man affairs.

ETHICS OF THE ECONOMIC GEOLOGIST

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 recognizi