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EDITORIALS membership, provision should be made for a class of subscribing members who would not receive such certificates, HEN the Committee on Progress in Society Procedure but who would receive the journals and have affiliation with was appointed, one of the topics for its consideration local sections. Then, provision should be made for a class was enhancing the value of membership in the AMERICAN of distinguished chemists, called for the want of better CHEMICAL SOCIETY.” CHEMICALSOCIETY, perhaps through some classification of designation “Fellows of the AMERICAN membership. After due consideration and a t the sug- There are those who do not like this phrase, and perhaps a gestion of the original committee, the matter was referred to much better one can be found, but the point we desire to a special committee, which made a report of progress a t the stress is that membership in this group should a t once inMilwaukee meeting. It is expected that a final report will dicate unquestioned attainment in the profession of chembe presented a t Washington. If the committee is to con- istry. Perhaps not more than five or ten per cent of our sider the views held by various members of the SOCIETY,present membership could qualify, but having written reit is obvious that these views must be forwarded promptly. quirements for admission into this group and then having When the question was brought before the Council a t created an impartial, small committee t o measure a man’s Milwaukee several diverse opinions were expressed. There accomplishments against these requirements, it should not be are many who look upon the great success of the AMERICAN difficult to make election to-this group of Fellows something CHEMICAL SOCIETYunder its present scheme of organization which any chemist in America would welcome and prize as and membership as sufficient evidence that it would be well a high honor. By this plan we believe the value of membership in the to make no change. The men who hold this view are, for CHEMICALSOCIETYwould be greatly enhanced, the most part, those who have made their mark, are known AMERICAN for what they have accomplished, and would benefit little, that the democratic spirit of our present organization would if any, by the introduction of a membership classification. not be disturbed, and that a long step would be taken in Another view, held perhaps by men who are arriving in the meeting present-day requirements. Executive committees of sections should discuss the probprofession, is that a group should be formed admission to which would be under specifications clearly indicating marked lem and express their views. Those suggestions which repreattainment in the chemical profession. The requirements for sent the sentiment of a section should be officially transmitted. admission would obviously be high, and perhaps beyond Individual opinions are also wanted. If you have a better those which qualify a candidate for admission to the class of plan or wish to discuss the one here set forth, address your “Fellow” in several existing organizations. Membership in letters to William Hoskins, 111 West Monroe St., Chicago, such a group would be a distinction for which chemists would Ill., who is chairman of the committee, or send them to the who will be glad to forward all be glad to strive. Still another view is that expressed by editor of THISJOURNAL, the younger men who desire membership in the AMERICAN communications promptly to the committee. CHEMICALSOCIETYto indicate chemical training and experience and more than an active interest in chemistry. These men would distinguish between those who are practicing chemistry or who have a knowledge of chemistry and those who now become members of the SOCIETYeither for the encouragement of the science or for the many benefits HE Kational Industrial Conference Board in Special which the SOCIETYaffords. They hold that “member of Report S o . 25, under the above title, presents the the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY” is a designation which conclusions of a group of skilled and experienced men on a should be reserved for those qualified by their training or subject of interest to all chemists. The report is the joint experience for the practice of chemistry, and that interested work of the board with a committee from the Society for nonchemists would be just as well pleased to be known as the Promotion of Engineering Education, and it shows “subscribing members.” clearly the interrelationship between the engineering schools Granting for the sake of argument that, having accom- and the industries as well as the need for cooperation beplished our present success under a highly democratic or- tween these groups if success is to follow the effort to develop ganization, it is now time to make changes to meet changed industrial leaders. The report is summarized as follows: conditions, the question becomes-which, if any, of these 1-There is a rapidly growing need for administrative and ideas should prevail? Having suggested that those who have technical ability in practically all lines of activity. This is views should express them to the committee, we express ours especially true bf thk manufacturing and mechanical industries. in the hope that many will come forward with improvements. 