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utilities of cities. A few of the Westernstates have already recognized this, andhave incorporated in their constitutionthe doctrine of perpetual state ownershipof water.The benefits which have followed the uin-

aided development of the past justify thenation's aid and cooperation in the moredifficult and important work yet to be ac-complished. Laws so vitally affectinghomes as those which control the watersupply will only be effective when theyhave the sanction of the irrigators; reformscan onily be final and satisfactory when theycome through the enlightenment of thepeople most concerned. The larger devel-opment which national aid insures should,however, awaken in every arid state thedetermination to make its irrigation systemequal in justice and effectiveness that ofany country in the civilized world. Nothingcould be more unwise than for isolatedcommunities to continue to learn everythingexperimentally, instead of profiting by whatis already known elsewhere. We are deal-ing with a new and momentous question, inthe pregnant years while institutions areforming, and what we do will affect notonly the present, but future generations.Our aim should be not simply to reclaim

the largest area of land and provide homesfor the largest number of people, but tocreate for this new industry the best pos-sible social and industrial conditions; andthis requires that we not only understandthe existing situation, but avail ourselvesof the best experience of the time in the so-lution of its problems. A careful studyshould be made, both by the nation and theStates, of the irrigation laws and conditionshere and abroad. Ultimately it will prob-ably be necessary for the nation to cooper-ate with the several arid states in propor-tion as these states by their legislation andadministration show themselves fit to re-ceive it.

AMERICAN ASSOCIA TION FOR THE ADVANCE-MENT OF SCIENCE.

SECTION I, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SCIENCE.

OFFICERS for the Denver meeting were:Vice-President, John Hyde; Secretary, Ray-mond A. Pearson; Menmber of Council, E. T.Peters; Sectional Committee, C. M. Wood-ward, H. T. Newcomb, John Hyde, R. A.Pearson, Marcus Benjamin, F. R. Ruitterand L. F. Schmeckebier; Member of the Gen-eral Commnittee, F. H. Hitchcock.Nine meetings were held and at each a

full program was presented. Unusual in-terest in some papers was shown by thediscussions. The average attendance wasprobably the largest in the history of theSection. The majority of papers treated ofsubjects which are of special interest in theWest-one entire day, including an eveningsession, being given to the consideration ofthe economic and social aspects of irrigation.The vice-presidential address of Professor

C. M. Woodward, ' The Change of Front inEducation,' was published in full in a re-cent number of SCIENCE. Other paperswere as follows:

' Scientific Men of Colorado': DR. MAR-cus BENJAMIN, Washington, ID. C.

This paper had for its purpose the pres-entation to the Section of the records ofvariouis scientific men of Colorado, and con-sisted chiefly of summaries of the excellentwork done by the graduates of the ScientificDepartment of Columbia University, for-merly known as the School of Mines,towards the development of the mineralresources of Colorado, as well as of the im-proved methods in metallurgical science in-vented by them. The sketches were sometwenty in ntumber and included the careersof such men as M. W. Iles, M1. C. Ihlseny,W. B. Devereux, H. V. Furmani andRichard Pearce. Brief mention was alsomade of such scientists as the late SenatorN. P. Hill, who was referred to as the onlychemist ever elected to the United States

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Senate; Regis Chauvenet (a son of W. M.Chauvenet, who was president of the Asso-ciation in 1870), president of the ColoradoSchool of Mines, and others who have takena conspicuous part in the development ofscientific thought in Colorado. The paper

closed with a brief appeal for the preserva-

tion in a suitable building of the remainsof the former inhabitants of Colorado andthe Southwest.

' Dangers from Inaccuracy in Presenta-tion of Transportation Problems': J.[EsE. BLODGETT, A.M. Division of Statistics,Department of Agriculture, Washington,D. C.

Projects for transportation of water, bothfor personal use and for irrigation ofcrops, are necessary on a scale requiringmunicipal or corporate association of effort.In transportation of food and other com-

modities the railroad and the steamshipform the present culmination of carriers.Water-works for cities, or for agriculture,canal and ship enterprises call for govern-

ment aid. Railroads once largely aided bypublic appropriations depend mainly on

sales of bonds and stocks to investors. Insome propositions to the public, error iscombined with truth to a dangerous extent.Two groups of erroneous statements are now

particularly prominent, even in schoolbooks, in regard to interior waterways: Onerelates to a presumed project for a ship canalbetween the Black and the Baltic seas,officially disclaimed by Russia; another as

to interior waterways between Boston andGalveston, really no more than three feetdeep in the shallowest part, and betweenthe mouths of the St. Lawrence and theMississippi, no more than six feet deep forlong distances, with short narrow locks.The Chicago Drainage Canal has as yet no

commercial relations. The limit of urbanpopulation is liable to be determined by thewater supply. The extent of cultivationupon Western plains is already limited by

the availability of water. It is a questionwhether taxation does not tend to increasefaster than average incomes or than mar-

ket values of property. Municipal repu-

diation ought to be unknown. Many mu-

nicipalities have reached the legal limitsof taxation and of indebtedness, but underpopular demand constitutions have beenamended and new municipal organizationshave been superimposed to place additionaltaxes on the property. In Illinois, for ex-

ample, most of the following series of taxesmay represent separate authorities levyingindependently.

(a) National, (b) state, (c) county, (d)township, (e) school district, (f) city, in-corporated town, village, in addition toschool tax, (g) township high-school dis-trict, (h) drainage district, (i) sanitarydistrict, (k) townships or road districts, forhard roads.Most of these separate agencies can in-

cur debt not to exceed five per cent. of thevaluation, making possible a very large ag-

gregate obligation resting upon the taxableproperty. Township high-schools, drain-age districts, sanitary districts, hard-roaddistricts, are not numerous, but they are

possible in any part of the State undergeneral laws.

