. One wonders who advises our 
wise legislators on the question. Why not invite three or more 
representative members of our profession to Washington, pay 
