152 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 13 
and emphasis placed on the educational features of the law in its ad¬ 
ministration, there should come about a marked improvement in the 
accuracy of the statements in advertising circulars and shipping tags. 
Surely, men with fundamental training in the subjects of entomology 
and chemistry have a large opportunity, and fortunate indeed is the 
entomological staff that is able to command their services. The need 
of research in the field of insecticides is too evident to be denied. The 
science which should guide workers in this endeavor is only in its 
infancy, and the most important problems are still to be solved. 
P. J. P. 
Compensation has very properly received considerable attention of 
late. It is a vital and most important problem and unless it is solved 
satisfactorily, there will invariably be a lowering of professional stand¬ 
ards. The latest contribution along this line is an anonymous cir¬ 
cular distributed by a group of younger entomologists. This details 
the unfortunate situation of a number of the younger men entering the 
work, who because of their love of science were content to accept inade¬ 
quate compensation at the outset in The hope of material increases 
later. It is presumable that most young entomologists look forward 
to obtaining one of the more responsible positions, possibly fifty in 
number in this country, and are willing to take some chances. There 
are now over five hundred and fifty members of the Association, a 
large proportion being well-trained and within certain limits capable 
of filling any position. We should note in this connection that the 
eight past presidents attending the St. Louis meeting had an average 
age of 56 years, an average term of service of 31 years and the larger 
proportion of them would not rank as old men. These figures indicate 
an extended period of official activity, particularly in this class. In 
other words, there are many candidates and relatively few good posi¬ 
tions with comparatively infrequent changes and capable assistants 
are absolutely necessary to a proper discharge of the numerous respon¬ 
sible duties falling to that class of men. Inefficient assistants reflect 
upon the chief and in the long run upon the entire service. Students 
should not be urged to enter entomological work without some idea of 
the actual prospects and those in administrative positions must see the 
imperative need of adequate compensation if satisfactory standards are 
to be maintained. Research for the sake of research is praiseworthy. 
It is belittling the spirit of justice and equality, supposedly American 
virtues, to expect service out of all proportion to the compensation and 
opportunities offered and this latter has been altogether too frequent 
in the last few years. 
