Author . 
 
 Title 
 
 Imprint. 
 
 18 — !7372-2 OPO 
 
RELATIONS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 
 TO HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, 
 
 BY 
 CHARLES D. WALCOTT. 
 
 [Reprinted from Science, N. S., Vol. XIII., No. SS9, Pages 1001-1015, June 28, 1901.'] 
 

 A m =>^ 
 
[Reprinted from Science, N. S., Vol. XIII., No. 339, Pages 1001-1015, June 28, 1901.'] 
 
 RELATIONS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TO HIGHER 
 EDUCATION AND RESEARCH.* 
 
 When one considers the relations of the 
 General Government to higher education 
 and research, probably the first question to 
 arise is, What, within the limitations im- 
 posed by the Constitution, can the Govern- 
 ment do ? Other pertinent inquiries are : 
 What has been done ? What is the pres- 
 ent policy of the Government? How are 
 its educational resources being utilized? 
 What can be done that is not already being 
 well done by our universities, colleges and 
 technical institutions ? 
 
 Many of our wisest and best statesmen 
 and jurists believe that the General Gov- 
 ernment has no power, under the Con- 
 stitution, to appropriate money for educa- 
 tional purposes, that important function 
 having been left to the States. A glance 
 backward over the history of colonial and 
 national discussion and legislation is inter- 
 esting and instructive. 
 
 HISTORY OF COLONIAL AND NATIONAL DIS- 
 CUSSION. 
 
 In colonial times Oxford, Cambridge and 
 Edinburgh were to American youth the 
 centers of learning and higher education. 
 These famous universities furnished all that 
 was needed by the well-to-do student, and 
 local colleges were given little attention and 
 scant support. The founders of our college 
 system were obliged to meet adverse condi- 
 tions which developed the same qualities 
 
 * Substance of address before the University of 
 Chicago, delivered June 17, 1901. 
 
 that led their compatriots to the conquest 
 of the continent. 
 
 Early in the seventeenth century (1619) 
 the Virginia Company granted ten thousand 
 acres of land ' for the foundation of a semi- 
 nary of learning for the English in Vir- 
 ginia.' At the suggestion of the King, the 
 bishops of England, in the same year, raised 
 fifteen hundred pounds to aid in the educa- 
 tion of the Indians in connection with the 
 proposed grant of land for the seminary. 
 A portion of the land was occupied and the 
 seminary was started under the direction of 
 George Thorpe, a man of high standing in 
 England. But the institution was short- 
 lived. It, with its inmates and founder, 
 perished in the Indian massacre of 1622. 
 
 In 1624 an island in the Susquehanna 
 river was granted for the founding and 
 maintenance of a university, but the un- 
 dertaking lapsed with the death of its pro- 
 jector and of James I. and the fall of the 
 Virginia Company. 
 
 For a time the movement for higher edu- 
 cation was delayed, but in 1636 Harvard 
 was founded ; then William and Mary, in 
 1660 ; Yale, in 1701 ; the College of N'ew 
 Jersey, in 1746 ; the University of Penn- 
 sylvania, in 1751 ; Columbia, in 1754 ; 
 Brown, in 1764; Dartmouth, in 1769 ; the 
 University of Maryland, in 1784; the Uni- 
 versity of ]S"orth Carolina, in 1789-'95 ; the 
 University of Vermont, in 1791, and Bow- 
 doin, in 1794. 
 
 The university spirit was well developed 
 
SCIENCE. 
 
 when the Constitutional Convention met in 
 1787. Madison, who was a member of the 
 convention, acting in harmony with the 
 known wishes of Washington, proposed to 
 give the National Legislature power — 
 
 To establish a nniversity. 
 
 To encourage, by premiums and provisions, the ad- 
 vancement of useful knowledge and the discussion of 
 science. 
 
 Charles Pinckney also earnestly advo- 
 cated a plan for the establishment of a 
 national university, and Mr. Wilson sup- 
 ported the motion ; but the matter was 
 dropped, on the ground that Congress al- 
 ready had sufficient power to enact laws for 
 the support of national education. 
 
 John Adams, who agreed with Washing- 
 ton in believing that ' scientific institutions 
 are the best lasting protection of a popular 
 government,' was always a strong advocate 
 of the promotion of intelligence among the 
 people. He secured the insertion in the 
 constitution of Massachusetts of a provision 
 recognizing the obligation of a State to pur- 
 sue a higher and broader policy than the 
 mere protection of the temporal interests 
 and political rights of the individual. This 
 provision read as follows : 
 
 It shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates 
 in all future periods of this Commonwealth, to cherish 
 the interests of literature and the sciences * * * to 
 encourage private societies, and public institutions, 
 rewards and immunities for the promotion of agricul- 
 ture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, 
 and a natural history of the country.* 
 
 Washington sought to impress on Con- 
 gress and the people his earnest conviction 
 that the Government should establish and 
 support a great national university. To 
 this end he made a bequest in his will, 
 and if Congress had treated it as the Legis- 
 lature of Virginia treated his bequest for 
 the endowment of Washington College, 
 there would be to-day a fund suflScient to 
 give adequate support to a great institu- 
 tion for investigation and original research 
 
 * Massachusetts Public Statutes, 1882, p. 34. 
 
 in the capital city. In his will Washington 
 expressed the fears he entertained as to the 
 effect of foreign education on the youth of 
 America, and the desirability of having an 
 American universitj'. His language was as 
 follows : 
 
 That as it has always been a source of serious re- 
 gret with me to see the youth of these United States 
 sent to foreign countries for the purpose of education, 
 often before their minds are formed, or they have im- 
 bibed any adequate ideas of the happiness of their 
 own, contracting too frequently not only habits of 
 dissipation and extravagance, but principles un- 
 friendly to republican government, and to the true 
 and genuine liberties of mankind, which thereafter 
 are rarely overcome. For these reasons it has been 
 my ardent wish to see a plan devised on a liberal 
 scale which would have a tendency to spread sys- 
 tematic ideas through all parts of this rising empire, 
 thereby to do away with local attachments and State 
 prejudices, as far as tbe'natnre of things would, or 
 indeed, ought to admit, from our national councils. 
 Looking anxiously forward to the accomplishment of 
 so desirable an object as this is (in mj' estimation), 
 my mind has not been able to contemplate any plan 
 more likely to effect the measure than the establish- 
 ment of a university in a central part of the United 
 States, to which the youth of fortune and talents from 
 all parts thereof might be sent for the completion of 
 their education in all the branches of polite litera- 
 ture, in arts, and sciences, in acquiring knowledge 
 in the principles of politics and good government, 
 and (as a matter .'of infinite importance, in my judg- 
 ment), by associating with each other, and forming 
 friendships in juvenile years, be enabled to free them- 
 selves in a proper degree from those local prejudices 
 and habitual jealousies which have just been men- 
 tioned, and which when carried to excess are never- 
 failing sources of disquietude to the public mind, 
 and pregnant of mischievous consequences to this 
 country. 
 
