In reply I beg to advise you that there is no objection to the occupa tion, in the manner stated, of a piece of ground not exceeding 2 acres, indicated on a plat which may be examined in the office of the Quartermaster General, provided that the ground in question be vacated whenever it is required by this Department. Very respectfully, Prof. S. P. LANGLEY, Secretary Smithsonian Institution. WM. C. ENDICOTT, The plat in question shows the location of the lot near the center and highest part of the unoccupied wooded ridge, near the colored soldiers' portion of the cemetery. The site, however, is so distant that I should not propose to occupy it while any better could be procured. Reception. I have alluded in my previous report to the habit of the first Secretary of giving receptions from time to time in the rooms of the Institution and to the fact that though these rooms are now devoted to official purposes, the writer, desiring to maintain the tradi tions of this hospitality, had used them once for a similar purpose. He has again employed them in this year on the 18th of April for a reception where it was sought to unite the old and new friends of the Institution. Correspondence.--The Institution receives annually inquiries from all parts of the country for information on topics often most incongruous, but usually connected with science, which are submitted to the Secretary. None of these inquiries is left unanswered, and the burden of this correspondence is very considerable. It has always been regarded, however, as incumbent on the Institution to reply to them as a part of its function in the distribution of knowledge, and a good deal of labor which does not appear, continues to be devoted to this end. U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM. The main features of the work of the National Museum are briefly referred to in this place. They are fully described elsewhere, in the separate volume forming the report of Dr. Goode, Assistant Secretary in charge of the Museum, and the Curators of its several departments. Classified service of the Museum. In response to a resolution of the Senate asking for a "schedule of the classified service of the officers and employés of the National Museum," a letter was addressed by me on March 2 to Hon. John J. Ingalls, President pro tempore of the Senate, transmitting a schedule which upon very careful deliberation represents the actual necessities of the service. This schedule and the letter of transmittal were printed as miscellaneous document No. 92, Fiftieth Congress, second session, and are here re-printed: LETTER of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in reference to Senate resolution of October 8, 1888, asking for "a schedule of the classified service of the officers and employés of the National Museum," SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, March 2, 1889. SIR: In response to the Senate resolution asking for "a schedule of the classified service of the officers and employés of the National Museum," I have the honor to transmit the accompanying schedule, which represents the present actual necessities of the service. The service for the fiscal year of 1887-'88 was reported upon in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, dated December 1, 1888 (H. R. Mis. Doc. No. 55, Fiftieth Congress, second session). In this the aggregate expenditures for service were shown to have been $122,750.47, of which sum $97,493.32 was paid from the appropriation for preservation of collections, $19.203.79 from that for furniture and fixtures, and $6,053.36 from that for heating, lighting, and electrical and telephonic service. A schedule of the number of persons employed in the various departments of the Museum was also given in this letter (pages 4, 9, 11). This schedule should, however, be regarded only as an approximate one, since many of the employés were actually engaged only a part of the year, and others were temporarily transferred to the pay-rolls of the Cincinnati Exhibition and were engaged in special work in connection with that exhibition. It is estimated that the aggregate expenditures for services for the present fiscal year (1888-'89) will be $1299,710, of which amount $103,000 will be paid from the appropriation for preservation of collections, $20,000 from that for furniture and fixtures, and $5,710 from that for heating, lighting, and electrical and telephone service. In the schedule herewith transmitted it is shown that for the proper working of the Museum the amount required for services would be as follows: For salaries of scientific assistants............. For clerical forces For services in preparing, mounting, and installing the collections. For services of miscellaneous employés, including draughtsmen, messen- Total The increase in the total expenditure, as indicated, is due partly to the addition of a number of officers to the scientific staff, and also to the necessity for a few additional clerks, and a considerable number of watchmen, laborers, cleaners, and messengers, whose services are essential to the safety of the collections, as well as to provide for the cleanliness and proper care of the buildings and for the comfort of visitors. The rates of pay indicated are in most cases considerably lower than are customarily allowed for a similar service in the Executive Departments. In the schedule now presented, expenditure for services only is taken into consideration, No attempt has been made to present the needs of the Museum in regard to the purchase or collecting of specimens, the purchase of general supplies, preservatives, materials for mounting and installing collections, books, exhibition cases, furniture, fuel, and gas, the maintenance of the heating and lighting appliances, freight and cartage, travelling expenses of collectors and agents, etc. For these various purposes the expenditure in the last fiscal year amounted to $45,249.53, and that for the present fiscal year will, it is estimated, amount to about $48,000, a sum very inadequate to the needs of the service. It does not include the expenditures for printing the labels and blanks and proceedings and bulletins of the Museum, for which the appropri ation for many years past has been $10,000, and for which I have asked $15,000 for the coming fiscal year. I must not omit to call your attention to the fact that, owing to the peculiar constitution of the Museum as a scientific establishment, it has hitherto been possible to secure a special economy, owing to the fact that its officers and employés are not scheduled as in the Executive Departments. In thus presenting, in obedience to the request of the Senate, a schedule of a durable organization of the service, I wish to remark, emphatically, that there are pressing needs in other directions-needs that merit the serious consideration of Congress, in order that the National Mu seum may be enabled to maintain a satisfactory position in comparison with those of European nations. I have the honor to be, your most obedient servant, Hon. JOHN J. INGALLS, President, pro tempore, of the Senate. Secretary. Schedule of the classified service of the officers and employés of the United States National Museum, arranged according to duty and salary, as required for the proper working of the Museum. Desiguation. Scientific staff. Secretary Smithsonian Institution, director ex officio Assistant secretary Smithsonian Institution, in charge of National Mu seum.. Compensation. $4,000.00 3,000.00 12,000.00 10,500.00 6, 400.00 5, 600.00 4,800.00 6,000.00 4,000.00 56,300,00 Clerical staff. Chief clerk. 2,200.00 Four chiefs of divisions: Correspondence; transportation, storage, and record; publications and labels; installation, at $2,000. 8,000,00 One disbursing clerk*. 1,200.00 *This officer receives pay also from the Smithsonian Institution for similar services, Schedule of the classified service of the officers and employés of the United States National Museum, etc. - Continued. One superintendent of buildings. Two assistant superintendents, at $1,000 Four watchmen, at $780.... Twenty-four watchmen and door-keepers, at $600. Twelve laborers, at $480 Three attendants, at $480 Ten attendants and cleaners, at $360 Special service of laborers and cleaners, to be paid by the hour. 2,000.00 1,000.00 1,320,00 2,000,00 1,500.00 2,000.00 1,440.00 2,000.00 1.200.00 1,200.00 900,00 5,500.00 22,060.00 1,620.00 2,000.00 3, 120.00 14, 400.00 5,760.00 1,440.00 3,600.00 4,800.00 36, 740.00 Mechanics (repairing buildings, cases, and objects in the collections). Schedule of the classified service of the officers and employés of the United States National Museum, etc.-Continued. In presenting these schedules to Congress I have shown what would be the cost of the administration of the Museum, in respect to salaries alone, if it were organized after the manner of the Executive Departments of the Government. The salary list alone amounts to $199,121, and the amount expended in the previous fiscal year for other purposes was $45,000, a sum which might most advantageously be doubled. I am not prepared at present to recommend the adoption of such a schedule of classified service, since I am of the opinion that the Museum at the present time has greater need of money to be used in the acquisition of new material by purchase and exploration. The opportunities for making collections are yearly growing less, and many things which can now be done at trifling expense will in a few years be imprac ticable. |