UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 
ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY 
NATIONAL AIR MUSEUM 
NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
mrshmytfrn 2SJJ.G 
USA. 
NATIONAL GALL FRY OF ART 
NATIONAL COLLECTION OF FINE ARTS 
FREER GALLERY OF ART 
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE SERVICE 
CANAL ZONE BIOLOGICAL AREA 
March 27, 1950. 
Dear Dr. Wetmore: 
On Wednesday last, the roof fell in on us. The Ombibus 
Appropriation Bill was reported to the full House Committee on 
Appropriations, beginning on Monday, and they adopted the report 
by Tuesday evening. We were unable to get any information from 
the papers broken down as far as the Smithsonian, so Jack and I 
went up to the Committee Room and were able to get some of the 
unnumbered committee reports. Every one of our requested in¬ 
creases was approved except the Clark Mountain Observatory and 
the $2,260, for Astrophysical Observatory ingrade promotions. We 
received our pay increase funds in full. But here is the payoff. 
Our reduction of $163,510 from the estimate is made up of $77,260 
A. P. O. new funds (Clark Mt. &c Ramspeck) and $52,750 from the 
A. P. O. and $33,500 from B. A. E. of old funds . In other words, as 
the Committee approved the bill, there would be available for the 
Bureau $40,535 as their total allotment as against the present payroll 
of about $72,000, and for the Astrophysical Observatory $52,750 total 
allotment as against the present salary roll of about $99,000. In the 
case of the Astrophysical Observatory, their residual appropriation 
was simply cut in half, For the Bureau of American Ethnology 
it was somewhat less than half. These cuts would, of course, emasculate 
both units. As to the Astrophysical Observatory, the Committee re¬ 
port shown on the attached memorandum to Mr. Fleming would, if we 
accepted their 50-60 year criterion, mean that it would all have to be 
taken from solar investigations; and this would leave only about $18,000 
in this allotment. Of course, between us, they thought that this was 
all one job since Radiation and Organisms had not been discussed and 
they thought they were leaving in half of the continuing appropriation. 
However, in the memorandum to Fleming, we simply followed what 
they said in the Committee report and assumed that thef ull cut must, 
on the 50 or 60 year basis, be taken from Solar Investigations. What 
we finally do, if action is necessary, is another matter. 
I just managed to catch Mr. Fleming before he left town, and 
he has dictated a letter to Mr. Cannon recommending that these funds 
be restored on the House flocr in a committee amendment. 
Regardless of Mr. Cannon’s industry in this direction, it is 
going to be a tough job since the cry for cutting of government spending 