 Madison, though defeated in his effort to 
 secure the approval of the Constitutional 
 Convention in respect to the establishment 
 of a national university, did not fail, when 
 President, to call the attention of Congress 
 to the subject. In his second annual mes- 
 sage he said : 
 
 I cannot presume it to be unreasonable to invite 
 your attention to the advantages of superadding to 
 the means of education provided by the several States 
 a seminary of learning instituted by the national 
 
SCIENCE. 
 
 legislature, within the limits of their exclusive juris- 
 diction, the expense of which might be defraj'ed or 
 reimbursed out of the vacant grounds which have 
 accrued to the nation within those limits. (Annals 
 of Congress, 1810, '11, '13.)* 
 
 Various other attempts have beea made 
 from time to time to establish a national 
 university. Blackmar says : 
 
 In 1796 a proposition was before Congress in the 
 form of a memorial praying for the foundation of a 
 university. (Ex. Doc, 4th Congress, 9d session.) 
 
 Again, in 1811 a committee was appointed by Con- 
 gress to report on the question of the establishment 
 of a seminary of learning by the National Legisla- 
 ture. The committee reported unfavorably, deeming 
 it unconstitutional for the Government to found, en- 
 dow and control the proposed seminary. (Ex. Doc, 
 11th Congress, 3d session.) 
 
 In 1816 another committee was appointed to con- 
 sider the same subject, and again the scheme failed. 
 (Ex. Doc, 14th Congress, 2d session.) f 
 
 When the disposition, of the Smithson 
 fund was under consideration (1838-1846), 
 the subject of founding a national univer- 
 sity was fully and freely discussed, and the 
 plan was rejected by Congress. 
 
 Again in 1873 the matter was revived by 
 the Hon. J. W. Hoyt, who from that time 
 onward never ceased to labor diligently for 
 a national university. Largely owing to 
 his zeal and activity a committee of 100 
 was formed, various bills were introduced in 
 Congress and a Senate Committee was cre- 
 ated to establish a national universitj'. But 
 Congress always looked on the scheme 
 with suspicion and not one of the various 
 bills offered was ever acted upon by the 
 Senate or House of Representatives. 
 
 The trend of opinion has been and is that 
 the Government should not found a na- 
 tional university isi the sense suggested by 
 Washington and his followers. The Con- 
 gress has, however, generously aided techni- 
 
 * ' The History of Federal and State Aid to Higher 
 Education in the United States,' by Frank W. Black-' 
 mar, Ph.D. : Bureau of Education, Contributions to 
 American Educational History, edited by Herbert B. 
 Adams, No. 9, 1890, p. 32. 
 
 tOp. cit, pp. 39, 40. 
 
 cal and higher education by grants of land 
 to States and Territories for educational 
 purposes. 
 
 The policy was inaugurated under the 
 general authority of the famous Ordinance 
 of July 13, 1787. Conformably thereto a 
 contract was entered into between the Ohio 
 Company and the Board of Treasury of the 
 United States, on the 27th of July, 1787, 
 whereby lot 16 in every township was given 
 for the maintenance of public schools and 
 not more than two complete townships were 
 given perpetually for the purpose of a uni- 
 versity, the land to be applied to the pur- 
 pose by the legislature of the State. * 
 
 The most important act, after that of 
 1787, was that of 1862, granting land for 
 the endowment of colleges for teaching agri- 
 culture and the mechanical arts. It is to 
 be noted that by this act the responsibility 
 was thrown entirely upon the States, and 
 that, so far as the administration of the 
 fund was concerned, it was State, not na- 
 tional, education. 
 
 The total grants of lands aggregate 
 about 13,000,000 acres, or 20,000 square 
 miles. Of this 2,500,000 acres, or 4,000 
 square miles, were for the establishment of 
 higher institutions of learning. This land, 
 divided among thirty States and Territories, 
 gives an average of a little more than 80,- 
 000 acres, or about 130 square miles. For 
 technical schools, called ' Colleges for the 
 benefit of agriculture and the mechanical 
 arts,' Congress has granted to forty-five 
 States 10,500,000 acres, or about 16,000 
 square miles. This is an average of 230,- 
 000 acres, or about 360 square miles. Con- 
 gress now grants annually to each of the 
 forty-five States S25,000, f a total of more 
 
 * Bancroft, 'History of the Constitution,' N. Y., 
 1882, Vol. XL, pp. 435, 436. Also Geo. B. Germanu, 
 ' National Legislation concerning Education, ' New 
 York, 1899, pp. 19, 20. 
 
 t Act approved August 30, 1890. Statutes at 
 Large, A'ol. 26, p. 417. 
 
SCIENCE. 
 
 than a million dollars, all of which is 
 expended under the direction of State 
 boards. 
 
 The Government maintains, and has 
 maintained since 1802, an academy for 
 training its army officers ; also, since 1845, 
 an academy for training its naval ofiBcers. 
 The Government does not maintain and 
 never has maintained any institution for 
 training its civil officers. 
 
 The policy of the Government, as gathered 
 from its acts, has been to relegate the di- 
 rect control of education to the States, 
 aiding them in this work by grants of land, 
 and in the case of technical education by 
 grants of money also. 
 
 PRESENT POLICY OF THE GOVEENMEXT. 
 
 Tarning, now, to the question, "What is 
 the present policy of the Government? we 
 have just seen that aid is given by grants 
 of land, and in the case of the experiment 
 stations by grants of monej^ As to the' 
 use of its literary and scientific collections 
 by students its policy was defined by a 
 public resolution of Congress approved 
 April 12, 1892, which reads as follows : 
 
 Whereas large oollectioDS illustrative of the various 
 arts and sciences and facilitating literary and scientific 
 research have been accumulated by the action of Con- 
 gress through a series of years at the national capital ; 
 and 
 
 Whereas it was the original purpose of the Govern- 
 ment thereby to promote research and the diffusion of 
 knowledge, and it is now the settled policy and pres- 
 ent practice of those charged with the care of these 
 collections specially to encourage students who devote 
 their time to the investigation and study of any 
 branch of knowledge by allowing to them all proper 
 use thereof ; and 
 
 Whereas it is represented that the enumeration of 
 these facilities and the formal statement of this policy 
 will encourage the establishment and endowment of 
 institutions of learning at the seat of Government, 
 and promote the' work of educat'on by attracting 
 students to avail themselves of the advantages afore- 
 said under the direction of competent instructors : 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, by the Senate and House of Be2)resentafiucs 
 of the United Stalesof America, in Congress assembled. 
 
 That the facilities for research and illustration in the 
 following and any other Governmental collections 
 now existing or hereafter to be established in the city 
 of Washington for the promotion of knowledge shall 
 be accessible, under such rules and restrictions as the 
 oflScers iu charge of each collection may prescribe, 
 subject to such authority as is now or may hereafter 
 be permitted by law, to the scientific investigators and 
 to students of any institution of higher education 
 now incorporated or hereafter to be incorporated un- 
 der the laws of Congress or the.District of Columbia, 
 to wit : 
 
 One. Of the Library of Congress. 
 
 Two. Of the NationalJMuseum. 
 
