4 
/-/I'X/ 
UNITED 
ADDRESS REPLY TO 
CHIEF, BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY, 
AND REFER TO 
STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BUREAU OF BiOLOGiGAL. SURVEY 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
0-P 
November 22/ 1920 1 
Dr. 
Alexander Wetmore, 
Oare U. S. Consul General, 
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 
Dear Doctor Wetmore: 
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Dr. Chapman has recently asked me for my permission to write 
you offering you a position in the American Museum of Natural History 
as ornithologist with the Asiatic expedition which the Museum is con¬ 
ducting under the leadership of Roy Andrews. As I have no desire to 
interfere with scientific men bettering their positions, I have told 
Dr. ohapraan that he was at liberty to place before you his proposition. 
Upon receipt of this you will be able to compare the opportunities 
which you would have in the two services and thus be free to make your 
decision. 
In this connection, however, I wish to say that of course should 
you decide to accept Dr. Chapman's offer you would be bound before you 
left the service of the Biological Survey to prepare a report, with 
your conclusions and recommendations, in regard to the North American 
migrant birds which you have gone to South America to observe. This 
I think you will appreciate is a duty which you would owe to the Bio¬ 
logical Survey, since to fail to do this would leave us practically 
without returns from the considerable expenditure of money. This 
would be a source of embarrassment to the Bureau. 
In order that you may have the facts before you for consider¬ 
ation, I wish to say here that the matter of salaries for scientific 
investigators in the Government service is now working into a better 
shape than ever before and I believe that in the near future scientific 
investigators in the Government service are likely to receive satis¬ 
factory pay. So far as the Biological Survey is concerned I think 
that I have shown my desire to bring up the salaries of the scientific 
men as rapidly as possible. I plan to continue this policy, and may 
say that your work has been of excellent quality and you can look for¬ 
ward with confidence to good opportunities, both from the point of 
view of increased salary and opportunities for work, should you remain 
with the Bureau. Whether, our salaries in the immediate future would 
equal what t^e American Museum might pay you I have no means of know¬ 
ing. I may add that I have appreciated the quality of your work and 
have taken pleasure in affording you opportunities. Should you re¬ 
main with us this attitude will continue. 
■M 
