Relation of the Pederal Government to Research 



lot 



worked out on a grant-in-aid basis. The outstanding 

 example here is the relation between the Department 

 of Agriculture and the State experiment stations, 

 which receive Federal grants under the Hatch Act of 

 1887, the Adams Act of 1906, the Purnell Act of 1925, 

 and the Bankhead-Jones Act of 1935. The various 

 statutes providing the grant funds specify the pur- 

 poses for which they are to be used, and the Federal 

 department has a supervisory function in connection 

 with the work so done. 



The Social Security Act provides a grant-in-aid fund 

 to be administered by the Public Health Service, and 

 the Office of Education administers grants for voca- 

 tional education under which research by the recipient 

 may be implied. 



Advisory Committees 



Scientific agencies, if their work is to be of highest 

 value, must maintain some form of contact not only 

 with other agencies of Government operating in closely 

 related fields, but also with the whole scientific world 

 outside the governmental establishment. A common 

 device for maintaining such contacts is the advisory 

 committee, made up of governmental or nongovern- 

 mental representatives, or both, and serving as a gen- 

 eral liaison between the given bureau and the scientific 

 field with which it is concerned. 



Various committees of this sort have been established 

 through the National Academy of Sciences without 

 direct statutory authority, but a considerable number 

 have been set up by Congressional action. The out- 

 standing examples will be discussed in the following 

 pages. 



Naval Observatory. — The Board of Visitors of the 

 Naval Observatory is made up of four astronomers of 

 high professional standing and two eminent citizens 

 of the United States. Members are appointed by the 

 President with Senate confirmation for 3-year terms, 

 staggered so that two retire each year. Members serve 

 without compensation, but receive actual expenses in- 

 curred in performance of their duties. 



The Board of Visitors sliall malie an annual visitation to 

 the observatory at a date to be determined by the Secretary 

 of the Navy, and may malie such other visitations not ex- 

 ceeding two in number annually by the full board or by a 

 duly appointed committee as may be deemed needful or ex- 

 pedient by a majority of the board. The Board of Visitors 

 shall report to the Secretary of the Navy at least once each 

 year the result of its examinations of the Naval Observatory 

 as respects the condition of buildings, instruments, and appa- 

 ratus, and the efficiency with which its scientific work is 

 prosecuted, and shall also report as respects the expenditures 

 in the administration of the observatory. The Board of Visitors 

 shall prepare and submit to the Secretary of the Navy regula- 

 tions prescribing the scope of the astronomical and other 

 researches of the observatory and the duties of its staff with 

 reference thereto. When an appointment or detail is to be 



made to the office of astronomical director, director of the 

 Nautical Almanac, astronomer, or assistant astronomer, the 

 Board of Visitors may recommend to the Secretary of the 

 Navy a suitalile person to fill such office, but such recommenda- 

 tion .shall be determined only by a majority vote of the members 

 present at a regularly called meeting of the board held in the 

 city of Washington (U. S. C. 5:465). 



Bureau of Standards. — The Visiting Committee of 

 the National Bureau of Standards consists of five men 

 "prominent in the various interests involved, and not 

 in the employ of the Government" appointed for 5-year 

 staggered terms by the Secretary of Commerce. "This 

 committee shall visit the bureau at least once a year, 

 and report to the Secretary of Commerce upon the 

 efficiency of its scientific work and the condition of its 

 equipment." Here again members serve without pay 

 but receive actual expenses (U. S. C. 15: 278). 



Bureau of Fisheries. — The membership of the Ad- 

 visory Committee to the Bureau of Fisheries includes 

 "not to exceed two members from the Atlantic coast, 

 two members from the Pacific coast, and four members 

 from the inland waters, Great Lakes, and Alaskan sec- 

 tions of the United States," who shall likewise serve 

 without other compensation than actual expenses. 

 Members are designated from time to time by the 

 Secretary of Commerce, and are required to be men 

 "l^rominently identified with the various branches of 

 the fishery industry, qualified in aquatic research, and 

 experienced in fish culture." They are to visit the 

 Bureau on call by the Secretary of Commerce, to whom 

 they are to report on the condition and needs of the 

 service (U. S. C. 16:749). 



National Archives Council. — The National Archives 

 Council is composed of the Secretaries of each of the 

 executive departments or designated alternates, the 

 Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on the 

 Library, the Librarian of Congress, the Secretary of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, and the Archivist of the 

 United States. The council is responsible for deter- 

 mining what classes of material are to be deposited 

 in the Archives building, and has power to advise the 

 Archivist "in respect to regulations governing the dis- 

 position and use of the archives and records trans- 

 ferred to his custody" (U. S. C. 40: 236). 



Public Health Service. — The National Advisory 

 Health Council is an advisory board for the National 

 Institute of Health, its purpose being to consult with 

 the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service rel- 

 ative to investigations carried on by the Institute and 

 methods of conducting them, and to advise in health 

 matters generally. Ex-officio members of the council 

 are the director of the National Institute of Health, 

 one representative designated by the Surgeon General 

 of the Army, one by the Surgeon General of the Navy, 

 and one by the Secretary of Agriculture representing 



