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INDEPENDENT OFFICES APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 193 5 209

Project 5. Grants:

For purchase, shipping, and distribution of garden seed, planting

of coffee seed beds, care and distribution of seedlings $7, 100. 00

With the expending of this amount the Commission expects to

close its operations in connection with the distribution of seeds. 'General:

The total amount that might properly be charged to repayments

of loans for 1935 is estimated at 20, 160. 00

To include the fiscal year 1933 it is estimated that Commission

expenses directly chargeable to repayments of loans are 8, 750. 00

Note. —The elimination of the 10 percent on salaries for the fiscal year 1935 does not affect the amounts charged against Commission appropriations. The amount that would revert to the Treasury would be $2,084 for 1935 and $2,867.50 for 1934.

Thursday, December 7, 1933. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

STATEMENTS OF DR. C. G. ABBOT, SECRETARY; DR. ALEXANDER WETMORE, ASSISTANT SECRETARY; AND H. W. DORSEY, CHIEF CLERK

EFFECT OF REDUCTION IN PRINTING APPROPRIATION

Mr. BoYLAN. We will take up the items for the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Abbot, do you desire to make a preliminary statement?

Dr. Abbot. Mr. Chairman, as you know, owing to the resolution of the Senate 2 years ago we were cut off 10 percent, and this last summer in the necessity for economy we were cut off 24 percent more. We thereby have lost the ability to print monographs and papers based on results of investigations in the National Museum and the other Government branches of the Institution, or to undertake expeditions in the field in search of collections or new knowledge.

What has depressed us, more than anything else, perhaps, is the loss of the appendix to the Smithsonian annual report, which has been going, as you know, for over 75 years, giving to the people a knowledge of the most important things which are done in science, and which is very much desired and required. We have continual requests on the part of Members of Congress for their constituents and from libraries, schools, teachers, and others for this volume.

The edition is always entirely exhausted in a year or two. I do not think there is any volume published by the Government that is more desired and appreciated by the public than this. So we are exceedingly sorry that the practical abolition of our printing appropriation has cut it off.

However, we acquiesce, of course, in regard to necessary economies to be practiced, and have done our very best to make the required cuts with the least disadvantage to the work. We have, for the next fiscal year, been informed by the Bureau of the Budget that practically the same appropriations as are now prevailing would continue, and we shall go on with this limited amount of money to the best of our ability to carry on the work of the Institution with as little loss as possible.

With that statement, sir, I would be content and would ask you to go on with any questions as to details which may occur to you.

DISTRIBUTION OF ESTIMATES FOR 1935

Mr. BoYLAN. Have you a o;eneral statement you can make in reference to 3^oiir items in the bill?

Dr. Abbot. Yes; we submit the following statement:

SALARIES AXD EXPENSES

Expended, 1933 $34, .874

Appropriated for 1934 (regular act) 32, 500

Estimated for 1935 34, 338

Increase, 1935 1, 838

Tliis appropriation provides for the salaries of emploj^ees concerned with the central administration of the several Government bureaus administered by the Smithsonian Institution and includes a small sum for miscellaneous expenses in connection with this work.

The increase for 1935 is explained as follows:

Increase, salary roll $1, 838

Total increase 1, 838

The foregoing increase in appropriations is explained as follows:

$1,838 increase, elimination of salary reduction. An increase of $1,838 in this appropriation is the estimated pay-roll charge resulting from the 5 percent restoration of salaries.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES

Expended, 1933 $44, 576

Appropriated for 1934 38. 500

Estimated for 1935 39, 692

Increase, 1935 1, 192

This appropriation provides for carrying on the exchange of governmental, scientific, and literary publications between the United States and foreign countries in accordance with the Convention of Brvissels of March 15, 1886, to which the United States was a signatory and under which the Smithsonian Institution acts as the agent for the United States Government. Publications received from foreign countries in exchange for United States Government publications are deposited in the Library of Congress.

