as may have accrued on said sum on the first day of July next, which will amount to the sum of one hundred and seventy-eight thousand six hundred and four dollars, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the erection of suitable buildings, and the enclosing of suitable grounds, for the Smithsonian Institution established by this act; and that six per cent. interest on the said trust fund, it being the said amount of five hundred and eight thousand three hundred and eighteen dollars, received into the United States Treasury, third of December, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, payable, in half yearly payments, on the first of January and July in each year, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the perpetual maintenance and support of said institution.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the business of said institution shall be conducted by a board of managers, to consist of twelve, no two of whom shall be citizens of the same State or Territory; that the persons first appointed on the board of managers shall meet in the city of Washington, on the first Monday of September next after the passage of this act, and, when met, shall divide themselves, by lot, into three sections, one of which shall serve two years, one four, and the other six years; and whenever a vacancy occurs in said board, the same shall be filled by such person as may be appointed by a joint resolution of Congress; that all those who may be appointed to fill vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or removal out of the United States, shall serve the residue of the term, and all those who may be appointed to fill vacancies which occur by lapse of time shall serve for the term of six years; that after said board shall have met and become organized by appointing one of their own body president of said board, it shall be their duty to proceed to select a suitable site for such building as may be, in their judgment, necessary for the institution, and suitable ground not exceeding ten acres, for horticultural and agricultural experiments, which ground may be taken and appropriated out of that part of the public ground in the city of Washington called the Mall; and the ground so selected shall be set out by proper metes and bounds, and a description of the same shall be made and recorded in a book to be provided for that purpose, and signed by said managers, or so many of them as may be convened on said first Monday of September; and such record, or a copy thereof, certified by the president of the board of managers, shall be received as evidence in all courts of the extent and boundaries of the lands appropriated to said institution.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as the board of managers shall have selected the site for the buildings of the institution, they shall cause to be erected a suitable building, of plain and durable materials and structure, without unnecessary ornament, and of sufficient size, and with suitable rooms for the reception and arrangement of objects of natural history, a library, a chemical laboratory, and lecture room or rooms; and the said board shall have authority, by themselves, or by a committee of three of their members, to contract for the completion of such building upon such plan as may be directed by the board of managers, and shall take sufficient security to the Treasurer of the United States for the building and finishing the same according to said plan, and in the time stipulated in such contract: Provided, however, That the expense of said building shall not exceed the sum of eighty thousand dollars, which sum is hereby appropriated for that purpose out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; and the board of managers shall also cause the grounds selected for horticultural and agricultural purposes to be enclosed and secured, and a suitable building erected to preserve such plants as will not bear exposure to the weather at all seasons; and the sum of twenty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated for such building and enclosure, to be paid out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; and so soon as it may be necessary for the accommodation of the persons employed in said institution, the said board of managers may cause to be erected on the grounds of the institution such dwelling houses and other buildings, of plain and substantial

workmanship and materials, to be without unnecessary ornament, as may be wanted: Provided however, That the whole expense of building and furnishing as many such houses as may be required shall not exceed the residue of said interest which will have accrued on the first day of July next; and for the said expenditure the said residue of said interest, amounting to the sum of seventy-eight thousand six hundred and four dollars, is hereby appropriated, payable out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; and all such contracts as may be made by said board of managers shall be deposited with the Treasurer of the United States; and all questions which may arise between the United States and any person claiming under and by virtue of any such contract shall be heard and determined by said board of managers, and such determination shall be final and conclusive upon all parties; and all claims on any contract made as aforesaid shall be allowed and certified by the board of managers, or a committee thereof, as the case may be, and being signed by the president of the board, shall be a sufficient voucher for settlement and payment at the Treasury of the United States. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as buildings shall be erected for their reception, all objects of natural history belonging to the United States, which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesoever custody the same may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be authorized by the board of managers to receive them, and shall be arranged by the professor of natural history in such order and so classed as best to facilitate the examination and study of them in the building so as aforesaid to be erected for the institution; and the managers of said institution shall afterwards, as new specimens in natural history may be obtained for the museum of the institution by exchanges of duplicate specimens belonging to the institution (which they are hereby authorized to make) or by donations which they may receive, cause such new specimens to be also appropriately classed and arranged. And the minerals, books, manuscripts, and other property of James Smithson, which have been received by the Government of the United States, and are now placed in the Patent Office, shall be removed to said institution and shall be preserved separate and apart from the other property of the institution.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the managers of said institution shall appoint a superintendent, whose duty it shall be to take charge of the ground, buildings, and property, belonging to the institution, and carefully preserve the same from injury; and such superintendent shall be the secretary of the board of managers, and shall, under their direction, make a fair and accurate record of all their proceedings, to be preserved in said institution; and the said superintendent shall also discharge the duties of professor of agriculture and of horticulture in said institution, and in that capacity may, with the approbation of the board of managers, employ, from time to to time, so many gardeners and other laborers as may be necessary to cultivate the ground and keep in repair the buildings of said institution; and the superintendent shall receive for his services such sum as may be allowed by the board of managers, to be paid semi-annually on the first day of January and July; and the said superintendent shall be removable by the board of managers whenever, in their judgment, the interest of the intitution may require the superintendent to be changed.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That, at the first meeting of the board of managers, they shall fix on the times for regular meetings of the board, and on application of any three of the managers to the superintendent of the institution, it shall be his duty to appoint a time for a special meeting of the board, of which he shall give notice by letter to each of the tembers, and at any meeting of the board of managers seven shall constitute a quorum to do business; that each member of the board of managers shall be paid his necessary travelling and other expenses in attending meetings of the board, which shall be audited, allowed, and recorded, by the superintendent of the institution. And whenever any person employed by the authority of the institution shall have performed service entitling him to com

