264 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 
CENTRALIZED AUTHORITY AND DEMOCRACY IN OUR 
HIGHER INSTITUTIONS: 
By Proressor EDWIN D. STARBUCK 
STATH UNIVERSITY OF IOWA 
| T is somewhat embarrassing to appear on a program that I myself 
have assisted in devising. It demands an explanation. It is, in 
short, an instance of too highly centralized authority in this associa- 
tion in the hands of our lively general secretary. It seemed eminently 
desirable to the committee that this topic to which I am to address 
myself should have consideration. When the first draft of the program 
came into the hands of the secretary, with a blank left after this topic, 
he rashly placed my name after it, rushed to print and scattered it 
broadcast over the country. So I am here against my will but, I must 
confess, not wholly reluctantly. The topic is of immense importance. 
It was a vain endeavor to find the proper person who should address 
you on this theme. All presidents and all who aspire to such position 
of power were condemned to silence from the start. That cut off the 
flower of the genius of the nation at a single stroke. The presiding 
officer of our department had an intimate way of knowing that presi- 
dents, being under indictment, so to speak, could not be trusted with 
the topic. There has been much written and spoken latterly on the 
theme, but mostly by those whose ambition has been punctured, whose 
pride has been stung or whose wings have been clipped. Were any of 
these turned loose in this place, they might enact a bloody scene not 
entirely consistent with the proper spirit of a religious association. 
Our general secretary must have known that I had no ax to grind, no 
grievance to right, no power except the power of righteousness to fear, 
and that I should speak in a wholly guileless manner. It is a tempta- 
tion to admit that this was another instance of his rare insight; for 
however much my judgment may be at fault and wisdom limited, I 
shall address myself to this most delicate topic entirely without animus. 
I might follow the example, indeed, of one of our periodicals which 
recently declared that, with a single exception, theirs was the only 
sheet in the nation that is not subsidized. If I lay claim to being, with 
but an exception or two, the only mind in the nation that is dispas- 
sionate on this question, then every member in the audience will con- 
gratulate himself that he is that other person and we shall all be think- 
ing through the subject helpfully to one another. 
1 Read at the meeting of the Department of Universities and Colleges of the 
Religious Education Association, Nashville, March 9, 1910. 