The increase for 1935 is explained as follows:

Decrease, miscellaneous expenditures $130

Increase, personal services 1, 322

Total increase 1, 192

The foregoing changes in appropriation are explained as follows:

$130 decrease, miscellaneous expenditures. A decrease of $130 in this appropriation is allocated to exjjenditures other than salaries and is made up by reducing the item for equipment. $1,192 increase, elimination of salary reduction. An increase of $1,192 in this appropriation is the estimated pay-roll change resulting from the 5 percent restoration of salaries.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

Expended, 1933 $60, 217

Appropriated for 1934 50, 000

Estimated for 1935 52, 910

Increase, 1935 2, 910

The work under this appropriation is concerned with investigations of the languages, customs, and history of the American Indian and the natives of Hawaii. It also provides for the study of archeology as related to these races

and for the preservation of archeological remains. The urgency of this work is indicated by the impending disappearance of the few survivors of a considerable number of tribes. With their disappearance there will be lost forever all opportunity for acquiring further knowledge of the languages and cultures of these native Americans. In addition, the destruction of ancient village sites is proceeding rapidly and thus obliterating unread pages of American prehistory. The increase for 1935 is explained as follows:

Increase, personal services $2, 910

Total increase 2, 910

The foregoing increase in this appropriation is explained as follows:

$2,910 increase, elimination of salary reduction.

An increase of $2,910 in this appropriation is the estimated pay-roll charge resulting from the 5 percent restoration of salaries.

ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY

Expended, 1933 $29, 014

Appropriated for 1934 26, 500

Estimated for 1935 27, 988

Increase for 1935 1, 488

The work under this appropriation is concerned with the investigations of solar radiation on which all life and weather depends. The accurate measurements of solar radiation, supported by a careful analysis of such measures, has given indications of a definite relationship between solar radiation and the weather. Already a highly successful "prediction" 12 years in advance has been made for one station in the United States. It is probable that continued study of this subject will lead to general methods applicable in many places for forecasting of major weather changes.

The increase in appropriation for 1935 is explained as follows:

Increase, personal services $1, 488

Total increase 1, 488

The foregoing increase in appropriation is explained as follows:

$1,488 increase, elimiination of salary reduction.

An increase of $1,488 is the estimated pay-roll charge resulting from the 5 percent restoration of salaries.

MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION (NATIONAL MUSEUM)

Expended, 1933 $135, 374

Appropriated for 1934 128, 500

Estimated for 1935 132, 622

Increase for 1935 4, 122

This appropriation deals with the maintenance and operation of the Museum buildings under the administration of the Smithsonian Institution and provides for the purchase of coal and electricity, necessary for heating and lighting the buildings, for telegraphic and telephonic services, for repairs and alterations of buildings in the Museum group, comprising the Natural History Building, Arts and Industries Building, Aircraft Building, South Shed, and such portion of the privately owned Smithsonian Building as is assigned rent-free to Museum use. It also provides for such items as exhibition and storage cases and other appliances and containers for exhibiting, storing, and safeguarding the national collections which now number more than 14,000,000 specimens and are valued in excess of $130,000,000.

The increase in appropriation for 1935 is explained as follows:

Increase, personal services $4, 122

Total increase 4, 122

212 INDEPENDENT OFFICES APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 19 3 5

The foregoing increase in appropriation is explained as follows:

$4,122 increase, elimination of salary reduction. An increase of $4,122 in this appropriation is the estimated pay-roll charge resulting from the 5-percent restoration of salaries.

PRESERVATION OF COLLECTIONS (NATION.\L MUSEU.M)

Expended, 1933 $543, 463

Appropriated for 1934 509, 000

Estimated for 1935 537, 839

Increase for 1935 28, 839

The funds under this appropriation provide for all expenses of the National Museum not carried specifically in other appropriations. It includes the principal funds for the maintenance of the national collections relating to Arts and Industries, Anthropology, Biology, Geology, and American History. The appropriation covers the salary roll for the curatorial staff, as well as the guard, labor, and char forces. Under it, is carried on the work of ide;itifying, classifying, exhibiting, and storing the national collections, the preparation of reports, presenting the residts of the study of these collections, expenses in connection with any additions to the collections, and the greater part of the cost of the maintenance of the extensive public exhibits of the Museum, which are hou.sed in three buildings and a portion of a fourth. It provides also for books for the Museum Library and for foreign postage use:! in the transaction of Museum business.

