The Washington times., 1911-12-31
Several Important PROPOSE
/ tions Fostered at Con-
vention Here.
GREATEST MEETING u
OF KIND EVER ss:; q 4; 4;
All Phases Of Modern y !,
Touched Upon During 49,
"a Sessions.

Unless the international Association
- the Advancement Of Science some
une comes to Washington In conven.
rcb the greatest meeting of scien.
tists America has ever known or will
know, II now q matter Of scientific
And washington history. For the con.
vention Of the American Association
Tor the Advancement Of Science, lust
over, was greater in some ways than
It will be in the future, because sew
eral affiliated societies are planning
20 meet independently hereafter. The
american Association, together with
aniliated societies and organixatio
like the American Economic Associa-
tion, which are not affiliated, but
which met simultaneously, together
make up a whole which is unwieldy,
and for this reason some of the allied,
or practically allied, organizations plan
70 meet separately in the future.
Scope Of Meeting.
Unless one visited society after So
ciety and section after section Of the
scientific bodies meeting here, the vast
size Of the gathering and its enormous
scope could not be realized. Merely
TO say that nearly 1000 scientific pa
convey anything like q vivid realiza-
ton of the scope of the meeting.
From the standpoint Of good govern
ment the 1912 convention has been
noteworthy for fostering several dif-
fereNt propositions, and lending in
dorsement to a number of causes gen.
orally admitted to be Of great import
ance.
The American Association formally
indorsed the proposal Of the phtyo-
pathologicians that quarantine on
Congress in order that widespread ep-
idemics among crops and other vege-
tation' be prevented in the future.
Cost of Living Probe.
The American Economic Association
Endorsed Prof. Fishers proposition for
m International commission to investi-
gate the causes Of increased cost Of liv-
ing. and delegated Prof. Fisher to take
the matter up with President Taft, who
already has lent his name to the mat
ter. Prof. Fisher will visit the Presi-
dent some day this week. and urge
that the President take the initiative In
calling the civilized countries Of the
world to concerted action.
Several different organizations passed
resolutions urging Congress to pass the
phosphorus bill now before 1t in
order that workers in match factories
may be saved from fearful diseases.
DIR. Harvey Wiley received an indorse-
ment from the Social and Economic
Science group Of the American Associa-
tion for his work ''in behalf Of the pub
lie health and welfare"
: The grave problem of the unemployed
received Illuminating treatment at a
meeting of. the American Association for
many other topics Of interest to labor.
Subjects Varied.
Questions Of finance, of Government
control. of corporations. and similar
problems all were discussed by experts
during the convention, and interested
members of Congress cannot fail to
have learned something from the papers
and discussions A general commission
on labor and on the cost of living are
the most likely concrete results in mat
ters of this kind. 90.
I Less attention has been given by the
general public to the exact sciences and
the meetings of representa- tives OF these
sciences. But in the realm Of pure
science papers as technically important
were read as those before the econo-
. mists and sociologists. vi,
The American Economic Association
has chosen Prof. Fettner.. of Princeton,
was at Cornell University. The Ameri-
Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson
mRAnideIlf ''