PROCEEDINGS OF THE REGENTS 133 



REORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS 



The secretary spoke of the proposed reorganization of Government 

 Departments, mider which it was proposed to include the Smith- 

 sonian Institution in a Department of Education. 



The following considerations were mentioned among others : 



1. A large part of the success which the Institution has had in 

 carrying on and aiding research work has been due to the fact that 

 varying political fortunes have no effect on its direction. Its secre- 

 tary is selected by the Board of Eegents provided for in the act 

 creating the Institution. It is thus enabled to pursue a definite and 

 continuous policy which is unaffected by political changes. 



2. During the 77 years of its existence as an independent establish- 

 ment the Smithsonian Institution has acquired a reputation and 

 standing throughout the civilized world as a center of scientific 

 endeavor in America. To place it in the position of a subordinate 

 member of an educational department would impair its standing 

 and so relegate it to an unimportant position far from the intention of 

 its founder, of the act of Congress establishing the Institution, and of 

 those who have since made large gifts to it, principally because it 

 was independent of political and sectarian domination, 



3. Freedom of action, one of its chief assets in various scientific 

 activities and in international undertakings, would be entirely lost 

 if the Institution were placed under the administration of a political 

 unit of the Government. 



There was a very general expression of disapproval of the proposed 

 plan. 



NEED OF AN ADDITIONAL ASSISTANT SECRETARY 



The secretary stated that there was urgent need for the provision 

 for an assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to be 

 charged, under the direction of the secretary, with the administra- 

 tion of the National Museum, Art Galleries, Zoological Park, and 

 the Bureau of American Ethnology, and with such other duties at 

 may from time to time be assigned to him by the secretai-y. The 

 care and development of these four branches involve the employ- 

 ment of highly trained specialists and their assistants, and the coordi- 

 nation of the activities of each group with those of the other groups 

 and also with those of research and technical workers in the great 

 Government bureaus, such as those of the Agriculture, Interior, anrl 

 Commerce Departments, and the great research institutions and uni- 

 versity laboratories throughout our country and in foreign lands. 

 Such coordination requires the initiative, guidance, and constant 

 supervision of an able, well-trained, and experienced broadly cul- 



