28 ANNUAL, REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1921. 



This cooperation is mutual, as the Museum renders aid to other 

 governmental establishments whenever possible, as evidenced by the 

 work of Dr. Ales Hrdlicka for the Department of Justice, by which 

 over a million of dollars in land and money was saved for the 

 Indians. 



The maintenance and operations of the National Museum for the 

 fiscal year 1921 were provided for by items appropriated in the 

 sundry civil and in two deficiency bills, amounting in all to $483,- 

 322.70. 



The item for preservation of collections, from which are paid the 

 administrative, scientific, preparatorial and clerical staff, the watch, 

 labor and cleaning force, and the cost of all preservatives, has 

 remained at $300,000 from 1911 until the present time. An addi- 

 tional $12,620 granted for this year meant the extension of the 

 service to cover the Freer Gallery of Art, for which it provided 

 watchmen, cleaners, and clerical help and the necessary miscellaneous 

 supplies needed in connection therewith. It afforded no cessation of 

 the strictest economy by means of which only is it possible to con- 

 tinue the operations of the Museum. Present conditions can per- 

 haps best be realized when it is stated that 10 years, ago the item 

 of $300,000 was considered insufficient to cover the needs of the 

 Museum in these lines. Within this decade, with its tremendous 

 decrease in the purchasing power of the dollar, some 3,000,000 speci- 

 mens have been added to the collections, the scope of the Museum 

 has been materially enlarged, and an additional building has been 

 added to the Museum group, aside from the Freer Gallery. 



During this period, however, increases have been granted in the 

 items for heating and lighting and for printing and binding, owing 

 to the increased cost of coal and the tremendous increase in the 

 cost of labor, paper, and other materials used in printing. On the 

 other hand, even with the greatly extended service, the item for 

 building repairs is now $5,000 less than it was 10 years ago, at a 

 time when the Natural History Building was new and naturally re- 

 quired comparatively little in the way of repairs. The amount for 

 furniture and fixtures is likewise $5,000 less than it was for a number 

 of years prior to the war, when prices of labor and material were 

 from 50 to 75 per cent lower. 



Of the $64,202.70 appropriated this year for printing, $37,500 was 

 the regular item and $26,702.70 a deficiency item to permit of the 

 completion during the year of an unusual accumulation of work at 

 the Government Printing Office. The Museum printing had for 

 several years been held back for lack of sufficient available funds. 



A comparison of the operating expenses of the United States Na- 

 tional Museum with museums of similar size and scope in this coun- 



