42
��SCIENCE.
��rvor
��di^anization based upon this same principle, resulting from a recommendation of the same academy — can for an instant iJoubt the inipor- taoce of applying tiiat principle to all govern- ment work of like character which admits of it. It is not simply that it is the moat ccouomicul and the most rational, the only scientific principle ; but, removing sources of political disturbance, it will allow the natiinil and healthiest development of our resources, and nfi'ect tlie material advancement of the nation. Ullinialely there will be an autono- mouB and independent department, on a per- manent footing, on a level with those of war. state, and treasury, into which will be gathered all the bureaus of original research, of the sciences and industries, and of education, that are not iudissolubly connected with already existing departments; as, the mint with the treasury, the hydrographic bureau with the navy, etc. Then we shall wonder wliy lliis result was not sooner reached. As it is, each st«p now tends, directly or indirectly, to that end ; and, whatever possible rebuff the princi- ple of co-ordination may meet with at the present time. — and we look for none worse than its oversight through i>olitieal jugglery. — we may feel confident that it will rise a^ain to the surface.
The preijise method of accomplishing the end desired, which the committee of the acad- emy has proijosed, — that of a mixed commis- sion of superintendency, — has found a critic before the joint committee of congress in Major Powell, the bead of the geological bureau, whose views were given at length before llie committee, and are printed in full in this week's issue, though without the discnasion to which they gave rise in the committee, this having not yet been made public. Major Powell lays before the committee two Amdamentai princi- ples which we believe no unprejudiced pei-son. reading bis full statement, will be inclined to deny: 1°, that the scientiHc institutions of the government should be placed under one gen- eral man^ement: and, 2", that the several biu-eaua engaged in reaearch should be left free
��to prosecute such research in all its details, without dictation from superior authority in respect to the methods of research to be used. He objects, however, to a commissiou formed partly of civilians and partly of militai'y men, as composed of incongruous elements, since military and civil methods of ndniiniBtratiou are entii'ely diverse, and proceed upon diamet- rically opposed theories. The militarj' officer plans and commands: the civil officer hears, weighs, and decides. He makes a more for- cible objection by showing how delicate the relations of a board composed lat^elj' of sub- ordinate officials would lie to the different heads of departments, since then the secre- taries would simply become channels through which instructions to the very officials com- posing the board would he transmitted.
��All must admit that at least the second of I these exceptions is well taken, and it is there- fore gratifying to find Major Powell conatrac- live as well as destructive. He proposes that an already existing board should be invested i with these new duties; one, too. which i celientiy comiwsed, and which would be in I some respects more acceptable to the average congressman because chosen in lai-ge part by his suffrages, viz., the board of regents of the Smithsouian institution, — a board composed of the chief justice, the vice-president, three mem- hera of either house of congress chosen by the I presiding officer, and six citizens chosen by joint resolution of congress. This plan vould avoid the difficulties pointed out by Major Powell, and lins the additional merit that the proposed co-ordination is then carried a step i farther, since the institution itself would be I under the same control. It would also render ] llie further step to be taken {the creation of a I department of science) much simpler, and lesa [ beset with difBcutties, by removing one of the I present chief difficulties in the way of any re- I form, — departmental jealousies. It is, how- ever, too early yet to discuss this question I fairly ; for we have not yet before us the fiiU I development of Major Powell's proposition, f
��I
��I
r
�� �
