SCIENCE.
��FRIDAY, FEBBUART I
��COMMENT AND CRITICISM. I Ths coMJinTEK on the government siuvnjs nl this writing not yot made Us wrt to coDgress. it mny l>p north while to Itisidcr A I'cconirDPndation wliidi l.oiiclies upon etibject. made by the secrelarv of the mvy I his last rei>ort. I'qKnled indeed from former r<'(>orls of the same offlcial. It is to the eftect that the work of the revenue marine, the lighlhoTiw? board, and the coast survey, so Tar OS the latter 13 concerned with marine in- vestigations, should be brought, with that of the hydrt^raphic office, under the direction of e navy department, " whereby greater unity P purpose and consistency of action would be lured. ' '
I It can hnrdly be (|ncstioned that the change s proposed might be economical in pi-eveul-
- the duplication of outtlts, and that it
igbt o|wn much practical and profitable work ^ naval officers ; but, apart from the l)ettei' ^□eral scheme »( the jiattonal academy, there is, perhaps, an element of difficulty in this plan, Ibat might be useil against it. The exc- cation of certain technical parts of hydro- graphic work requires s|}ecial skill ; and, if the demand for this skill were supplied only by e who have made the naiy their life-career. Eniiglit uut Iw so well satisfied as if sup- J from a larger circle. Moreover, the cx- irieoce needed for the best jwirformauce of duties can be gained only by years of severance; and, when gained, tbo country loot atfi)vd to lose it by its possessor being rdered oft' on a long cmise, as is at present e fashion in naval routine,
X may be seen that these il is ad vantages do |i Kppear in the pi-esent organization of either ft geolt^ieal survey or the coast snrvey, for
XO. IM. — 19S0.
��their recrnits are drawn from all sources. They are net first asked, if, above every thing else, they are naval or military men, but rather if they are geologists or toiMgraphers : and, fur- ther, whoever gains successful experience in these services, gains also a relatively i>crma- nent occupation iu his apeclnlty. Perhaps it is in part for these reasons that the committee of the national academy did not include in its recommondattona the suggestions found in the report of the secretary of the na\-y.
Hut all things considered, there seems to be sound reason in the policy of the secretary, "that the offlccrs and seamen of the navy should he employed to perform all the work of the national government upon, or in direct connection with, the ocean." An nrrangemeni by which the geodetic and geological surveys occupy themselves with our land possessions, while a bureau in the navy department deter- mines what we need to know of the ocean and its shores, does not seem irrational. It would involve, of course, certain changes in the de- partments in the direction indicated by the possible element of difficulty above named. It is absolutely essential to the success of such a policy, that the scientific naval bureau which it requires, should not be, except in its subordi- nate ofOces, a train iug-sciiool for naval officers. Its work must Ije directed, and for the greater part carried on, by men permaucutlj- employed for their special tasks, as is the case in the coast and geological surveys. Without this, there would be little gain of economy or uni- formity, and matters would far better rest as Ihey now are. If the change were made, there would be ranch outcry in certain quarters, and perhaps, for a time, some injustice hai-dly sep- arable from so considerable a revolution ; but these dilllculties would be only of a personal and temporary nature, and not inherent in tlie case. Once accomplished, we should look hack with wonder on the present strange order
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