 Three. Of the Patent Office. 
 
 Four. Of the Bureau of Education. 
 
 Five. Of the Bureau of Ethnology. 
 
 Six. Of the Army Medical Museum. 
 
 Seven. Of the Department of Agriculture. 
 
 Eight. Of the Fish Commission. 
 
 Nine. Of the Botanic Gardens. 
 
 Ten. Of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
 
 Eleven. Of the Geofogical Survey. 
 
 Twelve. Of the Naval Observatory. 
 
 The privileges of this act, it will be noted, 
 are limited to scientific investigators and 
 students of institutions incorporated un- 
 der the laws of Congress or the District of 
 Columbia. This limitation was removed 
 by an act approved March 3, 1901, which 
 reads as follows : 
 
 Joint resolution to facilitate the utilization of the 
 Government Departments for the purposes of research, 
 in extension of the policy enunciated by Congress in 
 the joint resolution approved April 12, 1892. 
 
 Whereas * * * 
 
 Besolved, That facilities for study and research i a the 
 Government departments, the Library of Congress, the 
 National Museum, the Zoological Park, the Bureau 
 of Enthnology, the Fish Commission, the Botanic 
 Gardens and similar institutions hereafter estab- 
 lished shall be afforded to scientific investigators and 
 to duly qualified individual students, and graduates 
 of institutions of learning in the several States and 
 Territories, as well as in the District of Columbia, 
 under such rules and restrictions as the heads of the 
 departments and bureaus mentioned may prescribe. 
 
 DISCUSSION AND ACTION IN RECENT YEARS. 
 
 Dr. Daniel C Gilman, in 1897, summa- 
 rized the situation in relation to the estab-. 
 
SCIENCE. 
 
 lishment of a national universitj', as fol- 
 lows : * 
 
 First, there is a strong desire, not only among the 
 residents of the Federal city, but among the lovers 
 and promoters of learning throughout the country, 
 that the libraries, collections, instruments, and appa- 
 ratus belonging to the Government should be opened 
 to students, not as a favor, nor by exception, nor as a 
 passing entertainment, but for study and experiment, 
 according to suitable regulations, and especially under 
 the guidance of such able teachers as may be already 
 engaged in the service of the Government, or may be 
 enlisted hereafter for the particular offices of educa- 
 tion. So far as this there -n-ould be a unanimous, or 
 nearly unanimous, assent. 
 
 Second, the universities existing in Washington 
 and near to it, including those of New England, 
 would regard with disfavor, and probably with dis- 
 trust, an effort to establish, by congressional action, 
 the University of the United States. In some places 
 there would be positive opposition. * * * 
 
 Third, outside of academic circles, as well as in- 
 side, there is a great distrust of the principle that 
 Congress should provide for and direct university 
 education. The fears may be foolish. It is easy to 
 laugh at them. Apprehensions may be pronounced 
 groundless ; nevertheless it will be difficult to get rid 
 of them. There will be an ever-present expectation 
 of political interference, first in the governing body, 
 then in the faculty, and finally in the subjects and 
 methods of instruction . It is true that partisan en- 
 tanglement may be avoided, but it will be difficult 
 indeed to escape the thraldom. 
 
 In the same article it is suggested that 
 the Smithsonian Institution take charge, so 
 that— 
 
 The literary and scientific institutions of Washing- 
 ton may be associated and correlated so far, and so 
 far only, as relates to the instruction and assistance, 
 under proper restrictions, of qualified students. * * * 
 Such a learned society may be developed more readily 
 around the Smithsonian Institution, with less fric- 
 tion, less expense, less peril, and with the prospect of 
 more permanent aud widespread advantages to the 
 country, than by a dozen denominational seminaries 
 or oue colossal University of the United States. 
 
 In February, 1899, Dr. William H. Dall, 
 of the Geological Survey, outlined very 
 clearlj' the conditions and possibilities for 
 postgraduate work in Washington, and 
 urged that if any organization was at- 
 
 * Century llagazine, November, 1897. 
 
 tempted it should be free from Government 
 control.* 
 
 Little, if anj', advantage was taken of 
 the congressional resolution of 1892, which 
 restricted opportunities for study and re- 
 search to the educational organizations of 
 the District of Columbia, but with the re- 
 cent rapid growth of the Department of 
 Agriculture, a considerable number of stu- 
 dents have been given opportunity for 
 study and practical training. Secretary 
 Wilson has taken the lead in actually 
 bringing qualified students into the labora- 
 tories of a Government department and 
 setting them to work. He has inaugurated 
 a new class, called ' student assistants,' and 
 has demonstrated its practical value. In 
 his report for 1898 he says if 
 
 George Washington, by his will, left property to 
 be devoted to university education in the District of 
 Colum bia. There is no university in the land where 
 the young farmer may pursue post-graduate studies 
 in all the sciences relating to production. The scien- 
 tific divisions of the Department of Agriculture can, 
 to some extent, provide post-graduate facilities. Our 
 chiefs of division are very proficient in their lines ; 
 our apparatus the best obtainable ; our libraries the 
 most complete of any in the nation. We can direct 
 the studies of a few bright young people in each di- 
 viriou, and when the department requires help, as it 
 often does, these j'oung scientists will be obtainable. 
 They should be gradua^es of agricultural colleges 
 and come to the Department of Agriculture through 
 a system of examination that would bring the best 
 and be fair to all applicants. The capacity of the 
 department is limited, but something can be done 
 that will indicate to Congress the value of the plan. 
 The department often needs assistants to take the 
 place of those who are tempted to accept higher sal- 
 aries in State iustitutions The opening of our lab- 
 oratories to post-graduate work would provide an 
 eligible list from which to fill vacancies as they oc- 
 cur, supply temporary agents, and be a source from 
 which State institutions might get assistance in scien- 
 tific lines. 
 
 The Department of Agriculture uatui'ally 
 turns to the professedly agricultural col- 
 
 * American Naturalist, Vol . 33, pp. 97-107. 
 t' Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture,' 
 1898, pp. 18, 19. 
 
6 
 
 SCIENCE, 
 
 leges for its student assistants, but if other 
 institutions gave their students such in- 
 struction as would qualify them for the 
 work of that department, there seems to be 
 no good reason why they should be dis- 
 criminated against. 
 
 As the development of the work pro- 
 gressed in the scientific bureaus, it be- 
 came impossible to find men qualified 
 for the permanent positions open to them. 
 Graduate students were obtainable, but 
 they were without practical training for 
 the work. The Civil Service Commis- 
 sion was called on, but it had no eligi- 
 bles on its lists. The only way out of the 
 difficulty seemed to be for the heads of 
 the scientific bureaus to select bright, well- 
 educated young men and train them ; this 
 they have been doing for several years. In 
 the Geological Survey graduate students, 
 being the best men available for temporary 
 field assistants in both geologic and topo- 
 graphic work, are given preference. The 
 Survey cooperates with such institutions of 
 learning as are willing to give the advanced 
 instruction necessary to fit students to en- 
 gage in the several special lines of investi- 
 gation. This cooperation consists mainly 
 in the employment of graduate students 
 and instructors. A high standard is main- 
 tained by the character of the examina- 
 tions held for selecting temporary em- 
 ployes. For example, in the examination 
 for temporary geologic assistants held April 
 23 and 24, 1901, the applicants were obliged 
 to meet the following requirements : 
 
 First. To write an essay of more than a thousand 
 words, setting forth either the course and results of 
 an original geologic investigation by the applicant 
 or the main features of the geology of some State. 
 