2-There is an increasing demand for graduates of engineering First of all, whatever is done should not be retroactive, schools to enter upon work which will fit them for positions of and those who are now members of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL administrative as well as technical responsibility. This, apis hecause courses of education in engineering and SOCIETY should continue as such without any discrimination. parently, applied sciences have en highly successful in the early developSecondly, we believe that there should be written into the ment of both kinds of talent. requirements for membership in future a specification calling 3-The demand for young men with capacity for becoming for chemical training, experience, or actual participation in administrative or technical leaders IS already far greater than chemical work, such that the value of membership will be prized and surrendered with reluctance. A certificate might be issued stating that the holder had satisfied specific requirements and in consequence had been made a member of the SOCIETY.To provide for those who do not aspire to this
Classified Membership
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on selective tests for fitness, intelligence, and character as well as for knowledge. 5-The preparatory schools can perform a great service to industry as well as to the students by properly evaluating the advantages of the engineering schools and guiding toward those schoo1.s the boys who have, or in whom can be developed, an interest in producing things. Such boys should develop into industrialists. 6-There is a growing opinion that the engineering schools should provide a thorough grounding in fundamentals of engineering and applied sciences, rather than specialized training. Such a grounding is best accomplished when accompanied by actual contact with industry as well as by work in classroom and laboratory. 7-There should be more and better training courses in connection with industrial establishments to supplement the educational courses of the colleges. 8-Close coordination of educational effort between industrialists and educators is therefore necessary to meet the need for leaders.
Reorganization of Executive Departments u
I,
T WILL be recalled that the reorganization of the execuIunder tive departments of the Government has been a question discussion for some months and that the plan submitted by a joint committee had the approval of the late President. There are many features of the plan which do not appeal to certain Cabinet officers and those who dislike to see a bureau transferred from one department to another, no matter how logical that may be. There has been particular opposition to the proposed consolidation of the War and Navy Departments under a single Cabinet officer in a new department known as the Department of Defense. There are, however, some features of the reorganization plan to which there is no such opposition and concerning which action should be taken a t once. One is to reduce the routine work which heretofore has been a part of the President’s duty. It is recommended that he be provided with a secretary as a t present, and with an executive secretary who would have charge of four assistants. One of these would be responsible for the personnel to deal with patronage; another would keep the President informed as to the progress of bills in both houses of Congress and, in turn, advise the Congress of the President’s wishes in matters of legislation; a third would advise the President of public opinion as reflected by the press; and the fourth would be in charge of applications for clemency and prepare the facts upon which the President could take action. Another step in reorganization which should be taken a t once concerns the Department of the Interior. For some time the engineers, in particular, have advocated the creation of a Department of Public Works, and that portion of the reorganization plan which deals with the Department of the Interior embraces many of the essential features proposed by the engineers. At a recent meeting of the Executive Board of the Federated American Engineering Societies, preliminary steps were taken t o hold a conference on the subject in Washington, January 9, 1924, and to urge Congress to put the plan into effect. About two hundred technical and allied organizations have been invited to send delegates to this conference. Meanwhile, n bill authorizing the reorganization of the Department of the [nterior in accordance with the provisions noted below and including an Assistant Secretary for Public Works will be prepared and introduced in Congress. As proposed, the new Department of the Interior would have the following organization (the words in parentheses designating the present
