The Popular Science Monthly, July, 1900: Vol. 57, May, 1900 to October, 1900Various
Science
The Popular Science Monthly, July, 1900: Vol. 57, May, 1900 to October, 1900
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
It is sometimes said that Government control and individual initiative
can not be united, but there is no justification for this view in the
development of the educational and scientific institutions of the
United States. Institutions established by private initiative have
been assisted by the State, and State institutions have received large
sums from private individuals. The New York institutions referred to
above--the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, the Public Library, the Botanical Gardens and the Zoölogical
Park--are in almost equal measure supported by the city and by citizens
of the city. Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania,
Cornell University and other privately endowed institutions have
received assistance from the State, without any decrease in private
gifts, while the State universities, California for example, are
receiving large private endowments in addition to their support from
the State. These conditions may not last, but at all events they obtain
at the present time, and we find the country in which the largest gifts
from private individuals are made for education and science to be the
country in which they are most liberally supported by the Government.
* * * * *
Never before has any government made such great appropriations for
the development of the resources of the country or for the advance
of science as the Congress which has just adjourned. We may take for
example the Department of Agriculture, for which the appropriation is
$4,023,500, an increase of more than $280,000 over the appropriation
for the preceding year. Every one familiar with the conditions at
Washington and throughout the country will know that this large sum of
money is expended with the utmost economy, and there is no doubt but
what the money invested by the nation is returned to the people many
fold in the course of every year. Some of the items of the bill deserve
special notice. Thus, a new agricultural experiment station is to be
established in the Hawaiian Islands, and the work of the Weather Bureau
is to be extended to them. The agricultural resources and capabilities
of Porto Rico are to be investigated, and bulletins of information in
English and in Spanish are to be distributed to the inhabitants. The
division of chemistry is to investigate the use of food preservatives
and coloring matter, determine their relations to health and establish
the principles which should guide their use. The division of forestry
receives an increase of $40,000 and the Weather Bureau an increase of
over $35,000. Other items of the appropriation act are as follows:
Biological Survey, $30,300, an increase of $2,740; Division of Botany,
$43,080, an increase of $14,280; Nutrition Investigation, $17,500, an
increase of $2,500; Division of Pomology, $18,400; Public Road Inquiry,
$14,000, an increase of $6,000; Division of Statistics, $146,160;
Library, $14,000; and Museum, $2,260.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account