for both exporters and importers. It assists in settling trade disputes and is a source of information on reciprocal trade agreements, tariff rates, and requested shipping documents. The Bureau is the major source in Government for data on foreign exchange developments, foreign trade finance, foreign public finance and banking and the currency situation abroad. It prepares an official annual report on the balance of international payments in the United States. The Bureau's efforts in serving the domestic economy are directed toward (1) studying the broad trends and developments in the national economy, and (2) devising specific and practical plans to help solve business problems. Included among the regular statistical reports are: monthly estimates of income payments to individuals; industry survey on new orders, shipments, and inventories in manufacturing; retail sales and consumer expenditures; and transportation activity. On a quarterly basis reports are prepared on national income and national product and corporation profits. The Bureau also makes annual estimates of the indebtedness of the United States and of income payments by States. Individual service in the form of advice, suggestions, or pertinent information on business operations is available either from the Bureau in Washington or from any of the field offices of the Department of Commerce. To insure the widest possible distribution the results of Bureau statistical and economic research are made available in published form. Foreign Commerce Weekly and the Survey of Current Business are the chief periodic publications of the Bureau. Numerous occasional publications and informational circulars covering a wide range of business activity are issued, of which the following are typical. Small Business and Regulation of Pricing Practices (Econ. Series No. 61, 156); Transportation Factors in the Location of the Cast Iron Pipe Industry (Econ. Series No. 63, 25¢); Foreign Marks-of-Origin Regulations (Econ. Series No. 62, 35¢); State and Regional Market Indicators, 1939-45 (Econ. Series No. 60, 20); Business Establishments, Employment and Taxable Payrolls under Old Age and Survivors Insurance Program, First Quarter 1946, By Industry Groups and By Counties (free); Confectionary Sales and Distribution in 1946 (free); Simplified Accounting for Wholesale Grocers (Ind. Series No. 76, 20); American Business Directories (Ind. Series No. 67, 65¢); World Trade in Cocoa (Ind. Series No. 71, 50¢); World Chemical Developments, 1940-46 (Ind. Series No. 75, 30); Opportunities in Selling (Ind. Series No. 65, 250); Pulp and Paper Industry Report ($2.25 per year); Leather Industry Report (60¢ per year). The six major offices, the fixed objective of each, and their constituent divisions follow: OFFICE OF INDUSTRY COOPERATION The Office of Industry Cooperation was established in January 1948, pursuant to the provisions of Public Law 395, Eightieth Congress, and Executive Order 9919, to serve as the principal agent of the Department of Commerce in the preparation, negotiation, presentation for approval by the Secretary, and submission to the Attorney General, of proposed voluntary agreements with representatives of business and industry. OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE The purpose of this Office is to foster and promote the foreign commerce of the United States. More specifically, its objectives are to promote United States trade interests in exports and imports in the interest of maintaining full production and full employment; to encourage and facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade; to promote the stability of international economic relations; to cooperate with other nations in the solving of trade and exchange problems through international organizations and conferences and otherwise; to facilitate United States participation in peacetime trade with former enemy and other areas in which normal channels of trade do not exist; to reduce obstacles to and restrictions upon international trade; and, through the extension of the Second Decontrol Act, to control the exports of the United States as an adjustment to the problem of world economic recovery. OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS This Office was established to ascertain the specific needs of small business; to represent small business before other Government agencies both at the policy and operating levels; to cooperate in the protection of small business oppor tunities for development and growth; and to furnish small businesses with business and economic information available within the Department of Commerce and other Federal agencies, and from other public and private sources; all for the purpose of strengthening and perpetuating small business in a free enterprise system which will stimulate full production and full employment. OFFICE OF DOMESTIC COMMERCE The purpose of this Office is to develop and carry out activities, programs, and policies which will foster and promote domestic commerce. More specifically its objectives are to stimulate the profitable operation of industry in order to achieve full and efficient production and employment; to assist domestic industry and business in its problems relating to production, construction, distribution, marketing, and