August 24, 1852-Senate.

APPOINTMENT OF REGENTS

By the Vice-President.

Mr. J. A. PEARCE submitted resolution.

Resolved, That the vacancy in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, occasioned by the resignation of Jefferson Davis, be filled by the President of the Senate.

Agreed to and Robert M. Charlton was appointed.

January 2, 1852-House.

APPOINTMENT OF REGENTS

By the Speaker.

The Speaker (Mr. Linn Boyd), in pursuance of the act of Congress, announced the names of the following gentlemen as Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: William F. Colcock, of South Carolina; Graham N. Fitch, of Indiana, and James Meacham, of Vermont.

December 21, 1852-Senate.

APPOINTMENT OF REGENTS

By Joint Resolution.

Mr. J. A. PEARCE. There are two vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, which it is very desirable and necessary should soon be filled. I therefore ask leave to introduce a joint resolution.

Resolved, etc., That the vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, of the class "other than members of Congress," be filled by the appointment of Alexander Dallas Bache, of the city of Washington, and John MacPherson Berrien, of the State of Georgia.

Considered by the Senate as in Committee of the Whole; reported without amendment; passed.

January 11, 1853-House.

Mr. JAMES MEACHAM. I ask the unanimous consent of the House to take up joint resolution S. 64, for the appointment of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. It will take but a moment, and it is very necessary that it should be passed. Resolution passed.

January 13, 1853.

Resolved, etc., That the vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, of the class "other than members of Congress," be filled by the appointment of Alexander Dallas Bache, a member of the National Institute, and resident in the city of Washington, and John MacPherson Berrien, of the State of Georgia. (Stat., X, 261.)

DOCUMENTS.

August 31, 1852-Senate.

On motion by Mr. AUGUSTUS C. DODGE, of Iowa, it was

Ordered, That instead of the distribution of Owen's report heretofore ordered, there be furnished to the General Land Office 100 copies, to the Smithsonian Institution 100 copies, and to Dr. Owen 200 copies.

August 31, 1852.

EXPLORING EXPEDITION.

Civil and diplomatic act for 1853.

Library of Congress.--For continuing the preparation and publication of the works of the Exploring Expedition, including the expenses of the greenhouse, and for the settlement of arrears due on the erection of said greenhouse, $25,000: Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be applied to the enlarging of the present or the erection of new buildings.

(Stat., X, 77.)

March 3, 1853.

Civil and diplomatic act for 1854.

Library of Congress.-For the completion of the publication of the works of the Exploring Expedition, in pursuance of contracts already made, $25,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall finish the publication.

(Stat., X, 190.)

August 31, 1852.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES.

Civil and diplomatic act for 1853.

To defray freight and other expenses incurred under the act to regulate the exchange of certain documents and other publications, approved June 26, 1848, the sum of $1,000, and that the said act is hereby repealed.

(Stat., X, 77.)

August 31, 1852.

METEOROLOGY-JAMES P. ESPY.

Act for naval service for 1853.

For meteorological observations, to be conducted under the direc tions of the Secretary of the Navy, $2,000.

For the payment of the salary of Professor James P. Espy, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1848, no appropriation having been made by Congress for that year, $2,000.

(Stat., X, 102.)

March 3, 1853.

Act for naval service for 1854.

For meteorological observations, to be conducted under the directions of the Secretary of the Navy, $2,000.

(Stat., X, 221.)

THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-1855.

SMITHSON FUND.

January 3, 1854-House.

Mr. Jos. R. CHANDLER offered resolution:

Resolved, That a select committee, consisting of nine members, be appointed and instructed to inquire into the expediency of withdrawing from the Treasury of the United States the Smithsonian fund, and investing the same in sound stocks, or in such other way as may be to the interest of said fund.

Mr. CHANDLER. This money is lying in the Treasury of the United States, and the Government has to pay for the use of it when it is buying up its own stock at a large premium. It is, therefore, desirable to place the fund in some other situation.

Mr. GEORGE W. JONES, of Tennessee. I desire to make one inquiry of the gentleman, and it is whether there is any certainty that a method can be devised by which he can so invest this money in stocks, or in any other way that, provided it should be lost, the Government will not have to refund it? We made one investment of a portion of this fund and had to pay the amount of the investment.

Mr. CHANDLER. Invest it in Eastern stocks, and not in Western. Mr. T. H. BAYLY, of Virginia, called for the reading of the resolution, and no objection being made it was accordingly again read.

The question was then taken on the adoption of the resolution; and there were, on a division-ayes 84; noes not counted.

Adopted.

March 10, 1854-House.

Mr. J. R. CHANDLER. I ask leave to introduce a memorial from the Smithsonian Institution, with a view of having it referred to the special committee appointed early in January. It is a memorial asking Congress to authorize the Treasury Department to receive $150,000, saved from the accrued interest, on the same terms as those on which the original bequest was received.

To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled: GENTLEMEN: The Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution have directed me to transmit to your honorable body the resolution appended to this communication, and to solicit the passage of a law in accordance therewith.

It is known to your honorable body that the original sum received into the United States Treasury from the Smithsonian bequest was a little more than $515,000, and that at the time of the passage of the act incorporating the Institution $242,000 had accrued in interest, which sum, or so much of it as might be deemed necessary, the Regents were authorized to appropriate to a building.

