APPENDIX 2 



CLASSIFICATION OF ACTIVITIES 



Explanatory Note 



The classifications of activities have for their purpose to 

 list and classify in all practicable detail the specific activities 

 engaged in by the several services of the national government. 

 Such statements are of value from a number of standpoints. 

 They furnish, in the first place, the most effective showing 

 that can be made in brief compass of the character of work 

 performed by the service to which they relate. Secondly, 

 they lay the basis for a system of accounting and reporting that 

 will permit the showing of total expenditures classified accord- 

 ing to activities. Finally, taken collectively, they make pos- 

 sible the preparation of a general or consolidated statement of 

 the activities of the government as a whole. Such a statement 

 will reveal in detail, not only what the government is doing, 

 but the services in which the work is being performed. For 

 example, one class of activities that would probably appear in 

 such a classification is that of "scientific research." A sub- 

 head under this class would be "chemical research." Under 

 this head would appear the specific lines of investigation under 

 way and the services in which they were being prosecuted. 

 It is hardly necessary to point out the value of such infor- 

 mation in planning for future work and in considering the 

 problem of the better distribution and coordination of the 

 work of the government. The Institute contemplates attempt- 

 ing such a general listing and classification of the activities of 

 the government upon the completion of the present series. 



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