UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA DEPARTMENTS OF HISTORY AND ECONOMICS SEMINARY PAPERS EVOLUTION OF THE 39870 ORDINANCE OF 1787 WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE EARLIER PLANS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD ST. 27 KING WILLIAM ST., STRAND The Knickerbocker Press PRICE ONE DOLLAR EDITORIAL NOTE. The starting of a new academic series ought to require no apology. On the contrary, it is a sign of progress that American universities are at last becoming centres of organized literary work. It can scarcely be doubted that the present decade, which has seen so much activity in this direction, will mark an important epoch in the history of American thought. Clearly, we have just reached a stage in higher educational development which has long since been entered upon by the schools of Germany. The ascendency of that nation in nearly every branch of science is mainly due to the fact that her scientific literature has its roots in the Seminar, which is at once the nursery and the workshop of the professorial body. Indeed German authorship as a whole is in no small measure the product of university specialization. But it is not merely as an incentive or as a medium for the highest scholastic effort that such publication should be encouraged. There is much useful work which can be well done even by the young scholar of the graduate school. This is especially true in the various departments of economic and historical science. The statesmanship of the immediate future must concern itself largely with administrative problems; and much of the material upon which wise action must rest has yet to be gathered. By aiding in the collection and publication of this material an important service to the State may be rendered by the school of political science. Already much good work has been done. Is it not possible, however, that the efficiency of scientific study may be |