Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-03

INtX III Zl American AcdQenlY OF IOllt
I# &I ical and Social Science viii
l p hold it's twelfth annual meet
lBNZ El ing in Philadelphia. There
lEess1szl will be gathering of prom
inent thinking people of th'
United States. and many of the prob
lems of political and social economics
of the present day Will be considered
not alone for the benefit of those whC
attend the meeting, but rather for tn,
purpose of directing, leading and guild
ing the thought of the people of the
nation on these subjects.
The work of the academy may b,
compared to that of hydraulic lift. II
a hydraulic lift there are two chambers
filled with water The one Is small
and the other large. If the one pre-
sents an inch square of surface and th'
other ten inches square, a pound o.
pressure on the water in the small
chamber would lift 100 pounds in tht
large one, though the speed would b,
slow. 1t Is on this principle that tho
American Academy of Political and So
cial Science is striving, by the Slow
silent process of education to gradually
raise the level of public opinion.
Among all of the organizations in the
United States for the advancement oi
this. An academy usually betokens al
association of bigwigs. 1t usually be
speaks exclusiveness and requires higf
attainments for eligibility. But the
American Academy of Political and So
cial Science is not that. 1t was not the
intention of the founders to- form al
exclusive and small body of experts OF
these subjects, but to make the acade'
my idea thoroughly democratic. New
ertheless, it is desired to maintain the
essential principle of all academies
namely, cooperation and mutual fel'
lowship among the members. The coun-
Gil admits any one of high or humble
degree, of great or small intellectual at
tainments, providing only that he man
ifest a sincere interest in the search fol
light and truth concerning social ano
economic questions.
The academy proceeds on the theory
that the data of the social sciences are
so widely distributed in time and space
and are to be derived so directly from
the experience and thought of individ-
uals in all stations of life, that 1T prob
ably lies within the range of possibility
for every human being to contribute
something to the sum of knowledge or
these subjects. 1t is, therefore, one oi
the objects of the academy to so stimu'
ton on the part of all those who come
in contact with the work that sucf
persons may become more intelligent
citizens. The mutual gathering of data
and the interchange of ideas among the
members will aid in the deduction Of
new rules and laws in the realms oi
political and social science. With the
large and widely scattered membership
of the academy 1t has been able to re-
1nf 20 r.
ideal.
The birth of the academy was on De-
cember IA, 1899. 1t was the outgrowtf
of desire for the formation of an or
ganization in which the widespread in.
terest In political. economic and socia
discussion could find a focus. 1t was
planned to have an organ which coulo
properly represent this wide group OF
sciences, and at the same time serve
as an intermediary by which scientific
thought could be converted into prac-
tical effort as steam Is converted into
power by the use of intermediate me-
chanical principles. In many fields
there were earnest men and women Al
work striving to the same ends, bul
without any cooperation and awithoui
the sympathy and support of those
pursuing allied interests. These con
siderations demonstrated the necessity
for a central organization and led to the
founding of the academy.
Soon after this important step hat
been taken a proposition was received
from the Philadelphia Social Science
association looking to a merging OF tht
two institutions under the leadership OF
the academy. The proposition was ac'
cepted. and they were merged. From
that time to the present the academy
has been growing in influence ana II
numbers. 1t has made itself the nu'
cleus of the advanced political thought
of the country 1t has no creed or doc
trine. It does not spend it's time re-
solving that this should be done or thai
the other should not be DONE IL cor
lects from all sections of the country
and from all schools of thought the pes
thew have to offer, and then publishes
them in a bi-monthly magazine KNOW
as the Annals of the American Acade'
NV of Political and Social Science. Thi:
publication, taking the whole series to-
gether, constitutes the complete uls
cussion of the various questions witf
which the academy deals. There are
now about thirty volumes of these an
nails and the contributors are the sbes
writer's on political and social econom'
ic questions in the country. Secretary
Root. President Roosevelt and men o.
this tvpe are among the ones who nave
contributed articles from time to time
some of the articles represent the mos
thorough investigations of the SUB
iects i'm hand. In short the academy
has given to the country its best col