The increa.se in appropriation for 1935 is explained as follows:

Increase, persona! services $28, 839

Total increase 28, 839

The foregoing increase in the appropriation is explained as follows:

$28,839 increase, elimination of .salary reduction. An increa.se of $28,839 in this appropriation is the estimated pay-roll charge resulting from the 5-percent restoration of salaries.

NATIONAL G.\LLERY OF ART

Expended, 1933 $34,826

Appropriated for 1934 29, 500

Estimate for 1935 31, 135

Increase for 1935 1, 635

This appropriation provides for the work of the National Gallery of Art which is responsible for the custody, preservation, and exhibition of those portions of the National collections relating to the fine arts, including principally paintings and sculpture. An additional responsibility assumed within the year is the care and exhibition of the Gellatly art collection, the appropriation for the care of the latter having been eliminated.

The increase in appropriation for 1935 is explained as follows:

Increase, personal services $1, 635

Total increase 1, 635

The foregoing increase in appropriation is explained as follows:

$1,635 increase, elimination of salary reduction.

An increase of $1,635 in this appropriation is the estimated pay-roll charge resulting from the 5 percent restoration of salaries.

PRINTING AND BINDING

Expended, 1933 $60, 000

Appropriated for 1934 5, 500

Estimated for 1935 7, 500

Increase for 1935 2, 000'

This appropriation provides for the printing of the Smithsonian annual report and for all necessary printing of publications and of miscellaneous cards, forms, and labels for all the Government branches under the administration of the Institution. It also provides for the binding of periodicals and books for the library.

The increase for 1935 is explained as follows:

$2,000 increase, printing of labels, cards, and forms.

The increase of $2,000 is allotted for printing of labels and other forms for the exhibits and study collections. Such printing is not only required in explaining the exhibits to the public but is necessary in the arrangement and classification of the study collections which are used by the scientists of the Nation as a reference in those wide fields covering the accomplishments and interests of man.

ADDITIONAL AMOUNT REQUIRED TO PRINT REPORTS AND APPENDIXES

Mr. BoYLAN. How much would you need to get out these additional reports you refer to?

Dr. Abbot. There are reports for 2 years with their appendixes of papers setting forth the annual advances in science, that for the present year (1933) and for the year following (1934) which will be cut out by the decrease in our printing appropriation.

If we could receive $10,000 we could publish the reports in this next fiscal year for the 2 years, which, under the present curtailment of our printing appropriation would be cut out.

Mr. WooDRUM. You mean $10,000 in addition to what is provided here?

Dr. Abbot. That would be in addition to this amount.

Mr. WooDRUM. You mean $17,500 instead of $7,500?

Dr. Abbot. Yes, sir.

Mr. BoYLAN. Did you make this request of the Bureau of the Budget tliis year?

Dr. Abbot. I did, sir; I pointed out to them that we could publish one volume for one fifty-thousandth part of 1 percent of the Budget of the United States, and it appeared to me to be worth while to promote the culture of the country to that extent.

Mr. WooDRUM. I notice for your printing item for 1932 and 1933, in each of those years, your estimate was $100,000; the appropriation for 1932 was $104,000, and for 1933 $62,422.

Dr. Abbot. Yes.

Mr. WooDRUM. That was when you were printing your annual report and including a good deal of scientific data in it.

Dr. Abbot. However, of the amount that you indicate the expenditure for the annual report was about $10,000 for former years. We used to bind the annual report in substantial cloth covers, but the last report we printed was bound in paper covers, and should we be able to undertake it in the future we will continue that saving, and also reduce the dimensions of it somewhat.

Mr. WooDRUM. If you should get the $10,000 you would combine the report for the 2 years?

Dr. Abbot. We would print 2 reports, 2 volumes, so that the continuity of this series of volumes showing the annual progress of science, wluch has been running for over 75 years, would not be broken.

The appropriation of $100,000 included $12,000 for the American Historical Association, and for printing original papers for the National Museum and for the Bureau of American Ethnology.

214 INDEPENDENT OFFICES APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 19 3 5

Dr. Wetmore. In the $100,000 mentioned as previously available for printing there was included the scientific publications of the Bureau of Ethnology and the National Museum. Those have all been discontinued at the present time. The amount for the two was $78,300.

