REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE 

 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



ALEXANDER WETMORE 

 FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1950 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: 



Gentlemen: I have the honor to submit herewith my report 

 showing the activities and condition of the Smithsonian Institution 

 and its branches during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1950, 



GENERAL STATEMENT 



The activities of the Smithsonian Institution, now as when it was 

 established more than a century ago, are geared to the broad purposes 

 stated by the founder, James Smithson. He wanted, he said in his 

 famous will, "to found at Washington an institution for the increase 

 and diffusion of knowledge among men." These words have had a 

 far-reaching effect on American science, for they not only enabled the 

 Institution to operate without excessive restrictions and with freedom 

 of initiative and outlook, but also they became the pattern for other 

 foundations established during the course of the nineteenth century. 



In this day of increasing pressures on all sides and definite trends 

 in certain countries toward the regimentation of science, the necessity 

 for this freedom of inquiry under which the Smithsonian has existed 

 cannot be too strongly emphasized. 



The Institution has never sought to expand its programs inordi- 

 nately, or to add functions unjustified by normal demands or neces- 

 sities. It has been conservative, yet pioneering, and it would not be 

 difficult to cite instances where small and perhaps unpopular projects, 

 modestly aided by Smithsonian encouragement or financial grants, 

 developed into enterprises of considerable scope and importance. 

 When the Institution began its operations in 1846, it carried on its 

 research programs largely by subsidizing the work of scientists not 

 on its own staff and by publishing the results of their work. As these 

 pioneer researches expanded and became somewhat stabilized, 

 bureaus gradually grew up around the Institution, each with its own 

 staff specializing in the work of that particular field. The value of 

 the various activities gradually became known to the Nation, and 

 eventually one by one they were recognized as public necessities by 



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