' The Census of Cuba': VICTOR H. OLM-STED, Assistant Director of the Census ofCuba.The prospective establishment of an inde-

pendent government in Cuba made informa-tion necessary concerning the numbers anddistribution, the education, the racial di-visions, etc., of its population. The Amer-ican authorities, after deliberate consulta-tion with eminent Cubans, decided uipon a

census of the island. The knowledge al-

ready had of the temperament of the people,and of the probable obstacles to speedywork, indicated that conditions in Cubawere unfavorable to census-taking on a scaleso comprehensive as that of the United

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States; hence only the more important dataconcerning population, education and agri-culture were collected. The work was in-trusted chiefly to Cubans. The prevailingidea was that the census was to be ofCubans,' by Cubans and for Cubans, andthat its successful accomplishment wouldindicate their capacity for the subsequentestablishment and maintenance of civilgovernment. This decision was enthusias-tically received by Cuban press and public.President McKinley's proclamation, August17, 1899, declaring the census a preliminarystep towards the establishment of self-gov-ernment, completed the obliteration of allsuspicion of American motives theretoforeprevalent throughout the island. The As-sistant Director, who was placed in fullcharge of the census, reached HavanaAugust 20, 1899, established a temporaryoffice, and began dividing the island intodistricts, a task difficult and arduous,owing to a lack of accurate geographicaldata. By September 15 the island hadbeen divided into 1,315 enumeration dis-tricts-afterwards increased to 1,607. Largenumbers of educated Cubans, then out ofemployment, furnished an excellent fieldfrom which'to select enumerators.In cases of doubtful literacy, persons were

required to read and write in the presence ofthe enumerator,and, as to illiteracy statis-tics, the Cuban census is probably the mostaccurate on record. The enumeration wasfully completed bythe time required, Novem-ber 30, 1899. Delay in a few remote districtsalone prevented a much earlier completion.The complete results are published in Span-ish and English separately. The volume of800 pages contains information not else-where obtainable concerning Cuba and theCubans.

' Mechanical Tabulation of the Statisticsof Agriculture in the Twelfth Census of theUnited States': H. T. NEWCOMB, EditorRailway World, formerly Expert Chief of the

Division of Agriculture in the Office of theTwelfth Census.The public demanded of the twelfth cen-

sus a more extended, elaborate and detailedinvestigation of American agriculture thanhad been undertaken by any of its predeces-sors. Previous censuses had collected thebasic facts necesgary to answer the inquiriesof the public, but had never been able toundertake the complicated and extensivetabulation necessary fully to develop theinformation that they might have been madeto supply. An investigation and tests pre-scribed by law finally led to the adoption ofthe Hollerith electrical tabulating machin-ery. This is controlled by cards to whichthe facts from the schedules returned by theenumerators are transcribed by means ofperforations. Two kinds of cards were

used: one providing for a description ofsingle farms, and the other for the acreage,

production and value of each of the separatecrops raised on each farm. The facts indi-cated on these cards are all stated quantita-tively and the perforations were made bymachines somewhat similar in their mannerof operation to a typewriter. About 115,-000,000 crop cards and nearly 6,000,000farm cards were necessary, and the formerwere punched at the rate of about 2,000,the latter at the rate of about 1,000, perday's work. These cards were fed into thetabulating machines, which consisted eachof from three to ten connected adding ma-

chines impelled by electrical currents trans-mitted through the perforations. Severalcounting devices impelled in the same way

were also added to the machines for differ-ent phases of the work; at one tinme as

many as nineteen. In running cards-through tne machines an average of over10,000 per day has been attained in thelater months. The Division of Agricultureemploys twelve of these tabulating ma-chines for the farm cards and eighty-six forthe crop cards.

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The great advantage of the Hollerithtabulating machinery, aside from its pre-

cision, lies in the possibility of making a

single transcription of data and but one

handling of schedules serves for the mostcomplicated tabulations and for those inwhich the same facts are classified and ag-

gregated according to many different andconflicting elements. It also has the meritof simplifying the work of a large office andreducing the greater portion of it to thegrade of factory work.'The Single Tax': HoN. JAMES CROSBY,

Denver.To the thoughtful mind the political out-

look at the opening of the new century isprofoundly interesting. The nineteenthcentuiry was a wonderful century, but inone sphere of human development it was a

disappointment. With all our boastedprogress, we have not made better citizensor a more contented people. Industrialslavery must be abolished before thesocial organism can be restored to health,and the single-tax philosophy contains theproper remedy. Single-taxers maintainthat the reason the wages of labor do notincrease as material progress advances is be-cause rent, or the price paid for the use ofland, is continually increasing. The landupon which Chicago now stands was notworth an old shoe one hundred years ago.

To-day millions could not buy it. The landupon which Denver is built was valuelessfifty years ago. To-day it is worth millions,and as the city grows, wages will niot in-crease, but we all know that the value ofland will. By collecting this ever-increas-ing rent and using it for the benefit of allthe people. we abolish land monopoly andsolve the problem of the persistence ofpoverty amid Can advancing civilization.This single tax is not a tax upon land, butupon land values, an entirely differentmatter. We are frequently told that thesingle tax would bear with great severity

upon the poor farmer. This criticism wouldbe just if we proposed to tax land, but it isnot true if land values are taxed. For whilemost of the land is in the country, most ofthe land values are in the city. Under thesingle tax system the farmer would pay very

little tax. aund values are easily collected.Land cannot run away, nor can it be hidwhen the assessor appears. Everywhere,in all times, monopoly of the land upon

which all must live and from which all

wealth is produced, is the basis of social andpolitical disorders. The single-tax system,if adopted, will destroy industrial slaveryand will usher in a period of peace andprosperity for all.

' The Road Problem ': JAMES W. ABBOTT,Special Agent U. S. Office of Public RoadInquiries for the Mountain Division, Den-ver.