pensation, whether the same shall be by way of salary payable semi-annually or wages for labor, the superintendent shall certify to the president of the board that such compensation is due, whereupon the president shall certify the same to the proper officer of the Treasury Department for payment.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers may appoint some suitable person as professor of natural history, a professor of chemistry, and a professor of astronomy, with such other professors as the wants of science may require. They shall also employ able men to lecture in the institution upon the arts and sciences, and shall fix the compensation of such professors and lecturers: Provided, That no professorship shall be established or lecturer employed to treat or lecture on law, physic, or divinity, it being the object of the institution to furnish facilities for the acquisition of such branches of knowledge as are not taught in the various universities.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall make all needful rules, regulations, and by-laws, for the government of the institution and the persons employed therein; they shall direct and prescribe the experiments to be made by the professor of agriculture and horticulture, to determine the utility and advantage of new modes and instruments of culture, to determine whether new fruits, plants, and vegetables, may be cultivated to advantage in the United States; and they shall direct the distribution of all such fruits, plants, seeds, and vegetables, as shall be found useful and adapted to any of our soils and climates, so that the people in every part of the Union may enjoy the benefit and advantage of the experiments made by the institution; they shall also make rules and regulations for the admission of students in the various departments of the institution, and their conduct and deportment while they remain therein: Provided, That all instruction in said institution shall be gratuitous to those students who conform to such rules and regulations.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That be appointed managers of the said Smithsonian Institution, to hold their offices as is herein before provided.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 2, 1844.

Mr. J. Q. ADAMS moved the following resolution which was read, and the rule requiring the same to lie upon the table one day being dispensed with, it was considered and agreed to, viz:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to report to this House the present state and condition of the funds bequeathed by James Smithson to the United States, for the establishment at the city of Washington of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men; with a statement of what payments of interest have been received, and what if any, have been refused or withheld on the State stocks in which the said funds were invested; the amount of interest so withheld or refused to be paid; and what measures have been taken by the Secretary to recover the same; also by whose agency the said investments were made; with copies of any correspondence of the Treasury Department with such agents relating thereto.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 2, 1844.

Mr. WILLIAMS presented a petition of Horatio C. Merriam, of Massachusetts, that a portion of the Smithsonian bequest

be applied to promote agricultural education, that science being heretofore neglected in the systems of education of this country; which was referred to the Committee on Agricul

ture.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 19, 1844.

The Speaker laid before the House the following communication, viz:

A letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d of January last, transmitting statements showing the present state and condition of the funds bequeathed by James Smithson to the United States; the payments of interest that have been received, and what have been refused or withheld on the State stocks in which the said funds were invested, and the amount of interest so withheld; and stating what measures had been taken to recover the interest withheld; also, accompanied with copies of the correspondence in relation to the purchase of State stocks for the fund: which letter and accompanying documents were, on motion of Mr. John Quincy Adams, referred to a select committee of nine members.

Mr. John Quincy Adams, Mr. Houston, Mr. Chappell, Mr. French, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Brengle,* Mr. Yost, Mr. E. D. Potter, and Mr. Wethered,* were appointed the said committee.

The following is the letter:

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February 17, 1844. SIR: In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d of January last, I have the honor to transmit the accompanying statements A, B, C, showing "the present state and condition of the funds bequeathed by James Smithson to the United States, for the establishment of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men; the payments of interest that have been received, and what have been refused, or withheld, on the State stocks in which the said funds were invested, and the amount of interest so withheld."

I have the honor further to report, in compliance with the resolution, that the only measures taken to recover the interest so withheld were, by retaining in the Treasury the amounts stated in statement C, under the provisions of the

*This committee, though ordered, was not actually appointed until Messrs. Brengle and Wethered took their seats.

fourth section of the act of 4th September, 1841; there being no other means by which the department could compel the payment of interest then in arrear.

The resolution also requires to be reported "by whose agency the said investments were made, with copies of any correspondence of the Treasury Department with such agents relating thereto."

In reply to this, I have the honor to state that it does not appear that any agent was ever appointed to make these investments. The correspondence in relation to the purchase of State stocks, for the fund, appears to have been principally with stock-brokers; and copies are annexed, marked from D No. 1, to D No. 63.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient

servant,

Hon. J. W. JONES,

J. C. SPENCER, Secretary of the Treasury.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.