The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1912-12-26
NO PRIVATE WORK
FOR ORU.S.CEOLOCISTS

The spirit of "square dealo which
now prevails in most government busi-
ness is illustrated by the manner in
which the United States Geological
Survey guards the data it obtains and
also withhods information from pri-
vate persons until reports embodying
such material can be published and Of
fered free of cost to rich and poor
alike.
The law under which the United
States Geological Survey was organ
lied in 1879 expressly provides that
the director and members of the sur
vey shall have no personal or private
interest in the lands or mineral wealth
of the region under survey and shall
execute no surveys or examinations
for private parties or corporations
This was wise provision; for on the
one hand it insured that whatever adj
vantages We're to come from geologic
work paid for by the people as whole
should be equally and simultaneo.3
available to all, and on the osher
hand, it removes from the geologist
what would otherwise have been
strong and frequent temptation to
make his official wrk subrdinate or
contributory to his personal and ma
terial interests.
Cannot Own Mining Stock
So strictly is the regulation now in
terpreted that the government geolo-
gists are prohibited from acquiring
stock in any mining company operat
ing in the United States. The result
has been that the public in general
has confidence in the impartialitv and
integrity of the Federal biologists,
and property owners willingly impart
information to them which would he
withheld from men who might use it
for their own advantage. Even after
resignation from the survey geolo-
gist is in honor bound bv written
promise not to act as an expert in min
ing litigation in any district that he
may have investigated while on the
survey, until three years shall have
elapsed since his resignation or until
ten years shall have passed since he
made an official report on the district
It is supposed that after these periods
of limitation the local information
gained in his official capacity will
have ceased to be of special advan-
tage in current litigation.
The confidence reposed by the pub
lie in the Federal geologists has oc-
casionally been abused by impostors
who have claimed to belong to the
Geological Survey. Geologists who re-
sign from the survey of course are
free to seek employment wherever
they choose, but from the date of their
designations they can no longer be
employed bv the survey nor can they
represent it in any capacity unless re-
instated or appointed from a civil ser
vice register. The only apparent ex-
ception to this regulation is that re-
ports on certain subjects or certain
fields may be purchased from geolo
gists who have never been connected
with the organization or who, though
formerly employed by it, have re-
signed to enter private work. In all
such cases, however, the finished re-
port is purchased and the geologist
while gathering the materials for the
report is acting in a purely private
capacity and does net in any sense
represent the government.
Should Beware or lmpoSteIs.
Because persons sometimes misrep-
resent themselves as employees of the
Geological Survey for the perpose of
securing "inside information, the
public is advised to regard all repre-
sentations with caution and to insist
that the person soliciting such infor-
nation shall establish his identity and
connection with the survey before
complying with his request. This can
easily be done, for each geologist or
engineer connected with the organiza-
tion is furnished with a card certify
ing to his position on the survey sign
ed by the secretary of the interior and
countersigned by the director. Any
one who seeks information on the
basis of being an employe of the sur
vey but who cannot produce such a
card of Identification, should be report
ed at once to the director of the Unit
Il AA- -l.s