The renaissance of road building beganduring the first half of the eighteenthcentury. Metcalf in England, and, con-

temporary with him, Tresagtuet in France,were the pioneers in this movement, andwere followed later by Telford and Mac-adam, whose methods, with slight modifi-cations, are still used. It is a singularcoincidence that correct road-building prac-

tices were evolved just before the beginningof the railway era. In the United Statesthe first attempt at better roads was

made by toll-road companies; later came

the National ' Cuinberland Road,' whichwas the beginning of an excellent systemof government military roads constructedat public expense. -While in Europe therailway and highway systems expandedtogether, in the United States the rail-way displaced the highway in public at-tention; and, with the beginning of therailway era, national appropriations forroad building were discontinued. Then fol-lowed a very remarkable period of conquestof the wilderness, during which the highwayquestion received almost no atteDtion. The

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period of awakenment on this importantsubject began a few years ago, and prob-ably received its first strong impulse fromthe League of American Wheelmen. Manystates have appropriated money to aid inbuilding state highways: New Jersey, NewYork, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maryland,California and many other states now havehighway commissions. Wherever statefunds are appropriated, the laws require thecounties to share in the expense. The moststriking feature of the reports of the high-way commissioners is the demand for statehighways, notwithstanding the require-ment for contribution by the counties.The controlling reason for this demand ap-pears to be the fact, now universally recog-nized, that the building of these improvedState highways has. vastly enhanced thevalues of contiguous and neighboring prop-erty. The United States Departmenit ofAgriculture, through its office of PublicRoad Inquiries, took up this matter a fewyears ago, and has been engaged in dissemi-nating among the people information uponroad conditions in Europe and America andin teaching improved methods.

' Farm Ownership and Tenanicy in Dela-ware. A Study of Farm Tenancy': LEGRAND POWERS, Chief Statistician for Agri-culture, U. S. Census.The growth of farm tenancy, which has

been noted in many States of our nationduring the last thirty years, is a part of asocial movement profoundly affecting thestatus of many families in the UnitedStates. It was the appreciation of this factthat led the government, by the tenth andsubsequent censuses, to collect statistics re-lating to the subject. According to thetwelfth census of the United States, therewere in the state of Delaware, June 1,1900, 9,687 farms. The number has stead-ily increased since 1850. In that yearthere were 6,063; in 1860, 6,568; in 1870,7,615; in 1880, 8,749; in 1890, 9,381.

Of the farms of 1900, 4,876, or 50.4 percent., were operated by tenants; 4,680,or 48.3 per cent., by individuals who ownedthe whole or a part of the land they tilled;and 131, or 1.3 per cent., were cultivatedfor their owners by salaried managers oroverseers. A large number of the last-mentioned class were farms connected withpublic institutions, or the property of cor-porations, and most of the others wereholdings of wealthy individuals and wereoperated as much for the pleasure as for theprofit of the owners. During the lasttwenty years there has been a steady de-crease in the number of farms operated bytheir owners, accompanied by a moremarked increase of those operated by ten-ants. This actual and relative increase inthe number of farm tenants has taken placeunder circumstances which have operatedto assist a large number of families in ris-ing from wage service to farm tenancyor ownership. None of the facts presentedindicate the existence of a movement inDelaware toward the concentration of theownership of farm property or its trans-fer to the hands of a fixed class of non-resi-dent landlords. They lead to the conclusionthat the titles to rented farms in Delawareare vested in a large number of persons,the majority of whom have, at some time intheir lives, operated the farms now ownedby them. This conclusion is warrantedby the results of the investigation of thetwelfth census concerning the ownership ofrented farms. The ownership of rentedfarms is held under conditions that insureto capable and industrious wage-earners ortenants greater opportunities of becomingfarm owners than ever existed in thiscountry before 1850, or than is presented atthis time in any other nation on the globe.

' What Next? Is it Socialism? I WALTERS. LOGAN, New York.The present is industrial chaos. Where

organization comes out of the chaos it is

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warfare. On the one side are the employersof labor, on the other side the laborers; on

the one side the people who receive divi-dends, on the other the people who receivewages. What is being fought over is theproceeds of labor. We have built up our

economic civilization on the principle thatthe relation between one man and anothershould be dependent upon voluntary agree-

ment between them. But now it has come

to be a relation not between man and man,

but a relation between class and class. Thecommunity founds itself upon the relation-ship. More men are now employed bysingle corporations than were working forwages in the whole United States a hundredyears ago. Such is the present situation.It is admitted on all sides that it is intoler-able. Socialism is defined to be the owner-ship and operation by the Stateof all coopera-tive industries within its jurisdiction-theindustrial condition wherein the State isthe only employer of labor and the onlywage pa.yer.The advocates of socialism in picturing

its blessings, assume that it is practicable-an assumption that has not been subjectedto the test of trial. But great moderncombinations have come upon the scene-sogreat and so extended that they approachin the complexity of their activities andthe magnitude of their undertakings thefunctions of government itself. A paidservant only is watching other paid ser-

vants, and the eye of the master is almostas remote from the hand of the servant as

it would be if the state itself were master.The success of the modern industrial com-

binations would seem to indicate that thestate might succeed pretty well in oper-

ating its own industries. If socialism as

a practical proposition is thinkable to-day,it is because these combinations have madeit so. For good or for evil, they will leaveus as a legacy the assurance that indus-trial operations approaching in extent the

917

operations of government itself can be suc-

cessfully inaugurated and profitably car-

ried on. As to the ultimate result, I

have no opinion whatever to express. Asto the immediate result, however, I havea very decided opinion. I believe we

shall have, in the immediate future, notstate socialism, but a more socialistic state.I agree that socialism must come if it is theonly way to secure industrial peace and pro-tect the masses of the people, but it is farfrom having been demonstrated yet that it isthe only way to do this. I am not preparedto say that we have found another and betterway, but I have confidence enough in our

rsce's destiny to believe that we shall.'Economic Work of the United States

Geological Survey ': L. F. SCHMECKEBIER,Pin.D., United States Geological Survey,Washington, D. C.The economic work of the United States

