This subject of the
encouragement, or, as it is sometimes called, the endowment of research,
has of late years greatly exercised the minds of men in England. It was
one of the main topics of discussion by the members of the Royal
Commission of whom I was one, and who not long since issued their
report, after five years' labour. Many seem to think that this question
is mainly one of money; that you can go into the market and buy
research, and that supply will follow demand, as in the ordinary course
of commerce. This view does not commend itself to my mind. I know of no
more difficult practical problem than the discovery of a method of
encouraging and supporting the original investigator without opening the
door to nepotism and jobbery. My own conviction is admirably summed up
in the passage of your president's address, "that the best investigators
are usually those who have also the responsibilities of instruction,
gaining thus the incitement of colleagues, the encouragement of pupils,
and the observation of the public."
At the commencement of this address I ventured to assume that I might,
if I thought fit, criticise the arrangements which have been made by the
board of trustees, but I confess that I have little to do but to applaud
them.
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