building, provided they receive what they are entitled to receive; and hence this proposition to pay the interest in coin. I shall move an amendment to the proposition to make up the difference between the currency which the institution has received and the coin to which, they were entitled, in order that they may have the means to repair the building. I think the Government is bound to pay it by every obligation, and particularly by the obligation which it took upon itself when it accepted this fund.

But the Senator from Iowa brings in here the fact that this fund was invested in Arkansas bonds. Was that the fault of Smithson who made the bequest? Whose fault was it if an improvident use was made of the funds of the insti tution? But that question is not now to be settled. The Government of the United States has assumed the control of this money, has incorporated this institution, has agreed to pay the interest forever at six per cent. upon the money that was placed in its Treasury; and, unless it means to repudiate this obligation, it is bound to pay it, and it is bound to pay it in the same currency that it pays to other creditors similarly situated. That is all that the institution asks. They probably would not have pressed at this time for the payment in coin but for the misfortune of the fire which has recently occurred. I move to amend the section which is pending by adding to it the following:

And in case the interest heretofore paid to said institution has been paid in a different currency, or of less value, than that paid by the Government on other permanent debts or trust funds, that the Secretary be directed to make up the difference to said Smithsonian Institution.

Mr. COLLAMER. Mr. President, I do not wish to confine my remarks to the amendment now under consideration. I can see no good reason for the amendment of the Senator from Illinois. So far as this institution have received their interest in any money that was satisfactory to them when they received it, I consider it paid. In relation to what has not been paid them, it undoubtedly should be paid them, as I think, in coin, as is the case with all the trust funds in the hands of the Government.

But, sir, I rose more particularly to make one remark. I feel a good deal gratified at the speeches that have been made on this subject this evening, and from this consideration: Congress, by the votes of many of the gentlemen who have spoken on this subject to-night, passed a law nearly four years ago to enable individuals to pay off their old notes in depreciated paper at half price, and we called it a legal tender. These gentlemen voted for that measure, by which people

were enabled to cheat their creditors, and by which the Government never got anything, and never will. But what particularly gratifies me is this: that while they were willing to make a law, and it is a standing law now, to enable individuals to cheat their creditors by paying them off in money at half price, they are ashamed to do it on their own account, and will not do any such thing; and I hope they never will. [Laughter.]

Mr. DAVIS. Mr. President, I think there is a higher obligation to keep this bequest at its original amount than any legal obligation. Smithson was a natural son of the Duke of Northumberland. He made a declaration in connection with this bequest that he would render his name more famous than that of the illustrious house to which he was allied. He executed a will, in which he bestowed the whole of his estate upon the United States, in trust, to establish, as the honorable Senator from Illinois has just read, an institution to be located in the city of Washington for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. That was the highest testimony

that that individual could have rendered to the Government of the United States, or to the United States themselves. Although allied to an illustrious house, he gave all that he had of worldly property to our country and to our Government, for the purpose of founding an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge. From the circumstances under which the bequest was made, and the manner in which its execution was assumed by our Government, in my judgment, it creates a higher than a legal obligation that the amount and value of this noble bequest shall not deteriorate or be reduced in amount in the hands of those that he charged with the execution of the trust.

The honorable Senator from Illinois says, correctly no doubt, that the reason why this application is now made at this time is because of the misfortune that befell the Smithsonian Institution a few weeks since. That was in some degree the fault of the United States Government. It had property deposited for custody and exhibition in the Interior Department, which was directed by the officers of the Government to be transferred to the Smithsonian Institution for the same custody and for similar exhibition. This property was not properly attached to, or appended to, the Smithsonian Institution. The managers of that institution received the custody and the possession of this property reluctantly, and only because its custody had been imposed upon them by the officials of the United States Government. The proper arrangement of that property in one of its halls

rendered necessary the making of some repairs in the hall that caused the making of a fire in that hall, which resulted in the conflagration of the building.

It seems to me, Mr. President, in view of the nature of the bequest, of the nobleness of the motives of the testator who bequeathed it, of the high scientific purposes for which it was given to the United States; in view of the great trust and confidence that was reposed by the testator in the Government, and in the United States, and in our country; and in view of the fact that this fire that resulted in the burning of the Smithsonian building arose from the imposition of a duty that did not appertain to that institution at all, the United States Government ought to hold itself bound by every obligation to keep the bequest at its original value; and that is all that is proposed.

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. Foot in the chair.) The question is on the amendment of the Senator from Illinois to the amendment of the committee.

The amendment to the amendment was rejected.

