98 



National Resources Committee 



is to be used for the establishment and maintenance 

 of regional research laboratories "in the major agri- 

 cultural regions" (section 4). 



The Secretary is authorized under section 2 to en- 

 courage similar fundamental research at the State ex- 

 periment stations; and section 5 (a) provides that 60 

 percent of the total appropriation shall be allotted to 

 the States for this purpose. The money is distributed 

 in proportion to rural population rather than in the 

 equal allotments provided by the earlier experiment 

 station acts, and for the first time in this connection 

 it must be matched by the States. 



Forest Research Act. — The McSweeney-McNary Act 

 of May 22. 1928 (45 Stat. 699), served to codify the re- 

 search functions of the Department of Agriculture in 

 the field of forestry and is the basis of the present 

 widely A'aried research program of the Forest Service. 

 The grant of power is so broad that it amounts to a 

 blanket authorization to conduct any research bearing 

 on the field of forestry which the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture may deem desirable. In the language of sec- 

 tion 1, the Secretary is authorized to conduct — 



' * * such Investigations, experiments, and tests as he may 

 deem necessary under sections 2 to 10, inclusive, in order to 

 determine, demonstrate, and promulgate the best methods of 

 reforestation and of growing, managing, and utilizing timber, 

 forage, and other forest products, of maintaining favorable 

 conditions of waterflow and the prevention of erosion, of 

 protecting timber and other forest growth from lire, insects, 

 disease, or other harmful agencies, of obtaining the fullest and 

 most effective use of forest lands, and to determine and pro- 

 mulgate the economic considerations which should underlif 

 the establishment of sound policies for the management of 

 forest land and the utilization of forest products * * *. 



The following section of the act provides for the 

 maintenance of forest experiment stations in specified 

 regions covering the entire United States, and the re- 

 maining sections enumerate in minute detail the fields 

 of investigation broadly described in section 1. 



Department of Labor. — The Children's Bui'eau of 

 the Department of Labor is empowered to investigate 

 "all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and 

 child life among all classes of our people" (U. S. C. 

 42:192) ; and the Women's Bureau has authority "to 

 investigate and report to the Department of Labor 

 upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of women 

 in industry" (U. S. C. 29: 13). The Bureau of Labor 

 Statistics, under the direction of the Secretary of 

 Labor — 



* * * shall collect, collate, and report at least once each 

 year, or oftener if necessary, full and complete statistics of 

 the conditions of labor and the products and distribution of 

 the products of the same, and to this end said Secretary shall 

 have power to employ any * * • of the bureaus provided 

 for his department and to rearrange such statistical work and 

 to distribute or consolidate the same as may be deCmed de- 

 siral)!e in the public interest * * * (37 Stat. 7;^G). 



Bureau of Mines. — The Bureau of Mines grew out of 

 the Geological Survey, and received some of its statu- 

 tory duties while still a division of the older agency. 

 With respect to research the Bureau has authority, 

 subject to approval of the Secretary of the Interior, 



* * • to conduct inquiries and scientific and technologic in- 

 vestigations concerning mining, and the preparation, treatment, 

 and utilization of mineral substances with a view to improv- 

 ing health conditions, and increasing safety, efficiency, eco- 

 nomic development, and conserving resources through the pre 

 vention of waste in the mining, quarrying, metallurgical, and 

 other mineral industries ; to inquire into the economic condi- 

 tions affecting these industries ; to investigate explosives and 

 peat ; and on behalf of the Government to investigate the min- 

 eral fuels and unfinished mineral products belonging to, or for 

 use of, the United States * * * (U. S. C. 30: 3). 



Independent Agencies. — Among independent agen- 

 cies perhaps the broadest research authority is that 

 conferred upon the National Advisory Committee for 

 Aeronautics, which is empowered "to supervise and 

 direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, 

 with a view to their practical solution, and to deter- 

 mine the problems which should be experimentally at- 

 tacked, and to discuss their solution and their applica- 

 tion to practical questions * * *" (U. S. C. 

 50:151). 



Other broad grants of power to independent agencies 

 are those to the Social Security Board and to the Re- 

 lief Administrator. The Social Security Board is au- 

 thorized to study "the most effective methods of pro- 

 viding economic security through social insurance, 

 and * * * matters of administrative policy con- 

 cerning old-age pensions, unemployment compensation, 

 accident compensation, and related subjects" (49 Stat. 

 620) ; and the Relief Administrator, under the Relief 

 Act of 1935, "may conduct any investigation pertinent 

 or material to the furtherance of the purposes of tliis 

 Act * * * ^j^^ such further investigations and 

 studies as the President may deem necessary in dealing 

 with problems of unemplo3'ment relief" (48 Stat. 

 55, 56). 



Independent Regulatory Commissions. — The inde- 

 pendent regulatory commissions, as the generic name 

 implies, have as their primary function regulation 

 rather than research. In every case, however, research 

 was originally or has become an essential activity, and 

 the authority to conduct research has in many cases 

 been included in the organic acts setting up these com- 

 missions, or in amendments to them. 



In pursuance of its regulatory function the Inter- 

 state Commerce Commission is given authority to 

 "inquire into the management of the business of all 

 conunon carriers" subject to the provisions of the In- 

 terstate Commerce Act of 1887 (24 Stat. 379) and its 

 amendments, and is directed to "keep itself informed 



