Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/119

 FRTOAT, FEBRUARY 6, 1885.

COMMENT AND CRITICISM. That a wide-spread dissatisfactioa with the past managemGnt of the U. S. department of agriculture exists, is obvious ; Imt. beyond the somewbat puerile scheme for iroproviDg the department by a change of name and an access of official dignity to its chief, public discnssion has been mainly confined to a con- sideration of the merits of various candidates ^Ul the position. A noteworthy exception to is rule is to be fonnd iu an article in the »>fen*ra/ press of .Tan. S. by Prof. E. W. ftilgard of the University of California. This article is an abstract of a longer article by the thor in the Atlantic monthly for May. ^882, and is especially timely at the present lent. The gist of Professor Hilgard's' ipoaiUon is to make the ofllice of commis- T of agriculture less, and not more, of a political ' office, than at present, or rather to remove it from politics altogether. Instead of cabinet officer, changing with each adminis- ion, if not oflencr, he would have him •' a lical expert, not only responsible to the ^yremment. hut amenable to that rigorous and incorruptible tribunal constituted of Lis scientific and technical compeers, and under the standing menace of a loss of his profes- sional reputation, which no whitewashing com- mittees, in or out of congress, could in any nuuiner condone or undo."

i"We pass over Professor Hilgard's many excellent suggestions regarding the man- agement of the department, because this one appears to ns to be the one fundamental re- form which is needed, and which, if once secured, wonld be followed by the others as naturally as daylight follows the dawn. The coast and geodetic survey, and the geologi- have shown what government or- K«. ua. —lau.

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��ganizfltions can accomplish when divorced from politics, and directed by competent profes- sional men holding office during ' good be- havior.' The interests of agriculture are second to none in our country in magnitude, or in the novelty and difficulty of the problems presented. In no direction could a thorough knowledge of the art and science of agriculture find a wider or more attractive Geld for its ex- ercise. In the interest alilie of agricultural science and of practical agriculture, we hope that Professor Hilgard's suggestions may be speedily realized, and that the office may be rendered attractive to the class of experts from among whom it ought to he filled, but who, under the present condition of affairs, are neither thought of for the position, nor could alTord to accept it if asked.

We have a prize otfered by an American, one who would be known as a Good Samaritan. no doubt; and this prize, offered as it is for the discovery of a new comet or asteroid, has two singular conditions attached. First, the discoverer maj" not be of the continent of Eu- rope. This condition is singular. Does not the European buy the wares of the Good Samaritan, or is it that the most siiccessful seeker for littte planets is a resident of the European mainland? It would seem that in the community of scientific men it would be as well that a Frenchman or an Austrian should have the honor, and should be encouraged as much in the discovery of a little hall of wan- dering rock, or of a comet, as that an English- man, or an American, or a Sonth-Sea Islander should have his ambition for scientific glory stimulated by the hope of a prize. Still there can be no serious objection to the giver limit- ing the competitors for a prize as he may see lit.

A second condition carries with it some dan- gers. The discoverer must, without notice to others, send word to the director of the oh-

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