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follows an orderly sequence and procedure； and so takes on a
systematic form； of an organic kind。 But the system and order
that so govern the work； and that come into view in its procedure
and results； are the logical system and order of intellectual
enterprise； not the mechanical or statistical systematization
that goes into effect in the management of an industrial plant or
the financiering of a business corporation。
Those items of human intelligence and initiative that go to
make up the pursuit of knowledge； and that are embodied in
systematic form in its conclusions； do not lend themselves to
quantitative statement； and can not be made to appear on a
balance…sheet。 Neither can that intellectual initiative and
proclivity that goes in as the indispensable motive force in the
pursuit of learning be reduced to any known terms of
subordination； obedience； or authoritative direction。 No scholar
or scientist can become an employee in respect of his scholarly
or scientific work。 Mechanical systematization and authoritative
control can in these premises not reach beyond the material
circumstances that condition the work in hand； nor can it in
these external matters with good effect go farther than is
necessary to supply the material ways and means requisite to the
work； and to adapt them to the peculiar needs of any given line
of inquiry or group of scholars。 In order to their best
efficiency； and indeed in the degree in which efficiency in this
field of activity is to be attained at all； the executive
officers of the university must stand in the relation of
assistants serving the needs and catering to the idiosyncrasies
of the body of scholars and scientists that make up the
university；（1*） in the degree in which the converse relation is
allowed to take effect； the unavoidable consequence is wasteful
defeat。 A free hand is the first and abiding requisite of
scholarly and scientific work。
Now； in accepting office as executive head of a university；
the incumbent necessarily accepts all the conditions that attach
to the administration of his office； whether by usage and common
sense expectation； by express arrangement； or by patent
understanding with the board to which he owes his elevation to
this post of dignity and command。 By usage and precedent it is
incumbent on him to govern the academic personnel and equipment
with an eye single to the pursuit of knowledge； and so to conduct
its affairs as will most effectually compass that end。 That is to
say he must so administer his office as best to serve the
scholarly needs of the academic staff； due regard being
scrupulously had to the idiosyncrasies； and even to the vagaries；
of the men whose work he is called on to further。 But by patent
understanding； if not by explicit stipulation； from the side of
the governing board； fortified by the preconceptions of the laity
at large to the same effect； he is held to such a conspicuously
efficient employment of the means in hand as will gratify those
who look for a voluminous turnover。 To this end he must keep the
academic administration and its activity constantly in the public
eye； with such 〃pomp and circumstance〃 of untiring urgency and
expedition as will carry the conviction abroad that the
university under his management is a highly successful going
concern； and he must be able to show by itemized accounts that
the volume of output is such as to warrant the investment。 So the
equipment and personnel must be organized into a facile and
orderly working force； held under the directive control of the
captain of erudition at every point； and so articulated and
standardized that its rate of speed and the volume of its current
output can be exhibited to full statistical effect as it runs。
The university is to make good both as a corporation of
learning and as a business concern dealing in standardized
erudition； and the executive head necessarily assumes the
responsibility of making it count wholly and unreservedly in each
of these divergent； if not incompatible lines。（2*） Humanly
speaking； it follows by necessary consequence that he will first
and always take care of those duties that are most jealously
insisted on by the powers to whom he is accountable； and the due
performance of which will at the same time yield some
sufficiently tangible evidence of his efficiency。 That other；
more recondite side of the university's work that has
substantially to do with the higher learning is not readily set
out in the form of statistical exhibits； at the best； and can
ordinarily come to appraisal and popular appreciation only in the
long run。 The need of a businesslike showing is instant and
imperative； particularly in a business era of large turnover and
quick returns； and to meet this need the uneventful scholastic
life that counts toward the higher learning in the long run is of
little use； so it can wait； and it readily becomes a habit with
the busy executive to let it wait。
It should be kept in mind also that the incumbent of
executive office is presumably a man of businesslike
qualifications； rather than of scholarly insight； the method
of selecting the executive heads under the present r間ime makes
that nearly a matter of course。 As such he will in his own right
more readily appreciate those results of his own management that
show up with something of the glare of publicity； as contrasted
with the slow…moving and often obscure working of inquiry that
lies （commonly） somewhat beyond his intellectual horizon。 So that
with slight misgivings； if any； he takes to the methods of
organization and control that have commended themselves in that
current business enterprise to which it is his ambition to
assimilate the corporation of learning。
These precedents of business practice that are to afford
guidance to the captain of erudition are； of course； the
precedents of competitive business。 It is one of the unwritten；
and commonly unspoken； commonplaces lying at the root of modern
academic policy that the various universities are competitors for
the traffic in merchantable instruction； in much the same fashion
as rival establishments in the retail trade compete for custom。
Indeed； the modern department store offers a felicitous analogy；
that has already been found serviceable in illustration of the
American university's position in this respect； by those who
speak for the present r間ime as well as by its critics。 The fact
that the universities are assumed to be irreconcilable
competitors； both in the popular