transportation; to provide commodity, industry, and marketing analysis and information as basic guides for industry and business in trade maintenance and expansion programs; to maintain close contact with trade associations and other groups representing industry; to assist official State planning and development agencies and other organized groups of a local and regional character in the assembly, analysis and application of economic data for purposes of economic development of areas and regions; to assist domestic industry in its relations with other Government departments and agencies; and to advocate such Government policies, procedures, and laws as will stimulate industry and commerce. OFFICE OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS This Office provides basic indicators of the condition of the national economy, current analyses of the business situation and trends, and technical research in the functioning of the economy-including the development and analysis of measures of the national income, gross national product, and international balance of payments of the United States-thus establishing a factual groundwork for use in business operations and in policy formulation by the Department with respect to Government activities insofar as they affect economic movements and tendencies. OFFICE OF FIELD SERVICE The field programs of the Office of International Trade, the Office of Small Business, the Office of Domestic Commerce, the Office of Business Economics, the Office of Publications, and the Office of Technical Services in the Secretary's Office are carried out by the Office of Field Service at the regional and district levels throughout the United States. The Department Field Offices are also responsible for the dissemination in the field of the reports, data, and statistical statements published by the Bureau of the Census and for making available to the business community the facilities of other primary organization units of the Department of Commerce. The office of Field Service directs the activities of the following field offices: FIELD SERVICE-DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Albuquerque, N. M.-203 W. Gold Ave., Hanosh Building. Baltimore 2, Md.-314 U. S. Appraisers' Stores Building. Buffalo 3, N. Y.-242 Federal Building. Butte, Mont.-301A O'Rourke Estate Building. Charleston 3, S. C.-310 Peoples Building. Charleston, W. Va.-103 U. S. Court House. Charlotte 2, N. C.-Chatham Building. Cheyenne, Wyo.-304 Federal Office Building. Chicago 4, Ill.-501 McCormick Building. Cincinnati 2, Ohio-1204 Federal Reserve Bank Building. Cleveland 14, Ohio-215 Union Commerce Building. Dallas 2, Tex.-1114 Commerce Street. Denver 2, Colo.-210 Boston Building. Detroit 26, Mich.-1038 New Federal Building. El Paso 7, Tex.-12 Chamber of Commerce Building. Fargo, N. Dak.-212 Walker Building. Hartford 1, Conn.-224 Post Office Building. Houston 14, Tex.-602 Federal Office Building. Jacksonville 1, Fla.-425 Federal Building. Juneau, Alaska-300 Federal & Territorial Building. Kansas City 6, Mo.-2601 Fidelity Building. Los Angeles 12, Calif.-1546 U. S. Post Office and Court House. Memphis 3, Tenn.-229 Federal Building. Minneapolis 1, Minn.-1234 Metropolitan Life Building. New Orleans 12, La.-1508 Masonic Temple Building. Richmond 19, Va.-Room 2, 801 East Broad Street. St. Louis 1, Mo.-910 New Federal Building. Salt Lake City 1, Utah-508 Post Office Building. San Francisco 11, Calif.-307 Customhouse. Savannah, Ga.-218 U. S. Court House and Post Office Building. OFFICE OF MATERIALS DISTRIBUTION The Office of Materials Distribution was established on May 4, 1947, to carry out certain functions transferred to the Secretary of Commerce by Executive Order 9841 and assigned to the Office of Materials Distribution, including functions under the provisions of the Second Decontrol Act of 1947 as they apply to priorities assistance in production and delivery for export, and to tin and tin products, and antimony; cinchona bark, quinine and quinidine; and functions under the provisions of Public Law 469, Eightieth Congress, to strengthen the common defense by maintaining an adequate domestic rubber-producing industry. NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS Established by act of Congress approved March 3, 1901, The National Bureau of Standards is the principal agency of the Federal Government for fundamental research in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and engineering. It has the custody of the national standards of physical measurement in terms of which all working standards in research laboratories and industry are calibrated, and carries on necessary research leading to improvement in such standards and methods of measurement. It also has a general responsibility for basic research in physics, applied mathematics, chemistry, and engineering, and for development of improved methods for testing materials and equipment. It determines physical constants and properties of materials, tests and calibrates standard measuring apparatus and reference standards, and studies technical processes. A large part of the work of the Bureau is concerned with the development of specifications for the purchase of supplies (other than foods and drugs) for the Federal Government