Dr. Abbot. It is, of course, discouraging to our scientific men not to be able to print the results of their researches; people all over the world are looking to the results of the progress of science, and to have these publications cut off is an extremely great pity. We hope, however, that that condition will not prevail very long. We have a column of books in the west hall of the Smithsonian Institution main building which is 23 feet high and 4 books deep, wliicli represents the publications of the Institution from its beginning up until 1927. The column bears a label which indicates that, there is scarcely a work of reference in the whole world which does not contain matter from original researches wliich have been published by the Smithsonian Institution. At the present time that source of information is being entirely cut off, except so much as can be supplied by small allotments from our private funds.

Mr. WiGGLESWORTH. Asidc from the one item of printing and binding, the appropriation asked for is identical with that now in effect, is it not?

Dr. Abbot. It is almost identical.

Dr. Wetmore. With only one change. Under printing and binding there is an additional $2,000. Last spring we were called on suddenly to reduce our estimates under that heading. In making the necessary reduction we overlooked the fact that the salary of a printer engaged in printing labels, forms, and similar things reciuired in our operations in a little branch printing shop in the National Museum was included in this appropriation. The Bureau of the Budget has restored the necessary amount in the estimates for next year.

INCOME from private FUNDS

Mr. BoYLAN. How much are you spending outside of the direct appropriation that you are getting from the Government?

Dr. Abbot. You are referring to the private funds of the Institution?

Mr. BouLAN. Yes.

Dr. Abbot. Our regular income imder the private fimds is approximately $70,000. It has been somewhat reduced reccntl}^ because of the diminished returns on investments.

We frequently have friends of the Institution who wish some particular project to be undertaken. For example, several years ago Mr. Walter Chrysler gave the Institition $50,000 to undertake an expedition to obtain animals for the National Zoological Park. Then Dr. W. L. Abbott, of Northeast, Md., has for many years promoted expeditions to collect birds and specimens of animals and the like, at considerable cost to him. So, for these special projects and many others, which are particularly wished by the donors, we, in some years, get as much as $50,000, and sometimes even $100,000 from these private sources for particular projects. But the average from these private sources for particular projects is perhaps $50,000 or $60,000 a year. Of course, at the present time people do not feel that they can

be as free with their money, so the amount of the funds for those private projects is reduced. The reg:ular income from private funds as I have stated under normal conditions is about $70,000. That, however, is also in part restricted to special objects.

Mr. BoYLAN. Take, for instance, the current year. About what percentage of the total expenditure will be paid hj the" Government?

Dr. Abbot. For the entire operations under the Smithsonian Institution during this current year about nine-tenths is furnished by the Government.

The appropriations from the Government run to about $800,000, and from other sources the funds probably amount to $100,000.

The appropriations made by the National Governm.ent are all devoted to the branches of the Institution, including the National Museum, the National Zoological Park, the Bureau of American Ethnology, and others, which are supported entirely by the Government. The private funds are used to promote special researches of various kinds.

RECENT DONATIONS TO INSTITUTION'S COLLECTIONS

Air. BoYLAN. Have you had any outstanding items added to the collections within the past year?

Dr. Abbot. Within a few days we had a very remarkable gift from Mr. Mikimoto, of Japan. He donated a replica of the Washington mansion at Mount Vernon, constructed in pearls, and mother of pearl, valued at half a milhon dollars, which is on exhibition at the museum at the present time.

Then the Gellatly Collection was moved down to Washington on April 30; but that was presented several years ago.

Mr. BoYLAN. You removed that from New York?

Dr. Abbot. Yes.

Mr. BoYLAN. The whole of that collection?

Dr. Abbot. The entire collection was moved on the same day that the lease expired in New York. There were certain legal complications concerned that made it desirable to have the collection removed promptly to the District.

Mr. BoYLAN. New York will suffer because of the removal of that collection, will it not?

Dr. Abbot. It was a pity for New York to have to lose that collection, but the whole of the country, including New York, is now able to see it, where before it was only seen by card admission from the Secretary of the Smithsonian.

temporary employees assigned to institution by civil works

administration

Mr. Hastings. You received no additional funds from the Government other than those indicated? Did you receive anything from any of the emergency funds of the Government?

