New-York tribune., 1894-04-29
An AWERIC1N ACADEMY.

America Is entitled to an Academy, but why
restrict its membership to the beggnrly NUMBER
of TWENTY-FIVE, as the bill or two bills before the
House authorizing It's foundation provide! mat
limit would hardly allow room for the great
men. let us say. Of Buffalo or Canahdhgu'
What IS to become Of the rest so Literally dis-
tributed throughout the country! Is 1t lmaEihed
that they would tamely submit to be releEatel
To a subordinate position and have the EiuTciieu
Twenty-Five growing over them In pubic anu
private, and cOnfScating all the rcnoWn "hich
should be partly theirs Not bit of IL. lhey
would move on Washington, where the sitthES
OF this august and exclusive body are appoih''H
TO be held. and drive them out or their chahloc''
upsetting their tripods and throwing their dlpi"-
mas out II the windows. They would swarm
in upon the tiInorouS and trcmulou> academic
conclavc in numbers surprising those ot III"
Coycv armies. and very likely elect new mem
bcrship under the walls Of the Congressional
Library sufficiently numerous TO hli the entire
building instead OF the one chamber which ihc
bill sets apart for academic use
France may be- conjcntcd with chapter "i
ONLY forty lmmortals. but that is country SIM
CONSTRUCTED by some ~ the belts and bands "I
mcdlaeyalism and is without tie slonllnrouS
and expansive llhcraliiy which hrlonc. io q new
and growing land like our~. Tn same may b'
said Of Great Britain and Germany. and in feet
or all the European countries. Their noadciH''
clans comprise only q handful ~ samples. - to
speak. AMI. unlike strawberries ana r1rh'''
the falrest specimens are not always placed on
the ton Such n restricted plan would never
do for this country To satisfy Tho ambition ~
aspirants membership would lav" 10 ID" ul-
limited. perhaps to De- determined 10y n'ishb"r-
hood election. II not 10y The affirmation II the
candidate certifying his own claims and quail
i0catlons An Academy founded on ihis liberal
niau and hayln. its root ia these popular m''h-
ods would be- worth having. II could uhli"
military drill with iiS literary ani lneual and
learned exercises aud bc called ont aS militia
in time of need II would be- a bUlWarA Ia cas-"
Of invasion The wing ~ fancy dro"ls ~ u
0uttcrs above the stretching horizon 81 iis pos
sihlities But with so narrow a membership
~ that which the enabling statute prescribeS
for Il il could do nothing but excite jcalousl'f
and occasion a scrutiny Of the prct"nsi"ns 81
lts members hy those who would Ike 10 al
voncn nrctcnslons Of their own which ia" Tor
mer would doubtless find n searching as III"
nroba OF a Patchoguc mosquito or th" cross IN
terrogatjons of Philadelphia attorney.
General Lew Wallace, author of "H"n i!ur'
Il the draughtsman Of one Of these bills, ana
Professor Spollord. Librarian Of Congress "i
the other They are substantially alik" IN thelr
provisions committee of three from the sen
ate and House are 10 select five members VII"
are TO compose the nucleus of the order ana
these shall select twenty associates when VIII
complete the organization OF the body. ohiy
when n member dies Is another 10 be appointed,
following the ordinances OF similar institutions
the world over. The plan ~ too narrow ana
would leave too many great men out In III"
cold And what with the jealousies excited IN
those left "outsde the brcastworks' those
within would be likely 10 find 1t too hot Tor
comfort and would have either 10 die or re-
sign IN order TO recover moderate ana eq'iaDie
temperature