January 20, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



63 



ecutive Committee of the Council of the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of 

 Science at the regular spring meeting of the 

 committee, April 24, 1921, and approved and 

 officially adopted by the Council at the Toronto 

 meeting, December 29, 1921. 



[The text of this resolution was published in 

 Science for May 27, 1921.] 



A Resolution Bearing on the V. S. Forest 

 Service and the U. S. National Forests. 



"Whebeas, The transfer of the IT. S. Forest 

 Service and National Forests from the Depart- 

 ment of Agrieultuie to the Department of the 

 Interior has been proposed in connection with the 

 reorganization of the U. S. government depart- 

 ments, and is embodied in certain bills before 

 Congress (S2740, and S2382, S2203); 



Whekeas, This proposed transfer ignores the 

 connection between forestry' and agriculture, and 

 the essential dependence of the Forest Service 

 upon the various activities of the Department of 

 Agriculture, such as the work on soils, and on the 

 control of plant diseases and insect pests, as well 

 as plant and animal investigations, and so forth; 

 Whereas, The scientific and administrative 

 functions of the Forest Service are so interde- 

 pendent that a splitting up of the Forest Service 

 would seriouslj' impair its efficiency; 



Whereas, A large proportion of the forest land 

 of the U. S. is on farms, and would require the 

 attention of the Department of Agriculture in 

 any case, and thus the proposed transfer would 

 give rise to a duplication in the government de- 

 partments such that the main purpose of the 

 transfer would be defeated; 



Whereas, The rapidly diminishing timber 

 resources of the country make strong leadership 

 in forestry, such as that provided by the Forest 

 Service, a matter of vital public concern; 



Whereas, The National Forests were placed 

 under the Department of Agriculture by Presi- 

 dent Eoosevelt to insure their development along 

 sound hnes, and have since been managed by the 

 Forest Service with an exceptionally high degree 

 of efficiency in the best interests of the local 

 communities and of the country as a whole ; and 

 Whereas, The proposed transfer would be a 

 distinct backward step in a matter affecting the 

 general welfare; 



Thereeore, Be It Resolved, That the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of Science 

 strongly disapproves and vigorously opposes any 

 action by which the Forest Service or the National 

 Forests of the United States or of Alaska, in 



whole or in part, would be removed from the 

 jurisdiction of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture. 



A Resolution liearing on the Introduction of 

 Non-native Plants and Animals into the National 

 Paries of the United States. 



Whereas, One of the primary duties of the 

 National Park Service is to pass on to future 

 generations for scientific study and education, 

 natural areas on which the native flora and 

 fauna may be found undisturbed by outside 

 agencies ; and 



Whereas, The planting of non-native trees, 

 shrubs or other plants, the stocking of waters 

 with non-native fish, or the liberating of game 

 animals not native to the region, impairs or 

 destroys the natural conditions and native wilder- 

 ness of the parks; 



Be It Resolved, That the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science strongly 

 opposes the introduction of non- native plants and 

 animals into the national parks and all other 

 unessential interference with natural conditions, 

 and urges the National Park Service to prohibit 

 all such introductions and interference. 



A Resolution bearing on Scientific Journals 

 published iy the Government of the United 

 States. 



Whereas, Scientific research and its appUoa- 

 tions to the public welfare are essential to the 

 nation, as is recognized by our government in its 

 support of scientific work; and 



Whereas, The publication of scientific work is 

 a necessary part of the work itself to make it of 

 use to agriculture, manufactures and the life of 

 the nation, as has long been recognized by the 

 government in the publication of scientific jour- 

 nals, bulletins and reports ; 



Therefore Be It Resolved, That the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 whose members include more than 10,000 of those 

 most actively concerned with scientific work, 

 urgently request that the Congress of the United 

 States take steps to assure the resumption of the 

 publication of journals devoted to research, such 

 as The Journal of Agricultural Research, The 

 Experiment Station Record and The Monthly 

 Weather Review. 



A Resolution on the Question of an Interna- 

 tional Auxiliary Language. 



Whereas, All the sciences are alike interested 

 in unifying the fundamental tools of thought, 

 and have been notably successful in so doing, 

 with respect to our system of numbers, the Arabic 



