Relation of the Federal Government to Research 



53 



of proper follow-up aiuilysis. — A striking illustration 

 of the truth of this statement is the fact that the Works 

 Progress Administration in its effort to furnish em- 

 ployment to white-collar unemployed individuals con- 

 tributed througli regular Federal agencies to the collec- 

 tion of a great deal of information about the expendi- 

 tures of families in different parts of the country and 

 in a great variety of typical situations. It is estimated 

 that $5,000,000 was expended in the collection of these 

 data. The question now arises: How are these data 

 to be used? The analysis and the interpi'etation of 

 the items of information collected were not possible 

 through the field agencies which collected them. Tabu- 

 lation and expert study had to be provided in order to 

 take full advantage of the investment. 



There are in the files of the Government valuable 

 documents which were collected during the life of 

 the National Recovery Administration and were sub- 

 jected to critical study after that Administration 

 ceased to function. A large sum of money was invested 

 in this critical study, and the information which it 

 gathered is of such value that failure of publication 

 must be regarded as a serious waste. 



A more hopeful positive example is to be found in 

 the fact that Congress, becoming aware of the great 

 importance of governmental records, established the 

 National Archives Council and has provided a build- 

 mg and a staff to classify and make available the 

 records of the Government. The housing and catalog- 

 ing of these materials are steps in the direction of 

 scientific use of data which will be recognized in the 

 future by the whole Nation as highly intelligent. At 

 the present time the significance of what has been done 

 is understood by a comparatively small gi-oup of spe- 

 cialists but is not generally appreciated by the people 

 of the country. 



Another positive example of the collection of ma- 

 terials for the encouragement and promotion of re- 

 search is to be found in the Library of Congress. Illus- 

 trations may be pointed out to show how the Library 

 of Congress supplies the means for scientific study in 

 special fields. The Library has the largest collection 

 of Chinese literary materials outside Peiping. It has a 

 collection of music scores which attracts scholars from 

 all parts of the world. These and other special collec- 

 tions are being continually increased in value. As an 

 aid to scholarly work, the Library has an inclusive 

 union catalog showing Avhere books can be found in 

 other libraries as well as in its own collection, which is 

 now one of the most extensive and valuable in the world. 

 The example of the Library of Congress has led to the 

 collection and housing in Washington of a number of 

 public and private collections, with the result that 

 Washington is today a center for books second to none. 



Congress recognizes the Library as an important ad- 

 junct to the legislative branch of the Government be- 

 cause it constantly uses the legislative reference service 

 and its other services for its own purposes. The 

 Library furnishes the documentary materials which are 

 essential as the basis lor legislative discussions at the 

 same time that it makes possible through its resources 

 scholarly work in all fields. 



If research workers in the social sciences were in- 

 formed about the rich I'esources of a\-ailable raw ma- 

 terial in the possession of the Federal agencies, there 

 would be established at once a more intimate relation 

 between scientific workers within and without the Gov- 

 ernment. There are possibilities of new run-offs from 

 the cards now on file in some of the governmental 

 agencies which would willingly be paid for by re- 

 search workers and even by business concerns if it were 

 known that such run-offs could be made. It has been 

 suggested that the cards in the files of the Bureau of 

 the Census would be far more extensively used than 

 they now are if means could be devised for making 

 them accessible. 



The analogy is not misleading if one states that the 

 Government now has buried in its files as much in the 

 way of intellectual resources as there are natural min- 

 eral resources buried beneath the soil of the North 

 American continent. The isolation of social science as 

 cultivated in separate university centers from the ac- 

 tual materials which might be made available results 

 in incalculable waste. To spend millions of dollars in 

 collecting information and then to let it remain in- 

 accessible is altogether unintelligent. 



The suggestion has been made from time to time in 

 one form or another that a center be established under 

 governmental auspices where scholars may work in 

 Washington in close contact with the materials which 

 are in the archives of the Government. The Library 

 of Congress has taken steps in the direction of making 

 provisions of this kind. In the annex to the Library 

 building a series of rooms has been set aside supple- 

 menting largely the limited number of rooms no%v 

 available for scholars in the main building. 



Cooperation Between Agencies 



The great mmiber of research agencies within the 

 Federal Government is an advantage in that it pro- 

 vides each agency vnth large possibilities of secunng 

 cooperation and a disadvantage in thai com.imunicatiori, 

 hetxDcen a given agency and others with which it might 

 cooperate becomes cumbersome. — It is quite impossible 

 to give any exact account of the cooperation in research 

 which results from informal personal conferences be- 

 tween members of the bureaus and independent agen- 

 cies of the Government. Frequent exchanges of infor- 



