BEPOKT OP THE SECRETARY 29 



things or by small sums spent in field work to acquire them. Speci- 

 mens actually needed are obtainable usually only at long intervals 

 and if such opportunities are allowed to pass further chance to 

 acquire them may be remote or uncertain. Highly desirable things 

 offered at reasonable prices are refused nearly every week. The 

 Institution should have available moderate funds that might be used 

 for such purposes. 



Need of funds for exploration is also imperative since through 

 this means only is it practicable to obtain data and information of 

 importance in connection with many objects desired for the collec- 

 tions. Definite research on the part of experts is often required to 

 clear up doubtful points in source or relationship of many things. 



More and more each year the National Museum is approached 

 for authentic information in a wide range of subjects not to be ob- 

 tained elsewhere. Its vast collections of carefully arranged and 

 classified specimens afford a full record of industrial, social, and 

 esthetic progress as well as of painstaking and exhaustive research 

 work in the natural sciences. In it are gathered the results of 

 governmental activities and private donations aggregating many 

 millions of dollars. The Museum collections serve as a foundation 

 for the economic work of such great Government organizations as 

 the Department of Agriculture, the Geological Survey, and others, 

 and the members of the scientific staff assist materially in the work 

 of these institutions through identification and report on the various 

 objects with which they are concerned. To maintain its position of 

 constantly increasing importance in the field of Government service 

 and to fulfill its function as a truly national museum, it is absolutely 

 necessary that adequate funds be provided for its proper main- 

 tenance. It is sincerely hoped that its needs in this direction will 

 be recognized and provided for by suitable appropriations. 



Final establishment of the salary schedules under the reclassifica- 

 tion act brought the salaries paid to members of the scientific staff in 

 the National Museum in most cases to a parity with those doing simi- 

 lar work in other departments, and has thus in large part corrected a 

 lamentable condition in which members of the staff were paid at 

 rates established many years ago and which in modern circumstances 

 had become wholly inadequate. The increased salaries available 

 have allowed the filling of several vacancies that have existed for 

 some time and to fill which there were no suitable candidates at 

 previous rates of pay. Adjustments in allocation in certain posi- 

 tions still remain to be made before the scale in force is just and 

 equitable in all its features, as it is felt that the rates assigned in 

 some positions do not correspond with the grades or emoluments 

 applied to similar positions in other branches of Government service. 



