246 MATHEWS AND LITTLE GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY IN THE U. S. 





Expenditures 









1916 



1917 



1918 



1919 



U. S. Geological Survey 



$1,454,923 



$1,559,552 



$2,276,063 



$1,932,838 



New England (as published) 



9,765 



9,916 



31,884 



7,074 



Middle Atlantic " 



39,027 



12,705 



25,208 



42,020 



East North Central " 



145,161 



135,585 



130,998 



143,941 



West North Central " 



65,360 



• 33,107 



34,382 



45.084 



South Atlantic 



86,817 



86,948 



69,073 



85,871 



East So.uth Central " 



60,821 



50,585 



41,413 



58,668 



West South Central 



23,787 



22,902 



30,802 



25,215 



Mountain " 



18,267 



29,536 



26,881 



37,457 



Pacific 



89,222 



127,809 



193,681 



. 102,103 



For States omitted, estimatec 



I 100,000 



125,000 



125,000 



100,000 





$2,093,150 



$2,193,645 



$2,985,385 



$2,580,271 



The gross amount of expenditures in geology each year by Federal and 

 State governments exceeds $3,000,000. To this vast sum should be added 

 the expenditures of the petroleum and mining interests, which would 

 increase this amount many fold. 



Public support for geography is largely incidental to other work and 

 no figures are available. The amount, however, in this country, com- 

 pared with the expenditures in other countries, is very small. On the 

 other hand, local geographic societies, supplemented by individual bene- 

 factions, give some appreciable support to geography, although the gross 

 amount is incommensurate to the interest in the subject, which has been 

 growing rapidly during the last decade. With properly trained geogra- 

 phers, support of research in this subject will be easily secured as soon 

 as the economic value of research in geography is more fully recognized. 

 Even now the demand for trained geographers Avith sound judgment far 

 exceeds the supply, and there is no use in enlisting the help of vocational 

 schools, importing houses, and other powerful agencies until men can be 

 supplied to meet the aroused demand. The experience of local geogra- 

 phic societies in arousing interest, and hence financial support, for proj- 

 ects of large dimensions suggests no likelihood of failure in securing 

 support for geographic research when the projects are carefully developed 

 and the ground previously prepared. 



Lines of Investigation now in Progress 



The reports of current research taken from schedules returned to the 

 National Eesearch Council are the least satisfactory part of the resiilts. 

 A comparison of the returns with the facts, as generally known, shows 

 that they are not particularly significant, for some of the most active and 



