[Letters to Editor]

Abstract

THE vast conflagration of the late war rendered conspicuous many truths that were little suspected by the majority, and not the least of these was the importance, the necessity, of organised and accurate scientific knowledge and research for national success. Unfortunately, this is already in danger of being forgotten while we are engaged in the strenuous task of preserving for our country its due and fitting place in the industries and activities of the world, and the leading article in NATURE of March 25 has sounded a very necessary note of warning. It rightly emphasises the need that the ultimate administrative authority should be vested in men with technical knowledge and experience, and not in Civil Service officials appointed originally, for the most part, on the basis of purely literary attainments. This authority will, however, never be conceded to the man of science until the scale of his remuneration corresponds to the importance of his work. It was repeatedly demonstrated during the war that scientific men who from motives of patriotism accepted a low scale of salary for their services in Government Departments were accorded an equally modest official status.