Geological Survey consists of work in eco-

nomic and mining geology, investigationsrelating to water supply and irrigation, thesurvey of forest reserves, the preparation ofa topographical map of the United States,and the gathering of statistics relating to themineral production of the country. In thefield of mining geology the Survey worksupon the general principle that it shouldendeavor to accomplish for the mining in-dustry as a whole what the individual engi-neer or mine owner could not succeed indoing by his unaided exertions; in short theSurvey unidertakes to furnish the prospectorand mining engineer with an accurate basisupon which their work may be founded.The hydrographic work falls into threegeneral classes: (1) Work of a strictly en-

gineering character, having to do with themeasurement of surface streams and theconservation of water supply through thestorage of flood water; (2) examination ofthe underground structure and the perme-

ability of the water-bearing rockB; and(3) general reconnaissances for the pur-

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pose of obtaining information as to themethod of utilizing water suppry for power,irrigation and domestic purposes. In thesurvey of the forest reserves every factorbearing upon the character and growthof the forest has been studied. The fol-lowing points have been especially em-phasized: The character of the soil; theforest litter; the depth of humus; the char-acter and density of the underbrush andyoung growth; the range in size of trees ofthe principal species; the total height,clear trunk and apparent age and sound-ness; the effect of fires on reproduction;the proportion of dead standing timber;the character of the cutting; the means oftransportation; the local demand for lum-ber; the effect of sheep pasturage; the useof water for irrigation and milling; and theextent and distribution of land more valu-able for agriculture than for timber. TheSurvey is engaged in the preparation of atopographic map of the United States,which in addition to being a necessity forall other investigations undertaken in thefield, has in itself a great economic valuein all works of an engineering character.The statistics of mineral productions arecompiled direct from reports made by theproducers themselves.

'The Soil as a Social and Economic Fac-tor': FRANK K. CAMERON, Ph.D. SoilChemist, U. S. Department of'Agriculture,Washington, D. C.This paper was a presentation in general

terms of the work which has been doneand is being done upon soils from the pointof view of the natural scientist. An out-line of the work of the Bureau of Soils inthe U. S. Department of Agriculture isgiven. The point is then made that suchwork can never, in itself alone, lead to thebest development and management of soils,for it is in fact an economic problem, andthe work of the physical scientist can onlyserve as a basis or point of departure

from which the economist may attack theproblem. The causal relations betweenthe character of the soil and the populationit supports are brought out and the impor-tance of the soil as a factor in the socialand economic status of the community isinsisted upon. A plea is made for moreattention to the subject from experts inthese lines.

' Woman's Suffrage in Colorado': J. E.LE ROSSIGNOL, Professor of Economics, Uni-versity of Denver.

After the enactment of the Woman'sSuffrage Law, in the year 1893, manywomen devoted themselves with enthusiasmto the theory and practice of politics, espe-cially in the agitations concerning populismand free silver. Afterwards a number ofleading women broke away from the regularpolitical factions and formed organizationssuch as the Civic Federation, which tookan active part in the municipal election of1895, and in 1897 they secured the electionof an independent ticket. Since then therehas been a tenidency for women to return tothe regular party organizations. It is diffi-cult to give an estimate of the value ofwoman's suffrage to Colorado, because ofdiversity of opinion on the subject, and be-cause it is as yet impossiIble to prove eitherthe success or the failure of the systemfrom the point of view of social expedi-ency. The woman vote is large. Womenhave not been injured by the franchise.The character of the leading women poli-ticians is high. Women are not, as a rule,clamorous for office. Since 1894, ten womenhave sat as representatives in the Legisla-tive Assembly, and three women have suc-cessively occupied the position of State Su-perintendent of Education. Women havealso served acceptably as members of thevarious state boards. Women have ex-erted a civilizing influence upon the char-acter of political meetings, and they haveat times exerted an influence toward secur-

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ing the nomination of respectable candi-dates. Some reforms have been accom-plished, wholly or in part, through theinfluence of women. A considerable pro-portion of women voters are as yet some-what independent of party control, formingan unknown quantity which disturbs thecalculations of party managers, and whethercalled independence or fickleness, may beregarded as counting against rather thanfor political trickery and corruption. Peoplewho expected that society would be imme-diately regenerated through the influence ofwoman's suffrage have been grievously dis-appointed, and many of them, both menand women, consider the experiment a to-tal failure. Such people have expected toomuch and are too impatient. No remark-able reforms have been accomplished, butit is safe to say that woman suffrage hasdonae no harm, that it has done some good,and that it has been adopted by Colorado'for better or for worse. '

' The World's Bread Supply ': EDWARDT. PETERS, Division of Statistics, U. S. De-partment of Agriculture.

In his annual address as president of theBritish Association for the Advancement ofScience, delivered at the Bristol meeting ofthat body in 1898, Sir William Crookessounded an alarm as to the future of theworld's wheat supply. He pointed out thatthe bread-eating populations, consisting ofthe people of Europe and of European set-tlers and their descendants in various partsof the world, are increasing in a geomet-rical ratio, and from the figures he pre-sented, he reached the startling conclusionthat, by 1931, the number of bread-eaterswill have become so great as to require theproduce of all the land in the world avail-able for wheat-growing, unless there shall,in the meantime, have been an increase inthe average production per acre, which, atthe time of his address, he estimated for theworld at large at 12.7 bushels per acre.