 Second. To answer satisfactorily seven questions, 
 so selected as to test the applicant's knowledge of the 
 science of geology in general. 
 
 Third. To select one of the five specialties,, stra- 
 tigraphy, petrography, paleontology, physiography, 
 and glaciology, and make clear the possession of an 
 adeijuate knowledge thereof. 
 
 The weight given to the various subjects 
 was as follows : 
 Geological essay, including compo- 
 sition and drawing 30 per cent. 
 
 General geology 15 per cent. 
 
 Special geology 25 per cent. 
 
 Education and experience 30 per cent. 
 
 Fifty-two persons took this examination, 
 and of these forty-six made an average of 
 more than 70 per cent. The successful 
 applicants have received degrees for aca- 
 demic and graduate study from the follow- 
 ing institutions of learning : 
 
 Harvard University 13 
 
 Johns Hopkins University 6 
 
 University of Chicago 6 
 
 Yale University 5 
 
 Cornell University ' 4 
 
 University of Wisconsin 2 
 
 University of California 2 
 
 University of Kansas 2 
 
 Stanford University 3 
 
 Iowa State College 2 
 
 Amherst College 2 
 
 Munich 2 
 
 Alfred University 
 
 Beloit College 
 
 Columbia University 
 
 Col umbian University 
 
 Cornell College, Iowa 
 
 Denison University 
 
 Gates College 
 
 German Wallace College 
 
 Hamilton Coll ege 
 
 Heidelberg College, Ohio 
 
 Heidelbesg, Germany 
 
 Indiana State University 
 
 Lafayette College 
 
 Lawrence Scientific School 
 
 Moore's Hill College 
 
 Ohio Wesleyan University 
 
 University of Illinois 
 
 University of Minnesota 
 
 University of Missouri 
 
 University of Nebraska 
 
 University of the City of New York 
 
 University of Oregon 
 
 University of Soiith Carolina 
 
 Williams College 
 
 The total of forty-six successful appli- 
 cants divides by State residence as follows : 
 Massachusetts 9 
 
SCIENCE. 
 
 Illinois 7 
 
 New York 7 
 
 Iowa 3 
 
 Conneoticnt 2 
 
 Indiana 2 
 
 Missouri 2 
 
 Pennsylvania 2 
 
 South Carolina 2 
 
 California 
 
 Colorado 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Oregon 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 Wyoming 
 
 Of those who passed, forty have received 
 appointments to temporary positions. It is 
 probable that 50 per cent, of the number 
 will become permanent members of the Sur- 
 vey ; 38 per cent, already hold or will ob- 
 tain positions as instructors in educational 
 institutions, and the others will enter State 
 surveys and private employment. 
 
 Of the temporary geologic force of the 
 Survey other than those mentioned, and 
 who receive pay only when actually em- 
 ployed, the majority are connected with in- 
 stitutions of learning, as follows : 
 
 Harvard University 4 
 
 University of Chicago 4 
 
 University of Wisconsin 3 
 
 Columbia University 2 
 
 Stanford University 2 
 
 Yale University 2 
 
 Amherst College 
 
 Clark University 
 
 Colby University 
 
 Johns Hopkins University 
 
 Ohio State University 
 
 University of Jlichigan 
 
 University of California 
 
 University of Virginia 
 
 University of West Virginia 
 
 University of South Dakota 
 
 Vanderbilt University 
 
 Williams College 
 
 The preceding statements illustrate the 
 intimate relation existing between one di- 
 
 vision of one bureau of one department of 
 the Government and the higher educational 
 interests of the country. A close analysis 
 of the personnel of other bureaus will doubt- 
 less show that the Government is thus in- 
 directly doing a great work in fostering 
 higher education and research, and it will 
 at the same time be seen that the educa- 
 tional institutions of the country are train- 
 ing men and women for the highest scientific 
 and technical positions in the Government 
 service. 
 
 The Association of Agricultural Colleges 
 and Experiment Stations several years ago 
 realized the importance of giving its stu- 
 dents the training which would enable 
 them to meet the conditions prevailing in 
 Washington. A committee of graduate 
 study in "Washington was appointed in 
 July, 1897.* In the following April this 
 committee met in Washington to study the 
 conditions under which work might be 
 undertaken. In a report made in Novem- 
 ber, 1898, the committee said in part : 
 
 After long deliberation and full discussion your 
 committee are unanimously of the opinion that the 
 time is ripe for expeditious action. 
 
 The inquiries and investigations so far made lead 
 the committee to the conclusion that it is entirely 
 practicable to provide for the use of the Library of 
 
 * Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed 
 by the President to investigate, consider, and, if 
 practicable, devise a plan whereby graduate students 
 of the laud grant and other colleges may have access 
 to and the use of the Congressional Library and the 
 collections in the Smithsonian Institution, the Na- 
 tional Museum, and the scientific bureaus of the 
 various departments at Washington of the United 
 States Government for the purposes of study and re- 
 search, said plan to include suggestions as to the 
 manner in which such work may be organized, co- 
 ordinated, and directed to the best advantage ; the 
 composition and organization of such a staff as may 
 be necessary to properly coordinate and direct such 
 work, and also an outline of such legislation as may 
 be necessary to effect the general purposes of this 
 resolution. (Proc. Twelfth jinnual Convention of 
 the Assn. Amer. Agricultural Colleges and Exper- 
 iment Stations, held at Wash., D. C, Nov. 15-17, 
 1898, being Bull. 65, Dept. Agriculture, p. 58. ) 
 
SCIENCE. 
 
 Congress and tbe collections of the Smithsonian In- 
 stitution, the National Museum, and of tbe Tarious 
 scientific and other bureaus in the several depart- 
 ments of the general government, by graduate stu- 
 dents of the land grant and other colleges, for study 
 and research, and that it is also practicable to organ- 
 ize, coordinate, and direct such work so as to make 
 it eminently effective. 
 
 The committee has been greatly desirous that some 
 existing agency be found to undertake such work of 
 organization, coordination, and direction, and have 
 naturally turned to the Smithsonian Institution as 
 the one best fitted for the purpose. 
 
 The committee is unable, at the present time, to 
 present a complete outline of the legislation necessary 
 to efiect the general purposes of the resolution. It 
 submits tentatively, however, that Congress might be 
 asked to provide for the establishment of an admin- 
 istrative oflicein Washington, preferably in the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, in which graduate students of the 
 institutions we represent, and others as well, might 
 be enrolled and directed to the appropriate depart- 
 ments (Bull. 65, Dept. Agriculture, pp. 61, 62). 
 
