old, big-hearted Uncle Sam! Never a thought GOOD for hlmself . and always ready to help the other
lawyer, are imbued with the idea of servhg their fellow men."
We are inclined to doubt the philanthropic motives of most lawyers, but that is neither here nor there. We also seriously doubt that many chemists are kept a t their work by considerations of social service. On the other hand, every one of us must see something more in his job than a mere means of his own livelihood. Not only do the so-called professions contribute t o t h e sen% ice of others, but even bankers, advertising' men, insurance salesmen, and theatrical producers (to mention a few highly paid callings) feel that their work contributes to the general welfare-as indeed i t does. It is a good idea to point out that the chemist's profession is not a particularly lucrative one, but certainly those who engage in i t need not be imbued with the missionary motive. Such an implication may frighten away many a desirable chemist. Perhaps what is really meant is that the chemist's way of life will be' a satisfactory one only for those who can love the work largely for its own sake. But this is good advice to anyone going into any vocation. In other words, be prepared to take some of your pay in pleasure and satisfaction. There is a general impression that analytical chemists rnn about a nickel a bunch; certainly there are none getting very rich. And why should they expectto? Many a chemist, on the other hand, has ,"got into the money" by becoming an executive, and 'the same is true of engineers. Have they then forsaken their professions, or is i t a case of "once a chemist always a chemist?" The big money will come to a man when tbereis great demand for the service he can render and few other people able to render it. If, for example, our hair and our beards became intolerable when they got to a certain length, and if the technological difficulties of removing these appendages required great intelligence and long training, then barbers would get rich. But as it is, we are willing to go uncut and unshorn, if necessary, and it is not hard to learn to shave and cut hair. It would be an ideal state of affairs if our individual emoluments were adjusted in proportion to the absolute contribution which we make to the general welfare, but this is such a complicated economic relation as to be hopeless. For whose responsibility is i t to see that $100,000 is deposited to the account of Dr. Chemist because the discovery he made yesterday will, in 1962, be the basis of a ten-million-dollar industrv? The economic welfare of the chemist is partly bound pamphlet issued by the American up with the socio-political forces within the laborSoclety entitled, "Vocational Guidance in Chem- management-government triangle, and the parand Chemical is On the way t' be- ticular of agencies like our Society-or others coming a standard reference in its field. Some com- which we may choose to establish for the purposement has been caused, however, by its statement: which may find means of increasing the immediate de"The fields of chemistry and chemical engineering are not mand for that which the chemist is equipped to do. places to make large sums of money, and those primarily interBut, to come back to the original thesis, chemists ested in this phase of life should seek other and more Lucrative vocations. . . . The chemist and the chemical engineer have a will probably continue to be chemists largely because definite professional status, and, like the doctor, dentist, and they enjoy it. 261
fellow out of his troubles. Even feeding the rest of the world while he tightens his own belt-which, after all, is but a good, Christian act and not to be criticized. But now comes the pay-off! Have a look a t the registration figures in our graduate schools, to see especially the proportion of foreign students. It was brought to our attention recently that one of the country's largest technical schools has a present registration of about 150 graduate students, of whom over 100 are foreigners. It has also been pointed out that an increasing proportion of Asiatic students are coming to our shores. We have always advocated international good will; we don't believe in any protective t a r s on education; we have always befriended and encouraged every foreign student we have met, and expect to continue to do so, but-Doesn't there seem to be something wrong with the picture when we turn our young men out of their technical training courses and send them to the Pacific to make Asia safe for the Asiatics, while their young men in the same age group come here to take the empty places? Maybe it is a good thing that there is someone to keep our graduate schools going, but there is no denying that these young foreigners are being given an advantage from which our own boys are excluded and that they will go back to their own countries equipped to compete on more than favorable terms in the technical professions. We are not suggesting for a moment that we turn the foreign students out, but rather that we should never have turned our own students out. And if the FIFO discharge policy ("First In First Out") should by any chance prevail, another error will be committed, if we assume, of course, that the important thing is not individual convenience but the greatest long-range good to the country. It is of the utmost importance to put our technical professions back on a normal basis as soon as possible, but the men trained in these fields (and in training for them) were among the last to be drafted into the armed services. Selective Service a t least started to do a job of selection. Now we should have some selective process of getting men out of the services, in relation to their importance in civilian life. It is understandable that the Army does not want to do the job of selection, but i t is said to be receptive to the idea of a selective discharge process if some other agency will establish the basis for selection.
THE.
'
