Price $J.OOPer Year FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER Single Copies5 GentsFUBUSHED BY AUTHORITYCHICAGOGfce 'mnlvetBit^ of Gbtcaao ftteesVOL. IV, NO. 29. PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY AI 3 s 00 P.M. OCTOBER 20, 1899.Entered in the post office Chicago, Illinois, as second-class matter.CONTENTS.I. The Story of the Sixteenth CongregationMeeting, October 8, 1899II. Calendar .-._.. 171-173174THE STORY OF THE SIXTEENTH CONGREGATIONMEETING, OCTOBER 3, 1899.The sixteenth meeting of the Congregationheld in connection with the Thirtieth Convocationcalled out an unusual number of Alumni members,who followed its proceedings with much interest.The meeting opened at four o'clock with President Harper in the chair. In the absence of theChaplain, Professor Henderson, the Rev. HenryC. Mabie, D.D., Secretary of the American BaptistMissionary Union, an alumnus of the class of1867 read the Scriptures and offered prayer. Thewelcome to the new members of the Congregationwas given by Vice President James. The following new members presented themselves :Joseph K. Arnold, Warren P. Behan, GeorgeN. Carman, Henry C. Mabie, Wesley C. Mitchell,Harmon T. Clendenning, Edgar L. Jayne, JohnRidlon, Gordon J. Laing, George H. Locke,Elizabeth L. Moon, Madeleine Wallin Sikes,Willard C. McNaul, Edgar B. Tolman.The new members, after having signed the Congregation roll, became fully recognized membersof the Congregation. The Recorder read certain recommendations ofthe executive committee with respect to the timeof holding a meeting of the Congregation andthe Congregation dinner. These recommendations were unanimously adopted.Letters were read from George N. Carman.accepting his election to honorary membership inthe Congregation, and from President Jerome H.Raymond of West Virginia University, proposingsome topics for discussion by the Congregation.These topics were referred to the executive committee.The Congregation then took up the first of thepropositions accepted for discussion at this meeting, viz., That to require University service ofFellows is unsatisfactory. The discussion wasopened by Mr. Judson, who developed the advantages and disadvantages of the requirement, inaccordance with his brief published in the University Record of September 22. Mr. W. G.Hale followed, commenting upon his brief published in the same number of the Record, stronglyemphasizing the undesirability of the requirement.Other members of the Congregation spoke.Mr. Abbott maintained that the proposed changein the regulations governing fellowships shouldnot be made unless the fact was recognized thatthe principal arguments urged against the requirement of university service from fellows applied tothe case of all students, whether graduates or172 UNIVERSITY RECORDundergraduates, who were allowed to meet theirtuition fees by rendering service to the University.The students employed by the University are, likethe incumbents of fellowships, students of exceptional promise only. The hours which they devote to University service must be taken from thetime which they would otherwise give either torecreation or to study. In the one case theirhealth suffers. In the other case their scholarshipis affected. The effect on the scholarship of thesepromising students is peculiarly disastrous, becausethe extra labor required of them robs them ofthat mental freshness, which is essential to independent or original work. The suggestion wasmade that, if the Student's Fund Society couldlend these students enough to meet their tuitionfees, the money thus paid into the Universitytreasury could be used in securing permanent service from people outside the student body.Mr. Blackburn expressed the opinion, based onexperience as library adviser, that Fellows do notobject to service that seems to them helpful, butthat they find merely mechanical service veryirksome, since it seems to be a waste of time thatcould be used for profit.Mr. Shepardson asked the question whetheranyone present was prepared to indicate the effect,upon the financial side, of the withdrawal of fellowship service. Suppose the service were abandoned, how much financial outlay would be necessary to replace it with other service equally good ?In response to a request for the opinion offormer holders of fellowships, Mr. Mitchell saidthat his experience bad been in a departmentwhich required of its fellows nothing beyond assistance in editing a scientific journal. Suchwork did not consume a great deal of time andwas beneficial to the student. He knew, however, that in other departments, where the Fellowswere asked to serve as library attendants, etc., theburden was often felt to be decidedly onerous.The discussion was continued by Messrs.Shorey, Barnes, Small, and Mead.The financial element in the problem referredto by several of the speakers being regarded asessential to a right judgment upon it, it was votedto refer the proposition to a committee, whichshould particularly investigate this financial element