 In a report by the subcommittee of the 
 committee of the National Educational As- 
 sociation on the establishment of a national 
 university, we find that the active coop- 
 eration of the Smithsonian Institution is 
 contemplated in the conduct of the proposed 
 school or bureau, but that the committee of 
 the regents of the Smithsonian Institution 
 feel that the povpersof the institution, as at 
 present organized, are insufficient to em- 
 brace the work proposed.* 
 
 At a meeting of the Smithsonian regents 
 held on January 24, 1900, Dr. Alexander 
 Graham Bell iutroduced a resolution to the 
 effect that Congress be asked to provide for 
 an assistant secretary of the Smitlisonian 
 Institution in charge of research in the Gov- 
 ernment departmeats, etc. The resolution 
 was referred to a committee, which, on Jan- 
 uary 23, 1901, reported a modified form of 
 the original resolution. This modified 
 form was adopted by the board of regents. 
 It reads as follows : 
 
 In order to facilitate the utilization of the Govern- 
 ment departments for the purpose of research, in ex- 
 
 * Science, N. S., Vol. XI., March 16, 1900, pp. 
 410-414. 
 
 tension of the policy enunciated by Congress in the 
 Joint Resolution approved April 12, 1892 : 
 
 Besolceil, That it is the sense of the board that it is 
 desirable that Congress extend this resolution so as to 
 afford facilities for study to all properly qualified 
 students or graduates of universities, other than those 
 mentioned in the resolution, and provide for the ap- 
 pointment of an ofiioer whose duty it shall be to as- 
 certain and make known what facilities for research 
 exist in the Government departments, and arrange 
 with the heads of the departments, and with the offi- 
 cers in charge of the Government collections, on terms 
 satisfactory to them, rules and regulations under 
 ■which suitably qualified persons might have access 
 to these collections for the purpose of research with 
 due regard to the needs and requirements of the work 
 of the Government ; and that it should also be his 
 duty to direct, in a manner satisfactory to the heads 
 of such departments and olficers in charge, the re- 
 searches of such persons into lines which will pro- 
 mote the interests of the Government and the devel- 
 opment of the natural resources, agriculture, manu- 
 factures and commerce of the country, and (generally) 
 promote the progress of science and the useful arts, 
 and the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 
 men. 
 
 This resolution referred the matter to 
 Congress. Many members of both Houses 
 doubt whether Congress has power under 
 the Constitution to appropriate monej' raised 
 bj' taxation for purposes of education, and 
 nothing was done by Congress, as the reso- 
 lution was not officially brought before it. 
 
 ORG.^XIZATION OF THE WASHINGTOX ME- 
 MORIAL INSTITDTIOX. 
 
 At this point the Washington Academy 
 of Sciences undertook to give the proposi- 
 tion to utilize the resources of the Govern- 
 ment for higher education and research a 
 practical form, independent of direct Gov- 
 ernment support or control. For several 
 months the Academj' had been conferring 
 with the George Washington Memorial As- 
 sociation relative to erecting in Washington 
 a memorial building to be dedicated to sci- 
 ence, literature and the liberal arts. The 
 president of the Academy suggested to the 
 Memorial Association that it should so 
 amend its act of incorporation that it could 
 
SCIENCE. 
 
 9 
 
 cooperate with the Academy ia carr3'ing out 
 the objects common to both organizations. 
 The suggested amendments were made, and 
 an agreement was entered into substantially 
 as follows : 
 
 The objects of the George Washington 
 Memorial Association are, first, as implied 
 in its name, the creation of a memorial to 
 G-eorge Washington ; and second, as stated 
 in its amended act of incorporation, the in- 
 crease in the city of Washington of oppor- 
 tunities and facilities for higher education, 
 as recommended by George AVashington in 
 his various annual messages to Congress, 
 notably the first — i. e. , 'the promotion of 
 science and literature,' substantially as set 
 forth in his last will, and by and through 
 such other plans and methods as may be 
 necessary or suitable. The object of the 
 Washington Academy of Sciences, the fed- 
 erated head of the scientific societies of 
 Washington, is the promotion of science, 
 the term ' science ' being used in its gen- 
 eral sense — ' knowledge, comprehension of 
 facts and principles.' 
 
 The two organizations agreed, first, that, 
 although American universities have so 
 developed since George Washington's time 
 that they fulfill many of the objects of the 
 national university outlined by him as .de- 
 sirable for the youth of the United States, 
 there is still need of an organization in the 
 city of Washington which sliall facilitate 
 the utilization of the various scientific and 
 other resources of the Government for pur- 
 poses of research, thus cooperating with 
 all universities, colleges and individuals 
 in giving to men and women the practical 
 post-graduate training which cannot be ob- 
 tained elsewhere in the United States and 
 which is now available only to a limited 
 degree in the city of Washington, and, 
 second, that the best method of securing 
 the objects for which both organizations 
 stand is the establishment, within the dis- 
 trict selected by Washington as a site for 
 
 the permanent seat of Government of the 
 United States, of an institution whose ob- 
 ject shall be the realization of Washing- 
 ton's repeatedly expressed wish and recom- 
 mendation that provision be made for the 
 promotion of science and literature. 
 
 The membership of the Academy in- 
 cludes most of the leading scientific men 
 of Washington and the country at large. 
 The Academj-, familiar with conditions in 
 Washington and with the efforts of the 
 committees of the Association of Agricul- 
 tural Colleges and Experiment Stations 
 and the ISTational Educational Association, 
 and knowing that the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution would not, under its limitations, take 
 an active part, realized that the time was 
 opportune for a new organization. Its com- 
 mittee drafted and secured the passage of 
 the act of Congress approved March 3, 
 1901. The committee next drafted a plan 
 of organization, which was accepted by the 
 Academy and Memorial Association. The 
 plan was, in brief, as follows : 
 
 1. Organization. — A private foundation independ- 
 ent of Government support or control. 
 
 2. Objects. — (a) To facilitate the use of the scien- 
 tific and other resources of the Government for re- 
 search . 
 
 (o) To cooperate with universities, colleges and 
 individuals in securing to properly qualified persons 
 opportunities for advanced study and research. 
 
 3. Government. — The policy, control and manage- 
 ment to vest in a board of fifteen trustees, and in 
 addition there shall be an advisory board composed 
 chiefly of heads of executive departments, bureaus, 
 etc. 
 
 Articles of incorporation were then drawn 
 up and executed, and were filed on May 20, 
 1901. They read as follows : 
 
 Articles of Incorporation, Washington Jlemorial 
 Institution. 
 
 We, the undersigned, persons of full age and citizens 
 of the United States, and a majority of whom are 
 citizens of the District of Columbia, being desirous to 
 estallish and maintain, in the city of Washington, an 
 institution in memory of George Washington, for 
 promoting science and literature, do herehy associate 
 
10 
 
 SCIENCE. 
 
 ourselves as a body corporate, for said purpose, under 
 the general incorporation acts of the Congress of the 
 United States enacted for the District of Columbia ; 
 and we do hereby certify in pursuance of said act as 
 follows : 
 
 First. The name or title by which such institution 
 shall be known in law is the Washington Memorial 
 Institution. 
 
