278 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903, 



Arcliitect of the Capitol, witli tlu^ approval of the Regents of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution, in liarmonj' with the present National jVIuseum l)nil(linjr, on the sonthwestern 

 portion of the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution, there shall l)e appropriated, 

 out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise ai)i>ropriated, the sum of $250,000; 

 said l)uil(lin<r to be ])hu'ed west of the Smithsonian Institution, leaving a roadway 

 ])etween it and tho latter of not less than 50 feet, with its north front on a line 

 with the south face of the Agricultural Department and of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, and constructed, as far as practicable, after proper advertisement, l)y contract 

 or contracts approved by the Secretary of the Treasury and awarded to the lowest 

 responsible bidder; and all expenditures for the purpose herein mentioned shall be 

 audited by the pro])er oflicers of the Treasury Department. 



This ])ill was referi-ed to the Committee on Public Building-s and 

 Grounds, l)ut on Fcbfuaiy 27 followino- Sonatoi* Morrill reported an 

 amendment, which consisted in substitutino- for the "Architect of the 

 Capitol " the name of Bernard R. Green to have direction of the con- 

 struction. It was submitted l)y the conunittee on March 23, 18!)6, 

 with a report (No. 540), consistinj>- of material supplied b\' Secretar}" 

 Langle}^ and Assistant Secretary Goode. The following, by Mr. 

 Langley, is extracted from his report for 1895: 



In my last annual statement I i)ointed out three conditions which are operating to 

 seriously retard the growth of the National Museum: First, the lack (jf s])ace for the 

 installation of ol)jects which should be placed on exhibition; second, the unsyni- 

 metrical growth of the collection; and, third, tlie fact that the storage of collections 

 in the wooden sheds south of tlie Smithsonian buililing, as well as in the basement 

 of the building itself, is most undesirable and dangerous. Tlie sum of |900, allowed 

 for 1896, will be necessarily expended in the rental of shop and storage room in 

 place of the "Armory building." The actually dangerous wooden sheds must there- 

 fore remain occupied imtil a sum of money is provided which will enable me to 

 discontinue their use altogether by renting other (juarters removed entirely from 

 proximity to the Smithsonian building. 



The problem of even providing shelter of any kind for the vast amount of material 

 daily received from persons interested in the growth and work of tlie Museum still 

 remains inisolved. The Institution is place<l in an embarrassing ])osition. It has 

 l)een designated by law as the only depository of colU'ctions offered to or made 

 under the auspices of the Government, and can not, under tlie law, refuse to receive 

 them. The fact remains, however, that when act-epted there is no suitable i)lace in 

 which to store them, and no space in the Museum building to exhibit such of the 

 objects as should properly be shown to the public. As I havi' already pointed out, 

 there is probaljly no nuiseum in the world in which so small a proportion of the 

 objects worthy of exhibition is visible to the public, or in whi(!h the ol)jects exhibited 

 are crowded together so closely. It is now more true than ever that if another 

 museum buililing as large as the jiresent one were provideil it couM be at once tilled 

 with specimens already on hand. 



Following are some of the more important parts of Mr. Goode's 

 statement: 



The Smithsonian Institution is the custodian of the National Museum, which is 

 the only lawful i)lace of dejtosit of "all objects of art and of foreign and curious 

 research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geologitud and mineralogical 

 specimens belonging to the United States." The imcleus of the collections con- 

 sists of the specimens brought home by the Wilkes and other exploring expedi- 



