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---182 REPORT. OF 
To have this work done by public officials, at public cost, is not only 
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ities which we have, it does not seem quite appropriate to ask of 
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_ division to undertake analyses which are purely for personal advan- 
tage or entirely disconnected with agriculture. I desire to plainly 
state that in my opinion the analyses of ores, mineral waters, and 
other substances which have no relation whatever to agricultural — 
research are not-proper subjects for the employment of the chemists _ 
of this division. In the same category should be placed examina- _ 
tions of soils, fertilizers, food stuffs, and other agricultural products ~~ 
sent from States where agricultural colleges and experiment stations _ 
have been established. Under the Hatch bill each State has been 
provided with a fund by Congress for the purpose of carrying on Ki 
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just such investigations as I have mentioned. This fund isin excess 
of the total amount which is given annually for the support of the~ 
distinctively chemical work of thisdivision. Inorderthatthe investi- ~— 
gations which this division has undertaken in the interest of agri- 
cultural chemistry may not be interrupted by such extraneous work 
it would be well to prohibit, by a clause in the appropriation bill, 
any work in the chemical division which is purely of a personal 
nature or not related to agricultural science, or which could be more _ 
ele done by the chemists of the several State agricultural col- 
-leges and experiment stations. This division would thus be relieved 
of the labor of examining minerals, ores, mineral waters, potable ~ 
waters, and other substances of like nature. ee 
There is another reason which leads me to emphasize this state-) 
ment. We have in our country a large number of professional chem- 
ists who devote themselves to private work, and analyses of:such 
samples as I have named naturally belong to this class of chemists. 
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an abuse of official prerogative, but is a positive injury to a legiti- «— 
mate private business which, at best, is poorly supported in the ~— 
United States, There is no more reason why the chemists employed 
by the United States to pursue investigations in agricultural science 
should determine the quantity of gold and silver in a given ore fora 
rivate citizen or a member of Congress than there would be fora 
aw clerk of one of the Departments of the Government to devote his _ 
time and labor to private practice. This practice of doing private ~ 
work at public expense it seems to me is of the same nature as that 
of doing private work during office hours and receiving compensa- » 
tion therefor from the individual for whom the work is done. Since 
I have been in charge of this division I have constantly refused all 
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~applications which have been made to have me or my assistants en- 
‘gage in private work of any kind for compensation during the hours _ 
devoted to official business. I would even go further than this and 
require, if possible, that chemists engaged in official work for the © 
Government of the United States should not be allowed to engage in 
private work even out of official hours. The duties of a chemist én- 
gaged in official work are sufficiently onerous to require all his time 
and energy, and whatsoever is given to work of a private nature is 
so much taken from what he owes to the public. In short, in m 
opinion, the line of demarkation between official and private busi- 
ness Should be sharply drawn and should never be transgressed. The 
compensation received by a public analyst or an official chemist — 
should be large enough and his tenure of office sufficiently certain 
to enable him to devote all his time to the public service without . 
being troubled with anxieties for the future. ee 
