POLITICS VERSUS SCIENCE.

It has been said of the study of economics, in contrast to the physical sciences, that like philosophy it deals with theory, more or less pedantic, which cannot be put to practical use by the student during the period consumed in its study. The research work of late years exposes the inaccuracy of such a statement. That Harvard has not taken a wholly active part in this field of experiment is due to limited facilities, not to any absence of problems which might be solved.

What practical research work has been performed in economics by the University has, for the most part, fallen under the direction of the Business School rather than of the Economics Department. Though the latter department has edited the Quarterly Journal of Economics since the foundation of that pamphlet by Professor Dunbar, and conducted research into historic fields, the Business School has been in charge of most of the experiments of modern business.

A generation ago a handful of books represented the annual output of the United States in economics and sociology; today approximately 1,000 volumes, not considering the flood of magazines and newspaper articles, comprise the annual addition to our economic library. This growth represents the increase of general interest in the subject.

The thinking public agrees that statistical investigation of country and world economics is important to progress. But the question arises, who shall conduct this experimentation? Under an ideal system the scientist, not the politician, would direct the work. For past history in the physical and agricultural departments of the United States reveals the presence of graft and the spoils system.

Some years ago a physiological chemist was informed that he would receive no further support from the state because he had antagonized the farmers by revealing the true worth of oleomargarine, a substitute for butter. In 1892 politicians in charge of a statistical bureau manipulated figures so that a completely false impression was given of the scale of wages for a specified period.

Since politics enter into government research, the other form of investigation, that by individual educational organizations, fulfills a necessary function. To be qualified to enter this field efficiently the Economics Department lacks a prime necessity, some form of endowment. Until it receives financial backing, similar, perhaps, to that of the Physics Department, this comparatively undeveloped branch of the University cannot widen the scope of its research work.