and with rendering advisory service to Government agencies on scientific and technical matters. Cooperation is extended to States, industries, and national organizations in the development of specifications and engineering and safety codes. Generally speaking, each Section of the Bureau is engaged in basic research, in testing, in instrument calibration, in aiding in the preparation of specifications and codes, in rendering advisory service to other Government agencies, and in supplying information in its field to the public. An indication of the scope of the Bureau's activities is seen in the fourteen component technical divisions: electricity and optics, metrology, heat and power, atomic physics, chemistry, mechanics, organic and fibrous materials, metallurgy, mineral products, building technology, applied mathematics, electronics, radio propagation, and commodity standards. The Bureau's functions are exercised for the National Government, State governments, and under certain conditions (as in tests involving comparison with the national standards), and subject to reasonable fees, the general public. Its unique research and testing facilities are used to discover and evaluate material standards and to solve basic technical problems. In connection with its work on standards of measurement, the Bureau assists in size standardization of containers and products, in promoting systematic inspection of trade weights and measures, and facilitates research in science and technology through the standardization of techniques of measurement and measuring instruments. The establishment of more precise values for the standard constants furnishes an exact basis for scientific experiment and design and makes possible the efficient technical control of industrial processes. It cooperates with tax-supported purchasing agencies, industries, and national organizations in developing specifications and facilitating their use; it encourages the application of the latest developments in the utilization and standardization of building materials and in the development of engineering and safety codes, simplified practice recommendations, and commercial standards of quality and performance. The Bureau's work on standards of quality sets up attainable standards to assure high utility in the products of industry and furnishes a scientific basis for fair dealing by promoting truthful branding and advertising. Standards of performance are usually specifications for the operative efficiency of machines or devices; their ultimate purpose is to make exact knowledge the basis of the buyer's choice and to clarify the understanding between the manufacturer, distributor, retailer, and consumer. To establish standards of practice the Bureau collates data and formulates codes of practice for public utilities and other services. This work makes possible a single impersonal standard of practice mutually agreed upon by all concerned and clearly defined in measurable terms. Special attention is at present devoted to the fields of building materials and structures, metallurgy, high polymers, thermodynamics, electronics, radio propagation, nuclear physics, applied mathematics, and hydraulics. Typical current projects include high voltage and X-ray research; microwave studies, measurements, and standardizations; electronic computers; radio communication in relation to ionosphere conditions all over the world, as recorded by a chain of observing stations working under Bureau direction; motor vehicle and airplane fuels and lubricants; spectroscopic analysis of metals and alloys; the use of the mass spectrometer for the rapid and precise determination of the composition of complex materials, such as hydrocarbons; electroplating and vitreous enamels; control of active acidity through the development and standardization of pH indicators; strength of airplane and other structures; the development of standard methods of test for synthetic rubbers and organic plastics; properties of metals and alloys at high and low temperatures and under conditions of stress and corrosion; the development of improved varieties of optical glass, and the control of the properties of glass through heat treatment; and numerous problems connected with the building industry, including the efficiency of heating plants and of insulating materials. Under a research associate plan, industrial groups can send to the Bureau qualified technical men to work on problems of mutual interest to the Government and industry. The results are published by the Bureau. Sixty-eight research associates are stationed in the laboratories at the present time. The results of the Bureau's work are made available through its monthly Journal of Research, Technical News Bulletin, and several series of nonperiodical publications. UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY The Coast and Geodetic Survey is charged with (1) the survey of the coasts of the United States and its possessions, to insure the safe navigation of coastal and intracoastal waters; (2) the determination of geographical positions and elevations in the interior of the country, to coordinate the coastal surveys and provide a framework for mapping and other engineering work; (3) observations of tides and currents, to furnish datum planes