Mr. PRESTON said the declaration of the Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Southard] had satisfied him that this was a national university. There was no difference between a university in the District of Columbia for the benefit of all mankind and a national university. That Senator had not distinguished between the power of erecting buildings and the use to which they are appropriated. They had the power to erect buildings in loco parentis patria for the benefit of the District of Columbia; they might erect buildings for the maintenance of paupers of the District; but if the people of the District, in this case, were to have any benefit peculiar to the place, it was in the erection of the buildings alone. He asked if the buildings of the Post-Office Department were erected by Congress as the parens patriæ of the District of Columbia? Had they the right, as parens patriæ of the District of Columbia, to erect this building for the benefit humani generis of this District, when it was, in fact, a general charity to mankind, including the confederacy, and not confined to the District of Columbia? He was against the power, and would be against the policy, if they had the power. After some further remarks from Mr. LEIGH and Mr. PRESTON, the question was taken on ordering the resolution to be engrossed for a third reading, and decided in the affirmative-yeas 31, nays 7, as follows: Yeas.-Messrs. Benton, Black, Buchanan, Clay, Clayton, Crittenden, Cuthbert, Davis, Ewing of Ohio, Goldsboro, Grundy, Hendricks, Hubbard, Kent, King of Alabama, Knight, Leigh, Linn, Mangum, Moore, Naudain, Nicholas, Porter, Prentiss, Rives, Robbins, Southard, Swift, Tallmadge, Tomlinson, Walker-31. Nays.-Messrs. Calhoun, Ewing of Illinois, Hill, King of Georgia, Preston, Robinson, White-7. May 2, 1836-Senate. Resolution passed. May 10, 1836-House. The resolution (S. No. 4) from the Senate was committed to the Committee of the Whole. A motion was made by Mr. J. QUINCY ADAMS that the rule be suspended to enable him to make a motion that said resolution be the special order of the day on Tuesday, the 17th instant, from 11 o'clock a. m. to 1 p. m.; which motion to suspend was disagreed to by the House. June 25, 1836-House. In Committee of the Whole, Senate resolution No. 4 was considered and amended. The amendments made in Committee of the Whole, one of which amendments changed the Senate resolution into the form of a bill to authorize the President of the United States to assert and prosecute the right of the United States to the legacy of James Smithson, late of London, were reported to the House, and were concurred in. The bill was passed. June 25, 1836-Senate. The Senate concurred in the amendments made by the House in Senate resolution No. 4. July 1, 1836 An act to authorize and enable the President to assert and prosecute with effect the claim of the United States to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson, late of London, deceased, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to constitute and appoint an agent or agents to assert and prosecute for and in behalf of the United States, and in their name or otherwise, as may be advisable, in the court of chancery, or other proper tribunal of England, the right of the United States to the legacy bequeathed to them by the last will and testament of James Smithson, late of London, deceased, for the purpose of founding at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, and to empower such agent or agents so appointed to receive and grant acquittances for all such sum or sums of money, or other funds, as may or shall be decreed or adjudged to the United States for or on account of said legacy. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said agent or agents shall, before receiving any part of said legacy, give a bond or bonds, in the penal sum of $500,000, to the Treasurer of the United States, and his successors in office, with good and sufficient securities, to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the faithful performance of the duties of the said agency and for the faithful remittance to the Treasurer of the United States of all and every sum or sums of money or other funds which he or they may receive for payment in whole or in part of the said legacy. And the Treasurer of the United States is hereby authorized and required to keep safely all sums of money or other funds which may be received by him in virtue of the said bequest, and to account therefor separately from all other accounts of his office, and subject to such further disposal thereof as may be hereafter provided by Congress. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That any and all sums of money and other funds which shall be received for or on account of the said legacy shall be applied, in such manner as Congress may hereafter direct, to the purpose of founding and endowing at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men; to which application of the said moneys and other funds the faith of the United States is hereby pledged. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That to the end that the claim to the said bequest may be prosecuted with effect, and the necessary expenses in prosecuting the same be defrayed, the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to apply to that purpose any sum not exceeding $10,000 out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. (Stat., V, 64.) TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS-1837-1839. September, 1837-House. BEQUEST OF JAMES SMITHSON. The sum of $10,000 provided in the act of July 1, 1836, having proved insufficient, the Secretary of State asked an additional appropriation by Congress. John Forsyth to C. C. Cambreleng. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 14, 1837. SIR: It will be seen by the annexed statement that of the appropriation made in the year 1836 to prosecute the claim of the United States to the legacy bequeathed by James Smithson, of London, there remained unexpended on the 31st day of July last but $4,000. As that sum will not probably be sufficient to meet the necessary expenditures until an appropriation could be made at the next session of Congress and placed in London, I have the honor to submit to the Committee of Ways and Means the necessity of providing for them by an appropriation at this session. