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competitive business。
4。 So； e。g。； the well…known president of a well and favourably
known university was at pains a few years ago to distinguish one
of his faculty as being his 〃ideal of a university man〃； the
grounds of this invidious distinction being a lifelike imitation
of a country gentleman and a fair degree of attention to
committee work in connection with the academic administration；
the incumbent had no distinguishing marks either as a teacher or
as a scholar； and neither science nor letters will be found in
his debt。 It is perhaps needless to add that for reasons of
invidious distinction； no names can be mentioned in this
connection。 It should be added in illumination of the instance
cited； that in the same university； by consistent selection and
discipline of the personnel； it had come about that； in the
apprehension of the staff as well as of the executive； the
accepted test of efficiency was the work done on the
administrative committees rather than that of the class rooms
or laboratories。
5。 Within the past few years an academic executive of great note
has been heard repeatedly to express himself in facetious doubt
of this penchant for scholarly inquiry on the part of university
men； whether as 〃rese醨ch〃 or as 〃r閟earch〃； and there is
doubtless ground for scepticism as to its permeating the academic
body with that sting of ubiquity that is implied in many
expressions on this head。 And it should also be said； perhaps in
extenuation of the expression cited above； that the president was
addressing delegations of his own faculty； and presumably
directing his remarks to their special benefit； and that while he
professed （no doubt ingenuously） a profound zeal for the cause of
science at large； it had come about； selectively； through a long
course of sedulous attention on his own part to all other
qualifications than the main fact； that his faculty at the time
of speaking was in the main an aggregation of slack…twisted
schoolmasters and men about town。 Such a characterization；
however； does not carry any gravely invidious discrimination； nor
will it presumably serve in any degree to identify the seat of
learning to which it refers。
6。 The share and value of the 〃faculty wives〃 in all this routine
of resolute conviviality is a large topic； an intelligent and
veracious account of which could only be a work of naive
brutality：
〃But the grim； grim Ladies； Oh； my brothers！
They are ladling bitterly。
They are ladling in the work…time of the others；
In the country of the free。〃
（Mrs。 Elizabret Harte Browning； in The Cry of the Heathen
Chinee。）
7。 What takes place without executive sanction need trouble no
one。
CHAPTER VI
The Portion of the Scientist
The principles of business enterprise touch the life and work
of the academic staff at divers points and with various effect。
Under their rule； and in so far as they rule； the remuneration
shifts from the basis of a stipend designed to further the
pursuit of knowledge； to that of a wage bargain； partaking of the
nature of a piece…work scheme； designed to procure class…room
instruction at the lowest practicable cost。 A businesslike system
of accountancy standardizes and measures this instruction by
mechanically gauged units of duration and number； amplitude and
frequency； and so discountenances work that rises above a staple
grade of mediocrity。 Usage and the urgent need of a reputable
notoriety impose on university men an extraneous and excessively
high standard of living expenses； which constrains them to take
on supernumerary work in excess of what they can carry in an
efficient manner。 The need of university prestige enforces this
high scale of expenses； and also pushes the members of the staff
into a routine of polite dissipation； ceremonial display；
exhibitions of quasi…scholarly proficiency and propagandist
intrigue。
If these business principles were quite free to work out
their logical consequences； untroubled by any disturbing factors
of an unbusinesslike nature； the outcome should be to put the
pursuit of knowledge definitively in abeyance within the
university； and to substitute for that objective something for
which the language hitherto lacks a designation。
For divers reasons of an unbusinesslike kind； such a
consummate （〃sweat…shop〃） scheme has never fully been achieved；
particularly not in establishments that are； properly speaking；
of anything like university grade。 This perfect scheme of
low…cost perfunctory instruction； high…cost stage properties and
press…agents； public song and dance； expensive banquets；
speech…making and processions； is never fully rounded out。 This
amounts to admitting a partial defeat for the gild of
businesslike 〃educators。〃 While； as a matter of speculative
predilection； they may not aim to leave the higher learning out
of the university； the rule of competitive business principles
consistently pushes their administration toward that end； which
they are continually prevented from attaining； by the necessary
conditions under which their competitive enterprise is carried
on。
For better or worse； there are always and necessarily present
among the academic corps a certain number of men whose sense of
the genteel properties is too vague and meagre； whose grasp of
the principles of official preferment is too weak and
inconsequential； whose addiction to the pursuit of knowledge is
too ingrained； to permit their conforming wholly to the
competitive exigencies of the case。 By force of the exigencies of
competitive prestige there is； of course； a limit of tolerance
that sets decent bounds both to the number of such supererogatory
scholars harboured by the university； and the latitude allowed
them in their intemperate pursuit of knowledge； but their
presence in the academic body is； after all； neither an
irrelevant accident nor a transient embarrassment。 It is； in one
sense of the expression； for the use of such men； and for the use
which such men find for it； that the university exists at all； in
some such sense； indeed； as a government； a political machine； a
railway corporation or a toll…road； may be said to exist for the
use of the community from which they get their living。 It is true
in the sense that this ostensible use can not be left out of
account in the long run。 But even from day to day this scholarly
purpose is never quite lost sight of。 The habit of counting it