to engineers and tide and current tables to mariners; (4) the compilation and publishing of nautical charts to meet the needs of marine commerce; (5) the compilation and publishing of aeronautical charts for use in air navigation; (6) observations of the earth's magnetism in all parts of the country, to furnish magnetic information essential to the mariner, aviator, land surveyor, radio engineer and others; and (7) seismological observations and investigations, to supply data required in designing structures to reduce the earthquake hazard. These duties require hydrographic, topographic, and air-photographic surveys along the coasts, including the rivers to the head of tidewater, for determining the depths of the waters and the configuration of the adjacent land, tide observations for determination of basic datum planes for elevations and for prediction of high and low waters in tide tables; current observations for determining water movements and for prediction of slacks and strengths in current tables; base measurements; determination of latitudes, longitudes, and azimuths by astronomical observations, triangulation, and traverse; determination of elevations by spirit leveling or by vertical angles; magnetic surveys in all parts of the country, including the operation of magnetic observatories; the operation of instruments recording building vibrations and strong earthquake motions, and cooperation with non-Federal agencies engaged in this work; and gravity measurements throughout the country. The results of these surveys and studies are analyzed in the Washington office and published as nautical and aeronautical charts; annual tables of tide and current predictions; charts showing magnetic declination; annual lists of United States earthquakes; publications of geographic positions and elevations; Coast Pilots; and as annual and special publications covering all of its other activities, including comprehensive manuals prescribing the methods which obtain for its various classes of surveying. PATENT OFFICE The Commissioner of Patents is charged with the administration of the patent laws and supervision of all matters relating to the granting of letters patent for inventions, and the registration of trade-marks. WEATHER BUREAU The Weather Bureau, in keeping with organic legislation, renders the following services: (1) Observes and reports the weather in more than 400 fully manned stations in the United States, Alaska, and other possessions, and coordinates and makes available the weather reports and records received from about 9,300 additional cooperating stations and individuals in the same areas. (2) Coordinates and assists with the international exchange of weather reports and information for domestic and international purposes. (3) Forecasts the weather throughout the United States and its possessions and over the adjacent oceans; issues and broadly disseminates frost, cold wave, storm and hurricane warnings for the benefit of all affected thereby. (Specialized arrangements are maintained for prompt dissemination and effective application of hurricane and storm warnings, and for cold wave and blizzard forecasts, with general and localized coverage through the free cooperation of commercial radio stations.) (4) Maintains a crop weather reporting and agricultural weather advisory service closely coordinated with agricultural producers and with agencies estimating and guiding the course of farm production, and develops and makes available a vast amount of weather and climatic data adapted to these and other uses; maintains specialized fruitfrost protection and fire-weather forecasting services in areas where these needs are concentrated. (5) Maintains airway weather reporting and flight weather advisory and forecasting services for the air routes of the United States, and for international air commerce in conformity with the provisions of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and provides weather information on request for the individual (nonscheduled) airplane pilot contemplating flight. (6) Operates a river and flood warning service for major streams of the United States, and advises the public extensively regarding hazards to life and property when floods occur or threaten; informs irrigation and water-power interests regarding seasonal prospects for water supply from snow. (7) Pursues and fosters investigations in meteorological science and makes practical tests of new techniques and theories in weather forecasting and in improved methods for measuring atmospheric conditions; develops climatic statistics and investigates the climatic factors in various economic and scientific fields. CIVIL AERONAUTICS AUTHORITY The Givil Aeronautics Authority was created by the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, approved June 23, 1938, "to promote the development and safety and to provide for the regulation of civil aeronautics." As originally established it was composed of the five-member Authority, the Administrator, and the three-member Air Safety Board. By Reorganization Plans Nos. III and IV, effective June 30, 1940, issued pursuant to the Reorganization Act of 1939, the name of the five-member Authority was changed to the Civil Aeronautics Board and certain of its functions were |