Maech 16, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



413 



view of the past construction of the 'general 

 welfare' clause of the Constitution, and in 

 view of the fact that the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution was established ' for the increase and 

 diffusion of knowledge among men,' your 

 sub-committee are unable to share these 

 doubts. 



At the same meeting of the Regents of 

 the Smithsonian Institution to which refer- 

 ence has been made, Mr. Alexander Graham 

 Bell introduced the following resolution, 

 which is to be the subject of consideration 

 at a later meeting : 



"In order to facilitate the utilization of 

 the government departments for the pur- 

 poses of research, in pursuance of the policy 

 enunciated by Congress, in a Joint Eesolu- 

 tion approved April 12, 1892 : 



Resolved, That Congress'be asked to provide for an 

 Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 

 charge ot Research in the Government Departments, 

 ■whose duty it shall be to ascertain and make known 

 ■what facilities for Research exist in the Government 

 Departments, and arrange with the heads of depart- 

 ments, and with the officers in charge of Government 

 Collections, rules and regulations under which suit- 

 ably qualified persons may have access to the Govern- 

 ment collections for the purposes of Research, with due 

 regard to the needs and requirements of the work ot 

 the Government ; and it shall also be his duty to 

 direct the researches of such persons into lines which 

 will promote the interests of the government, and the 

 development of the natural resources, agriculture, 

 manufactures, and commerce of the country, and 

 (generally) promote the progress of science and the 

 useful arts, and the increase and diffusion ot knowl- 

 edge among men." 



Should the Eegeuts decide to adopt this 

 resolution, and should the Congress act 

 favorably upon the request which it con- 

 tains, a Bureau of Research would be estab- 

 lished competent to do the work which this 

 committee have in mind. 



In this way all of the ends which this 

 committee has deemed desirable, would be 

 accomplished — save one. That one your 

 sub-committee believe to be of the highest 

 importance. It is the co-operation of the 



universities and colleges of the country in 

 carrying on such systematic research work 

 as is contemplated. That such co-operation 

 should be provided for, by the constitution 

 of an advisory board or in some other way, 

 your sub-commtttee deem essential, not 

 only in the interest of the work itself, but 

 also in that of the universities and colleges. 

 That they would be greatly benefited by 

 the new stimulus which would come from 

 united effort in assisting to conduct such 

 research work as is proposed, is certain. 



An alternative plan is worthy of careful 

 consideration. This is to make the Bureau 

 of Education, instead of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, the administrative center of the 

 Bureau of Research. To accomplish this 

 would involve, perhaps, the long-desired 

 erection of the Bureau of Education into a 

 separate department, on a plane with the 

 Department of Labor, and the provision of 

 an appropriate salary for the Commissioner 

 instead of the pittance of $3000 now al- 

 lowed. The executive head of the Bureau 

 of Research might then be an assistant Com- 

 missioner of Education at a salary of $4000 

 or $4500. .One marked advantage of this 

 plan is that the intellectual outlook of the 

 Bureau of Education is likely to be broader 

 than that of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 as the Bureau is in close touch and active 

 correspondence with all the educational in- 

 stitutions of the country, and not merely 

 with those whose main or sole interest is in 

 the field of the natural sciences. 



If it is decided that the initiative in this 

 undertaking shall lie with the Regents of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, then your sub- 

 committee are prepared to recommend the 

 following course of action : 



1. That the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 

 be requested to ask the Congress of the United States 

 for a special appropriation for the work ot research 

 and investigation, to be conducted under their super- 

 vision by persons properly qualified therefor. Such 

 work to be so conducted as to utilize the libraries, 

 scientific collections, apparatus and laboratories owned 



