352 ROSA: SCIENTIFIC WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT 



has done a great deal of valuable work, both in research and 

 education, to make mining safer; but there is need for a great 

 deal more than it has been able to do. The results of such work 

 are available in all the states where mining is carried on. It 

 can generally be done better, and far more economically, than if 

 done by the states unaided by the federal government. These 

 two bureaus are doing a work of great economic importance at a 

 cost to the people of this country- of three cents per capita per 

 year. If it were doubled the burden would be only slightly 

 increased, but the servdce rendered in the increased efficiency 

 of production and fewer accidents and more intelligent use of our 

 natural resources would be very considerable. This is a splendid 

 example of the economic and social value of cooperation of all 

 the people through the agency of the federal government in doing 

 efficiently what is needed by all. 



THE BUREAUS OF STANDARDS AND OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC 



COMMERCE 



II. The Bureau of Standards develops and maintains the 

 standards of length, mass, volume, temperature, electrical and 

 optical measurements, prepares standard chemicals and does 

 many other kinds of fundamental work; it does testing for the 

 government and the public, and it carries out scientific and indus- 

 trial researches to develop the industries. A very large amount 

 of work is done for the army, navy and other departments and 

 for state institutions, so that not more than one-half of its total 

 expenditures can properly be considered as done for the develop- 

 ment of the industries. Excluding food products, tobacco and 

 liquors, the annual value of manufactured products in this 

 country, over and above the value of the raw materials entering 

 into them, is possibly $12,000,000,000. The Bureau of Standards 

 spends this year a sum not more than 15 cents per $1,000 of 

 manufactured products in all its work, and as stated above, not 

 more than one-half of it is for the purpose of developing these 

 manufactures. If this sum could be considerably increased, it 

 would enable a much larger amount of work to be done and the 

 work could be carried on more efficiently. I shall give examples 