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connections of certain groups not now in the Interior Department) : SEGRETARY OF TIIE INTERIOR Executive Offices ASSISTANTSECRETARY FOR PUBLICDOMAIN Administration of Alaska and Hawaii Indian Lands and Reservations General Land Office Geological Survey War Minerals Relief Commission National Park Service National Military Park Commissions (War) Federal Power Section (Federal Power Commission) ASSISTANT SECRETARY F O R PUBLIC. WORKS Bureau of Public Roads (Agriculture) Supervising Architect’s Office (Treasury) Alaskan Engineering Commission Reclamation Service Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors (War) Board of Engineers, New York City (War) United States Engineer Offices (War) Mississippi River Commission (War) California Debris Commission (War) Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska (War) Bureau of District of Columbia Buildings and Grounds Office of Public Buildings and Grounds (War) Commission of Fine Arts (Independent) Superintendent State, War, and Navy Department Buildings pendent) Architect of the Capitol (Congress) Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway Commission (Independent) SOLIC~TOR (Justice)
(Inde-
Purchase and Sale of Degrees HE AMERICANCHEMICAL SOCIETYhas played an active part in the effort to make impossible the selling of academic degrees by those who claim to represent reputable American universities. One of the greatest offenders has been the Oriental University, with headquarters in Washington, and our readers will rejoice to hear that the Post Office Department has issued a fraud order against the Oriental University and H. P. Holler, its president. I n his report to the Postmastep General recommending the issuance of the order, the Acting Solicitor declared that the evidence in the case showed that “this is a scheme for obtaining money through the mails by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.’’ But there are other groups which also need official notice. They are to be found in various parts of the country and, as they operate principally in foreign countries, it seems necessary for our technical journals again to state that no reputable educational institution o$ers degrees for sale. From England .we have notices and correspondence offering any degree which may be desired by the University of the Trinity College, Chicago, Ill., and the Lincoln-Jefferson University of the same city. The advertising matter describes the colors and materials of which the hoods for the various degrees are made, and while it is claimed that degrees are awarded only upon merit, this is largely offset by the statement, “in special cases a thesis consisting of about seven thousand five hundred words on a subject chosen with the consent of the faculty concerned is accepted from candidates.” Neither of these institutions is listed in any educational directory nor in the telephone directory of the city, and inquiries sent to the address given have failed to secure response. Not to be outdone by the Middle West, the Far West has a similar institution at Highland Park, Los Angeles, Calif., and advertises in Italy through an agent in Venice. This is called the American University. The main office, headquarters, and campus consist of a small upstairs room,
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which also serves as the living, sleeping, and office quarters of the “dean.” The principal furnishings of the “university” are a dilapidated bed, an aged desk, and a couple of chairs, which harmonize perfectly. This alleged university offers to confer doctor and engineer degrees and the title of professor, and to issue diplomas to accountants. Those who operate these spurious institutions cannot always be apprehended. Surely few fail to realize that in purchasing a degree they are endeavoring to acquire a distinction which to be genuine must be obtained by a far more arduous proceeding. It is therefore not easy to prove that the purchaser has been defrauded. To show that he who purchases does so with the intent of defrauding others would be a simpler matter. It is somewhat like a case where a man was tried for selling loaded dice and marked playing cards. He was able to prove that he sold these devices for just what they were-those who were to be sued for fraud were his purohasers, not himself. However, action can proceed along other lines, as in the case of the Oriental University. This “university” advertised a dean and numerous professors in each of several socalled colleges, claiming a total of forty-seven resident professors in the “faculty.” The nonexistence of any faculty in the true sense of the word and the finding that the so-called “faculty” functioned principally in inducing persons to become students and remit the necessary fee was sufficient ground for issuing the fraud order. We give publicity to these facts as they come to us, in the hope that no one will allow himself to be deceived by any of these devices.
