﻿114 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  THS 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  4 
  

  

  must 
  be 
  undertaken. 
  The 
  investigator 
  will 
  soon 
  discover 
  that 
  the 
  

   Federal 
  service 
  is 
  not 
  favorable 
  for 
  him 
  who 
  holds 
  that 
  if 
  he 
  himself 
  

   is 
  pleasantly 
  occupied, 
  a 
  demand 
  for 
  results 
  is 
  unreasonable. 
  The 
  

   bureau 
  chief 
  is 
  not 
  sympathetic 
  with 
  the 
  scientist 
  who 
  believes 
  that, 
  

   if 
  his 
  own 
  life 
  is 
  not 
  long 
  enough 
  to 
  enable 
  him 
  to 
  arrive 
  at 
  a 
  con- 
  

   clusion, 
  posterity 
  can 
  glean 
  sufficient 
  wisdom 
  from 
  his 
  unfinished 
  

   epoch-making 
  treatise 
  to 
  justify 
  the 
  expenditure 
  of 
  public 
  funds 
  

   made 
  on 
  his 
  research. 
  

  

  Sooner 
  or 
  later 
  fiscal 
  responsibilities 
  will 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  new 
  scientist, 
  

   and 
  if 
  he 
  seeks 
  counsel 
  from 
  his 
  older 
  colleagues, 
  some 
  will 
  tell 
  him 
  

   that 
  the 
  case 
  is 
  hopeless 
  — 
  that 
  the 
  duty 
  of 
  auditors 
  is 
  to 
  interfere 
  

   with 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  science 
  by 
  throwing 
  every 
  available 
  obstacle 
  in 
  

   its 
  path. 
  If, 
  however, 
  he 
  is 
  of 
  an 
  inquiring 
  mind 
  (as 
  even 
  a 
  Federal 
  

   scientist 
  may 
  be) 
  , 
  he 
  may 
  make 
  the 
  startling 
  discovery, 
  new 
  to 
  many 
  

   of 
  his 
  seniors, 
  that 
  the 
  Federal 
  fiscal 
  system 
  is 
  comparatively 
  simple, 
  

   so 
  far 
  as 
  it 
  affects 
  the 
  individual 
  investigator; 
  and 
  also 
  that 
  most 
  of 
  

   its 
  difficulties 
  arise 
  from 
  laws 
  and 
  not 
  from 
  arbitrary 
  regulations. 
  

   It 
  will, 
  however, 
  be 
  brought 
  home 
  to 
  him 
  that 
  although 
  scientific 
  

   bureaus 
  may 
  encourage 
  originality, 
  the 
  Treasury 
  officials 
  find 
  no' 
  

   merit 
  in 
  it 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  displayed 
  in 
  expense 
  vouchers. 
  

  

  The 
  young 
  scientist 
  may 
  meet 
  with 
  some 
  surprises 
  at 
  Washington.. 
  

   He 
  may 
  have 
  pictured 
  the 
  Federal 
  scientific 
  service 
  as 
  a 
  close 
  cor- 
  

   poration 
  that 
  attempts 
  to 
  impose 
  its 
  conclusions 
  on 
  the 
  scientific- 
  

   world. 
  In 
  fact, 
  however, 
  he 
  will 
  find 
  that 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  service 
  

   hold 
  the 
  most 
  diverse 
  opinions, 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  themselves 
  the 
  keenest 
  

   critics 
  of 
  both 
  results 
  and 
  policies, 
  and 
  that 
  by 
  this 
  characteristic 
  

   the 
  scientist 
  finds 
  himself 
  in 
  an 
  open 
  forum, 
  where 
  new 
  ideas 
  and 
  new 
  

   interpretations 
  are 
  most 
  heartily 
  welcomed. 
  

  

  He 
  is 
  not 
  unlikely 
  to 
  find 
  his 
  preconception 
  of 
  his 
  bureau 
  chief 
  to- 
  

   be 
  false. 
  Possibly 
  he 
  has 
  pictured 
  him 
  as 
  a 
  cross 
  between 
  a 
  political 
  

   lobbyist 
  and 
  an 
  advance 
  theatrical 
  agent 
  — 
  one 
  whose 
  decisions 
  are 
  

   based 
  on 
  expediency 
  rather 
  than 
  on 
  the 
  rights 
  and 
  wrongs 
  of 
  a 
  situa- 
  

   tion 
  one 
  whose 
  interest 
  in 
  science 
  is 
  prompted 
  solely 
  by 
  the 
  hope 
  of 
  

   obtaining 
  popular 
  applause. 
  At 
  close 
  range 
  he 
  will 
  probably 
  find 
  his 
  

   chief 
  a 
  man 
  deeply 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  science, 
  who, 
  after 
  de- 
  

   voting 
  years 
  of 
  his 
  life 
  to 
  research, 
  has 
  given 
  it 
  up 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  sense 
  of 
  public 
  

   duty, 
  for 
  the 
  thankless 
  task 
  of 
  administration. 
  Most 
  certainly 
  he 
  wilt 
  

   find 
  him 
  a 
  very 
  much 
  overworked 
  man, 
  bearing 
  a 
  heavy 
  responsibility 
  

   for 
  the 
  expenditure 
  of 
  vast 
  sums 
  of 
  public 
  money 
  and 
  yet 
  constantly 
  

   harried 
  by 
  just 
  calls 
  for 
  investigations 
  that 
  are 
  far 
  beyond 
  his 
  resources. 
  

  

  