242 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 998 



Alaska work was $212,000, and for all of 

 the rest of the activities of the bureau only 

 $79,800, to which there should be added an 

 allotment from the secretary's fund for 

 printing amounting to $50,000. 



I was early impressed with the fact that 

 it was easier to get appropriations for the 

 education of the natives of Alaska than for 

 the bureau's ordinary work of collecting 

 and diffusing information. At the first 

 session of Congress after I had entered the 

 bureau, through the active interest of Mr. 

 Tawney, then chairman of the House Com- 

 mittee on Appropriations, there was pro- 

 cured an addition of $100,000 to the an- 

 nual appropriation for the Alaska work. 

 On the other hand, even small additions to 

 the provision for collecting educational in- 

 formation, for the emplojTuent of com- 

 petent experts in different branches of edu- 

 •cation, and so on, were secured only with 

 the greatest difficulty. 



II 



it would seem, indeed, to be a fixed tra- 

 dition in both Houses of Congress that the 

 expansion of the education office shall be 

 only gradual and comparatively insigni- 

 ficant. It has been shown, on the other 

 hand, that at some time or other a rapid 

 and considerable expansion will have to 

 take place in order to bring up arrears, as 

 it were, and enable the office to "start 

 even" with its responsibilities. But that 

 time is not j^et in sight. 



When one secretary of the interior made 

 an active effqrt to secure increased appro- 

 priations, he was turned aside with the in- 

 timation that further legislation was neces- 

 sary as a basis for such appropriations; 

 and when this suggestion had been followed 

 up and existing statutes had been found 

 to cover the case completely, the session was 

 too far advanced to secure the desired ad- 

 ■ditions to the appropriation bill of that 



year. President Eoosevelt in his last an- 

 nual message recommended a substantial 

 increase, but without result. The National 

 Education Association passed its resolu- 

 tions, and made its personal representa- 

 tions through a strong committee, headed 

 by President John W. Cook, of Illinois. 

 Some three or four years ago a wide cam- 

 paign, in which the Russell Sage Founda- 

 tion bore an important part, was carried on 

 with the purpose of arousing public inter- 

 est and awakening in Congress a more seri- 

 ous attention to the needs of the bureau. 

 Mr. Herbert Parsons seconded this effort 

 with an able address on the floor of the 

 House. The result was that there was 

 granted about one tenth of what had been 

 sought. 



There are doubtless reasons for this com- 

 parative inaction on the part of the Con- 

 gress. I shall not undertake to canvass 

 them here. But a word may besaid concern- 

 ing one objection frequently heard, namely, 

 that education belongs to the states, and 

 lies outside of the proper sphere of the 

 federal government. It does not appear 

 that any such objection lies against the 

 main activity of the Bureau of Education, 

 which is not that of educational administra- 

 tion at all, but that of disseminating useful 

 information. The objection, moreover, can 

 hardly be taken seriously as against activ- 

 ities which have been maintained by Con- 

 gress for nearly fifty years. Each renewal 

 of its appropriations for such activities has 

 been a fresh assertion of the right to carry 

 them on, and each small increase of those 

 appropriations has laid new emphasis upon 

 that assertion. 



A comparison of the history of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture with that of the 

 Bureau of Education is instructive. Both 

 of these offices have to do with interests 

 which some would regard as falling within 

 the range of the state governments, rather 