Dr. Abbot. I would like to refer that question to Dr. Wetmore, who has a close understanding of what has been done.

Dr. Wetmore. Under the Civil Works Administration through cooperation with the District committee engaged in allotting personnel and providing necessary work for the needy, we are putting

on people at the present time for emergency labor in connection with arrearages of work that have accumulated for many years in the Institution. At the present time we have approximately 130 people so engaged.

Mr. Hastings. Additional people?

Dr. Wetmore. Additional people. They have come to us only in the last few days, and it is contemplated that their services will continue until the 15th of February 1934.

We have nothing to do with the pay of these people, money for this being provided by the Civil Works Administration; they are simply assigned to us with the request that they be occupied in productive work, work wliich, when it is finally concluded, will show definite result.

We make a distinction between construction work of that type and janitorial or cleaning work, which is temporary, and which, when completed, will have to be done again in a few days or months.

The group who have been assigned to us are all well-educated people who are very much up against it at the present in the matter of gaining a livelihood.

We have them occupied in cataloging specimens, placing permanent numbers on specimens, in mounting plants, in translating from strange and unusual languages materials needed by the experts on our staff in renovating some of the older collections, and in similar tasks.

This work entirely apart from that performed regularly by our permanent personnel, and does not supplant the work of the regular staff in any way. It is concerned, as I said, with arrearages and accumulations from past years.

Specimens of all kinds have come to the National Museum in great abundance, and as received have been cared for by the curators in such a manner that they have been safeguarded, but in many instances more permanent labeling and numbering is needed. But we have had to put them aside until the opportunity came to do that. They have been perfectly secure in the meanwhile, but not as usable as they will be when this temporary personnel has finished with them.

In addition to the clerical force we have engaged, there have been assigned to us some painters, some carpenters, and some electricians for doing work wliich we have not been able to do with our regular force, and that is of great advantage to us.

In the older buildings there is considerable wiring that is in wooden conduits. Two years ago there was a survey made by the Federal Fire Council, which made a considerable point of the necessity for replacing that wooden installation with a more secure metal form known as the D.X. cable as soon as possible.

With these additional mechanics we are going ahead with these matters.

As I say, this special arrangement for Civil Works employees has just come up within the past week, and we are now getting organized under it. We are working under a very definite plan.

The same type of thing has been done during the past 2 years under emergency funds in New York City and Philadelphia, in the museums and scientific institutions there. We have been in touch with what has been accomplished there, and so are able to go ahead at once with a definite organization when the same opportunity

USTDEPENDElSrT OFFICES APPEOPEIATIOISr BILL FOR 193 5 217

came here. We look on the project as a matter of cooperation at the present time in providing aid for the unemployed.

Mr. BoYLAN. Is there anything else you desire to present to the Committee, Dr. Abbot?

FORECASTING OF WEATHER STUDIES

Dr. Abbot. Dr. Wetmore has a number of exliibits here, I have small exhibits from the observatory, and so forth.

You will recall, perhaps, that Secretary Langley, when he first requested funds from the Congress for the astrophysical observatory, held out the hope that the study of the sun might lead to improvements in the methods of forecasting the weather.

Within the last 2 or 3 months I think the matter has reached a very favorable culmination. Here is a forecast of the temperature and rainfall at Bismarck, N. Dak., for a period of 12 years, basing the forecast entirely on what had occurred from 1875 to 1920. Based on that I forecast the temperature and rainfall for the ensuing 12 years. The two top graphs show the forecast and verification of the temperature, and the two lower graphs show the forecast and the verification'of the precipitation. It looks like a very promising lead in that direction, and seems to indicate that we are almost on the verge of doing what Secretary Langley held out as his object when he made the original request for the appropriation from Congress.

Mr. BoYLAN. Do you think you can forecast 12 years ahead of time ?

Dr. Abbot. I have laid before you as an example the results of my first trial. I propose to test this method by the use of the data over a good many parts of the world and for a good many years. If the results satisfy me that there will be a high percentage of accuracy, I will be in a position to forecast in the future for several years in advance.

