SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
April 5, 1946. 
Dr. Alexander Wetmore, 
Jaque Auxiliary Air 1’ield, 
A.P.O. 325 A, 
Care Postmaster, 
New Orleans, Louisiana. 
Dear Dr. Wetmore: 
The Washington Herald the other day stated that "the House Appropriations 
Committee said it believed the Zoo was a Federal responsibility and asked the 
District Commissioners to prepare suitable legislation to adjust this situation.*’ 
The House Committee also recommended 1393,400 for the Fiscal Year 1947, an in¬ 
crease of $17,730. 
Yesterday the House passed a pay raise bill, giving a flat increase of 
$400 for every one, except that $10,000 could not be exceeded. An interesting 
item was the fact that the legislation carried the provision that the cost of 
these raises should be absorbed by the agencies. On the basis of such legislation, 
we would be absorbing around $160,000. I assume it now goes to conference with 
the Senate, which had already passed the Byrd Bill. 
This morning I went to the Senate Committee on Appropriations for a 
hearing on our deficiency of $13,000 for terminal leave and veterans differential. 
After waiting in the anteroom with a considerable number of other agency represen¬ 
tatives, we were told to come back Monday. 
You have a letter here from Kidder relating to a possible grant from 
the Bache Fund of the Academy to do work on Indians of Guatemala and on the human 
bones in the Carnegie laboratory. You will remember that Dale Stewart was going 
on this job and then had to go to Mexico instead. Kidder suggests that if we are 
still willing, you might ask for a grant for work in the future. Since the meet-H 
ing is on the 8th, we could not get word to you, but I am sending Stewart up to 
the Academy to find out what the picture is and explain our attitude. I assume 
that no one being an Academy member could ask for a grant, but it might be that 
the chairman of the committee would be willing to ask for the grant if he learned 
that we would be glad to go ahead with it. Both Setzler and Stewart think it 
would be a good idea, but they are uncertain that it could be done in one year. 
Kidder reports a pleasant sojourn in Guatemala since he is not digging and is 
thus able to get around the country. 
The $238,500 appropriation for added costs of public 106 has been approved 
The present picture on the Crossroads Project is for a special train 
to leave here on Jiune 8, on which Schmitt would depart, if he is still going on 
that project. He would then travel by boat going and returning and arrive here 
about September 15th. I find out also that the plan is to bill the cooperating 
agencies for the rail transportation to the lest Coast and back to Washington and 
all subsistence whether on ship or on train. I told both Dr. Griggs and Dr. 
Jewett that this was the most peculiar way of handling a cooperative project in 
