REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 27 



most purt underpaid, and many of them are receiving salaries that are 

 entirel}' inadequate and much less than are paid for similar services in 

 other departments and in private business. 80 great is this disparity 

 that the Bureau is constantl}^ losing most useful employees by official 

 transfer and .by separation from the service to enter State, municipal, 

 or commercial employ. Therefore, in order to give proper recogni- 

 tion to employees and efi'ect a deserved promotion, such as is now 

 impossible with the small number of positions involved, a general 

 advance of not less than 20 percent is recommended in the compensa- 

 tion of all employees. 



NEW OFFICE BUILDING AM) NATIONAL AQUARIUM. 



A building of adequate size, special construction, and suitable equip- 

 ment for the operations of this Bureau in Washington, is a long-felt 

 want of the Government fisheries service. With the present scope of 

 the work the highest degree of efficiency can not be reached in the 

 cramped and antiquated quarters now occupied: and with the growing 

 demands upon all branches, their increased labors, and the consequent 

 additions to the force of employees, the limitations of the present 

 accommodations become constantly a more serious disadvantage. The 

 importance of a new building can not be too stronglv urged. It is 

 essential to the welfare of the expanding service. 



Other considerations in this connection present themselves. The 

 importance of the fisheries of the United States, to which the Govern- 

 ment for more than thirty -five years has given recognition in the form 

 of direct substantial aid, makes it fitting that there should bo at the 

 national capital some permanent exhibit and representation of this 

 branch of industrial activity. The establishment of a national aqua- 

 rium has long l)een an ambition of those concerned with the adminis- 

 tration of the Bureau, and this project received favorable consideration 

 bj^'the Department in 1903, when the Secretary said, in his first 

 annual report: 



The Department has under consiileration the question of establishing, in coniuH-tion 

 with the Bureau of Fisheries, a national aquarium of such size and architectural 

 excellence that it will be a credit to the nation. Public a(]uaria are recognized as 

 important aids to education and are among the most attractive ami useful exhibits 

 that can be maintained at public expense. An appropriation for such an a(|uariuni 

 will in due course be recommended. 



Consideration is now asked for the erection of a building which 

 shall combine the purposes of administration, experiment, exhibit, 

 and exploitation. The fish-cultural work with its equipment of rail- 

 road tracks and cars, hatching apparatus, etc., and the scientific labo- 

 ratories with the requisites of experimentation make it necessary for 

 this Bureau to receive individual treatment in respect to its accommo- 

 dations. A portion of a department building, or in fact anything but 



