﻿96 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  the; 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  4 
  

  

  institutions 
  have 
  also 
  been 
  made 
  in 
  which 
  all 
  Federal 
  investigations 
  

   are 
  ignored. 
  To 
  the 
  slur 
  implied 
  by 
  this 
  omission 
  no 
  reply 
  is 
  possible 
  

   and 
  the 
  thousand 
  or 
  more 
  Government 
  scientists 
  can 
  but 
  bow 
  their 
  

   heads 
  in 
  shame 
  in 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  those 
  to 
  whom 
  the 
  great 
  light 
  has 
  

   come. 
  

  

  Though 
  outwardly 
  the 
  Government 
  investigators 
  may 
  remain 
  

   calm 
  in 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  the 
  occasional 
  storm 
  of 
  criticism 
  that 
  blows 
  about 
  

   their 
  heads, 
  yet 
  often 
  they 
  find 
  some 
  note 
  that 
  harmonizes 
  with 
  their 
  

   own 
  feelings. 
  Is 
  there 
  anyone 
  in 
  the 
  rank 
  and 
  file 
  of 
  Federal 
  scientists 
  

   who 
  has 
  not 
  at 
  least 
  one 
  pet 
  grievance 
  and 
  is 
  not 
  convinced 
  that, 
  

   if 
  he 
  were 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  certain 
  work, 
  he 
  could 
  soon 
  abolish 
  some 
  crying 
  

   evil? 
  Such 
  grievances, 
  though 
  various, 
  are 
  most 
  often, 
  for 
  lack 
  of 
  

   better 
  definition, 
  charged 
  to 
  bureaucracy. 
  The 
  wrong 
  may 
  have 
  

   been 
  committed 
  by 
  some 
  cold-blooded 
  auditor 
  who, 
  in 
  enforcing 
  the 
  

   law, 
  has 
  blocked 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  science 
  by 
  eliminating 
  an 
  item 
  from 
  

   an 
  expense 
  account. 
  An 
  investigator 
  whose 
  work 
  is 
  far 
  in 
  arrears 
  

   may 
  have 
  found 
  his 
  chief 
  very 
  unsympathetic. 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  that 
  the 
  

   publication 
  of 
  some 
  monumental 
  treatise 
  has 
  been 
  postponed 
  for 
  lack 
  

   of 
  funds. 
  Again, 
  official 
  indorsement 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  denied 
  for 
  

   some 
  pet 
  hypothesis 
  that, 
  if 
  only 
  it 
  prove 
  true, 
  will 
  revolutionize 
  

   science. 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  that 
  a 
  lack 
  of 
  funds 
  forces 
  an 
  investigator 
  out 
  of 
  

   his 
  favorite 
  field. 
  The 
  fault 
  may 
  be 
  in 
  a 
  law 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  a 
  

   bureau 
  is 
  made 
  to 
  include 
  some 
  activities 
  that 
  an 
  investigator 
  believes 
  

   to 
  lie 
  outside 
  of 
  its 
  proper 
  scope. 
  

  

  The 
  charge 
  frequently 
  made 
  that 
  the 
  scientific 
  service 
  is 
  employed 
  

   chiefly 
  on 
  problems 
  whose 
  solution 
  will 
  directly 
  contribute 
  to 
  the 
  

   welfare 
  of 
  the 
  Nation 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  denied. 
  If 
  this 
  were 
  not 
  true 
  the 
  

   bureau 
  chief 
  would 
  be 
  a 
  derelict 
  in 
  his 
  duties 
  to 
  the 
  public 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  

   a 
  violator 
  of 
  law. 
  The 
  command 
  that 
  research 
  be 
  directed 
  toward 
  

   material 
  ends 
  is 
  incorporated 
  in 
  the 
  organic 
  or 
  appropriation 
  acts 
  of 
  

   nearly 
  every 
  Federal 
  scientific 
  bureau.^ 
  For 
  example, 
  both 
  the 
  

   Coast 
  Survey 
  and 
  the 
  Naval 
  Observatory 
  owe 
  their 
  origin 
  to 
  the 
  

   demands 
  of 
  the 
  merchant 
  marine 
  and 
  the 
  Navy. 
  The 
  Geological 
  

   Survey 
  was 
  established 
  primarily 
  to 
  help 
  to 
  develop 
  the 
  country's 
  

   mineral 
  wealth 
  and 
  to 
  evaluate 
  the 
  public 
  domain. 
  The 
  needs 
  of 
  

   industry 
  were 
  met 
  by 
  the 
  establishment 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Standards 
  

  

  2 
  The 
  Bureau 
  of 
  American 
  Ethnology 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  exception. 
  The 
  appropriation 
  

   for 
  the 
  National 
  Museum, 
  made 
  originally 
  for 
  the 
  custodianship 
  of 
  Government 
  property, 
  

   can 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  for 
  its 
  purpose 
  the 
  education 
  of 
  the 
  people. 
  The 
  Smithsonian 
  Insti- 
  

   tution 
  is 
  supported 
  by 
  a 
  private 
  endowment 
  and 
  is 
  therefore 
  an 
  exception 
  among 
  Govern- 
  

   ment 
  institutions. 
  

  

  