404 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 



supposed corruption, even with the immense pressure 

 behind them, it did not materialize. 



The situation was most disappointing to the new- 

 comers. However, there was one group in which the strict 

 business methods of the departments had not been so 

 generally introduced, namely, the scientific bureaus. In 

 the Coast Survey, the Geological Survey and the Fish 

 Commission the internal workings had been largely based 

 upon honor. Scientific work to be efficient must not be 

 too rigidly hampered by red tape. Their relations with 

 outside business were normally exact. Here, then, the 

 probe might be applied. 



The history of the attack upon the bureaus has not 

 been written and this is not the place to record it except 

 as it relates to Professor Baird. To be brief, from the 

 office of one of the auditors of the Treasury, by the back 

 door as it were, tales of misdemeanors were furnished to 

 the reporters of the partisan press, which lost nothing 

 in the writing up. These stories were not confined to 

 activities of the Bureaus, but reflected in the most serious 

 way upon individuals. Mostly they were pure fiction, 

 based on unfounded suspicion. 



Appropriations were held up, vouchers not honored, 

 the work of the Bureaus dislocated. 



The vouchers for the residence at the Wood's Hole 

 station of the Fish Commission were held up, and 

 unofficial slanders continued to appear. 



These conditions deeply affected Baird, who returned 

 to Washington and demanded an investigation by the 

 President. The suspended vouchers were explained to 

 the Controller of the Treasury, and by November igth 

 they were pronounced in proper order and passed. This, 

 however, did not end the matter; when Congress convened 