In consideration, however, of the great demands upon the Institution for "the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," the Regents, instead of immediately expending this sum on the building, have carefully husbanded it, and have extended the time of the erection of the building over several years, and have defrayed the expense in part out of the proceeds of this sum, and in part out of such portions of the income of the original fund as could be spared from the operations

of the Institution. The building will be completed in a few months in fireproof materials, and in a very substantial manner, and besides the money required to pay the contractor there is now on hand $150,000 of accrued interest.

This sum the Regents ask to be allowed to place in the Treasury of the United States with the original bequest, and to add to it, from time to time, such other sums as may come into their possession by donation or otherwise until the sum thus added shall amount to $

The sole object of this bequest is the permanent investment and perpetual security of the accumulated fund, and when your honorable body is assured that the operations of the Institution have received the approbation of the wise and good in every part of the world where literature and science are cultivated, the undersigned trusts that the request will be granted.

And your petitioner will ever pray, etc.

December 5, 1854-House.

JOSEPH HENRY,

Secretary of Smithsonian Institution.

Mr. Jos. R. CHANDLER offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the special committee to whom, at the last session of Congress, was referred the subject of the investment of the funds of the Smithsonian Institution, be continued with its powers and duties.

The Speaker (Mr. LINN BOYD). With the permission of the House, the Chair would remark that all the select committees appointed at the last session expired, as a matter of course, with the last session. If not objected to, a general order will be entered to continue those committees which did not report in full at the last session.

Mr. PETER ROWE. I object.

The SPEAKER. The question will then be upon the resolution offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Resolution agreed to.

March 3, 1855-House.

Mr. Jos. R. CHANDLER, of Pennsylvania, from the select committee to inquire into the expediency of withdrawing from the Treasury of the United States the Smithsonian fund, and investing it in sound stocks, reported that immediately after the appointment of a committee the chairman addressed a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, inquiring into the history and present state of the Smithsonian fund. To that letter the following answer was received:

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 6, 1854. SIR: I duly received your letter of the 4th of January last, inclosing a copy of the following resolution, adopted by the House of Representatives on the 3d of that month: "Resolved, That a select committee, consisting of nine members, be appointed and instructed to inquire into the expediency of withdrawing from the Treasury of the United States the Smithsonian fund, and investing the same in sound stocks, or in such other way as may be to the interest of said fund," and requesting a statement of the amount of the Smithsonian fund in possession of the Department, or under its control, and the amount of interest accruing thereon, with any other information that may assist the committee in the discharge of the duty enjoined by said resolution. In compliance with your request, I have the honor to transmit herewith the accompanying statements, marked A, B, C, and D.

The sum received in London from the bequest of Mr. Smithson by the agent of the United States appointed in pursuance of the act of July 1, 1836, was $515,169. But the sum actually received into the Treasury was $508,318.46, the difference between the two sums having been absorbed by certain expenses in collecting and transferring the money to the United States.

By the sixth section of the act of July 7, 1838, it was provided that the money so received should be invested by the Secretary of the Treasury, with the approbation of the President of the United States, in stocks of States, bearing not less than 5 per cent interest, and that the said stocks should be held by the said Secretary in trust for the uses specified in the last will and testament of James Smithson, until provisions should be made by law for carrying the purposes of the said bequest into effect, and the annual interest accruing on the stock aforesaid should, in like manner, be invested for the benefit of the said Institution.

By the act of September 11, 1841, so much of the before-mentioned act as authorized investments in stocks of the States was repealed, and the Secretary of the Treasury was required thereafter to invest in stocks of the United States.

But between the dates of these two acts the sum of $508,318.46, together with the interest accruing on the first purchase, was invested in stock of the State of Arkansas, upon which the State, in the sequel, failed to pay interest, and upon which, from the time of such failure, nothing has been realized, except certain sums which have accrued to the State from the sale of public lands under what is commonly called the 5 per cent fund.

In this condition of the fund the act of August 10, 1846, was passed, entitled "An act to establish the Smithsonian Institution, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”

The act recognized as a debt due from the United States the sum so received and invested. It fixed the said sum at $515,169, the sum received by the agent in London, thus assuming the expenses incurred, and leaving the original bequest unimpaired for the use of the Institution. It provided for the payment of interest on the said sum from the time of receipt, at 6 per cent, payable on the 1st January and 1st July of each year, appropriating the interest which had so far accrued, amounting to $242,129, for the erection of suitable buildings, and the interest thereafter to accrue for the maintenance and support of the Institution. But the act at the same time provided "that all the stocks which may have been or may hereafter be received into the Treasury of the United States on account of the fund bequeathed by James Smithson be, and the same are hereby, pledged to refund to the Treasury of the United States the sums hereby appropriated."

With this brief explanation of the history of the fund, including the legislation thereon, the committee, it is hoped, will find the statements referred to sufficiently intelligible.

A is a statement showing on the one hand, first, the amount originally received into the Treasury; second, the amounts received for interest; and, third, the amount of United States stock redeemed, this amount ($5,523.21) being part of the sum of $106,184.85 mentioned in same statement; and, on the other hand, first, the investments made for the benefit of the Institution; second, an expense incurred in the management of the fund; and, third, the balance remaining on hand.

Statement B shows the amount of stock now held, and the different descriptions of which it is composed. It shows also the present market value of said stocks, with the exception of the Arkansas, which is, perhaps, not worth more than 40 cents on the dollar.

C is a statement showing on the one hand the interest which has accrued on these stocks, and on the other hand, first, the interest which has been received, and, second, the interest which is due and uncollected.