Mr. BoYLAN. That will be of incalculable value to the agricultural interests of the country, will it not?

Dr. Abbot. Yes, and to many other interests, as for instance the clothing industry, the amusement industry, the railroad industry, and other industries; all of them will be interested in one feature or another of it, if it is successful, and although I do not claim now that it will be so, it is very promising, and I hope by the time we come before you next year I shall have made such predictions for several years in advance for all parts of the world.

Mr. BoYLAN. I hope so, because if you can do that your name will then go down in history as one of the benefactors of the human race.

DONATED SPECIMENS RECENTLY ADDED TO COLLECTIONS

Dr. Abbot. I think Dr. Wetmore has several things here that he would like to show you.

Dr. Wetmore. As to recent additions to our collections, in the past fiscal year the National Museum received 348,000 specimens. Annually we are ofi'ered many, many things as gifts, so many, in fact, that it is necessary to pick and choose among them, and on the average, we refuse as many specimens as we actually accept.

218 INDEPENDENT OFFICES APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 193 5

I have brought with me a small display of a few of the interesting things that we have recently received.

From the Schoonmaker Estate we received various artistic objects from China and other parts of the world. For instance, I show you here a cardcase carved from ivory, which is beautifully decorated, one of many that came in this important bequest.

Here, again, is a specimen showing the cutting of quartz in ornamental form for use in jewelry. Here is a quartz crystal ground into 5-sided form [indicating-, and subsequently cut into star shape before it finally is polished into the finished style shown here [indicating]. It is something new in jewelry that has been developed in the last year or two; and the manufacturer has given us these specimens to show how the work is accomplished.

As an outcome of the recent visit here of Mr. Litvinoff, one of his aides gave us this interesting wooden spoon which is used by Russian peasants [indicating].

A number of years ago an American stationed in West Africa, Capt. C. C. Roberts, came to my office and said he had been through our ethnological exhibits and found them extremely interesting. "But," he said, "why is it you have nothing from western Africa?" I told him we had had no opportunity to get material from there. He said he was stationed there and would be glad to do what he could. We talked for an hour, and he went away.

About a year later I received three cases containing a wealth of things he secured from the Negroes there. Every year since that we have had a similar present.

In a shipment received a few weeks ago there w^ere several hundred objects of interest, from which I brought a few.

This is an emblem (indicating) which is set up in the street in front of a house when ceremonies, restricted to men alone, which women cannot see are to be held, \\lien this is put in view, the women are forced to keep in retirement.

In comparison with the spoon from Russia, it may be of interest to examine this one (indicating) from west Africa, larger in size, and rather handsomely decorated on tne stem. This piece really shows a delicacy of sculpture which is quite marvelous.

In that part of the world, the toothbrush is made of wood. I am told that girls sell these on the streets in bundles (indicating). When this wood is chewed it produces a froth or foam, wdiich is rubbed vigorously on the teeth, to clean them. When one stick is worn out another one is used.

The medicine men over there are rather ingenious. They have this type of bow and arrow which is used in Juju or magic to destroy enemies.

When they want to make death a little more certain I am told they take some of the arrows, poison the tips, and imbed them in the ground so they stick up a short distance, so that when the person whom it is desired to destroy scratches his foot on them the end is near. This is another weapon of a similar type (indicating), which is supposed to destroy any enemy the person holding it mav have in mind. It is not used, so it is said, in actual killing, but simply in wishing, in magic.

The Secretary has mentioned a replica of Mount Vernon done in mother-of-pearl and decorated with pearls that was presented to us recently through the Japanese Ambassador. This object shown here in the photograph [indicating] comes from Mr. Mikimoto, a Japanese who has been engaged in the culture of pearls for a good many years and who has developed a method of producing pearls in the pearl oyster itself. The replica is about 2 feet long and about half as wide, and is a lovely thing. It took 15 months to manufacture it, and it is done in detail, so it is absolutely correct.

Mr. BoYLAN. In detail?

Dr. Wetmore. Yes. The substance is mother-of-pearl and the decorations are pearl. Even the flag was done in pearls.

The pearl oyster, under Mr. Mikimoto's process, is grown to an age of 4 years. Then a seed pearl is planted in it, allowed to develop about 6 years, and produces the pearl shown here.

