424 THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



have been perpetuated, and in other instances similar commit- 

 tees are to be formed. The Division of States Relations of the 

 Research Council, which began its work during the war, has 

 now been permanently established with the following functions : 



1. To obtain information as to the most effective types of 

 organization which may represent the group of departments 

 concerned with research within a state government. The 

 method by which these groups can be brought together may not 

 be the same in all cases. This has been done by a central com- 

 mittee in California, and in part by a Board of Natural Re- 

 sources and Conservation in Illinois. Still other variations of 

 method may be expected in accomplishing this coordination in 

 other states. 



2. To obtain an acquaintance with the best methods of co- 

 operation between the departments of the state government 

 and the institutions within the state, educational, commer- 

 cial, industrial, and governmental, which are concerned with 

 research. Close connection between the work of the Division 

 of States Relations and the Division of Educational Relations 

 will be essential, as educational institutions are important cen- 

 ters for research work. 



3. To consider the most effective methods of research co- 

 operation between states, and to study also the problem of the 

 relations between the scientific agencies of the states and those 

 of the Federal Government. 



The success of the work of this Division will necessarily be 

 in large degree contingent upon the response of the scientific 

 and political authorities of the several states. The Council 

 is in no position to employ any coercion in the matter, and if it 

 were, would not desire to do so. The response, however, 

 which has already been accorded to the suggestion that the 

 States Relations Division should exercise the functions men- 

 tioned has been very cordial and very wide-spread. There is 

 unquestionably a general recognition of the need for some dis- 

 interested and competent agency to meet the purposes de- 

 scribed, and it seems reasonable to hope that substantial as- 