Parallels EAD the following panegyric on Athens by Pericles R recorded by Thucydides, 11, 37, translated by Jowett, and quoted from “The Greek View of Life,” by G. L. Dickinson: Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. We do not copy our neighbours, but are an example to them. J t is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few. But while the law secures equal justice to all alike in their private disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognized; and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit. Neither is poverty a bar, but a man may benefit his country whatever be the obscurity of his condition. There is no exclusiveness in our public life, and in our private intercourse we are not suspicious of one another, nor angry with our neighbour if he does what he likes; we do not put on sour looks a t him, which, though harmless, are not pleasant. While we are thus unconstrained in our private intercourse, a spirit of reverence pervades our public acts; we are prevented from doing wrong by respect for authority and for the laws, having an especial regard for those which are ordained for the protection of the injured, as well as for those unwritten laws which bring upon the transgressor of them the reprobation of the general sentiment. And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits many relaxations from toil; we have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year; at home the style of our life is refined; and the delight which we daily feel in all these things helps to banish melancholy. Because of the greatness of our city the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us, so that we enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as of our own. Then again, our military training is in many respects superior to that of our adversaries. Our city is thrown open to the world, and we never expel a foreigner or prevent him from seeing or learning anything of which the secret iF revealed to an enemy might profit him. We rely not upon management and trickery, but upon our own hearts and hands. And in the matter of education, whereas they from early youth are always undergoing laborious exercises which are to make them brave, we live a t ease, and yet are ready to face the perils which they face. If then we prefer to meet danger with a light heart but without laborious training, and with a courage which is gained by habit and not enforced by law, are we not greatly the gainers? Since
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we do not anticipate the pain, although when the hour comes, we can be as brave as those who never allow themselves to rest; and thus too our city is equally admirable in peace and in war. For we are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness. Wealth we employ, not for talk and ostentation, but when there is a real use for it. To avow poverty with us is no disgrace; the true disgrace is in doing nothing to avoid it. An Athenian citizen does not neglect the state because he takes care of his own household; and even those of us who are engaged in business have a very fair idea of politics. We alone regard a man who takes no interest in public affairs, not as a harmless, but as a useless character; and if few of us are originators, we are all sound judges of a policy. The great impediment to action is, in our opinion, not discussion but the want of that knowledge which is gained by discussion preparatory to action. For we have a peculiar power of thinking before we act, and of acting too, whereas other men are courageous from ignorance but hesitate upon reflection. And they are surely to be esteemed the bravest spirits who have the clearest sense both of the pains and pleasures of life, but do not on that account shrink from danger. To sum up, I say that Athens is the school of Hellas, and that the individual Athenian in his own person seems to have the power of adapting himself to the most varied forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace. This is no passing and idle word, but truth and fact; and the assertion is verified by the position to which these qualities have raised the state. For in the hour of trial Athens alone among her contemporaries is superior to the report of her. No enemy who comes against her is indignant a t the reverses which he sustains a t the hands of such a city; no subject complains that his masters are unworthy of him. And we shall assuredly not be without witnesses; there are mighty’ monuments of our power which will make us the wonder of this and of succeeding ages; we shall not need the praises of Homer or of any other panegyrist, whose poetry may please for the moment, although his representation of the facts will not open a path for our valour, and have everywhere planted eternal memorials of our friendship and of our enmity.
I n how many ways is this parallel and similar to orations which for a hundred years have been delivered about our own country? Many of these characteristics of ancient Athens are really applicable to the United States, but it is well t o pause and question-what are we doing t o avoid making applicable to America the comments of Mr. Dickinson upon the later trend of Athens when he says: An impression so superb as this it is almost a pity to mar with the inevitable complement of disaster and decay. But our account of the Athenian polity would be misleading and incomplete if we did not indicate how the idea of equality, on which it turned, defeated itself, as did, in Sparta, the complementary idea of order, by the excesses of its own development. Already before the close of the fifth century, and with reiterated emphasis in the earlier decades of th.e fourth, we hear from poets and orators praise of a glorious past that is dead, and denunciations of a decadent present. The ancient training in gymnastics, we are told, the ancient and generous culture of mind and soul, is neglected and despised by a generation of traders; reverence for age and authority, even for law, has disappeared; and in the train of these have gone the virtues they engendered and nurtured. Cowardice has succeeded to courage, disorder to discipline; the place of the statesman is usurped by the demagogue; and instead of a nation of heroes, marshaled under the supremacy of the wise and good, modern Athens presents to view a disordered and competitive mob, bent only on turning each to his own personal advantage the now corrupt machinery of administration and law.
Let us take stock. Are we threatened with a repetition of the experience of this nation, now far past its perihelion? Do we give such attention to the lessons of history as to realize that we move in cycles and are often threatened by the same rocks that have wrecked other ships of state? Are we Americans wise and strong enough to right our course before we are destroyed? Two Things To Remember-Place your Christmas order with Alexander Williams, Jr., 67 Wall St., New York, N. Y., for a set of the books which are being distributed in connection with the Prize Essay Contest. These books are members at the actual cost of publication, offered SOCIETY $2.50 for the five volumes. Make your hotel reservations for the Washington meeting!
