43 



in;; tlio p<as8ago by Congress of tlie bill establishing tbo stations, I caa testify that it 

 was the expectation of the promotei's of the movement and of Congress "that the 

 general resonrces of the colleges would bo used in furtherance of the work of the sta- 

 tions, but not that the grant to the stations should be diverted " to any general college 

 purposes. This was clearly set forth in the Hatch bill and tlie report of the Agricult- 

 ural Committee of the House which accompanied it, and " was used as one of the 

 strong arguments in favor of tbo measure." 



In the passage which you have quoted from the law the objects of the stations and 

 tho purposes for which the means granted by Congress may be used are clearly defined. 

 No nniversity, college, or school to whom that money is intrusted has any right to 

 use any part of it for the benefit of its treasury, its property, its work of instruction, 

 its officers or its students, except in so far as that benefit accrues fi-om what is done 

 by the station in the specific work with which it is charged. The colleges may and 

 should aid the stations by placing at the disposal of the latter, for experimental pur- 

 poses, their buildings, libraries, laboratories, land, and other appliances, but this 

 gives them no reciprocal claim upon the station funds granted by Congress. The 

 expenditure of station money or other use of station resonrces, directly or indirectly, 

 ill the interest of the other departments of the colleges and to the disadvantage of the 

 stations, whether it bo to relieve the college treasuries, or to pay salaries for college 

 work, or to provide for buildings or lands, or improvements of buildings or grounds, 

 or for libraries, or for apparatus, or for services other than are demanded and in- 

 tended to be used in good faith for station purposes, as those purposes are defined by 

 the law, would be a violation of both its letter and its spirit. 



My experience and observation, I regret to say, confirm your statement as to the 

 danger that some colleges may, at times, under financial stress, and without perfect 

 understanding of the import of the law, be tempted to overstep the limits of strict 

 propriety, and I deem it important, therefore, that the attention of those institutions 

 shall be called to the strict obligations involved in the expenditure by the colleges 

 of the grant. In saying this I wish to be understood as making no general reflec- 

 tions upon the purposes or conduct of the authorities of those institutions. 



There is another matter which is referred to only incidentally in your communica- 

 tion, but to which I think more specific attention should be called. The grant of an 

 experiment station appropriation to a particular institution, in a particular com- 

 munity, is not intended for the special benefit of that institution or that community, 

 but for the good of the State and the general public. Any tendency to use the re- 

 sources of the station for individual or local advantage is wrong. So likewise the 

 division of the experiment station's funds among diflerent localities of a State may 

 be productive of harm. In general, the work of an experiment station must be con- 

 centrated in order to be more useful. To divide it is to endanger its efficiency. 

 Doubtless in many cases the establishment of substations in different parts of a State 

 under the control of the central station has been both wise and advantageous, but 

 the practice, especially when any of the resources of the station are used for the pur- 

 chase of land or buildings, is a matter whose expediency should be proven before the 

 steps are taken. 



Aside from the right and wrong of these matters, there is another important con- 

 sideration. The eyes of the public, of men of science, and of Congress are upon tlio 

 stations. Errors of inexperience may for a time be excused ; but failure to use the 

 funds in good faith means risk of losing the support which the stations now receive 

 from the people aud the appropriations which they receive from the Government. 

 Respectfully, 



Ed\vi\ Willits, 



Assiatavt Secretary. 

 Pi!(ji'. W. O. Atwatkr, 



Director, Office of Experiment Stations. 



