﻿PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  EEGENTS 
  143 
  

  

  ENDOWMENT 
  MEETING 
  

  

  The 
  acting 
  secretary 
  stated 
  that 
  in 
  deference 
  to 
  the 
  wish 
  of 
  the 
  

   late 
  Secretary 
  Walcott, 
  expressed 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  before 
  his 
  death, 
  and 
  

   seconded 
  by 
  the 
  wish 
  of 
  Mrs. 
  Walcott, 
  the 
  conference 
  on 
  the 
  future 
  

   of 
  the 
  Smithsonian 
  would 
  be 
  held 
  on 
  February 
  11, 
  as 
  planned. 
  A 
  

   very 
  interesting 
  exhibit 
  had 
  been 
  installed, 
  calculated 
  to 
  show 
  some 
  

   of 
  the 
  researches 
  which 
  the 
  Institution 
  is 
  uniquely 
  qualified 
  to 
  under- 
  

   take 
  if 
  sufficient 
  financial 
  means 
  become 
  available. 
  The 
  President 
  

   of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  and 
  a 
  notable 
  group 
  of 
  eminent 
  men 
  had 
  ac- 
  

   cepted 
  the 
  invitation 
  of 
  the 
  board 
  to 
  attend. 
  Addresses 
  would 
  be 
  

   given 
  by 
  the 
  chancellor 
  and 
  the 
  acting 
  secretary, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  

   relations 
  of 
  the 
  Institution 
  to 
  the 
  Government, 
  and 
  its 
  many-sided 
  

   functions 
  in 
  tlie 
  promotion 
  of 
  research 
  and 
  publication 
  would 
  be 
  

   set 
  forth. 
  

  

  WHAT 
  IS 
  THE 
  " 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  " 
  ? 
  

  

  The 
  acting 
  secretary 
  recalled 
  to 
  the 
  board 
  that 
  the 
  Smithsonian 
  

   Institution 
  is 
  a 
  private 
  foundation, 
  the 
  ward 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  

   engaged 
  in 
  many 
  types 
  of 
  activities, 
  international 
  in 
  scope 
  and 
  

   catholic 
  in 
  its 
  attention 
  to 
  science; 
  that 
  under 
  its 
  initiative 
  nine 
  

   bureaus 
  of 
  the 
  Government 
  had 
  developed, 
  of 
  which 
  seven 
  are 
  still 
  

   administered 
  by 
  the 
  Institution 
  as 
  one 
  type 
  of 
  its 
  many 
  activities. 
  

   For 
  these 
  bureaus 
  approximately 
  a 
  million 
  dollars 
  annually 
  are 
  ap- 
  

   propriated 
  by 
  Congress. 
  These 
  appropriations 
  have 
  been 
  increased 
  

   in 
  recent 
  years, 
  so 
  that 
  while 
  in 
  1922 
  the 
  sum 
  appropriated 
  for 
  

   them 
  was 
  $765,120, 
  the 
  present 
  bill 
  for 
  the 
  fiscal 
  year 
  1928 
  carries 
  

   $1,132,711. 
  

  

  Yet 
  these 
  increasingly 
  liberal 
  governmental 
  appropriations 
  go 
  

   not 
  to 
  support 
  the 
  Smithsonian 
  Institution, 
  but 
  domestic 
  bureaus 
  

   under 
  its 
  administration 
  which 
  are 
  indispensable 
  to 
  the 
  public, 
  and 
  

   which 
  Congress 
  supports 
  because 
  of 
  public 
  demand. 
  Advantages 
  

   to 
  both 
  the 
  Government 
  and 
  the 
  Institution 
  arise 
  from 
  Smithsonian 
  

   administration 
  of 
  them. 
  The 
  only 
  disadvantage 
  arises 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  

   that 
  owing 
  to 
  its 
  immense 
  domestic 
  service, 
  the 
  public 
  has 
  come 
  to 
  

   regard 
  the 
  Smithsonian 
  as 
  a 
  Government 
  bureau, 
  supported 
  by 
  

   public 
  funds. 
  Thus 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  received 
  the 
  additional 
  endowment 
  

   which 
  its 
  general 
  needs 
  require. 
  

  

  The 
  Institution 
  itself 
  ought 
  to 
  receive 
  a 
  sufficient 
  endowment 
  to 
  

   enable 
  it 
  to 
  deal 
  broadly 
  with 
  fundamental 
  research 
  and 
  publication 
  

   irrespective 
  of 
  obvious 
  utilities; 
  to 
  grasp 
  opportunities 
  when 
  they 
  

   arise; 
  to 
  employ 
  experts 
  as 
  needed; 
  to 
  pension 
  superannuated 
  em- 
  

   ployees 
  and 
  to 
  increase 
  its 
  force 
  and 
  its 
  scale 
  of 
  compensation. 
  Its 
  

   present 
  condition 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  chronic 
  penury. 
  Endowment 
  funds, 
  not 
  

  

  