NATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR RESEARCH—GRAF 417 
especially as to degree, it should be used with care. A reasonable 
amount of coordination is required to make certain that the new pro- 
gram of research will become a useful and effective portion of the 
Nation’s total research. Care must be taken, however, to see that this 
program does not become a super science department with power over 
all national research. In the interest of good administration, the 
authority to direct and the responsibility for results must be bracketed 
together. Beyond this, there is required the application of a few 
general principles that have been demonstrated to be necessary to any 
efficient conduct of research. Science cannot be regimented. At 
most it can be directed only along very broad lines, for who can declare 
in advance what is of great and what of little importance? It is 
obvious that specific direction could never have developed a Pasteur 
or a Kekulé. Their contributions to science arose from their own 
inquiring minds, from a great body of knowledge they had accum- 
ulated, and from disciplined imaginations, Under close supervision 
they would have been superior investigators, but they would probably 
be forgotten now. The degree of supervision and planning must be 
determined by a body of men who understand science and appreciate 
the difficulties of research, men who are capable of judging progress 
and the ability of individuals without looking over a worker’s shoulder 
or, even worse, requiring multiple reports. Accomplishment has been 
observed over the centuries, and, while it is susceptible of broad varia- 
tions, its recognition by experts does not require a lifetime. The 
selection of wise administrators of research, the determination of 
when and how to provide support, and how much to provide will 
always hold the key to success in any expansion of the research of the 
Nation. Funds can be provided by law, projects can be assigned, but 
this alone cannot assure maximum results, for organization cannot do 
what only the genius of individuals can accomplish. The statement 
of Plato, that “under the influence either of poverty or of wealth, 
workmen and their work are equally liable to degenerate,” is as true 
now as it was in his day. We must have understanding of science 
rather than science worship, and above all we must realize that science 
is a working tool,a means to anend. In stressing the use of research 
for social ends we are only restating the ideal of Benjamin Franklin, 
who made that objective a basic purpose of the American Philosophical 
Society. 
The Federal Government is now engaged in research on many mat- 
ters that concern both the individual and the Nation as a whole. The 
development of national resources and their wise conservation con- 
stitute a field in which the Government should lead and cooperate 
with all others engaged in similar research. This relates to forestry, 
geology, and agriculture in all phases, to mention a few of those close 
to national well-being. 
