Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 68.djvu/479

Rh outstanding charters, four of which are the already dead ones, killed again by the senate bill above referred to, and two the very perniciously quiescent companies, one of which is known to be controlled by a large railroad corporation. It remains to be seen whether these six repeal bills can get through the senate. So far then as the pending legislation at Albany is concerned, it will have little effect on the people's hope for Niagara whether the Foelker restriction bill wins out or fails, but it will be a most important step forward if the six Foelker repeal bills should succeed in reaching the governor.

annual reports of President Eliot form a series of educational documents of great and permanent interest, by no means confined to the great university over which he presides. The current report states that the principal event of the year was the raising by general subscription of the 'teachers' endowment fund,' amounting to $2,300,000, for the increase of salaries in Harvard College. This was locally necessary, as the university was in danger of losing its men to other institutions; it is also of general academic interest. The average salary of the 57 professors in Harvard College was $3,980, and only 13 received as much as $5,000. The maximum salary has now been increased to $5,500 to be paid to all after a long enough period of service. The average salary of 57 assistant professors was $2,130, and of 88 instructors $990. These salaries have also been increased. The largest ordinary salaries at Columbia are $5,000, at Yale $3,750 and at Pennsylvania $3,500. It appears to be most unfortunate that while our leading universities have spent vast sums for grounds and buildings, the salaries have remained stationary or have even decreased.. The academic career should be made attractive by freedom, security and congenial work rather than by large salaries, but the salaries should be as large as those received for equal performance in other professions. Harvard has once again led the way in an important educational reform.

The report contains an account of the failure to form a merger with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The reason given is the decision of the supreme court forbidding the sale of the present site of the institute. This is technically correct, but the value of this land is really a small matter. It could have been readily transferred to the city for park or other public purposes without cost to the institute if the removal and the combination with Harvard had met with general approval. The fact is that the plan failed because the faculties and alumni of the two institutions opposed the union that was favored by the presidents and the corporations. We have here an interesting question of ultimate academic control, which President Eliot fails to discuss or even to notice.

Some elaborate statistics are given in the report in regard to students who have taken different kinds of college degrees during the past fifteen years at fourteen institutions of different type. These show that the old classical course has completely lost its predominance. The A.B. degree is now given at Harvard without Latin, though a classical language is still required at entrance. In many institutions, for example since 1901 at Michigan and Cornell, and since 1904 at Wisconsin, the A.B. is given without regard to the kind of entrance examination, and the number of degrees of this kind has greatly increased. Thus Wisconsin gave only 21 A.B.'s in 1903, as compared with 194 in 1905. Where two or more courses are maintained, one retaining more or less of the classics and the others without, the classical course tends relatively to lose ground. Thus in 1891 there were at Yale 832 students