New-York tribune., 1886-06-07
TWO YEARS or FRUITLESS WORK.
TWO SCIENTIFIC COMMISSION REPORTS.
THE MEMBERS UNABLE TO AGREE LISTENING TO


DIFFERING SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
fyRouA STAFF CORRESPONDENT or THE rRfBuSEl
WASHINGTON, June 8 (SpecidD. D.-COngress
In June lss4. inserted clanss IN tho sundry Civii Ap
preparation bill creating Commission cop5istihg ol
three ana three members OF the House 10 con-
slider the present organizations OF the Signal Oce Geo
logical Survey Coast and Geodeto survey, ana the
photographic Office OF the Navy Department. with
view OF reoganzng them necessary to secure greater
efficiency that time the Commission has had
the matter under consideration without reaching con-
! olusIon Nr Lyman one Of the members. was not
reelected to the present Congress. AMI this vacancy
was nlled by the appointment OF Mr..
Walt, OF Connecticut. Mr. PeBdleton, another member
also failed OF re. election, and Mr. Morgan, OF Alabama
was appointed to il Tie vacancy Tho Commission as
a present constituted consists OF Senators Allison
Hale and Morgan and Representatives, Lowry, Herbert
and Wait. The National Academy OF Sciences ap-
pointed committee to aid tho Commission. That COM
mitteo recommended the creation OF a Department OF
Science charge OF the scientific bureaus the DE.
pariment to BE- under the control OF commission To
consist OF the president OF tho National Academy tho
secretary OF the Smithsonian Institution and seven otner
persons That committee found that the absence OF any
central authority control tho scientific bureaus had
resulted In two bureaus prosecuting two distinct aud in
dependent rgouometrc surveys OF the United States
! and among other things reported;
Each head OF scientific organization Ia practi-
cay absolutely independent and In his individual judg-
OF what his organization shall do lsconroed only
by Congress ITSELF acting only through lts annual
propriaon bills, state OF thin that calls for REFORM
The Congressional Committee did accept recon-
mendatons OF the Academy OF Sciences but began "a
long investigation which only recently ended. The
heads Of bureaus, subordinate and Cabinet officers have
given their opinions differing widely In their vicws OF
what shoud bc done. As ght he expected this has led
to an equal division Of opin among the members of
the Commission. and majority and minority reports Will
be presented In ddyor two In both houses About the
only thing Commission agreed upon Is In limiting
publications OF the Geological Survey Mr. iicrberol
Alabama. wanted to sell the laboratories and otherwise
impair usefulness Of this bureau but no other MEM
Der of the Commission agreed with him In that IL was
finally agreed recommend that money should be eX-
pended for paaeonloogc work or publication though
the collection and classdcation OF fossils isnOt be
rcstrcted ia other words Professor Powell. the director
bureau. says that the work of gathering the data
go ahead but the OF the results Ia I" De
stopped that the people Will get benefit from the
data. The Commission. however, WAS unanimously OF
the opinion that the Government should not engage IN
such expensive publications on scientific topics.
In regard TO the Weather Bureau the Commission Il
equally divided. Mr.. Morgan and Mr. Herbert (Dems.),
and Mr. Wait (.ep) will report in favor OF taking the
Weather Bureau Of the War Department aud making
Of IL altogether civil bureau. For this purpose they
propose to prdo for the leucnsnts Low in Ae signal
Service by appointment to the Army, to compensate
them other way. The enlisted men are all TO be
aud TO he gwen the preference for reappont
ment in cases where they competent In support OF
this view Messrs. Herbert, Morgan and Wait hold that
there Is ncei for Army organization for this ou-
They say that the system OF enlistins mon and
officers aud paying them salaries and combinations IL
cumbersome and unnecessary and that the work they
are enga ged in has no connection with the Army.
