FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL ESTABLISHED IN 1916 AT THE REQUEST OF THE FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL INTRODUCTION. The broad general lines of the permanent organization of the National Research Council were determined shortly after the armistice, and a specific program was adopted by the Council of the National Academy of Sciences on February 11, 1919. The work of the year has in large measure been necessarily monopolized by the effort to round out and complete this program and put it into actual operation. The organization in its present form with the appropriate personnel is presented as Appendix A of this report. An appreciable part of the war work conducted by the council or under its auspices did not terminate in 1918, but was continued for longer or shorter intervals, and some of the committees are still operative, having been assimilated into the peace-time organization. This is peculiarly true of those committees whose work is most closely related to industrial problems, many of which are quite as significant for times of peace as for war. Certain metallurgical researches in progress under the division of engineering are cases in point. The year has seen the completion of the organization of each of the 13 divisions included in the present scheme. It has been a somewhat slow process to secure the cooperation of all the scientific and technical societies and other organizations, including many departments of the Federal Government, which under the plan were entitled to elect representatives to the several divisions. This has, however, been finally accomplished in a satisfactory manner. On June 30, 1919, the National Research Council passed out from under its more direct relations to the National Government through the Council of National Defense. This transition was accomplished without friction, and although there are still some financial accountings not yet completed, all are in the way of a speedy settlement, and we may look forward to an early conclusion of all our more direct responsibilities to the Government. Through the Government division, however, as well as through the division of foreign relations, and by reason of our desire to serve the national interests wherever possible, we shall continue our contacts with the Government, in the hope that they will lose nothing of their practical value because of the change in their external forms. GIFTS TO THE COUNCIL. With the cessation of the relations described in the previous paragraph, the council was obliged to look to purely private resources for its financial maintenance. The treasurer's report herewith attached presents in detail the fiscal arrangements of the council, but it is appropriate to mention more explicitly our obligations to the many individuals and agencies which have made our work possible. By an action of March 28, 1919, the Carnegie Corporation of New York expressed its readiness to appropriate in due time $5,000,000, to be placed at the disposal of the National Academy of Sciences for the purposes of the Academy and the National Research Council, provided that a suitable site should be secured from other sources, and that a satisfactory plan for a building to serve the purposes of the two beneficiary organizations should be presented. A block of land in the neighborhood of the Lincoln Memorial was agreed upon as a proper site, and estimates were secured of the probable cost; i. e., $150,000. A committee, consisting of Messrs. Hale, Millikan, and Angell, set about to obtain the necessary funds by securing, if possible, 15 individuals of national standing who would contribute $10,000 apiece. By reason of various unforeseen circumstances the price of the land proved to be $185,010.21, and it was consequently necessary to raise a considerably larger sum of money than had been originally anticipated. Persistent effort, however, finally crowned this undertaking with success. The obligation of the council to the generous friends who assisted us can not be overestimated, inasmuch as they made possible the permanent establishment of the council on a firm financial basis. A public acknowledgment will be made at a later date. As the result of the joint action of the council of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council Mr. Bertram G. Goodhue, of New York, was asked to prepare sketches for a building, and on November 28 the Carnegie Corporation of New York, having previously accepted as satisfactory the evidence of purchase of the site mentioned, authorized a committee of its own to accept the sketches submitted by Mr. Goodhue or to authorize any modifications judged to be necessary, and therewith recognized the conditions of their action of March 28, 1919, as having been met, thus assuring the very generous endowment agreed to under that action. In addition to these provisions for the permanent support of the council, the Carnegie Corporation contributed, exclusive of $60,000 unexpended from the previous year, $100,000 for the fiscal year from July 1, 1919, to June 30, 1920. The corporation has also voted a sum of $170,000 for the fiscal year July 1, 1920, to June 30, 1921. The executive board of the National Research Council has formally expressed its appreciation for these generous gifts, but it is a peculiar pleasure to dwell in this connection upon the unquestioned national service which the Carnegie Corporation is thus rendering in establishing in perpetuity a thoroughly democratic organization which is in a position to mobilize our national scientific resources for the most unselfish service. It is quite impossible to measure the good results which are sure to accrue as the years go by from this wise and generous investment. It is a privilege which all the members of the council appreciate, to have had some part in laying the foundations of this enduring edifice. A considerable number of other gifts have come to the council during the current year which deserve grateful recognition. First may be mentioned the appropriation on April 9, 1919, by the Rockefeller Foundation, under the accompanying resolutions, of $500,000 to provide for research fellowships in physics and chemistry for five years. Resolved, That the sum of $50,000 (R. F. 2395) be, and it is hereby, appropriated, of which so much as may be necessary shall be paid to the National Research Council during the year 1919 for the maintenance of a system of national research fellowships in physics and chemistry under the direction of the research board of that council and in general conformity with the plans outlined in letter of application. Resolved, That the Rockefeller Foundation pledge itself to appropriate to the National Research Council for the maintenance of a system of national research fellowships in physics and chemistry such additional sums for use in succeeding years as shall make available for expenditure during the period from May 1, 1919, to June 30, 1925, a total sum not to exceed $500,000, it being understood that the appropriation for any one year shall be for not more than $100,000 plus any unexpended balances from appropriations for previous years. This action brought to a head plans which had been under consideration between representatives of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council, on the one hand, and the Rockefeller Foundation, on the other, designed to further fundamental investigations in physics and chemistry. As a part of this plan, there was established on March 11, 1919, a research fellowship board, selected to administer such funds when secured. The personnel of this board is as follows: Henry A. Bumstead, Simon Flexner (chairman), George E. Hale, Elmer P. Kohler, Robert A. Millikan, Arthur A. Noyes, and ex officio, C. E. Mendenhall and W. D. Bancroft. Under date of June 16, 1919, the Rockefeller Foundation, in response to a request by the Division of Physical Sciences, took the following action: Resolved, That the sum of $20,000 be, and it is hereby, appropriated to the National Research Council for the Division of Physical Sciences, of which so much as may be necessary shall be used to defray the necessary traveling and other expenses involved in conferences of the subcomittees of that division during the year 1919. |