2 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1947 



is back to prewar levels, as is the number of accessions to the Museum 

 collections. The International Exchange Service has made large 

 inroads into the great accumulation of material for foreign exchange 

 that built up during the war years, and the service will soon be again 

 on a wholly current basis. 



The two greatest needs of the Institution as stated in my last report 

 are for more personnel and more building space. New buildings must, 

 of course, await more propitious economic conditions, but plans are 

 already outlined and the future outlook is hopeful. Strong presenta- 

 tions of the personnel shortage, particularly in scientific positions, are 

 being made to the Bureau of the Budget and to Congress, with promise 

 of relief in this direction also. 



THE ESTABLISHMENT 



The Smithsonian Institution was created by act of Congress in 1846, 

 according to the terms of the will of James Smithson, of England, who 

 in 1826 bequeathed his property to the United States of America "to 

 found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 

 men." In receiving the property and accepting the trust. Congress 

 determined that the Federal Government was without authority to ad- 

 minister the trust directly, and, therefore, constituted an "establish- 

 ment" whose statutory members are "the President, the Vice President, 

 the Chief Justice, and the heads of the executive departments." 



THE BOARD OF REGENTS 



During the year the following changes occurred in the personnel 

 of the Board of Kegents : 



January 17, 1947 : Chief Justice Vinson was elected Chancellor of 

 the Institution. 



January 27, 1947: Kepresentative John M. Vorys, of Ohio, was 

 appointed to finish the unexpired term of Representative B. Carroll 

 Reece. 



January 27, 1947: Representative Samuel K. McConnell, Jr., of 

 Pennsylvania, was appointed to finish the unexpired term of Repre- 

 sentative E. E. Cox. 



The roll of regents at the clo.se of the fiscal year June 30, 1947, was 

 as follows : 



Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson, Chancellor ; members from the Senate, 

 Alben W. Barkley, Wallace H. White, Jr., Walter F. George; mem- 

 bers from the House of Representatives, Clarence Cannon, John M. 

 Vorys, Samuel K. McConnell, Jr. ; citizen members, Frederic A. Delano, 

 Washington, D. C, Harvey N. Davis, New Jersey, Arthur H. Comp- 