I have brought along a few pearls used to decorate the plaza in the replica. There are about 200 in this box from the 6,500 loose pearls used to decorate the plaza in front of the house. The total value is estimated at about half a million dollars.

REQUESTS FOR LOAN OF OBJECTS FOR EXHIBITION PURPOSES

Dr. Abbot. We are sometimes asked to send objects of particular interest to exhibitions in different parts of the country. For instance, at the World's Fair in Chicago we were asked to send Lindbergh's plane; but we felt that if anything should happen to it, it would be entirely unreplaceable, and Lindbergh himself objected to it being sent, so it was not sent. In cases of that kind we do not feel like sending irreplaceable objects out to different parts of the country.

Mr. BoYLAN. Do you carry any insurance on any of the exhibits?

Dr. Abbot. No; the Government does not carry any insurance.

Dr. Wetmore. The theory is that the operations of the Government are so vast that it carries its own insurance. We do not insure specimens in our collections, nor do we place insurance of excess value on things transported. As a matter of fact, in connection with most of these things the insurance money would mean nothing, because if anything happened to them the articles would be lost without hope of obtaining a replica.

Mr. BoYLAN. Has the Institution ever carried any insurance on any of its exhibits?

Dr. Wetmore. Not to my knowledge.

The objects I have shown are just a very few of the 348,000 specimens that came to us this year. The aggregate includes objects of all kinds, artistic, scientific, industrial, and liistorical. Collections that come to us every year really are stupendously valuable and interesting.

Mr. BDYLAN. We thank you very much. Doctor, for your interest-ng statement.

220 INDEPENDENT OFFICES APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 19 3 5

Thursday, December 7, 1933. TARIFF COMMISSION

STATEMENTS OF SIDNEY MORGAN, SECRETARY, AND L. W. MOORE, ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

Mr. BoYLAN. We will now take up the estimates for the Tarill" Commission, which read as foUows:

For salaries and expenses of the United States Tariff Commission, including purchase and exchange of labor-saving devices, the purchase of professional and scientific books, law books, books of reference, gloves and other protective equipment for photostat and other machine operators, rent in tlie District of Columbia and elsewhere, subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals, and contract stenographic reporting services, as authorized bv sections 330 to 341 of the Tariff Act of 1930, approved June 17, 1930 (U.S.C," Supp. VI, title 19, sees. 1330-1341), $826,398, of which amount not to exceed $710,000 may be expended for personal services iji the District of Columbia; not to exceed $2,500 for expenses, except membership fees, of attendance at meetings concerned with subjects under investigation by the Commission; and not to exceed $7,500 for allowances for living quarters, including heat, fuel, and light, as authorized bv the act approved June 26, 1930 (U. S. C, Supp. VI, title 5, sec. 118a), but not to exceed $720 may be so used for any one person: Provided, That the Commission may procure supplies and services without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (U.S.C., title 41, sec. 5) when the aggregate amount involved does not exceed $50: Provided further, That no part of this approi^riation shall be used to pay the salary of any member of the United States Tariff Commission who shall hereafter participate in any proceedings under sections 336, 337, and 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, wherein he or any raeml>er of his family has any special, direct, and pecuniary interest, or in which he has acted as attorney or special representative.

Mr. Morgan, you are the secretary of the Commission? Mr. Morgan. That is correct, Mr. Chairman.

GENERAL STATEMENT

Mr. BoYLAN. Do YOU care to make a general statement for the record as to the scope of the activities of the Commission, and so forth?

Mr. Morgan. Yes, sir. The Commission is pleased to furnish the Committee with the statement requested in your letter of November 9, 1933, last, setting forth the financial requirements of the Tariff Commission for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1935. The following statement compares the financial requirements of 1934 and 1935:

Salaries and expenses:

Appropriated for 1934, regular act $785, 000

Estimated for 1935 826, 398

Increase '41, 398

Printing and binding:

Appropriated for 1934, regular act 15, 000

Estimated for 1935 14, 500

Decrease 500

' Entire increase of 1935 over 1934 due to use of 90 per cent of b;ise salaries instead of 85 per cent.