NOTES 
Opportunities for Financing of Research in the Pacific 
Under the Fulbright Act 
Millions of dollars will become available in 
1948 that could be used for financing scientific re¬ 
search in Australia, New Zealand, the Dutch East 
Indies, French Oceania, and other Pacific and 
Asiatic countries under the terms of the Fulbright 
Act passed by the 79th Congress. These funds 
derive from income to the United States govern¬ 
ment through the disposal of surplus property to 
the nations involved. Grants to qualified applicants 
are to be made by a Board of Foreign Scholarships 
which, it is expected, will be in operation in 
Washington, D. C., by January, 1948. 
The legislation covering this program is found 
in Public Law 584, 79th Congress, approved 
August 1, 1946, which amends the Surplus Prop¬ 
erty Act of 1944 to designate the Department of 
State as the disposal agency for surplus property 
outside the continental United States, its terri¬ 
tories and possessions. Pertinent passages from 
this Act follow: 
"In carrying out the provisions of this section, 
the Secretary of State is hereby authorized to 
enter into an executive agreement or agreements 
with any foreign government for the use of cur¬ 
rencies, or credits for currencies, of such govern¬ 
ment acquired as a result of such surplus property 
disposals, for the purpose of providing, by the 
formation of foundations or otherwise, for (A) 
financing studies, research, instruction, and other 
educational activities of or for American citizens 
in schools and institutions of higher learning 
located in such foreign country, or of the citizens 
of such foreign country in American schools and 
institutions of higher learning located outside the 
continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska (in¬ 
cluding the Aleutian Islands), Puerto Rico, and 
the Virgin Islands, including payment for trans¬ 
portation, tuition, maintenance, and other expenses 
incident to scholastic activities; or (B) furnishing 
transportation for citizens of such foreign coun¬ 
try who desire to attend American schools and 
institutions of higher learning in the continental 
United States, Hawaii, Alaska (including the 
Aleutian Islands), Puerto Rico, and the Virgin 
Islands, and whose attendance will not deprive 
citizens of the United States of an opportunity to 
attend such schools and institutions: Provided, 
however, That no such agreement or agreements 
shall provide for the use of an aggregate amount 
of the currencies, or credits for currencies, of any 
one country in excess of $20,000,000 or for the 
expenditure of the currencies, or credits for cur¬ 
rencies, of any one foreign country in excess of 
$1,000,000 annually at the official rate of ex¬ 
change for such currencies, unless otherwise 
authorized by Congress, nor shall any such agree¬ 
ment relate to any subject other than the use and 
expenditure of such currencies or credits for cur¬ 
rencies for the purposes herein set forth: Provided 
further, That for the purpose of selecting students 
and educational institutions qualified to partici¬ 
pate in this program, and to supervise the ex¬ 
change program authorized herein, the President 
of the United States is hereby authorized to ap¬ 
point a Board of Foreign Scholarships, consisting 
of ten members, who shall serve without compen¬ 
sation, composed of representatives of cultural, 
educational, student and war veterans groups, and 
including representatives of the United States 
Office of Education, the United States Veterans’ 
Administration, State educational institutions, and 
privately endowed educational institutions: And 
Provided further, That in the selection of Ameri¬ 
can citizens for study in foreign countries under 
this paragraph preference shall be given to appli¬ 
cants who shall have served in the military or 
naval forces of the United States during World 
War I or World War II, and due consideration 
shall be given to applicants from all geographical 
areas of the United States.” 
Amounts available under the Act in Pacific coun¬ 
tries, according to a State Department release of 
July 17, are as follows, for a 20-year period: Aus¬ 
tralia, $5,000,000; France, $5,000,000; Netherlands 
Indies, $7,000,000; New Zealand, $2,300,000; 
Siam, $4,000,000; United Kingdom, $20,000,000; 
Burma, $3,000,000; Philippines, $2,000,000; and 
China, $20,000,000. 
Members of the Board, announced by the White 
House in July, are: General Omar Bradley, Vet¬ 
erans Administration; John W. Studebaker, U. S. 
Commissioner of Education; Francis Spaulding, 
New York Commissioner of Education; Helen C. 
White, University of Wisconsin; Lawrence Dug¬ 
gan, Institute of International Education; Ernest 
Lawrence, University of California; Sarah Bland- 
ing, Vassar College; Walter Johnson, University 
of Chicago; Charles Johnson, Fiske University; 
245 
