EEJPORT OF THE SECRETARY 23 



tures will figure in the allotment of funds for 1932 and will be consid- 

 ered in the annual report for that year. 



Requirements for additional funds for the National Museum follow 

 lines indicated in previous annual reports. The question of further 

 personnel continues to be one of paramount importance, as pressure 

 for additional workers in the scientific, clerical, and custodial forces 

 is constant and continued. Additions made to the staff in recent 

 years have filled in at vital points, but many further positions remain 

 to be provided before our organization can function with maximum 

 efficiency. There are several large collections for which the Museum 

 now has no curators. In some divisions assistants in professional 

 grades are needed as understudies for older men who should be in a 

 position to train successors in their particular fields. Clerical assist- 

 ance is at a minimum everywhere and in several divisions no service of 

 this kind is at present available. Further subprofessional workers also 

 are needed and the work of the custodial services in our woodworking 

 shops is behind. Temporary clerical and other assistance is provided 

 as funds permit, but this is unsatisfactory, as there is much lost 

 motion in giving necessary training to assistants who under civil 

 service rules remain at most only six months. The gradual increase 

 in staff that has come in recent years has been of great assistance, 

 but additional employees in numerous places are still urgently 

 needed. 



Additions to funds allotted for the purchase of books have been 

 useful, but the appropriation available for this purpose should be 

 increased to at least $5,000 a j^ear. Scientific books appear in steadily 

 increasing numbers and at a cost considerably in advance of that of a 

 few years ago, so that the money available for books is below our 

 actual needs. Stimulus to the scientific work in the National Museum 

 in the past few years is beginning to sho^A in steadily increasing 

 amounts of manuscript for publication as the result of researches on 

 the part of the staff. There should be an increase in the funds for 

 printing and binding to allow this material to be published promptly, 

 in order that it may be made available for use by the many persons 

 interested. 



As in previous years our existing appropriations are taken up so 

 largely with necessary routine expenditures that there is little money 

 available that may be used in exploration and field work in connec- 

 tion with the National Museum. Many friends and correspondents 

 now make large additions to our collections annually, and the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, from its private income, provides funds that are 

 used in an exploration program of considerable importance. The 

 Museum, however, should have in its appropriation adequate funds 

 that would enable it to develop various field researches along logical 

 and continuinir lines. 



