150 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



in 1901 what it was in 1851) has been forced to make good, by harder 

 effort on the part of the few, what is done elsewhere in the Govern- 

 ment service by many. 



The private income of the Smithsonian Institution is not quite 

 160,000, but it controls the disbursement of about $500,000 per annum 

 appropriated by the Government for the bureaus under its charge. 



Certain other functions difiicult to describe are still of prime im- 

 portance. The Smithsonian is called on by the Government to advise 

 in many matters of science, more especially when these have an inter- 

 national aspect. Its help and advice are sought b}^ many thousands of 

 persons every year, learned societies, college professors, journalists, 

 and magazine editors, and thousands of private individuals, seeking 

 information, which is furnished whenever it can be done without too 

 serious a drain, though naturally a percentage of the requests is unrea- 

 sonable. It has cooperated with scientific societies of national scope, 

 like the American Historical Association, and has stimulated the 

 growth of a number of the Washington scientific societies, and it may 

 be said to teem with other activities. 



The Regents control the policy of the Institution, and the Secre- 

 tary is their executive officer. Since the beginning the Regents have 

 been selected from among the most distinguished men in public life 

 and in the educational and scientific world. Their roll contains the 

 names of the most distinguished American citizens for half a century. 



An unwritten policy has grown up which, without instructions or 

 regulations, has been of profound influence in the work. The Smith- 

 sonian Institution does not undertake work which anj^ existing agency 

 can or will do as well. It does not engage in controversies; it limits 

 its work to observation and the difiiision of ascertained knowledge, 

 not to speculation. It preserves an ''open mind" for all branches of 

 knowledge and considers an}^ phenomena which are the object of serious 

 study within its purview. Its benefits are not confined to Washington 

 nor to the United States, but as far as consistent are extended to all 

 men. 



Its Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and scientific officers have 

 from the beginning — long before a classified service existed — been 

 elected and appointed for merit, and for that alone. No person has 

 ever been appointed on the scientific staff for an}' political reason or 

 consideration. 



It is impossible to look into the future. The Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion has a remarkable organization for the administration of funds 

 for the promotion of science; yet amidst the great benefactions of 

 the past quarter of a century relatively few have come to it. Its 

 activities could be still further increased if it had greater means 

 under its control, and the Regents, because of the peculiarly independ- 

 ent position they hold, can be of great public service in suggesting 