They quote tho opinion Of General Sheridan ex-5ecre-
tary Lincoln and others Mr.. Allison and Mr.. Hale
(Iseps) LnI Nr. Lowry (Dem.) do not agree with this
proposition take the Signal Service from the War De
| h.Tlt tha NAH
satisfactory results that is far ahead of any similar
service In the worli aud is constantly advsncn rne
advantage OF baying men who remain In the service
thus giving the Government the benefit OF their know-
edge and experience pointed out Men competent 70
I'LL places and officers in the Signal Corps,
they state he nai at the present rate OF wages
II the bureau placed under civil control the places
would be filed less By political influences aud
the prompt and faithful discharge OF duties III dis tan
stations could not be secured as WE'LL
while competent could not be had to posts
away from civilization at the salaries now paid. Tie
fact that this military organization Is In existence aud
s doing well. these gentlemen think is sufficient reason
for leaving 1t alone. They will probably recommend
however that more enlistments be made for the Sig
pal Service.
In regard the Coast and Geodetlo Survey the Com
mission is also divided. Some OF the members will
recommend that the photographic branch OF the Coast
survey be transferred to the Navy and merged with the
Hvdrographic Office in that Department. Other men,
hold this should not be DONE at least until the
Survey has its survey OF tho coasts and
photographic work In connection there with.
Mr. Herbert and Mr. Morgan will recomment that the
Coast survey be turned TO the Navy Department
aud merged with the iydrographlc Bureau there. The
majority viii report agalust any change untl the Coast
survey has plotted the aad photographic work
tho coast, OF the United states As 70 the length
required to complete the work OF surveying the
Atanuc coasts an estimate OF five years Was made by
Professor iigard. There Is considerable work ON the
coast OF Maine to be done some on South Carolina and
up the ST. Johns River Fa, and on the coast OF Western
louisiana good deal remains to be done on the
Pacific coast and OF Alaska The Typographical or land
survey. which defines the coast line and shows roughly
Will require only slight dlhcaoDs for long periods
tho photographic work. indicating depths OF
and channels requires constant revision For In
stance Sandy Hook changed quarter OF mile In length
~ twenty years making very mpor.aa. cnange II, Ie
The Coast survey keeps a constant watch on New.
iorx h aDS roanh,c @ wrs ,rn V | oy"r 20 me Navy
but the majority maintains that the coast hydrograpnic
topographic work must 20 together
Commander Bar let Of the Navy Department, charges
that the survey has been managed purposey to
delay the completion OF the survey OF the coasts IN
order to perpetuaie the bureau lie said " The sur
veys which the Navy not allowed to make on our own
coasts we are making on tue coasts o other coun tries
which not able 10 make them. but where Amer
the surveys made The Work of the Coast
Survey Is under the Immediate direction OF and Is done
irely by naval officers though under civil bureau
Tho primary tranguation and the secondary riangus-
tlon have been completed on our Atlantic aud Gulf
Florida coast and the coast Of Texas aud the Coast
survey is not attempting TO finish this They are |
the work OF the Coast Survey continued. |
The unfinished one-teDth gives handle to go before
the the commercial classes and say, We must
charts in tho cause OF humanity In the cause
OF commerce., etc. and get constant supply of money
They ge $500 900. and S4O0 900 OF 1t goes back
into aud the into tho survey or the
coasts Tho branch offices of the Hydrographic Bureau
In the Navy Department sending every day lnfor
nation about reported rock snoal or inequality In
the bottom, wAlch Is not on Inc Coast survey |
chart or that Is In l having constant COM
plants from merchants and with regard To the
inaccuracy OF cOts5 charts they not Knowing that the
Coast cxpcnding most OF the money In tue in-
tcro Thoy have been the most accurate charts IN the
world but is absolutely Necessary 10 keep pace with
tho changes they become perfectly worthless have
about experts at work all the time D correcting the
errors md every day"
Commander Bartlett was very decided in the opinion
that officers OF the Navy Department could do all
the scontic work done IN the coast survey, but Pro
fessor igari ana other witnesses testified that the