194 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



normally falls within what I understand to be the charter and re- 

 sponsibility and goals of the Interior Department. 



It seems to me, further, that it is logical to put it there for the 

 following reason : The real question which you face in ocean resources 

 is whether it is cheaper in the long run to get a given resource from 

 the ocean, or is it cheaper in the long run to develop that resource 

 on land. We should not have any bias about this. 



In other words, we should not say, well, it is going to be cheaper 

 to get manganese ore from the land and exploit it and, therefore, 

 have all the interests and geological surveys, and so forth, but we 

 also ought to ask the question, maybe it would be cheaper in the long 

 run, and more to the country's advantage, to develop manganese re- 

 sources from the ocean. 



Now, offhand, there have been many studies of this question, many 

 of which say that it is cheaper to get it from the land, but I don't 

 know, in the future, what the answer to that question will be. We may 

 not have sufficient information. But we ought to have one agency 

 making the decision between the two alternatives, rather than having 

 two agencies both trying to sell their particular product, if you will, 

 to the public, and what engineering calls the trade-off decisions ought 

 to be made in a single place. I would suggest, as a personal view, that 

 the proper place is the agency that has responsibility for all the other 

 resources, the mineral resources, the geological survey, and so forth. 



In this instance, I don't speak for the administration. I am just 

 replying frankly to your question. 



Mr. Rogers. I understand. 



All right. Now, what is the other problem ? 



Dr. HoLLOMON. The other major interest in oceanography and the 

 problem that faces us is what I refer to as physical oceanography. 

 This is no more nor less than the adequate, appropriate, thorough 

 description of the ocean — where it is, its salinity, its ocean currents, 

 its depth, the character of the subbase and subsoil under the ocean — 

 not from a particular point of view, but objectively, in the same way 

 in which we describe the atmosphere in meteorology. 



We describe its wind stem ; we describe its temperature ; we describe 

 how much pollutant is in it; we describe the ocean and seek under- 

 standing. By this, I mean getting the science of it, so we understand 

 it. This it seems to me is a second logical major oceanographic issue. 



Mr. Roger. Now, who should do that ? 



Dr. HoLLOMON. In my view, and I may be parochial in this view 

 and can only give you my own personal feeling, the major program 

 in this area has been and is, outside of the military — I am now 

 referring to the civilian issue, not to the military — ^through the Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey which is now a part of the organization which 

 we call — ^because it is easier to say — ESSA. This organization has 

 the responsibility in the Department, and in the Federal Government 

 generally, for the description of the physical world in which we live. 



Mr. Rogers. All right. 



That is the Department of Commerce ? 



Dr. HoLLOMON. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Rogers. They have the decisions, under your suggestion, your 

 own personal views, for physical oceanography. 



Dr. HoLLOMON. Yes, sir. 



