96 



National Resoui'ces Committee 



studies maj' be made, and the wording of the grant is 

 tliorcfore liiglily important. It may be in general 

 terms, specifying only that the agency is to do what- 

 ever research may be necessary to carry out its admin- 

 istrative or regulatory functions; or it may describe in 

 detail the particular fields to be entered or even the 

 particular studies to be made. Grants of power of the 

 latter nature, while seemingly broad, often serve as 

 limitations in that by implication studies other than 

 those named are not to be made. Too narrow grants 

 of power in organic acts may be and often are broad- 

 ened by amendment or by supplementary grants in ap- 

 propriation acts, but a broad grant of power may also 

 be rendered ineffective by failui'e to appropriate money 

 for carrying out the authorized function. 



Declaration of Purpose 



The grant of power to conduct research may be pre- 

 ceded by a declaration of purpose or statement of 

 policy which serves either as a justification for the sub- 

 sequently enumerated functions or in lieu of such an 

 enumeration. In the latter case such investigations as 

 may be necessary to carry out the declared policy or 

 purpose may be fairly implied, but a siwcific statement 

 to that effect is usually included. The National Labor 

 Relations Board, for example, "may, by one or more 

 of its members or by such agents or agencies as it may 

 designate, prosecute any inquiry necessary to its func- 

 tions in any part of the United States." 



The declaration of purpose may be illustrated by 

 reference to the statutes creating various of the execu- 

 tive dejjartments. The "general designs and duties" 

 of the Department of Agriculture are declared to be 

 "to acquire and diffuse among the people of the United 

 States useful information on subjects connected with 

 agriculture in the most general and comprehensive 

 sense of that word, and to procure, propagate, and dis- 

 tribute among the people new and valuable seeds and 

 plants" (12 Stat. 36T). Similarly, "the purpose of the 

 Department of Labor shall be to foster, promote, and 

 develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United 

 States, to improve their working conditions, and to 

 advance their opportunities for profitable employ- 

 ment" (U. S. C. 5:611) and it "shall be the province 

 and duty" of the Department of Commerce "to foster, 

 promote, and develop the foreign and domestic com- 

 merce, the mining, manufacturing, shipping, and fish- 

 ery industries, and the transportation facilities of the 

 United States * * *"' (U. S. C. 5:596). 



Other agencies with duties less broad than those of 

 the Cabinet Departments may be oriented toward pur- 

 poses more specifically defined. In this category is 

 the Hydrographic Office, which was established 



♦ ♦ * for tho improvempnt of the means for navigating 

 safely the vessels of the Navy and of the mercantile marine, 

 by providing, under the authority of the Secretary of the 

 Navy, accurate and cheap nautical charts, sailing directions, 

 navigators, and manuals of instructions for the use of all ves- 

 sels of the United States, and for the benefit and use of 

 navigators generally (U. S. C. 5:457). 



A further example is offered by the Central Statistical 

 Board, whose purpose is "to plan and promote the im- 

 provement, development, and coordination of, and the 

 elimination of duplication in, statistical services car- 

 ried on by or subject to the supervision of the Fed- 

 eral Government, and so far as may be practicable, of 

 other statistical services in the United States" (49 Stat. 

 498). 



The Federal Employment Stabilization Act of 1931 

 declaring it to be "the policy of Congress to arrange 

 the construction of public works so far as practicable 

 in such manner as will assist in the stabilization of 

 industry and employment through the proper timing 

 of such construction" illustrates a declaration of policy 

 out of which a research program has grown by impli- 

 cation ; while the prefatory paragraph of the National 

 Bitmninous Coal Act of 1937 exemplifies the deliberate 

 justification of an enactment calling for extensive re- 

 search. The justification states that: 



Regulation of the sale and distribution in interstate com- 

 merce of bituminous coal is imperative for the protection of 

 such commerce ; there exist practices and methods of distribu- 

 tion and marketing of such coal that waste the coal resources 

 of the Nation and disorganize, burden, and obstruct inter- 

 state commerce in bituminous coal, with the result that regu- 

 lation of the prices thereof and of unfair methods of com- 

 petition therein is necessary to promote interstate commerce 

 in bituminous coal and to remove burdens and obstructions 

 therefrom (50 Stat. 72). 



Explicit Grant of Power 



In a number of instances the statutory authorization 

 to carry on research work is so broadly worded as to 

 give the administering agency a virtual carte blanche 

 in a specified field of activity- — an authority which is, 

 of course, subject to annual review by the Bureau of 

 the Budget and by Congress, and which is limited by 

 the appropriations made for work in the authorized 

 field. The more important of these broad grants of 

 power will be discussed below. 



PuMic Health Service. — Although it has developed 

 fi'om the much older Marine Hospital Service, the or- 

 ganic act of the present Public Health Service dates 

 only from 1912. The act is not lengthy, but authorizes 

 research in broad and inclusive terms : 



The Public Health Service may study and investigate the 

 diseases of man and conditions influencing the propagation 

 and spread thereof, including sanitation and sewage and the 

 pollution either directly or indirectly of the navigable streams 

 and lakes of the United States • • *. 



