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Measures for Progress: A History of the National Bureau of Standards

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THE LEGACY LEFT TO US 213<br />

With <strong>the</strong> curtailment <strong>of</strong> military appropriations to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong> by<br />

Congress, it becomes necessary <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> military bureaus to provide<br />

funds <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> investigations in which <strong>the</strong>y are interested.<br />

He asked Stratton to seek special funds from Navy Ordnance to continue<br />

<strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong> investigation <strong>of</strong> light armor plate steels and Army Ordnance funds<br />

to continue <strong>the</strong> study <strong>of</strong> machine gun corrosion.'37 A score <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r investi-<br />

gations would need similar financing.<br />

The <strong>Bureau</strong> thus sought help through a wartime measure, <strong>the</strong> Over.<br />

man Act, passed by Congress on May 20, 1918.138 In <strong>the</strong> interest <strong>of</strong> economy<br />

and greater efficiency, <strong>the</strong> act authorized, among o<strong>the</strong>r things, <strong>the</strong> trans-<br />

fer <strong>of</strong> funds from one Government agency to ano<strong>the</strong>r, where an agency<br />

with funds but lacking <strong>the</strong> staff or facilities <strong>for</strong> an investigation, survey,<br />

or o<strong>the</strong>r service that it required, might turn <strong>the</strong> necessary funds over to<br />

<strong>the</strong> investigating agency. Under <strong>the</strong> act <strong>the</strong> military services had trans-<br />

ferred well over half a million dollars to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong> in 1917 and 1918 (apart<br />

from military funds directly appropriated by Congress to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong>), to<br />

carry out wartime research <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>m.<br />

The device <strong>of</strong> interagency fund transfers, although never <strong>of</strong>ficially<br />

sanctioned be<strong>for</strong>e <strong>the</strong> Overman Act, had prevailed <strong>for</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> years<br />

among Government agencies. Stratton had not approved <strong>of</strong> it. Seeking<br />

additional funds from Congress at a hearing in 1910, he rejected a sug-<br />

gestion that he avail himself <strong>of</strong> this custom, insisting that <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong><br />

"should not be under obligation to any individual or any department when<br />

it undertakes testing." 139<br />

Now suddenly <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong> was alarmed. It had a plant more than<br />

twice its prewar size. The end <strong>of</strong> hostilities left it stranded with many in-<br />

vestigations <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> services far from completed. Particularly important,<br />

<strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong> felt., was its research on radio vacuum tubes and coil aerials <strong>for</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> Signal Corps, its testing <strong>of</strong> rubber compositions and tires <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> Motor<br />

Transport Service, structural materials testing <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> Navy <strong>Bureau</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />

Yards and Docks, and <strong>the</strong> work on airplane fabrics and aviation engines.<br />

Upon strong pleas by Stratton, President Wilson on March 4, 1919, au-<br />

thorized <strong>the</strong> transfer <strong>of</strong> $100,000 from unobligated funds <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Quarter-<br />

master Corps to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bureau</strong> to complete some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se investigations.'40<br />

Memo, Burgess <strong>for</strong> SWS, Nov. 25, 1918 (NBS Box 5, FPG) -<br />

" For passage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Overman Act, possibly <strong>the</strong> most important piece <strong>of</strong> legislation<br />

enacted <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> prosecution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> war, see Paxson, American Democracy and <strong>the</strong><br />

World War, II, 225—226..<br />

Hearings * * * 1912 (Dec. 2, 1910), p. 273.<br />

Letter, Secretary <strong>of</strong> War to Secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Treasury, Mar. 4, 1919; letter, Secretary<br />

<strong>of</strong> Commerce to Secretary <strong>of</strong> War, Apr. 10, 1919, and attached corrrespondence (NBS<br />

Box 5, FPG). Fur<strong>the</strong>r correspondence on tranferred funds appears in NBS Box 7,<br />

ICG 1918—22.

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