pio\'Cc], funds should bo guaranteed 

 over the period of years neeessar\ to 

 permit e(Mitinuit\' of effort and attain 

 ment of these uhimate ohjeeti\es. 

 Appropriations should he in lump 

 sums for broad programs rather than 

 in speeifie sums lor detailed projeets. 

 Requiring detailed justiheations ot 

 an annual budget tends to stultify 

 research by ignoring its intrinsic un- 

 certainty. Appropriations within the 

 assured sum might then be made 

 available as at present in the annual 

 budget. This plan has attained lim 

 ited acceptance in certain depart- 

 ments of the Government, but the 

 procedure should be made uniform 

 throughout scientific bureaus. It 

 oives needed Hexibilitx' to research 

 programs and permits modification 

 to meet unexpected developments 

 which almost inevitably arise. 



b. Cooperative Support of Research 

 hy Public and Private Agencies 



The degree of cooperation by pub- 

 lic and private agencies in the finan- 

 cial support of research has never 

 been uniform in all departments of 

 the Go\'ernment. It should be made 

 a relatively simple matter for any sci- 

 entific bureau of the Government to 

 accept funds from State or local gov- 

 ernments, from nonprofit research in- 

 stitutions, or from private industry, 

 for cooperative scientific investiga- 

 tions that are in the public interest. 



It is particularly important that 

 Federal research agencies should be 

 able to cooperate freely with State 

 and municipal governments. Many 

 problems of predominantly local con- 

 cern can be studied most advanta- 

 geously by State agencies, such as 

 agricultural experiment stations, 

 health departments, and mineral re- 

 source bureaus. To the extent that 

 the results of these studies are of 

 more than local interest, they should 



rec(.'i\e fin.mcial support through the 

 I c'deral bureaus that are particularly 

 interested. The Federal Go\'ernment 

 should, perhaps, make a special efiort 

 to stimulate development of research 

 organizations in backward States. 



c. Siniplificatioii of fiscal 

 Reoiilations 



Government regulations resardina 

 the purchase of supplies and equip- 

 ment, while intended to assure econ- 

 omy and fair dealing to all, often 

 hamper research programs. The call- 

 ing for bids and the insistence on 

 purchase of the lowest-priced mate- 

 rial is no doubt fully justified for the 

 great bulk of Government supplies. 

 Nevertheless, the required proce- 

 dures do not always yield scientific 

 etjuipment of the best quality, and 

 the nominal saving is usually far out- 

 weighed by intangible losses in delay 

 and frustration of the research staff. 

 Liberalization of the rules for pur- 

 chase of scientific equipment is, there- 

 fore, recommended. 



2. Operation of the Civil Service 



The most important single factor 

 in scientific and technical work is the 

 quality of personnel employed. Sci- 

 entific and professional personnel in 

 Government service are now subject 

 to approximately the same system of 

 recruitment, promotion, and super- 

 vision as those in the clerical, fiscal, 

 and custodial positions. Separate and 

 distinct procedures for recruiting and 

 classifying scientific personnel are 

 warranted by the exacting technical 

 requirements in these services. No 

 one change from current practice 

 would do more to improve the qual- 

 ity of research conducted by the Gov- 

 ernment than the establishment of a 

 separate branch of the Civil Service 

 for scientific and technical positions. 



101 