and report to a later meeting of the Congregation. The President subsequently appointed as a committee Messrs. Abbott, Iddings, Barnes,Mead, and Hatfield.The Congregation then voted to take up thefollowing topic : That the adoption by the Boardof the University Press, for use in the official publications and journals of the University, of the listof words with changed spelling accepted by the N.E. A. be approved. Mr. Chamberlin of the committee urged the points in favor of this propositionwhich are presented in his brief published in theUniversity Record of September 22. Mr.Shorey, the second member of the committee,was opposed to the proposition and presentedarguments against it.Mr. W. G. Hale said that he would be in favorof a reform spelling if it were possible really toeffect such a reform. To do this would, however,as everybody knew, require a large number ofadditional letters in the alphabet. Propositionsto this end had been made from time to time, buthad never been received seriously by anyone.It would be a wise thing to start, no matter inhow modest a way, a reform which through successive steps could really be brought to something ;but to start a reform with a hopeless blank wallabsolutely facing the reformer at the end of twoor three steps involved a sacrifice that was greaterthan the gain.Professor Hale, wished, further, to remove onevery common misunderstanding. It was frequently said that two educational bodies stoodbehind the reform, the National EducationalAssociation and the American Philological Association. It was true of the first body, but nottrue of the second. The speaker knew the factswith which he was dealing, since he had himselfbeen vice president and president of the society.The matter had been agitated a number of yearsago by Professor March, and on his' motion acommittee had been appointed to consider thesubject. A meeting of the reformers was heldevery year, with very small attendance, after theadjournment of the regular meeting of the association. The regard in which members of theassociation held the veteran philologist whoespecially urged the reform was so great that thecommittee was continued from year to year. Inpoint of fact, however, the association had neveradopted officially any of the proposed reforms inUNIVERSITY RECORD 173its own publications, but used in all of its papers,except those written by one of the small band ofreformers, the ordinary spelling of the dictionaries.It was evident, therefore, that so far as there wasany authority in the matter, the authority of thePhilological Association was in favor of thereceived spelling. There were men in abundancein it whose special interest lay in new discoveryand in philological reform in general ; but thevast majority of members were able to see that inthis matter a reform that really would be a reformwas, upon any proposition yet made, out of thequestion.Mr. Terry said: "A conservative position maybe harmless. At any rate, there is a certain dignitywhich becomes us as a university. I see no objection to leading in this movement, but I wouldnot lead in the way suggested by the resolution.I should rather first enter into communicationwith four or five prominent universities and, ifpossible, with them adopt the changes proposed.Such a league would give weight and dignity tothe movement."Mr. Blackburn challenged the statements ofthose who opposed new spellings, and called attention to the fact that objections to "corruptionof the language" had no weight, since it was notproposed to make any change whatever in thelanguage, but only in the way of representing it.Mr. E. B. Tolman remarked that a strikingexample of spelling reform was to be found inSpanish, the spelling of which had been completely transformed in the interests of simplicityduring the present century. He therefore concluded that such a reform in the English language was feasible.After this discussion it was felt by members ofthe Congregation that further opportunity shouldbe given for consideration of the question. Itwas therefore voted that the further discussion ofthe question be postponed to another meeting,and that the topic be made the special order forthat meeting, and that the topic should be takenup as the first subject unless special reasonsshould forbid.The Congregation then proceeded to discuss thefollowing proposition : That the administrativeadvantages secured by requiring students to register for two quarters in advance are insufficient to counterbalance the educational disadvantages of the requirement. The discussion was opened by Mr.Small and Mr. Tufts, the former presenting theeducational disadvantages of the plan, the lattersuggesting some administrative reasons for it.The briefs presented by each were printed in theUniversity Record for September 22.Remarks upon the subject were made by Messrs.Judson and Gurney.Mr. Gurney called attention to the fact thatgreat inconvenience in the administrative officeshad been experienced because students had mademany changes