RELATION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO RESEARCH 



Research Essential to the 

 Conduct of the Government 



Tlie Govei'iiment of the United States has always 

 found it necessary to carry on a program of scientific 

 investigations. In the early days of national history, 

 when tliere was little jsopular recognition of the impor- 

 tance of science and no adequate provision in this coun- 

 try for scientific research, the Government was com- 

 pelled in the interests of defense, commerce, public 

 health, and public finance to establish fact-finding 

 agencies whicli supplied the information needed as a 

 basis for legislation and administration. 



As the number and complexity of governmental ac- 

 tivities increased, the demand for research increased. 

 At the present time the Government is equipped with 

 numerous research divisions that furnish the facts essen- 

 tial to its internal operations. 



The Expanding Range of 

 Governmental Research 



During the past hundred years, especially since the 

 beginning of the twentieth centui'y, research witMn 

 the Goveinment has gone far beyond the collection of 

 hiformation needed to guide legislation and adminis- 

 tration. The Government today assumes responsibil- 

 ity for scientific studies which deal with many general 

 problems, such as the improvement of agriculture, the 

 conservation of natural resources, and the development 

 and maintenance of physical standards. While it for- 

 merh- emunerated the population of the country merely 

 for the purpose of adjusting representation in the lower 

 house of the Congress, it now collects in the census 

 many facts about the individuals who make up the 

 Nation — their occupations, their domestic conditions, 

 and other aspects of their lives. It studies industrial 

 and economic conditions. In all these extended re- 

 searches the Government is serving the double purpose 

 of directing its own operations and supplying the peo- 

 ple with important scientific findings which they need 

 for their private purposes. 



The Government is engaged in research on a vast 

 scale. 



Research Now Universally 

 Recognized as Highly Important 



The Government is by no means alone in conducting 

 research. The universities of the country, which 

 before the last quarter of the nineteenth century were 

 small colleges with meager facilities for advanced 



scientific study, have become important centers of re- 

 search. Many of them have the equipment and the 

 staff necessary for the conduct of research and are 

 making lai-ge contributions to the natural sciences, the 

 social sciences, and the humanities. 



The foundations established and endowed by leaders 

 in industry and commerce have promoted research by 

 giving it financial support. They have made grants 

 for research to universities and to other agencies. 

 These grants have in many cases equalled in magni- 

 tude the expenditures of the Government for its major 

 I'esearch projects. 



A number of independent institutions, such as the 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington, the Mellon Insti- 

 tute, the National Bureau of Economic Research, the 

 Rockefeller Institute, and the Brookings Institution, 

 have been organized for the prosecution of I'esearch. 



Industrial and commercial concerns have become so 

 keenly aware of the importance of scientific research 

 in anticipating and meeting competition that many 

 of them maintain staffs of trained scientists and invest 

 liberally in the support of the investigations made by 

 these scientists. 



The governments of all the civilized nations are 

 extensively engaged in research. Some of them have 

 found it advantageous to make generous subventions 

 to nongovernmental agencies as well as to maintain 

 their own agencies for research. 



Problems Arising Because of the 

 Expansion of Research Interests 

 and Activities 



There are a number of proposals before the Congress 

 for the creation of new research agencies within the 

 Government. There are also applications for sub- 

 ventions from the Federal Treasury for the support 

 of research projects to be carried on outside the Gov- 

 ernment. It is evident that there is to be further 

 expansion of reseai'ch activities in this country. There 

 are a number of problems which are even now serious, 

 but are sure to become acute with further expansion of 

 research agencies. These are such problems as the 

 training and proper placement of research workers, 

 the division of labor among research agencies, and 

 the most advantageous allotment of research funds. 



Up to the present time the research agencies of the 

 United States have developed independently and have 

 given little attention to their interrelations. The gov- 

 ernments of certain other countries have undertaken 