The conclusions reached by Sir William, asto the future wheat-exporting capabilitiesof the United States, have seemed to somewriters to fall so far short of the truth as tomake his conclusion in regard to the worldat large seem unworthy of serious attention;but an article by Mr. John Hyde, statis-tician of the Department of Agriculture,published some time ago in the NorthAmerican Review, if it does not entirely sup-port Sir William's view, yet shows by anoverwhelming array of well-considered factsand figures that the optimistic expectationsof some of Sir William's critics are wildlyextravagant. In considering the averagecapacity of the earth to support civilizedpopulations, it is to be remembered that,with the rise in the general standard of liv-ing which was a conspicuous feature ofnineteenth-century progress, bread becamea smaller and smaller proportion of thetotal consumption of the people. Wantshave greatly multiplied; and as these wantsrequire the produce of land for their satis-faction, the average area required for thesupport of an individual is now muchgreater than it was one hundred years ago.Moreover, if the standard of living is to risestill higher, that average area must, in theabsence of increased yields per acre, becomegreater still, and a still smaller proportionof it will be devoted to the production ofbread. 'Man shall not live by breadalone ' is receiving, with the advance ofcivilization, a more and more liberal inter-pretation, and this fact has a vital bearingon the capacity of the earth for supportingpopulation. Population cannot increasebeyond a certain point without arrestingthe improvement in the standard of livingand starting a movement in the opposite di-rection, unless a means can be found of ob-taining from the soil increasing yields.The point at which such increasing yieldswill become the only alternative to starva-tion may not be quite so near as Sir William

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Crookes believes; but it is near enough toimpress us with the vital importance ofusing to the utmost every agency by whichskilled and scientific agriculture may besubstituted for the loose and wasteful sys-tems of the past, and also to emphasize thenecessity of protecting the world's forests,conserving its waters and employing everyother means by which the area of landavailable for productive purposes can be in-creased. Doubtless there is a limit to thenumber of human beings that the earth iscapable of supporting in comfort, but sci-enice, skill and foresight may place thatlimit in a sufficiently distant future to re-move all occasion for anxiety on the part ofthe earth's present inhabitants or their im-mediate posterity.

' The Interdependence of the Sciences':DR. MAX WEST, U. S. Industrial Commis-sion, Washington.

This paper will be published in SCIENCE.'The Presenit Status of Commerce in

the Educational Policy and in the Ad-ministra,tive Organization of Modern Na-tions': JOHN FRANKLIN CROWELL, PH.D.,Bureau of Statistics, U. S. Treasury De-partmernt.

This paper presented the results of ananalysis of the courses of study of repre-sentative institutions, both in this countryand a-broad, in which higher commercialinstruction.has been given. In some re-spects our own schools are modeled afterthe institutions of continental Europe, butto a much greater extent they are the out-growth of two tendencies in our nationallife-the expansion of our universities andthe increasing influence of business men inpublic policy. A comparison of several ofthe more important higher schools of com-merce in Europe and at home shows thatthere are five double groups of subjects re-garded as essential to a comprehensive com-mercial curriculum of higher grade. Theseare: (1) Geography and history, (2) Ian-

guages and methods, (3) science and tech-nology, (4) economics and statistics, and(5) law and sociology. The preponderat-ing influence of one or another of thesegroups is determined by the general charac-ter of the college. In some institutions thetype of training offered is professedly tech-nical, in others it is practically a commercialsubstitute for a liberal education. Theliberal and the professional purposes areprobably least dissociated in the curriculumof the Wharton School of Finance andEconomy at the University of Pennsyl-vania, the oldest of the higher schools ofcommerce in this country.The practice bas prevailed of organizing

a commercial curriculum of four years outof subjects hitherto taught in other depart-ments. However necessary this may havebeen to meet a growing demand for specialinstruction of a higher commercial charac-ter, it has made the fundamental educa-tional mistake of failing sufficiently to dif-ferentiate the field of commercial phenomenafrom that of industry on the one hand andfinance on the other. There is accordinglymuch confusion, that must retard greatlythe rate at which the field of commercialknowledge shall be reduced to scientificconsistency. It is to the solution of thedistinct problems of commerce that educa-tion must devote itself if it means to or-ganize commercial experience for the aid ofindividual enterprise and of national pros-perity. The scientific classification of com-mercial phenomena is preliminary to thesolution of these inherent problems.A truly scientific course in the study of

commerce must fill four conditions:1. The classification of the facts and

methods of modern commerce.2. The formulation and solution of com-

mercial problems.3. The grounding of the student in eco-

nomic principles and in their ready applica-tion to commercial situations.

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4. The mastery of knowledge relating tothe history and development of commercialpolicy as embodied in the economic prog-ress of modern nations.

This is the least that scientific thoughtcan ask of higher commercial education.

'The Development of the Mineral Re-sources of Colorado' : CHARLES W. COM-STOCK, Professor of Mining Engineering inthe Colorado School of Mines.The paper began with a few figures show-

ing Colorado's position in the mineral-pro-ducing world, especially with regard to gold,silver and lead. The relative change in im-portance of silver and gold in the state'swealth was brought out. The figures showedthat 49 per cent. of its production had beensilver and 35 per cent. gold. The statis-tics of 1900 show 25 per cent. silver and57 per cent. gold. The all-important pointin the history of gold and silver produc-tion is the increased economy in the min-ing and the treatment of ores. This isindicated by the lower grade of the oremined now as compared with earlier years.Even in Cripple Creek,.the newest of theproducing district, it is striking. Thecauses leading to these reductions arecheaper labor, cheaper fuel, lower freightrates, cleaner work and close attention todetails. One of the potent factors in de-veloping low-grade ores has been the im-provement in ore-dressing machinery andmethods, together with a more general dis-semination of information with regard tothis very important subject. The figuresfrom one instance of actual practice showthat proper mechanical preparation makesa change from a loss of $5 per ton to aprofit of $2. The paper closed with a briefreference to the zinc problem which has beenan absorbing one in Colorado for more thanfifteen years.

