Relation of the Federal Government to Research 



43 



Procedural Limitations 



Present procedures with respect to authorizing and 

 financing research projects tend to limit rather than 

 to promote intelligent consideration of the Govern- 

 ment^s scieritific prograin as a whole. — Administrative 

 procedures, and to a greater or lesser extent the effi- 

 ciency of the researcli itself, are necessarily affected by 

 the fact that any particular bureau is only a small 

 segment of a very large governmental organization. 

 The administrative requirements of the larger organ- 

 ization inevitably operate to curtail the autonomy of 

 any single division, which must conform to general 

 rules with resjject to purchasing, travel, and a variety 

 of other items. Though such regulations may in some 

 degree hamper the conduct of a research ]Drogram, 

 they are the necessary conditions under which bureauc- 

 racies exist. They differ only in degree from restric- 

 tions impi^sed by any large organization upon the 

 freedom of its component parts. 



Restrictions on Funds 



The general type of restriction imposed may be illus- 

 trated by a few random examples. The 1938 appropria- 

 tion for the Bureau of Mines limited purchase of 

 scientific books and periodicals to $3,000, or "about one- 

 half of what might be considered a reasonable sum in 

 proportion to the number of tecluiical workers and their 

 geogiajjliical distribution." Technical books and peri- 

 odicals are essential tools of modern research, and the 

 proportion of funds spent for their purchase might 

 well be left to the judgment of the individual agency. 

 The Interior Department, of which the Bureau of Mines 

 i.s a part, is an exception to the general practice in thi.s 

 respect. 



In a slightly different field, the Bureau of Entomol- 

 ogy and Plant Quarantine reports that Government 

 purchasing procedure — 



occasionally makes it impossible to secure the particular type 

 of equipment desired on a certain project, and, although it may 

 be possible to prepare specifications which result in the needs 

 of the worli being adequately met, there is frequently a long 

 delay involved which reduces the eflSciency of the research work 

 in many instances. It is frequently impossible to anticipate 

 needs long enough in advance to provide sufficient time to meet 

 all the fiscal requirements in the purchase of equipment and 

 materials without seriously hampering the effectiveness of the 

 work. Although there can be no questioning of the soundness 

 of the principle involved in awarding Government business to 

 the lowest bidder meeting specifications, a great delay in satis- 

 fying the numerous requirements surrounding purchasing is 

 frequently unavoidable under the present system of procurement. 



Similarly, restrictions on travel and on attendance at 

 conventions and scientific meetings have been fomid by 

 many agencies to handicap their research programs. As 

 explained by the Bureau of Mines : 



Presentation of the results of scientific research at meetings 

 of technical and scientific societies and at trade association con- 

 ventions is essential to eflicient operation of any research agency. 

 It is among the most effective methods of placing the results of 

 the investigations in the hands of that part of the public that 

 is competent to make use of them and develop thera furtlier for 

 the benefit of tlie general public. Attendance of technical per- 

 sonnel at scientific meetings has a stimulating effect in raising 

 the general standard of the work accomplished. 



Discussing the same problem, the Chemical Warfare 

 Service suggests that necessary flexibility might be 

 achieved "by charging of travel, including attendance 

 at scientific meetings, to the appropriation for research 

 and development with corresponding increase in that 

 appropriation." 



A rigid limitation on funds available for travel is 

 a still more serious handicap for agencies like the Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey where the extent of field work 

 depends largely on requests which may be received sub- 

 sequent to the appropriation. 



Budgetary Procedure 



The present process of appropriating funds for re- 

 search tends to force consideration of the program of 

 each dejiartment, and in many cases of each bureau, in 

 isolation ratlier than as a part of an over-all scientific 

 jjrogram for the Government as a whole. The needs 

 for the fiscal year are planned by the chiefs of the 

 various scientific bureaus in collaboration with their 

 technical staffs. With few if any exceptions, those 

 who make up the research programs for the bureaus 

 have a full appreciation of the proper balance between 

 research and service functions and are in a better posi- 

 tion than anyone else to appraise the needs and esti- 

 mate the costs in their respective fields. 



The extent to which these research programs have 

 received a sympathetic hearing by the Bureau of the 

 Budget has in the past depended very largely on the 

 ability of the individual bureau chief to convince offi- 

 cials who were more concerned with economj^ than with 

 scientific needs that his particular research program 

 was necessary; and the vigorous complaint of one bti- 

 reau chief that his carefully prepared estimates, based 

 on exhaustive study and intimate knowledge, were 

 "ruthlessly and arbitrarily 'shot to pieces' without 

 rhyme or reason by those in control of budgetary mat- 

 ters" may at times have been less than overstatement. 

 With a material increase in its staff and resources, how- 

 ever, there is every reason to believe that the Bureau of 

 the Budget will hereafter more nearly fulfill the con- 

 structive function for which it was created. 



The scientific fimctions of the Government are con- 

 tinuing functions. They cannot be carried out one year 

 and dropped the next, but must be plamied on a fairly 

 long-range basis if they are to be of maximum benefit. 



