NATIONAL DEFENSE RESEARCH COMMITTEE 3I 



manpower with men from many institutions. They were free to be rather 

 specific in outHning fields of research of possible interest, and, of course, 

 were free to receive complete information as to lines of attack which oc- 

 curred to the men with whom they were talking. These discussions indi- 

 cated the men whose names should be submitted for clearance. It was 

 feasible for a Section Chief to encourage an individual to go ahead on his 

 own in developing his idea with the expectation that with the receipt of 

 clearance a contract would be forthcoming and with it classified informa- 

 tion which would aid in focusing the military aspects of the problem. 



At its third meeting on September 27, 1940, the Committee gave further 

 consideration to the need of special investigators for consultation with their 

 colleagues. The basic principle adopted was that the Committee would 

 arrange for the security clearance of key individuals and rely upon their 

 judgment as to the persons to whom and the extent to which classified 

 information should be disclosed in order that a contract might be carried 

 out effectively. Reports of disclosures to persons not yet cleared were re- 

 quired to be made through the Section and Division Chief and the Secre- 

 tary of NDRC to the Service primarily interested in the work under con- 

 tract. 



As a further check on the possibility of leaks of information, arrange- 

 ments were made early in 1941 for a thorough check by the Secret Service 

 of the procedures being followed in the Committee's central offices. This 

 was the first of a number of such checks made in the central office and 

 in certain of the other more important offices. 



Space 



Although Washington was not so crowded as it was to become later, the 

 problem of acquiring space for any new organization was acute even in 

 the summer of 1940. NDRC was particularly fortunate in being able to 

 acquire most of its quarters without coming into direct competition with 

 other Government agencies which were expanding all over the city at an 

 increasing rate. At the first informal meeting of the Committee on June 18, 

 1940, Jewett offered the Committee space in the building of the National 

 Academy of Sciences, and Bush offered space in the Carnegie Institution 

 of Washington, Stewart was asked to look into probable requirements and 

 recommend the acceptance of one of the offers, both of which were rent- 

 free. 



The Academy building had the advantage of being located across the 

 street from the War and Navy Departments. It had the disadvantage, 

 however, that if the United States should go into the war, the demands 

 upon the Academy and the National Research Council might increase to 

 the point that the Academy might need all of its space for its own opera- 

 tions; and the chance of the NDRC obtaining additional space within the 