 Second. The term for which said institution is or- 
 ganized is nine hundred and ninety-nine years. 
 
 Third. The particular business and objects of the in- 
 stitution are : to create a memorial to George Wash- 
 ington, to promote science and literature, to provide 
 opportunities and facilities for higher learning, and 
 to facilitate the utilization of the scientific and other 
 resources of the Government for purposes of research 
 and higher education. 
 
 Fourth. The number of its trustees for the first year 
 of its existence shall be fifteen. 
 
 In testimony whereof we have hereto set our names 
 and aflBxed our seals, at the city of Washington, in 
 the District of Columbia, on the 16th day of May, 
 1901. 
 
 Daniel C. Gilman. [seal.] 
 
 Charlotte Everett Hopkins, [seal.] 
 C. Hart Meeeiam. [seal.] 
 
 George M. Sternbeko. [seal.] 
 
 Chas. D. Walcott. [seal.] 
 
 Caeroll D. Wright. [seal.] 
 
 DisTEicT OF Columbia, ss: 
 
 Be it remembered that on this 16th day of May, A. D. 
 1901, before the subscriber personally appeared the 
 above-named Daniel C. Gilman, Charlotte Everett 
 Hopkins, C. Hart Merriam, Geo. M. Sternberg, Chas. 
 D. Walcott, and Carroll D. Wright, to me personally 
 known and known to me to be the persons whose 
 names are subscribed to the foregoing instrument of 
 writing, and severally and personally acknowledged 
 the same to be their act and deed for the uses and 
 purposes therein set forth. 
 
 Given under my hand and official seal the day and 
 year above written. 
 
 [seal.] (Signed) Herbert W. Gill, 
 
 Notary Public. 
 
 Oq May 27 fifteen trustees were elected, 
 and on June 3 the officers for the first year 
 were chosen. Lists of these are given here- 
 with : 
 
 Board of Trustees, Washington .Memorial Instil utitm. 
 
 1. Dr. Edwin A. Alderman, President Tulane Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 2. Dr. A. Graham Bell, Regent Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution. 
 
 3. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, Professor of Phi- 
 losophy and Education, Columbia University. 
 
 4. Dr. C. W. Dabney, President University of 
 Tennessee. 
 
 5. Dr. D. C. Gilman, President Johns Hopkins 
 University. 
 
 6. Dr. A. T. Hadley, President Yale University. 
 
 7. Dr. William R. Harper, President University of 
 Chicago. 
 
 8. Mrs. Phosbe A. Hearst, Regent University of 
 California. 
 
 9. Mrs. Archibald Hopkins, President George 
 Washington Memorial .Association. 
 
 10. Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief United States Bi- 
 ological Survey. 
 
 11. Dr. Cyrus Northrop, President University of 
 Minnesota. 
 
 12. Dr. H. S. Pritchett, President Massachusetts 
 Institute of Technology. 
 
 13. Dr. George M. Sternberg, Surgeon-General 
 United States Army. 
 
 14. Hon. Charles D. Walcott, President Washing- 
 ton Academy of Sciences, and Director United States 
 Geological Survey. 
 
 15. Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of 
 Labor. 
 
 Officers of Washington Jlemorial Institution. 
 
 Daniel C. Gilman, director. 
 Charles D. Walcott, president board of trustees. 
 Nicholas Murray Butler, secretary board of trustees. 
 C. J. Bell, treasurer. 
 
 Au advisory board also was selected, as 
 follows : 
 
 President of the United States. 
 Chief Justice of the United States. 
 Secretary of State. 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 Secretary of War. 
 Secretary of the Navy. 
 Secretary of the Interior. 
 Secretary of Agriculture. 
 Postmaster-General. 
 Attorney-General. 
 
 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 Commissioner of Education. 
 Librarian of Congress. 
 Commissioner of Labor. 
 Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. 
 President of the Civil Service Commission. 
 President of the National Academy of Sciences. 
 President of the National Educational Association. 
 President of the Association of American Univer- 
 sities. 
 
SCIENCE. 
 
 11 
 
 President of the Association of Agricultural Col- 
 leges and Experiment Stations. 
 Dr. Charles W. Eliot. 
 
 The duties of the director, as defined in 
 the by-laws are as follows : 
 
 The director shall be the chief executive of the in- 
 stitution, and, under the guidance and control of the 
 executive committee, shall conduct its affairs. He 
 shall make all arrangements for cooperation between 
 the institution, on the one hand, and the Govern- 
 ment, universities, colleges, learned societies, and in- 
 dividuals on the other, subject to the approval of the 
 executive committee. 
 
 EXISTING FACILITIES FOR STUDY AND RE- 
 SEARCH. 
 
 The policy of the Government, as ex- 
 pressed, is to aid in higher education and 
 research by granting the use of such facili- 
 ties as are at its command in the District 
 of Columbia. The direct control of higher 
 education has been relegated to the States, 
 the Government aiding by grants of land, 
 and in the case of technical education at 
 agricultural experiment stations by grants 
 of money. 
 
 The Government has carried on original 
 research for its own purposes in the District 
 of Columbia through grants of money to 
 its various scientific and technical bureaus, 
 notably those of the Department of Agri- 
 culture, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the 
 Geological Survey, the National Museum, 
 the Bureau of Ethnology, the Fish Com- 
 mission, the Bureau of Education, the Li- 
 brary of Congress, etc. 
 
 Of the total sum appropriated for the 
 fiscal year 1901, at least 25 per cent., or 
 S2, 020,000, may be regarded as expendable 
 for scientific and research work and in the 
 interest of higher education. The appro- 
 priations for the year are as follows : 
 
 Department of Agriculture : 
 
 Weather Bureau 31,168.320 
 
 Bureau of Animal Industry 1,154,030 
 
 " Plant Industry 204,680 
 
 " Forestrv 18.5,440 
 
 " Chemistry 35,800 
 
 " Soils 109.140 
 
 Division of Entomology 36,200 
 
 " Biological Survey 32,800 
 
 Agricultural Experiment Stations 789,000 
 
 Miscellaneous 222,000 
 
 ^83,937,410.00 
 War Department : 
 
 -irmy Medical Museum and Library 25,000.00 
 
 Navy Department ; 
 
 Hydrographic Office 8136,518.00 
 
 Naval Observatory 226,461.08 
 
 Nautical Almanac 15,900.00 
 
 37S.879.08 
 Interior Department : 
 
 Geological Survey 51,023,423.11 
 
 Bureau of Education 59,370.00 
 
 1,082,793.11 
 Treasury Department : 
 
 Coast and Geodetic Survey 8830,845 
 
 Bureau of Standards 167,140 
 
 Marine Hospital 71,100 
 
 1,068,585 00 
 Smithsonian Institution : 
 
 National Museum 8289,400 
 
 Bureau of American Ethnology 50,000 
 
 National Zoological Park 80,000 
 
 Astrophysical Observatory 12,000 
 
 International Exchanges 24,000 
 
 455,400.00 
 
 Commission of Fish and Fisheries 543,120.00 
 
 Botanic Gardens 24,393.75 
 
 Library of Congress 565,345.00 
 
 Total 88,080,925.94 
 
 This is about ten cents per capita for the 
 entire population. 
 
