The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-10-19
ADDRESS OF PRES. HADLEY


cal government. There is sometimes
difficulty in carrying the whole uni
versity Sharply forward into any DEM
lite line of policy, however strongly 1t
may be demanded. There 10 yet more
frequently a lack of coordination IN
courses, the work of each of the sep
arate parts or schools having been
originally devised with reference to
the needs of members OF that selool'
rather than to those OF the university
as a whole And finally, there is
certain amount of duplication Oh APP
pliances, which involve some actual
loes of economy and makes the impress
sion on the public Of causing even
more loss than really exists. Especial
ly severe does this loss seem 10 some
of the most jealous members OF the
professional schools, who belleVe that
by combining the work of their open
ing years with that of the later years
of the Academic Department or Shel-
field Scientific school, they can serve
the university and the cause OF learn
ing with far more fullness and free
dom than at present.
Reform under these circumstances
can only be the result of unconstrained
discussion and intelligent negotiation.
The best possibilities lie not In the eX-
ercise of authority but or diplomacy.
The effort to impose prearranged
policy Is likely to prove futile. we
cannot insist on an external appear
ance of harmony without losing more
than we gain To say that the scien-
tiflc school ought to have four years
course because the academic depart
ment has one, or to insist that the aca-
demic department should withdraw
from the teaching of natural science
because the scientific school has made
such full provision for it, serves only to
retard the movement toward co-opera-
ton The president who would Sue
coed In blishing real harmony
must occupy himself first with provid-
ing the means to lead men to mu-
tual understanding, rather than with
predicting the results which should
follow.
Foremost among the means which
we must use is free and unreserved
discussion Of principles. Even within
the departments, such discussion has
been by no means so universal as 1T
might have been. In more than one
of them there has been tendency,
both in matters of administration and
of educational policy, to rest content
with a compromise between conflict
ing interests, rather than reconcilia-
ton of conflicting views. A typical
result of this policy is seen in the pres
ent course of study in the academic
department where the so-called cleo
tive system is really not system at
all, but the haphazard result of COM
petition between the advocates of diff
ferent lines of Instruction. thing
which all unite in desiring to reform.
With reasonable degree of diplomacy
and patience, the task of reform in
cases like this should not prove hard
one.
Still less adequate has been the inter-
change of ideas between the different
departments Under the old system the
several faculties have had no organ
lied means of discussing subjects of
common interest or even of learning
one anothers views. The establish
ment of university council for such
interchange of thought is an impera-
tive necessity What will ultimately
rrove the best form and constitution
for such council can only be a mat
ter Of conjecture. For the present, at
any rate. such body Is likely to be
for the most part deliberative in its
functions. whatever else such a body
may do or fail to do, it can prevent
many of the misunderstanding and
croes purposes which arise from inn
;.x
contribute to the successful transact
ton of all business that is possible by
preventing attempts at the impossible.
In the second place, we must so use
those funds which are at the disposal
of the central administration as to
make it an object for men in the diff
ferent departments to cooperate at
those points where the absence of such
cooperate does most harm.
As far as elementary teaching is
concerned the waste from having the
same subject taught in two or more
departments may be more apparent
than real 1t involves no very great
loss to teach elementary chemistry in
two Independent sets of laboratories, IL
both Laboratories are always kept fun
Of students The waste comes in thus
teaching advanced chemistry where
there are relatively few students and
where there is~inuch need of specializa
ton. Under such circumstances the
existence of separate laboratories tends
to prevent proper division OF labor.
Under such circumstances duplication
Is a waste and coordination a neces-
sity. If the material appliances for
higher education are not the property
of any one department, but stand in
relation to the university as a whole,
the instructors of the different depart
ments tend of their own free will to
cooperate with one another In the
higher instruction in their several
branches Under proper management,
institutions like the Peabody museum
or the Winchester observatory tend
thus to systematic instruction at the
point where such an effect is most
needed With very moderate increase
of endowment properly applied, / be-
heve that the same sort of harmony
can be attained in many other lines Of
instruction. Among the achievements
of my predecessor in office. there is
none so wide-rea ching in its effects as
the development of a large university
fund which, without threatening the
independence of the several depart
ments. can be used to provide means
for promoting unity OF act;ol where
such unity is Indispensable.