Ethical questions involved in the practice of economic geology have called out much discussion, and, in some cases, marked differences of opinion among men equally desirous of doing the right thing. In the plain choice between right and wrong, there is of course no difference of opinion. Unfortunately in many of the questions which arise the alternatives are not so clearly labeled.

The lure of discovery and quick returns always has, and doubtless always will, draw into the field large numbers of persons without sound ethical anchorage or standards. Fortunately, these are not the persons in control of the mineral industries; they are mere incidents in the great and stable business built up by legitimate demands for raw materials.

The view is sometimes expressed that the geologist should hold himself aloof from the business or applied phases of his profession, because of the danger of being tainted with commercialism. This argument would apply to the engineer as well as to the geologist. To carry such a procedure through to its logical conclusion would mean substantially the withdrawal of scientific aid from industry,—which, to the writer, is hardly a debatable question. Circumstances are trending inevitably to the larger use of geologic science in the commercial field. The problems of ethics cannot be solved by staying out. The economic geologist is rather called upon to do his part in raising the standards of ethics in that part of the field in which he has influence. This he can do by careful appraisal of all the conditions relating to a problem which he is asked to take up, and by refusing to act where questionable ethical standards are apparent or suspected. He must understand fully the purposes for which his report is to be used; merely as a matter of professional self-interest, there is no other course open to him. In a field in which there is so much danger from loose ethical conceptions, the premium on rigid honesty and nice appreciation of professional ethics is proportionately higher. The extreme care taken in this matter by acknowledged leaders in the profession of economic geology should be carefully considered by the young man entering the profession. There is a reason.

In other chapters reference is made to certain special ethical questions, such as the use of geology in mining litigation (pp. 349-355), and the necessity of the geologist's recognizing his own limitations (pp. 92-94), but no attempt has been made to cover the variety of such questions that may come up. It is safe to assume that no special ethical code can be made sufficiently comprehensive, detailed, and elastic to cover all the contingencies which are likely to be met in the practice of economic geology; nor is it likely that any such code, if attempted, would be any improvement on the spirit of the Golden Rule. Simple decency and common sense in their broader implications are essential to the practice of the profession.

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Transcriber's Note