The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-18
I,auds President
 For His Care In
 Naming Officials

Dr. Edwin G. Conklin, professor of zoology at Princeton university and member of the National academy of sciences, discusses in a letter to the New York Times the care which Pres ident Wilson has taken to consult ex- perts in making appointments of gov- ernmental scientists.
 Candidate Hughes, he says, has publicly charged President Wilson with having made appointments to scientific departments of the govern ment without consideration of the scientific fitness of the appointees and to the detriment of the public service. The fact is that no president with in recent years at least has taken so much pains to obtafnrthe advice of scientific societies and of scientific men regarding appointments to sci- entif1c positions within the govern ment; and none has more faithfully followed that advice, as is shown, for example, in his appointment of the present commissioner of fisheries, the chief of the weather bureau, the chief chemist of the department of agricul- ture, etc.
 Compared With Mckinley The contrast between President Wilsin's attitude in this respect and that of some of his predecessors is very striking. In 1898 the American Society of Natura1ists and the Amer ican Society of Biologists appointed a committee to wait upon President Mckinley and urge him to appoint as commissioner of fisheries some traineds scientific man who should
 have a practical knowledge of the
 fish and fisheries of our coasts. Pres
 ident Mckinley told the committee that he was not free to consider their
 recommendation, since the place had
 already been promised to one who, as 1t turned out, was not scientifically trained and whose only known quail fication was that he was a deserving
 republican.
 In<1913 the same societies passed a similar resolution and sent similar
 committee to President-elect Wilson
 upon the same subject. MT. Wilson thanked the committee for bringing the matter to his attention and asked Il for recommendations of persons for the position. The committee .
 recommended three persons in order of preference and President Wilson
 appointed the man who stood first in
 the committees recommendations.
 Requested Advice
 In appointing the chief of the
 weather bureau President Wilson took unusual means to secure the best
 available man by requesting the Ma tiona1 Academy of Sciences to recem- mend a suitable person for the posi- ton. : This was the first time that a president of the United States ever asked the academy for advice as to a scientific appointment, Also in the selection of the chief chemist of the department of agriculture and of the chief of the Bureau of Mines the president sought and acted upon the best scientific advice which he could get . : Through President
 Wilson's individual action the question
 of the best means of abating the slides at Panama was referred te the Ma tienal Academy of Sciences, and at his request a committee was appointed te i, Investigate and report upon this sub- l jeet.
 Quite recently the president request ed the National Academy of Sciences
 to take the initiative in bringing into cooperation existing governmental educational, industrial and other re. search organizations with the object of promoting national welfare and e1 , providing fer national defense: Under these circumstances it dees |. not seem fitting that scientific mer , should allow ta ga unchallenged the , statement that the scientific work @, the government has been degraded b, President Wilson's appointments ol , the implication that his interest il that wark haA hesA test ef a partt ASa4N Nu