The amendment of the committee was adopted; there being, on a division-ayes twenty-one, noes not counted. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendments reported by the Committee on Finance are all disposed of.

Mr. HALE. I find we have got another Smithsonian Institution on a smaller scale in this bill that I want to get rid of. I move to strike out the following clause :

For publishing the annual report of the National Academy of Sciences, made to Congress, under the act approved March 3, 1863, $6,000.

If there is no objection to striking it out, I have nothing to say.

The amendment was agreed to.

March 7, 1865.-Mr. Foor offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the President of the Senate appoint a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, on the part of the Senate, in the vacancy now existing in the Board of Regents.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore appointed Mr. Fessenden.

March 8, 1865.-Mr. ANTHONY. I offer a resolution in connection with the report of the Smithsonian Institution. It is the usual annual resolution on the subject, and has received the assent of the Committee on Printing, and need not, therefore, be referred to that committee:

Resolved, That 5,000 additional copies of the report of the Smithsonian Institution, for 1864, be printed; 3,000 for the use of the Senate, and 2,000 for the use of the Smithsonian Institution: Provided, That the aggregate number of pages in said report shall not exceed 450, without wood-cuts or

plates, except those furnished by the institution, and that the report be stereotyped.

Agreed to.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 2, 1865.

The concurrent resolution from the Senate of February 2, was passed.

February 11, 1865.-On motion of Mr. FRANK, the joint resolution from the Senate appointing General Richard Delafield a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, was taken up and passed.

March 2, 1865.-Mr. RICE, of Maine. I offer the following as as additional amendment to the bill:

And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to pay the interest on the public debt due the Smithsonian Institution in the same funds as the interest on other permanent debts due by the United States prior to the present rebellion have been and are paid; and in case the interest heretofore paid to said institution has been paid in a different currency and of less value than that paid by the Government on other permanent debts or trust funds, that the Secretary be directed to make up the difference to said Smithsonian Institution.

Mr. STEVENS. Why not put in the word "gold" at

once?

Mr. HOLMAN. 1 rise to a question of order. This is not an appropriation in accordance with law, but it is an attempt to appropriate a specific sum of money in gold instead of the ordinary currency of the country.

The CHAIRMAN. The Chair sustains the point of order, and rules the amendment out of order.

Mr. Cox. I appeal from the decision of the Chair, and I desire to be heard a moment in explanation. This is not an appropriation. It is only a direction to the Secretary of the Treasury to pay the interest on this special fund in gold, as it always has been paid, and as it ought to be paid now.

Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. I rise to a question of order. Has not the debate been closed on this bill?

The CHAIRMAN. It has, and the Chair adheres to its decision.

Mr. Cox. I wish the Chair could have had the facts of the case before him before he decided it. I respectfully appeal from the decision of the Chair.

The question was, Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the judgment of the committee?

The question was taken, and the decision of the Chair was sustained.

Mr. SPALDING. I move to insert the following as an additional section:

SEC. --. And be it further enacted, That there be appropriated for the purpose of making repairs upon the building of the Smithsonian Institu tion, lately injured by fire, the sum of $50,000.

Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. I raise the point of order that this amendment proposes to change the existing law, and is therefore out of order.

The CHAIRMAN. The Chair sustains the point of order.

THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS.

SENATE, March 22, 1866.

Mr. HowE. The Joint Committee on the Library have instructed me to report a bill to provide for the transfer of the custody of the library of the Smithsonian Institution to the library of Congress.

Mr. SUMNER. I am very much interested in that question. I have paid some little attention to the subject in advance, and I should really like to see the bill in print. I do not wish to make any objection, but I think it had better lie

over.

Mr. HowE. Certainly, that is a very reasonable request. I cannot ask to have it considered.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It will lie over under the rule.

March 27, 1866.-The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no further morning business, the Chair will call up the unfinished business of yesterday.

Mr. HowE. Is that now regularly before the Senate.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It is not regularly before the Senate until one o'clock, but if there be no other business the Chair will call it up.

Mr. HowE. Then I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Senate bill No. 216.

The motion was agreed to; and the bill (S. No. 216) to provide for the transfer of the custody of the library of the Smithsonian Institution to the library of Congress, was read a second time and considered as in Committee of the Whole. It provides that the library collected by the Smithsonian Institution, under the provisions of an act approved August 10, 1846, shall be removed from the building of that institution, with the consent of the regents, to the new fire-proof extension of the library of Congress, upon completion of a sufficient portion for its accommodation, and while there deposited, it is to be subject to the same regulations as the library of Congress, except as provided in this bill.