 Great collections of books, specimens, 
 statuary, paintings, instruments, apparatus, 
 etc., have been assembled in Washington. 
 
 Libraries. — Statistics of the principal li- 
 braries reveal the presence of a large num- 
 ber of books, maps and pamphlets, many 
 collections of which are exceptionally com- 
 plete in special lines of research, notably 
 those of the Departments of State and Agri- 
 culture, the Geological Survey, the Naval 
 Observatory, the Surgeon-General's Office, 
 the Bureau of Education, the Museum of 
 Hygiene, the Patent Office, the National 
 Museum, and special collections in the Li- 
 brary of Congress. The principal libraries 
 are here listed : 
 
 I>am- 
 Books. phlets. Maps. 
 
 Library of Congress 1,000,000* 55,700 
 
 " " Smithsonian Institution 350,000t 
 " " U. S. Supreme Court.... 80,0001 
 
 * Books and pamphlets. 
 
 t These figures are included in the 1,000,000 assigned to the 
 Library of Congress. 
 
12 
 
 SCIENCE. 
 
 Library of Army Medical Museum. 135,053 229,545 
 
 " " Dept. of Agriculture... 63,000 
 
 " " Bureau of Education.. 81,S72 140,004 
 
 " "PatentOface 74,140 
 
 " " Department of State 63,000 2,500 
 
 " Geological Survey 47,600 77,027 29,185 
 
 " " National Museum 25,000 30,000 
 
 " " Coast and Geodetic Sur. 16,405 6,178 25,000 
 
 " " Weather Bureau 18,000 5,000 
 
 '' " Museum of Hygiene 11,969 
 
 " " Hydrographic Office 3,000 
 
 " " Bureau of Ethnology... 12,000 4,000 
 
 " Bureau of Statistics 6,000 5,000 
 
 " " Department of Justice.. 30,000 
 
 " " Department of Labor... 7,051 4,454 
 
 " " Corcoran Gallery of Art 2,500 
 
 " " Treasury Department.. 22,000 3,000 
 
 " "War Department 49,000 2,000 
 
 " " Navy Department 33,635 
 
 " " Interior Department... 15,000 
 
 " " Post Otiice Department. 12,000 
 
 " " Light-House Board 5,000 
 
 " " War Records Office 2,000 
 
 " "Naval Observatory 20,000 4,000 
 
 " " Niut. Almanac Office.. 2,200 2,500 
 
 2.092,430 515,209 109,885 
 
 Other libraries in the District bring the 
 grand total to more than 2,500,000 volumes, 
 570,000 pamphlets, and 110,000 maps, as- 
 sembled in large part by specialists in 
 every field. All the libraries are accessible 
 and are maintained at a high standard of 
 eflQciency. 
 
 Collections. — The collections of the Na- 
 tional Museum, though inadequatelj' housed 
 and with insufiBcieut laboratories for the 
 work of the regular museum force, are, 
 nevertheless, of such character and are so 
 arranged for exhibition and study that 
 they will be of great service to all who may 
 wish to use them. Under the present or- 
 ganization of the museum there are three 
 departments : Anthropology, Biology and 
 Geology. All the exhibits are s^'stemat- 
 ically classified and placed in immediate 
 charge of specialists acquainted with the 
 results of man's activity in almost everj' 
 form in which such results admit of study 
 and representative exhibition. As pro- 
 vided by statute, the collections made by 
 the Geological and other surveys are de- 
 posited in the National Museum after thej' 
 have been used by the organization which 
 collected them. This has resulted in an 
 
 immense accumulation of material, much 
 of which has not yet been fully studied, 
 and upon which, when sufiQcient laboratory 
 space is provided, students can be em- 
 ployed under the oversight of the special- 
 ists in charge. 
 
 The collections of the Army Medical 
 Museum have a world-wide reputation and 
 contain a great quantity of unique and valu- 
 able material. There are large collections 
 of living animals at the Zoological Pai-k ; 
 and there is a fine series, illustrating fish 
 culture, at the Fish Commission building. 
 The museum of the Agricultural Depart- 
 ment contains valuable material, especially 
 the working collections of the difierent di- 
 visions, and the Botanic Gardens are ca- 
 pable of great development under scientific 
 direction. To the student interested in the 
 development of American inventive genius 
 and the industries represented by patents 
 the collection of models and drawings in 
 the Patent Office offers exceptional oppor- 
 tunities. Mention should also be made of 
 the collections of apparatus of various 
 kinds in Government laboi-atories, and of 
 the illustrations of the evolution of appa- 
 ratus in the National Museum and Smith- 
 sonian Institution. 
 
 In art, while the collections are not so 
 large as in other lines, yet there is a collec- 
 tion of excellent quality in the Corcoran Gal- 
 lery of Art, which maintains a free school. 
 In this school day and night classes are 
 taught the arts of drawing and painting, 
 free of tuition fees or charge of auj' kind. 
 Up to the close of 1899, 844 pupils had re- 
 ceived instruction in the daj' school and 
 1,48.3 in the night school. 
 
 The Naval Observatorj' has a good 
 equipment, including a chart and a chro- 
 nometer depot, an extensive collection or 
 instruments used in taking astronomic 
 photographs, a fine telescope and transit 
 instruments used in carrj-ing on its routine 
 work. 
 
SCIENCE. 
 
 13 
 
 The newly created National Bureau of 
 Standards is to have buildings and a fine 
 equipment of all necessary apparatus. 
 "When fulU- developed it will be second to 
 none in the character and value of its scien- 
 tific and practical work. The functions of 
 this bureau are defined in the organic act as 
 follows : 
 
 The functions of the bureau shall consist in the 
 custody of the standards ; the comparison of the stand- 
 ards used in soientifio investigations, engineering, 
 manufacturing, commerce and edvicational institu- 
 tions with the standards adopted or recognized by the 
 Government ; the construction, vrben necessary, of 
 standards, their multiples and subdivisions ; the 
 testing and calibration of standard measuring appa- 
 ratus ; the solutions of problems ^vhich arise in con- 
 nection with standards ; the determination of phys- 
 ical constants and the properties of materials, when 
 such data are of great importance to scientific or 
 manufacturing interests and are not to be obtained of 
 sufficient accuracy elsewhere. 
 
 Laiv and Diplomacy. — The State Depart- 
 ment has accumulated a valuable library 
 relating to international law. The law 
 library of Congress contains more than 50,- 
 000 volumes exclusively legal in character, 
 and accommodations are provided for stu- 
 dents w-ho wish to use it. The School of 
 Diplomacy of Columbian University is one 
 of the unique features of the educational 
 organizations of Washington. The Su- 
 preme Court of the United States and the 
 Court of Claims bring together the foremost 
 American lawyers. There is also the Su- 
 preme Court of the District of Columbia, 
 which has the common-law, equity, and 
 probate jurisdiction of State courts, besides 
 that of the circuit and district courts of the 
 United States. 
 
 There are, of course, unequaled opportu- 
 nities for studying the development of leg- 
 islation and for meeting the leading states- 
 men and public men of the country. 
 
 Medicine. — The Army Medical Museum 
 has one of the finest collections in exist- 
 ence of recent pathologic specimens. These, 
 taken with the library of the Surgeon-Gen- 
 
 eral's Office, in the same building, afford a 
 rare opportunity for the medical student. 
 In the adjoining National Museum there is 
 a most complete collection illustrating the 
 materia medica of the United States and of 
 foreign countries. There are also several 
 hospitals, at each of which clinical instruc- 
 tion is given. 
 
 Congress has enacted that these vast col- 
 lections and resources shall be available for 
 higher education and research, but it has 
 not provided the machinery for making 
 them practically available. As in the case 
 of the grants of land to colleges. Congress 
 provides facilities and indirectly the means, 
 but it leaves to other agencies the task of 
 devising ways and means to make them 
 practically useful. 
 
 The Government is obliged to train most 
 of its specialists. Opportunities for post- 
 graduate study and research exist at a few 
 of the strongest universities, colleges and 
 technical schools of the country, but at best 
 the training given, except in a few branches, 
 is of a preparatory character. Most Ameri- 
 can youth who are ambitious to pursue 
 higher study and research have little oppor- 
 tunity, owing largely to the fact that the in- 
 structor's duties leave him scarcely any time 
 for research and practical work with the stu- 
 dent. Post-graduate students seek instruc- 
 tors distinguished for research, even to the 
 extent of undergoing many piivations and 
 leaving their country. In the city of Wash- 
 ington the Government has assembled the 
 largest body of original investigators to be 
 found in any one place in the world. Most of 
 these investigators are willing to train suit- 
 ably qualified students, because of the as- 
 sistance the students can give them in the 
 work they have in charge, the method being 
 to have the students do actual, practical 
 work, and not to instruct them in the ordi- 
 nary sense of the word. An unofficial in- 
 quiry indicates the following as a possible 
 number of instructors and students in the 
 
14 
 
 SCIENCE. 
 
 various departments and bureaus at Wash- 
 ington : 
 
 Instruc- Stu- 
 
 iors. clenis. 
 
 1. History and diplomacy 1 5 
 
 2. Historical research 5 10 
 
 3. Library administration and methods 5 15 
 
 4. Statistics 2 5 
 
 5. Magnetism 1 2 
 
 6. Meteorology 5 15 
 
 7. Tides 1 2 
 
 8. National Standards ( Bureau of ) 
 
 9. Astronomy 3 8 
 
 10. Physics 2 3 
 
 11. Hydrography 5 10 
 
 12. Cartography, etc 2 5 
 
 13. Topography 10 20 
 
 14. Chemistry.- 6 10 
 
 15. Mineral resources 1 5 
 
 16. Geology 10 17 
 
 17. Paleontology 5 7 
 
 18. Animal industry 10 25 
 
 19. Anthropology and ethnology 4 13 
 
 20. Zoology 34 50 
 
 21. Botany 11 25 
 
 22. Forestry 10 20 
 
 133 272 
 
 With the development of a well-consid- 
 ered plan, just alike to the student and to the 
 ofi&cers of the Government, the number of 
 students — or, more strictly speaking, stu- 
 dent assistants — would increase from year 
 to year. Most of the students would natu- 
 rally come from institutions of learning ; in 
 all such cases the student should be certi- 
 fied to the director of the Washington Me- 
 morial Institution, and finally certified back 
 to the parent institution after completing 
 his work, such certificate to be based on 
 the work done and the proficiency made. 
 In the case of individual students not 
 connected with any institution, let each 
 prove his capacity to profit by the oppor- 
 tunities, and then accredit him to the special 
 oflScer who hasj charge of the field of work 
 in which he may wish to study ; on satisfac- 
 tory completion of the work undertaken, 
 the certificate of the Washington Memorial 
 Institution might be addressed ' To rvhom- 
 
 soever it may concern.'' Students working in 
 Government laboratories, museums and li- 
 braries would be subject to the rules obtain- 
 ing therein. 
 
 It is the belief of many acquainted with 
 the educational system of the country that 
 the policy above outlined will result in a 
 bodj' of trained students, ready for expert 
 work, many of whom will undoubtedly 
 enter the government service, while others 
 will become instructors in institutions of 
 learning or be engaged as experts in private 
 capacity. This will avoid competition with 
 other institutions, will give most valuable 
 training and practical experience to stu- 
 dents, and will be especially helpful to in- 
 structors in educational institutions, who 
 might wisely be sent for six months or a 
 year to Washington, as at pi;esent -some are 
 sent abroad. There should be no thought 
 of providing a general or liberal course of 
 education. Coming as student assistants, 
 there should be opportunities and encour- 
 agement only on clearly defined lines of 
 study and investigation. There are many 
 large and small problems to be worked out 
 by the officers of the Washington Memorial 
 Institution, but with the skilled educator 
 and organizer now at its head as director 
 their successful solution is only a matter 
 of time. It is anticipated that the Wash- 
 ington Memorial Institution will, under 
 the direction of Dr. Gilman, begin its work 
 by November 1, 1901. 
 
 The Government's part in the work, when 
 once under successful headway, will be to 
 enlarge the quarters of the various bu- 
 reaus concerned. This will be necessary 
 eventually even if no student assistants are 
 provided for. The Government has done 
 its part nobly so far. It is now for the edu- 
 cational institutions of the country to come 
 forward and assist by setting a high stand- 
 ard of scholarship for admission to the 
 privilege of becoming a student assistant in 
 the Government bureaus. Only students 
 
SCIENCE. 
 
 15 
 
 of the type of those who win fellowships 
 or excel iu abilitj' should be certified or 
 accepted. 
 
 The Washington Memorial Institution 
 should, and I believe will, maintain a 
 standard that will meet the approval of our 
 colleges and univer^ties. It should occupy 
 a most important place in the great educa- 
 tional work of the country. With the 
 hearty cooperation of our collegiate institu- 
 tions and of the officers of the Government, 
 there is little question that it will ulti- 
 mately become the federated bead and 
 clearing-house of all the higher educational 
 interests of the country. 
 
 The relations of the National Govern- 
 ment to higher education and research are 
 
 intimate and complex ; but the complexi- 
 ties are already partially resolved, the 
 present is auspicious, and the future out- 
 look is most promising. Long ago the na- 
 tion recognized its obligation ' to promote 
 a higher aud more extended policy than is 
 embraced in the protection of the temporal 
 interests and political rights of the indi- 
 vidual.' The action of Congress in the 
 present year in opening the Government 
 bureaus at Washington for study and re- 
 search is a long stride forward, and, if 
 carried out in good faith must result in 
 another and higher standard for American 
 endeavor. 
 
 Charles D. Walcott. 
 U. S. Geological Survey. 
 
 ;sisKS?s