' Protection of Communities by the For-est ': GIFFORD PINCHOT, Forester, U. S.Department of Agriculture.

The relation of the forest to the com-munity penetrates every portion of com-munal life on the material side. To followit in detail would be to describe the moderncommunity with a minuteness which hasperhaps had little approach. For the gen-eral theme it is sufficient to say that thecommunal life of modern civilization as weknow it would be impossible without theforest.

Forests protect communities especially bysafeguarding the drainage systems on whichthey depend either for navigation or watersupply, by fixing the drifting sands whichhave already overwhelmed so many townsand villages, by securing the prosperity ofthe tributary territory upon which thecommunal prosperity itself must hang, andfinally, by providing the recreation groundswithout which much of communal life mustbe flat, stale and unprofitable. The townor city forest is an institution of the high-est beneficence which has yet only begunto appear in America. Examples are notuncommon abroad of towns free, eitherpartly or wholly, from communal taxes bythe revenues of their forests; and this isperhaps the least of the services which theyrender. Cheap and abundant supplies ofwood come to the citizens from their forestlands, but best of all, the forest serves as aplayground and breathing space whose in-fluence penetrates to every portion of thecomlmunity. Public spirit could take fewdirections more useful to the citizens, townsand villages of this country than to providethem with self-supporting recreationgrounds of the forest type, for there is aquality of renewal inherent in play time inthe forest which follows no other kind ofrest from work.

'Leasing and Disposal of the PublicLands': C. E. WANTLAND, Denver.The United States owns about half a bil-

lion acres, the net cost to date of the remain-ing lands being probably about $250,000,-

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000. To maintain the Land Department,an expenditure of about $2,000,000 per an-num is necessary. In the western statesthere are about 500,000,000 acres, about400,000,000 million of which are used forgrazing purposes by 25,000,000 cattle andsheep under conditions gradually growingworse. If leased, the revenue in tenyears, in connection with the net receiptsfrom sale of public lands, would doubleirrigated lands in the WVest now estimatedat 10,000,000 acres. In the eleven westernstates we have only 250,000 farms, and 50per cent. of the people live in towns andcities, while about 75,000,000 acres of pub-lic lands can still be reclaimed if the waterwhich now runs to waste can be stored.Congress has failed to realize the great im-portance of the subject and very little con-structive legislation has been secured.Forest reservations, the Carey Grant Actand the recent Free Homes Bill were se-cuLred after great difficulties. Public landsshould be leased for short terms in limitedquiantities and at low rates. Owing to dif-ferent conditions in the different states,leases should be issued on a county local-option basis, after careful classification oflands by commissioners and approval bystockmen. Funds should be used for reduc-ing county taxes, for surveys and reservoirconstruction. The majority of stockmen arenow in favor of a good lease plan, fair toall concerned. The Homestead law shouldbe amended to enable settlers by a combi-nation homestead and lease privilege tocontrol enough land to make a living on,anid the Government should advertise thefacts about public lands for the benefit ofpeople who want new homes. The DesertLand Law should be repealed. Forest pro-tection and the reclamation of the aridlands will bring great prosperity to thecountry. The landless man of the eastmust be placed upoIn the manless land of thewest.

IIrrigation I: F. H. NEWELL, Hydrog-rapher, U. S. Geological Survey.The western half of the United States

consists for the greater part of vacant landbelonging to the nation and at the disposalof Congress. With this enormous area, ag-gregating fully one-third of the UnitedStates, it would be supposed that settle-ment would progress rapidly and populationincrease with stupendous strides. As amatter of fact, however, the past decadehas not been marked by notable develop-ments, but, on the contrary, it appears thatthe settled area has to a small extent actu-ally diminished. As a rule the soil andclimate are suitable for the production oflarge crops, were it not for the scarcity ofmoistture. The pioneers and their succes-sors have taken out almost innumerableditches and have diverted the smallerstreams, demonstrating the practicabilityand profitable character of agriculture by theartificial application of water. In all, aboutten million acres of land have been broughtunder cultivation by means of works builtlargely by farmers acting in partnership orin associations. Irrigation developmentwhen brought about in this manner hasbeen extremely profitable. But, contrary tothe experience of the farmers, large irriga-tion enterprises have almost invariablybeen financial failures. This anomalouscondition, where enterprises succeed in asmall way but fail financially on a largescale, merits careful consideration. Thereare upwards of seventy million, or even ahundred million, acres of arable land whichmight be reclaimed and made into homesby utilizing the waters of the large rivers orof the floods which now run to waste. Thereason for the failure of the large enterpriseslies for the most part in the difficulty ofsecuring immediate settlement and of ob-taining experienced farmers who can prac-tice irrigation with success from the out-set.

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One of the great questions now before thepeople of the country is how to dispose ofthe crowded and surplus population aroundthe great manufacturing centers and torender the idle laborers producers of wealthinstead of helpless consumers. The publiclands in the past have proved the great out-let for superfluous labor, especially at theperiodical occurrence of hard times. Vastareas of fertile public lands still remain,but these cannot be utilized until the prob-lem of supplementing the deficient watersupply can be solved. This problem ofwater supply for the arid lands is one whichmust be taken up by the publicist andstatesman. The engineering features arecomparatively simple, but the great questionto be solved is as to who is to pay for theoyiginal outlay. The public at large is un-doubtedly the gainer, since by the creation ofprosperous homes upon the public domainthe commonwealth is strengthened, andcommerce and manufacture increased. Asimilar question with regard to the buildingof light-houses and the improvement ofharbors has been answered by the nationalgovernment taking charge of the matter,and it is ulrged by many who have studiedthe matter thoroughly that Congress, thecustodian of the public lands, must takecognizance of present conditions and notonly modify the land laws to suit the con-ditions of the arid West, but also providemeans by which large rivers may be madeavailable and floods held so that the farm-ers by their own work may be able to util-ize the waters, as has been done by theirpredecessors.