in registration, so that last year itwas decided to require an extra fee for everychange in order to check the practice. He arguedthat the tendency to change registration would belessened by the use of the quarterly system andrecalled the fact that in the earlier years of theUniversity it was definitely announced thatevery college student was expected to make, inconsultation with his dean, a provisional plan ofstudy for three quarters in advance, but make hisactual registration only for the ensuing quarter,thus securing both unity of plan and freedomof action.Owing to the practical importance of a discussion upon this question, in view of the fact that anew registration period was near, it was votedthat a special meeting of the Congregation becalled in the near future, at which this subjectwould be one of the matters taken up for settlement.The report of the actions of the University ruling bodies for the past quarter was presented bythe President, and opportunity was given forinquiry or criticism. This report will be foundin full in the University Record for October 6.No inquiry being forthcoming, the Congregation proceeded to the election of a vice president for the ensuing quarter. Mr. Tarbell having been nominated, the Congregation unanimously elected him to that position.The meeting was then adjourned with the benediction, pronounced by Dr. Mabie. There werepresent fifty-six members.174 UNIVERSITY RECORDTHE CALENDAR.OCTOBER 20-28.Friday, October 20.Chapel- Assembly : The Divinity School. Chapel,Cobb Lecture Hall, 10:30 a.m.Division Lecture : The Lower Juniors (Divisions IV, V, VI), meet President Harper inCongregation Hall, Haskell, at 10:30 a.m.Physics Club meets in Room 32, Ryerson Physical Laboratory, at 4: 00 p.m.Papers : " On the Relation between the Conductivityof a Coherer and the impressed E. M. F.," by F. B.Jewett; "On the 'Phillips Phenomenon,' by FritzReichmann; "On the Diffraction Experiments andWave-length determinations with Rontgen Rays," byR. A. Millikan.Mathematical Club meets in Room 36, RyersonPhysical Laboratory, at 4: 00 p.m.Paper by Professor Moore : " The Goursatcanchydefinition of the analytic function of a complexvariable."Notes : " The Problem of n bodies under attractiveforce varying directly as the distance," by Mr. A. C.Lunn ; " Concerning the criteria for the maxima andthe minima values of functions of more than onevariable," by Dr. ]. H. Boyd.Political Economy Club meets in the LectureRoom, Cobb Lecture Hall, at 4:00 p.m.Professor Richard T. Ely, of the University of Wisconsin, will speak to the Club on " The Control ofMonopoly Price." All are invited.Saturday, October 21.Meetings of University Ruling Bodies in HaskellOriental Museum :The Administrative Board of the UniversityPress, 8: 30 a.m.The Administrative Board for the Recommendation of Teachers, 8:30 a.m.The Board of Student Organizations, Publications, and Exhibitions, 10:00 a.m.The Faculty of the Ogden (Graduate) Schoolof Science, 10:00 a.m.The Faculty of the Divinity School, 11:30A.M.Sunday, October 22.Vesper Service is held in Kent Theater at4: 00 P.M.Address by Professor Mathews. Subject, " The Mission of the Educated Man to Religion." Monday, October 28.Chapel- Assembly : The Junior Colleges. Chapel,Cobb Lecture Hall, 10:30 a.m.The Philological Society meets in FacultyRoom, Haskell Museum, at 8:00 p.m.Professor W. G. Hale will read a paper upon "A NewHypothesis of the Primitive Meaning of the Accusative."Tuesday, October 24.Chapel-Assembly : The Senior Colleges. Chapel,Cobb Lecture Hall, 10:30 a.m.Botanical Club meets in Room 23, BotanicalLaboratory, at 5:00 p.m.The Club at this meeting will organize a seminar toconsider the subjects of epigenesis and preformation.Drs. Davis, Chamberlain, and Cowles will open thediscussion and develop the plan of treatment.Wednesday, October 25.Division Lectures : The Upper Seniors (Divisions I, II, III) meet President Harper inCongregation Hall, Flaskell, at 10: 30 a.m.The Lower Seniors (Divisions IV, V, VI) meet inthe Lecture Room, Cobb Hall, at 10:30 a.m.The Division Lecture is delivered by Professor Small.The Upper Juniors (Divisions I, II, III) meetin Kent Hall at 10: 30 a.m.The Division Lecture is delivered by Assistant Professor Stiegiitz.The Graduate Club meets in CongregationFlail, Haskell Oriental Museum, at 8:00 p.m.Professor H. H. Donaldson will address the Club on"Inter-University Migration." All Graduates areinvited.Thursday, October 26.Chapel- Assembly: The Graduate Schools. Chapel,Cobb Lecture Hall, 10:30 a.m.Friday, October 27.Chapel Assembly : The Divinity School. Chapel,Cobb Lecture Hall, 10: 30 a.m.Division Lecture : The Lower Juniors (DivisionsIV, V, VI) meet President Harper in KentTheater at 10:30 a.m. ^Saturday, October 28.Meetings of University Ruling Bodies in HaskellOriental Museum :The Faculty of Morgan Park Academy at8: 30 a.m.The Administrative Board of Libraries, Laboratories, and Museums, 10: 00 a.m.The Faculty of the Graduate School of Artsand Literature, 11:00 a.m.