Relation of the Federal Government to Research 



administration of justice in the United States; and the 

 investigation of the production, transportation, and 

 marketing of wool. The House of Representatives had 

 special committees on a number of subjects calling for 

 research. Among these, to mention only two, were a 

 committee to investigate cross-licensing and pooling 

 of patents and a committee to investigate real estate 

 bondholders" reorganizations. 



It is but a short step from the pursuit of fact-finding 

 by a special committee of the Congress to the creation 

 of a permanent research agency. In the later section 

 of this volume to which reference has been made, an 

 example is given of the way in which the Congress has, 

 in effect, extended its own i-esearch activities by the 

 creation of agencies such as the Federal Trade Com- 

 mission, on which broad investigatory powers have 

 been conferred. Various inquiries have been referred 

 by Congi'ess to these agencies, rather than to its own 

 standing or special committees. 



Recently the Congress created a special commission 

 to make a comprehensive census of employment and un- 

 employment. This census was oi'ganizcd and con- 

 ducted in a way which showed that there are large 

 possibilities of developing important teclmiques of 

 census-taking. 



Many of the permanent research agencies of the 

 Government and of the States are outgrowths of in- 

 quiries which originated under conditions similar to 

 those referred to in the foregoing paragraphs. A 

 striking example is seen in the fact that, after the 

 Congress had discussed the problems of agriculture 

 for years, it took two steps which have been of great 

 importance in their effects on research. It created a 

 Department of Agriculture and made grants of land 

 to the States for the specific purpose of promoting the 

 scientific study of agriculture. 



The Professional and Scientific 

 Personnel of the Government 



It is by no means easy to ascertain with definiteness 

 the extent to which the Federal Government is engaged 

 in research. One method of measuring the magnitude 

 of the Government's research program is to eniunerate 

 the number of employees engaged in professional and 

 scientific services. To be sure, the individuals in gov- 

 ermnental service who are of professional and scientific 

 grade are not in aU cases engaged in research. How- 

 ever, a general view of the expanding support for pro- 

 fessional and scientific services gives some indication 

 of the interest of the Congress in activities that are 

 either scientific or closely related to science. Table I, 

 which was sujjplied by the Civil Service Commission, 

 shows the marked increase in the number of profes- 

 sional and scientific employees in the departmental 

 service at Washington in two periods following 1924. 



Table I. — XmiilKr nf imxitiimx in the ilciiiirl iiiciit'il xirricf at 

 Washinyton (inclndin-y the District of Columbia government) , 

 .subject to the Ulassificatimi Act of IUSS, distributed by classi- 

 fication survives, July 1, 1924, fiscal year 1029, and January 

 31, 1937 



' Averagp for fiscal year 1929. 



' Permanent, tull-time positions only. 



' This group includes lawyers, accountants, etc., as well as persons engaged in re- 

 search. For a detailed analysts of the gross figures here presented for 1937 see table I 

 m the later section of this publication entitled "Summary of memoranda on research 

 of the Federal Government in the social sciences" (page 49). 



Besides the professional and scientific euiployees of 

 the Government in the departmental service there are 

 many scientific workers in governmental agencies out- 

 side of Washington. Some comparison of the change 

 which has taken place in the total professional and 

 scientific personnel since 1896 can be made. The Civil 

 Service Commission is authority for the following 

 statement : 



In 1896, only 4,089, or 2.3 percent of the 178.717 civiUan 

 positions in tlie executive civil service at that time, involved 

 work involving a professional, scientific, or technical subject 

 matter or function. Of these, 1,605, or 39.3 percent, were 

 located in the departmental service at Washington and 2,484, or 

 eo.7 percent, were located in the field service outside of Wash- 

 ington. The largest group of professional, scieutiflc, and techni- 

 cal workers, iiumhering 1,189, or 29.08 percent, was engaged iu 

 engineering and drafting work. Teaching, mostly in the 

 schools of the Indian Service, accounted for 664 employees, or 

 16.24 percent. Professional legal activities, in passing upon 

 claims and in the conduct of litigations and prosecutions, 

 required the services of 614 employees, or 15.02 percent. In 

 addition, 4.56, or 11.15 percent, were engaged in one or more 

 of the physical sciences, 342, or 8.36 percent, in the agricultural 

 and biological sciences, and 313, or 7.65 percent, in the medical 

 phases of hospital and health administration. While there was 

 a fair sprinkling of statisticians in the service, economics and 

 the social sciences were not represented appreciably in the 

 personnel lists of that period. 



In contrast with conditions as they were in 1896, the 

 number of employees of various classes as of January 

 31, 1937, is shown in table II, which was also supplied 

 by the Civil Service Commission. 



Extent of Research as Indicated by 

 Expenditures 



Another method of securing evidence with regard to 

 the magnitude of the Government's research program is 

 to note the items in the Federal Budget which are 

 specifically allocated to research. Before the figures 

 on Federal expenditures are reported, it may be well 