'The Scope of National Aid for Irriga-tion ': FRED BOND, State Irrigation Engi-neer, Cheyenne, Wyo.

Irrigation laws are a necessary part ofthe statutes of every state any portion ofwhich lies west of the 100th meridian, andthey form a part of the statutes of thosestates. These laws are enacted for the

purpose of governing the diversion' and ap-propriation of water and its use, and statecodes and state statutes alone define waterrights and provide for their determinationand administration. The general govern-ment has never undertaken to exercise anyauthority over water used in irrigation, buthas left the control of the water in the aridregion entirely to the states wherein found.Whatever might have been originally un-dertaken with advantage by the nation doesnot change present conditions, and it is nowtoo late, even were such action desirable, toundertake the enactment of laws which willcome into conflict with the long-concededrights of the states to regulate and controlthese matters; nor can the government de-termine future rights or undertake theiradministration without creating a conflictbetween those state and national authori-ties which have the diversion of water di-rectly in charge. The funds for irrigationdevelopment must come from some nationalresource, for the states are financially un-able to raise them, and no matter how will-ing many of them might be, they are pre-cluded from the undertaking because thelimits of taxation permitted by their re-spective constitutions has been reached inproviding means to meet ordinary state ex-penses. They are, however, not only readyand willing, but entirely capable of prose-cuting the work to a successful conclusion,the means being found. The funds shouldcome from such a source as would bringabout the least possible interference withpresent conditions, and the appropriation orsetting apart of the receipts from the saleof arid lands seems most completely to fillthese requirements. The volume of workundertaken in any state each year may belimited by the receipts from the sale of pub-lic lands in such state for the year previous,a plan commendable in that interests notbenefited are not required to render anyassistance in the work. The amount ob-

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tained in this manner from any one statewould not be large, but would enable a be-ginning to be made and at the same timegive the state an opportunity to demon-strate its fitness to continue in the work ofits own development under these conditions.A part of the discussion which followed

this paper is given:F. H. Newell: The proposition pre-

sented by Mr. Bond is one which has beenfully discussed by committees in Congress.The general conception is not new, but thepoint which he emphasizes,of the importanceof state control of national funds in irriga-tion development, is one which, it is feared,will prove a stumbling-block to progress.Relatively few of the states would be bene-fited if the proceeds from the disposal ofpublic lands in each state were devoted ex-clusively to works in that state. This nar-rowing of development is undoubtedly theoutgrowth of an attempt made to cede thevacant public lands to the states to be dis-posed of by the legislatures. This has beenshown to be contrary to the whole spirit ofnational administration of the public lands;these lands being held, not for the benefitof the states in which they are located, butfor the making of homes by citizens. Thereis no apparent ground for the fear of conflictbetween national and state authority.There can be no question as to the impor-tance of national development of vacantpublic lands, which still incluide nearly one-third of the UTnited States. It is practicablefor the government to erect storage reser-voirs, and to divert large rivers to a pointwhere settlers can take out the water andmake for themselves homes as was done bythe pioneers. The further limitation, how-ever, which Mr. Bond seems to insist upon,that this work should be done by state offi-cials, is one which is so opposed to all ex-perience and precedents that it woulddoubtless weaken the movement in theminds of those who have studied the subject.

George H. Maxwell, Chairman of theExecutive Committee of the National Irri-gation Association, expressed the opinionthat the paper by Mr. Bond tended to createan entirely wrong impression as to the re-lation of the national Government to irriga-tion development. No one, he said, contendsor proposesthat the national Governmentshould undertake in any way to regulatethe distribution of water in conflict withthe laws of the state. It is proposed thatthe Government shall do two things: First,enlarge its policy of internal improvementsto include water storage through appropria-tions under the river and harbor bill, thewater so stored to be turned into the streamin the dry season and distributed under thestate laws just as though nature had put itthere. Second, build such reservoirs andirrigation works as may be necessary tobring water within reach of settlers on thepublic lands, reserving lands for whichwater is thus made available for actualsettlers only, and charging the lands in pro-portion to benefits with the actual cost ofthe Government works. In carrying outthis latter policy the Government occupiesthe relation to the states of a land owner,and will proceed just as any other landowner would do to accomplish the re-clamation and settlement of his land. Itis conceded in Mr. Bond's article that thenational resources must provide the fundsfor this irrigation development. This beingso, the national Government will administertheir disbursement. It has steadily refusedto cede the public lands to the states, becauseexperience has shown that such a policywould result in the lands being improvi-dently administered or absorbed in largeholdings by speculators. The same resultwould follow if the control of their reclama-tion were turned over to the states. Thenational Government will never appro-priate money from any source for stateengineers to spend to reclaim the public

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domain. The sole ultimate object of thenational irrigation policy is to make homeson the public domain, and when this hasbeen done the national purpose has beenaccomplished. Until the home-builder isactually there, the national Governmentwill never abdicate its functions or transferto state politicians the administration ofthis great national trust.

