﻿108 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  THE 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  4 
  

  

  houses 
  of 
  scientific 
  facts 
  that 
  could 
  at 
  once 
  be 
  drawn 
  upon, 
  and 
  the 
  

   energies 
  of 
  their 
  great 
  corps 
  of 
  investigators 
  were 
  quickly 
  turned 
  to- 
  

   ward 
  the 
  problems 
  of 
  war. 
  As 
  hardly 
  a 
  field 
  of 
  science 
  was 
  not 
  utilized, 
  

   so 
  hardly 
  one 
  was 
  unrepresented 
  at 
  Washington 
  among 
  its 
  thousand 
  

   investigators. 
  At 
  the 
  outbreak 
  of 
  the 
  war 
  this 
  great 
  army 
  was 
  fully 
  

   mobilized, 
  and 
  its 
  staffs 
  were 
  organized. 
  Though 
  not 
  so 
  well 
  dis- 
  

   ciplined 
  as 
  some 
  wished, 
  it 
  was 
  necessarily 
  better 
  prepared 
  to 
  go 
  over 
  

   the 
  top 
  at 
  the 
  zero 
  hour 
  than 
  the 
  new 
  recruits, 
  seasoned 
  veterans 
  

   though 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  were. 
  

  

  At 
  no 
  other 
  time 
  in 
  our 
  history 
  were 
  there 
  gathered 
  together 
  so 
  

   large 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  leaders 
  of 
  business 
  affairs, 
  and 
  many 
  of 
  these 
  were 
  

   for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  awakened 
  to 
  the 
  high 
  commercial 
  value 
  of 
  science. 
  

   With 
  the 
  signing 
  of 
  the 
  armistice 
  the 
  doUar-a-year 
  man 
  returned 
  to 
  

   his 
  more 
  lucrative 
  occupation, 
  while 
  the 
  Federal 
  scientist 
  was 
  left 
  

   to 
  divide 
  his 
  attention 
  between 
  high 
  scientific 
  ideals 
  and 
  high 
  cost 
  of 
  

   living. 
  The 
  dollar-a-year 
  man 
  lost 
  no 
  time 
  in 
  garnering 
  into 
  his 
  

   affairs 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  Federal 
  scientists 
  whom 
  he 
  had 
  learned 
  to 
  value 
  

   during 
  the 
  war. 
  He 
  went 
  further 
  than 
  that, 
  for 
  he 
  robbed 
  the 
  uni- 
  

   versities 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  their 
  most 
  earnest 
  advocates 
  of 
  pure 
  science. 
  

  

  It 
  seems 
  remarkable 
  that 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  a 
  period 
  when 
  devotion 
  to 
  pub- 
  

   lic 
  duty 
  was 
  the 
  very 
  keynote 
  of 
  the 
  Nation 
  should 
  be 
  marked 
  by 
  a 
  

   widespread 
  desertion 
  of 
  the 
  Federal 
  service. 
  Men 
  who 
  had 
  long 
  

   sacrificed 
  their 
  own 
  and 
  their 
  families' 
  comfort 
  found 
  the 
  task 
  no 
  

   longer 
  to 
  their 
  liking. 
  Veteran 
  Government 
  scientists 
  who 
  had 
  for 
  

   years 
  continued 
  in 
  the 
  service 
  because 
  of 
  devotion 
  to 
  their 
  ideals 
  

   realized 
  that 
  their 
  war 
  colleagues 
  from 
  private 
  life 
  were 
  willing, 
  the 
  

   emergency 
  past, 
  to 
  abandon 
  public 
  service 
  for 
  more 
  lucrative 
  employ- 
  

   ment. 
  Many 
  investigators 
  no 
  doubt 
  held 
  that 
  they 
  too 
  had 
  done 
  their 
  

   share 
  of 
  public 
  work 
  and 
  were 
  not 
  called 
  upon 
  for 
  further 
  sacrifice. 
  

   The 
  loss 
  to 
  the 
  Federal 
  service 
  of 
  experienced 
  investigators 
  is 
  well 
  

   known 
  though 
  this 
  audience 
  will 
  hardly 
  be 
  willing 
  to 
  accept 
  the 
  

   statement 
  that 
  "all 
  the 
  able 
  scientists 
  have 
  left 
  the 
  Government 
  

   service." 
  The 
  egress 
  from 
  the 
  service 
  after 
  the 
  war 
  was 
  so 
  large 
  that 
  

   the 
  crowded 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  trains 
  leaving 
  Washington 
  must 
  have 
  

   been 
  due 
  in 
  part 
  to 
  ex-Government 
  scientists 
  who 
  were 
  being 
  trans- 
  

   ported 
  to 
  more 
  lucrative 
  positions. 
  Quite 
  as 
  alarming 
  as 
  this 
  loss, 
  

   though 
  less 
  well 
  advertized, 
  is 
  the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  filling 
  vacancies 
  by 
  the 
  

   best 
  men 
  from 
  the 
  universities, 
  for 
  it 
  has 
  come 
  to 
  pass 
  that 
  the 
  Federal 
  

   service 
  now 
  often 
  has 
  only 
  second 
  choice. 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  best-trained 
  

   men, 
  who 
  formerly 
  chose 
  the 
  career 
  of 
  Government 
  investigator, 
  now 
  

   pass 
  directly 
  from 
  the 
  university 
  into 
  commercial 
  life. 
  

  

  