There has been no change in the personnel of the Board since my last report. Meetings of the Regents were held on December 15, 1908, and on February 10, 1909, the proceedings of which will be printed as customary in the annual report of the Board to Congress. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. I deem it proper here to point out the fact that the activities of the Institution are greatly restricted by the very limited annual income at its disposal. The influence of the Institution in the development of science in this country is too well known to require comment. Its advice is daily sought on scientific matters, not only by other establishments of learning but by individuals all over the land, and that its usefulness has been by no means restricted to this country is evidenced by the fact that the name of the Smithsonian Institution is equally as well known and respected abroad as at home. But the means derived from the interest on the Smithson fund and other private funds for keeping up the work of the Institution proper have not kept pace with the growth of the country and the constantly increasing demands upon them. The original amount of the Smithson fund of about half a million dollars meant many times over in 1846 what it does to-day, even with the half million which has been gradually added since then. Its income has been economically administered, but it is too limited to carry on any extensive investigations. There are many researches and explorations which the Institution is peculiarly well fitted to organize and supervise, on which the income from an endowment of twenty millions could be wisely and effectively expended. The Institution has in the past few years received a number of noteworthy gifts in the Harriet Lane Johnston, Freer, and Evans art collections, and an endowment for the fine arts would give a great return for centuries to come by making possible the fostering and stimulating of the fine arts in all its branches. Under the general plan of organization adopted by the Board of Regents in 1847, the work of the Institution in the "increase of knowledge" is not limited to investigations in the field of science and art, but historical and ethnological researches, and statistical inquiries with reference to physical, moral, and political subjects, are enumerated as objects for which appropriations should be made. In the humanities there is need of a fearless, thorough, scientific study of the elements entering into the great race problems of the Americas. Until the fundamental tendencies of the differing races now within these areas are intelligently understood, not only by the few, but by the many, a practical understanding of threatening social conditions is impossible. The uplift of the physical, mental, and moral nature of the peoples of the Americas will come only through the increase and diffusion of such knowledge as will stimulate sound reasoning on existing conditions and racial limitations. Ethnology, anthropology, psychology, preventive medicine, education, are some of the tools that must be used in the shaping of the national, community, and individual life of the future. In this great work the Smithsonian Institution will take such active part as opportunity and means permit. An article on "The Smithsonian Institution," published in the North American Review, summarizes the history and work of the Institution, and concludes as follows: Such has been the result of a single benefaction of half a million of dollars, and perhaps no such result has ever been accomplished by so limited an endowment. Were the great sums given to swell the almost infinite endowments of some of our universities diverted to this unostentatious establishment, its power for good would be immeasurably increased, but, as it is, the bounty of a stranger and an alien has given the American people an agency for good whose influence is incalculable. It presents an opportunity to those who wish to bestow money for some beneficent purpose such as is given by no other on earth, and its scant means and petty endowment are a reproach to our rich and generous nation." ADMINISTRATION. The affairs of the Institution proper have progressed in a satisfactory manner during the year. All communications have received prompt administrative consideration, and everything possible has been done to carry out the fundamental purposes of the Institution, "the increase and diffusion of knowledge." In the administrative work of the various branches of the government service placed under the direction of the Institution, it has been the custom to fully avail myself of the assistance of the officers in charge of those branches, and I am glad to say that the business of the year has been carried on vigorously. The extended and complicated operations of the National Museum, including the National Gallery of Art and the erection of the new building, have been effectively managed by the assistant secretary in charge, Mr. Richard Rathbun. The International Exchanges, the library, and the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature continued under the efficient charge of Dr. Cyrus Adler, until his resignation on October 1, 1908, when he removed to Philadelphia to assume the presidency of the "Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning." Doctor Adler entered the service of the Institution in 1888 as an assistant "The Smithsonian Institution, by Charles Minor Blackford, jr., M. D., North American Review, January, 1909. Reprinted as Senate Document No. 717, Sixtieth Congress, second session. curator in the National Museum. In 1892 he was appointed librarian of the Institution, and in 1905 became assistant secretary. His service of twenty years was marked by a remarkable grasp of the affairs of the Institution, in the administration of which his advice has been of great assistance to the secretaries. The affairs of the Bureau of American Ethnology have continued in charge of Mr. W. H. Holmes, as chief, who has also acted as curator of the National Gallery of Art. Mr. C. G. Abbot, director of the Astrophysical Observatory, has carried forward the work of this branch both in Washington and on Mount Wilson, California, where duplicate observations have been carried on at a branch station, and the care of the National Zoological Park has continued under the management of Dr. Frank Baker, its superintendent. Although greatly hampered for adequate funds the Park has proved a great attraction to the people of Washington, over 125,000 persons having visited it in a single month. The advisory committee on printing and publication, appointed in pursuance of executive order of January 20, 1906, is composed of representatives from the Institution and its branches, and has rendered valuable assistance in examining manuscripts proposed for publication, and in the consideration of various matters connected with printing and publication. The current business of the Institution has been conducted with promptness, and it is gratifying to note that no arrearages in the work of the government branches under its direction were reported in the quarterly statements to the President and in the annual statement which, in accordance with law, accompanied the estimates transmitted to Congress. FINANCES. The permanent fund of the Institution and the sources from which it was derived are as follows: Part of residuary legacy of Thomas G. Hodgkins, 1894.- Total amount of fund in the United States Treasury 2,000.00 500.00 51, 500.00 200, 000. 00 8,000.00 25, 000. 00 7, 918. 69 944, 918. 69 Held at the Smithsonian Institution. Registered and guaranteed bonds of the West Shore Railroad Company (par value), part of legacy of Thomas G. Hodgkins____ Total permanent fund---- $42, 000. 00 986, 918. 69 In addition to the above there are four pieces of real estate bequeathed to the Institution by the late R. S. Avery, some of which yield a nominal rental and all are free from taxation. That part of the fund deposited in the Treasury of the United States bears interest at 6 per cent per annum, under the provisions of the act organizing the Institution and an act of Congress approved March 12, 1894. The rate of interest on the West Shore Railroad bonds is 4 per cent per annum. The income of the Institution during the year, amounting to $84,769.82, was derived as follows: Interest on the permanent fund, $58,375.12; contributions from various sources for specific purposes, $20,250, and from other miscellaneous sources, $6,144.70; all of which was deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the current account of the Institution. With the balance of $18,766.41 on July 1, 1908, the total resources for the fiscal year amounted to $103,536.23. The disbursements, which are given in detail in the annual report of the executive committee, amounted to $71,359.53, leaving a balance of $32,176.70 on deposit June 30, 1909, in the United States Treasury. The Institution was charged by Congress with the disbursement of the following appropriations for the year ending June 30, 1909: Estimates. The estimates forwarded to Congress in behalf of the government branches of the Institution and the appropriations based thereon for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1910, are as follows: • The request was made to the Appropriations Committee that this item be eliminated, as rented buildings would be vacated by June 30, 1909. The Institution is required each year to submit to Congress, through the Secretary of the Treasury, estimates for the support of the several branches placed by the Congress under its administrative charge. The estimates for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1911, were submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury on May 1, 1909, instead of in the fall of the year as heretofore, it being the desire of the President, expressed through the Treasury Department, that more time be given to their examination. In preparing these estimates I found it imperative that considerable increases should be made in several directions, as follows: For the Bureau of American Ethnology I have asked an increase of $10,000, to be allotted for the exploration and preservation of antiquities, researches among the tribes of the Middle West, and for researches in Hawaii and Samoa. To properly carry on the work of the Astrophysical Observatory likewise requires a greater appropriation. The furnishing and maintenance of the new building for the National Museum necessitates, in general, a large increase in annual appropriations. For the National Zoological Park I have asked a considerable increase, in order that it may be properly maintained and become in greater measure what its name would lead the public to expect and demand in a national park. |