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. C. C. Cambreleng, Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, JOHN FORSYTH. House of Representatives. STATEMENT OF THE SMITHSONIAN FUND. Amount of appropriation made in 1836 $10,000 Mr. Rush's account for salary for one year, to the 31st of July, 1837.. $3,000 [Same to Mr. Silas Wright, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Senate. John Forsyth to C. C. Cambreleng. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 19, 1837. SIR: I have the honor to inclose a letter received at this Department from Mr. Richard Rush, agent of the United States in London for the prosecution of their claim to the property bequeathed by the late James Smithson, together with the bill of Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore, and Fladgate, solicitors, paid by him. I also inclose a letter from Mr. Daniel Brent, consul of the United States at Paris, in relation to payments made by him in endeavoring to secure property supposed by him to constitute a part of that bequeathed by Mr. Smithson, with a copy of Mr. Rush's answer to his application for reimbursement. I would suggest $10,000 as the amount necessary to be appropriated for the continuation of the prosecution of the claim of the United States, and that it is of urgent necessity that it be made at this session, in order that funds may be transmitted to the bankers of the United States in London to meet the drafts that may necessarily be made upon them for the expenses to be incurred therein. * * * I have to request that the papers inclosed may be shown to the chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate and that they may be returned to this Department. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. C. C. CAMBRELENG, Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, October 16, 1837. House of Representatives. JOHN FORSYTH. An act making further appropriations for the year 1837. For defraying the expenses attending the prosecution of the claim of the United States to the legacy bequeathed by the late James Smithson, of London, $5,000. (Stat., V, 207.) March 5, 1838-House. On motion of Mr. TIMOTHY CHILDS, Resolved, That the President be requested to communicate to this House (if the same can be done without prejudice to the public service) all the documents and information in his possession relative to the prosecution of the claim to the Smithsonian bequest; also, what duty has been performed, and remains to be performed, by the agent employed at London in reference to said claim, and how the money heretofore appropriated by Congress has been applied. May 21, 1838-House. Memorial of Walter R. Johnson relative to the Smithson bequest presented. (See p. 146.) June 28, 1838-House. Mr. ABRAHAM RENCHER submitted resolution: Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means inquire into the expediency of authorizing a temporary investment of the Smithsonian legacy, as soon as it shall be received by the President of the United States. Agreed to. July 2, 1838-House. Mr. C. C. CAMBRELENG, from the Committee of Ways and Means, reported: [H. No. 863.] A bill to provide for the investment of inoney received under the will of the late James Smithson, of London. Be it enacted, etc., That all money arising from the bequest of the late James Smithson, of London, for the purpose of founding at Washington, in this District, an institution to be denominated the Smithsonian Institution, shall be paid into the Treasury, and invested by the Secretary of the Treasury, with the approbation of the President of the United States, in stock of the United States, to be created for that purpose, bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable annually; that the certificates for said stock shall be issued by the Secretary of the Treasury to the President, who shall hold the same in trust for the uses specified in the last will and testament of said Smithson, until provision is made by law for carrying the purpose of said bequest into effect; and that the annual interest accruing on the stock aforesaid shall be in like manner invested for the benefit of said Institution. July 7, 1838. The following section providing for the investment of the Smithsonian fund became a law: An act to provide for the support of the Military Academy of the United States for the year 1838, and for other purposes. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all the money arising from the bequest of the late James Smithson, of London, for the purpose of founding at Washington, in this District, an institution to be denominated the Smithsonian Institution, which may be paid into the Treasury, is hereby appropriated, and shall be invested by the Secretary of the Treasury, with the approbation of the President of United States, in stocks of States, bearing interest at the rate of not less than five per centum per annum, which said stocks shall be held by the said Secretary in trust for the uses specified in the last will and testament of said Smithson, until provision is made by law for carrying the purpose of said bequest into effect; and that the annual interest accruing on the stock aforesaid shall be in like manner invested for the benefit of said Institution. (Stat., V, 267.) July 9, 1838-House. Mr. W. B. CALHOUN, of Massachusetts, submitted resolution: Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause to be laid before the House during the first week of the next session of Congress all such communications, papers, documents, etc., now in the possession of the Executive, or which can be obtained, as shall elucidate the origin and object of the Smithsonian bequest, and the origin, progress, and consummation of the process by which that bequest has been recovered, and whatever may be connected with the subject. Agreed to. December 10, 1838-Senate. Message from the President of the United States. WASHINGTON, December 6, 1838. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: The act of the 1st July, 1836, to enable the Executive to assert and prosecute with effect the claim of the United States to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson, late of London, having received its entire execution, and the amount recovered and paid into the Treasury having, agreeably to an act of the last session, been invested in State stocks, I deem it proper to invite the attention of Congress to the obligation now devolving upon the United States to fulfill the object of the bequest. In order to obtain such information H. Doc. 732-10 |