'The Grand Canyon of the Gunnison.'Illustrated evening lecture by A. L. FEL-LOWS, Resident Hydrographer of U. S.Geological Survey, Denver.Below the Black Canyon of the Gunni-

son, which is traversed by the D. & R. G.Railway in Western Colorado there remainsstill a portion of the Gunnison canyon whichhas been practically unknown, and a por-tion at least of which has never been ex-plored until it was investigated by Mr. A.L. Fellows, resident hydrographer of theU. S. Geological Survey, and by one com-panion, Mr. Will Torrence, of Montrose,Colorado, in the month of August, 1901.This portion of the Gunniison Canyon isknown in Hayden's survey as the GrandCanyon of the Gunnison, and although anumber of efforts had been made to pene-trate its secrets, these efforts have beenwithout avail until the present attempt.This is the more extraordinary as thereis no portion of Colorado that can com-pare with it in scenic grandeur, and theproblems in geology that are presented arealso of intense interest. The absolutelyunexplored portion is of but a few miles in-length, but there are some thirty-five milesof which very little is known. This is thatportion of the canyon between the mouthof the Cimarron River at Cimarron and themouth of Uncompahgre at Delta. Theplateau which is cut by the Grand Canyonof the Gunnison is known as the VernalMesa, and appears to have been causedby an uplifting of the overlying strata bygeological forces beneath. The sandstones

of the surrounding region were upliftedseveral thousand feet above the adjacentterritory, but these sandstones have beeneroded from the region traversed by thecanyon, and the canyon itself is eroded intothe metamorphic granite and through crys-talline rocks to a depth at present amount-ing to about 2,000 feet on the average belowthe surrounding territory. The walls are inmany cases very nearly vertical, and at timesare strangely marked by gigantic veins ofquartz. The flora and fauna of the canyondo not differ materially from those of otherColorado canyons, the stream being linedby spruce and cottonwood trees, and thecanyon being occupied, to some extent atleast, by the usual fauna of the wilder por-tions of Colorado. The investigation wasmade in the interest of a survey that isbeing carried on by the hydrographic divi-sion of the U. S. Geological Survey underthe general direction of Mr. F. H. Newell,for the purpose of determining the feasi-bility of diverting the water of the Gunni-son into the Uncompahgre Valley for theirrigation of its lands. The trip wasmade, commenced on the 12th and endedon the 21st of August, 1901. The inves-tigation resulted in the obtaining of prac-tically all the data desired, over a hun-dred excellent views of the canyon beilngtaken, and copious memoranda made con-cerning the nature of the rocks and otherfeatures of interest. The trip was an ex-cessively hard one, and was made with thelightest possible equipment, the explorersbeing obliged to take to the river andswim some seventy-odd times, besides scal-ing the sides of the cliffs times innumer-able.

' The Development of Irrigation in Colo-rado ': L. G. CARPENTER, Director of Ex-periment Station and Professor of Irrigation,Fort Collins, Colorado.

'The Social and Economic Aspects of Ir-rigation ': GEORGE H. MAXWELL, Chairman

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of Executive Committee of National Irriga-tion Association, Washington.

RAYMOND A. PEARSON,Secretary.

AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION.

THE Nineteenth Congress of the Amer-ican Ornithologists' Union convened inNew York City, Monday evening, Novem-ber 11. The business meeting of the Fel-lows was held at the American Museum ofNatural History, -and the public sessions,commencing Tuiesday, November 12, andlasting three days, were also held at theMuseum.

Dr. C. Hart Merriam, of Washington,D. C., was reelected president; Charles B.Cory, of Boston, and C. F. Batchelder, ofCambridge, Mass., vice-presidents; JohnH.' Sage, of Portland, Conn., secretary;William Dutcher, of New York City, treas-urer; Frank M. Chapman, Ruthven Deane,E. W. Nelson, Witmer Stone, Drs. A. K.Fisher, Jonathan Dwight, Jr., and Thos. S.Roberts, members of the Council.The ex-presidents of the Union, Dr. J.

A. Allen and Messrs. William Brewster, D.G. Elliot and Robert Ridgway, are ex-officio members of the Council.Outram Bangs, of Boston, Joseph Grin-

nell, of Palo Alto, Cal., Dr. T. S. Palmerand Professor F. E. L. Beal, of Washington,D. C., and Dr. Louis B. Bishop, of NewHaven, Conn., were elected Fellows.Montague Chamberlain, of Boston, was

elected to corresponding membership.Fifty-five associates were elected to thenew class known as members, and eighty-three new associates were elected.By the adoption of certain amendments

to the By-Laws, at the present Congress,the following classes of members are nowrecognized by the Union, viz., Fellows,Honorary Fellows, Corresponding Fellows,Members and Associates.

Dr. J. A. Allen, in his paper on 'The

Present Outlook for Stability in Nomencla-ture' dwelt upon the American method andits gradual acceptance by foreign ornitholo-gists as well as by workers in other branchesof science.Mr. E. W. Nelson described a collecting

trip which he took through portions of Yu-catan. In that country, occupied untilrecently by hostile Indian tribes, he dis-covered more than one hundred birds newto science.

Mr. Ruthven Deane exhibited books andother relics from his own library whichwere once the property of John James Au-dubon. What he had to say on ' Audubo-niana,' was of historic interest.The report of the Committee on Protec-

tion of North American Birds showed thatsatisfactory results had been obtained dur-ing the past year. Mr. Dutcher spoke ofthe great good for protection made possi-ble by the ' Thayer Fund ' money raisedthrouigh the efforts of Mr. Abbott H. Thayer.By its aid Dr. T. S. Palmer and Mr. Dutcherhad been able to appear before legislativecommittees in many States, and new andbetter protective laws had been passed.Mr. Chapman referred to the present abun-dance of bird life on Gardiners Island, N.Y., the result of rigid protection.

Professor W. W. Cooke traced the routesof bird migration across the Gulf of Mexico,bringing out many newand interesting facts.

Excellent lantern slides from photographsof birds in life were shown by Rev. H. K.Job, and Messrs. Nelson, Chapman,Dutcher and Baily.The New York Zoological Society invited

the members of the Union to visit its park,and many availed themselves of the privi-lege November 15. Director Hornaday con-ducted the party through the grounds.

Following is a list of the papers read atthe sessions.

' The Present Outlook for Stability inNomenclature': J. A. ALLEN.

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SECTION I, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SCIENCERAYMOND A. PEARSON

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