Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 62.djvu/543

Rh and that the ablest professors will be left under conditions where they can do the greatest good to the greatest number.

If a great specialist were called from his present position to Washington to conduct work more advanced than he now performs, the number of persons annually benefited by his instruction would be lessened. Suppose he should remain where he is, and these advanced workers be sent to him, he would be able to carry on the greater part, if not all, of his regular work and direct these special investigators as well. No institution would be crippled by the loss of its strongest men, but on the contrary it would be strengthened by the coming of exceptional students.

The Carnegie Institution might also reach a class that could not be benefited by a national university intended for graduate students only, for it could assist and encourage the exceptional man even if, through force of circumstances, he had been unable to obtain a degree. This surely is in the spirit of the man who became the commander in chief of an army without having passed through a military academy.

The fear that the humanities will be neglected in this institution is not well founded. For, though emphasis has been laid upon the opportunities Washington affords for scientific investigation, there is no implication that the sciences alone will receive attention. The advanced student in linguistics or philosophy needs direction and access to libraries and museums, and since it is impossible to bring into one place the ablest directors and the richest collections of books and original material, the very best that can be done is to send the investigator to the expert for direction and leave him free to pass from one city to another while searching the sources from which his knowledge must be drawn. Such workers are beyond the need of recitation drill and daily contact with an instructor, and it is very sure that while one guide might suffice, there would be no one locality where his work could be carried on to the best advantage.

It is likely that the Carnegie Institution will concern itself first of all in obtaining authentic and complete information regarding the great specialists of the world, the extent and scope of all libraries, museums, workshops, laboratories and special facilities for advanced work of every sort and character. It has secured groups of advisers in the various branches of art, science and philosophy, and thus doubly equipped, is able to direct intelligently the student where to go and how to proceed in order to complete the task which he had undertaken. If, in addition to this advice, the institution should find it possible to give financial aid to the worthy investigator the fondest hope of Washington will be more than reached and a grander spirit than his will become a thing of life.