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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION  1249

by Dr. Wetmore and his staff has my endorsement and I believe meets with the general approval of the committee. The past record and future plans of the Smithsonian are good and it is not easy to make specific recommendations on how an organization already excellent can be made even better or to know what suggestions for changes, even though they might appear desirable, are practical under the legal framework of the Smithsonian and within the limits of its present or expected resources.

"It is particularly difficult for an outside group to presume to express opinions on policies because of the broad scope and miscellaneous activities of the Smithsonian and because in some instances it serves as a convenient Governmental device rather than in accord with the expressed objectives of its founder. It is with these generalities in mind that the following comments are made:

"The National Museum: The National Museum is one of the great museums of the world and in many respects the heart of the Smithsonian. It has functioned in the past largely as a working or reference collection analogous in its fields to the Library of Congress in its field, and this would appear to be its proper and greatest usefulness. There is need for great reference collections in each of the sectors represented by the Museum, and the National Museum would appear to be a natural and logical place to locate such essential collections. Display is a desirable function for a Museum but in the National Museum it should be secondary and not primary. The main purpose of the Museum should be to obtain and to maintain reference or type materials in the various fields which would be available (as they now are) for study by its own staff and students in other institutions where such extensive collections cannot be maintained.

A.W.