REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 43 



and Grounds, June 4, 1888, Tlii.s is identical with the bill proposed l>y 

 Senator Beck April 23, 1888 (S. 2752), which was read twice and re- 

 ferred to the Committee on Public Buildiugs and Grounds with the ad- 

 ditions of the paragraphs inclosed in brackets. 



This establishment it is proposed, when completed, to place under 

 the care of the Kegents, with a proper provision for its maintenance. 

 The bill has not yet become a law, but in the event of its doing so, the 

 trust created, being in the interest of knowledge, and incidentally ofler- 

 ing a most obvious means for its popular diffusion, seems to be one which 

 falls entirely within the proper function of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and I hope I may be able to state that the trust is one of a nature which 

 the Eegents, if called upon, are likely to favor. 



[A BILL for the establishmeut of a zoological park in the District of Columbia.] 



That, in order to establish a Zoological Park in the District of Colum- 

 bia, for the advancement of science and the instruction and recreation of 

 the people, a commission shall be constituted, composed of three persons, 

 namely: the Secretary of the Interior, the president of the board of 

 Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and the Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, which shall be known and designated as the 

 commission for the establishaient of a zoological park. 



That the said commission is hereby authorized and directed to make 

 an inspection of the country along Eock Creek, beginning at the point 

 on that creek where the Woodley road crosses said creek, and extend- 

 ing upward along its course to where said creek is crossed by the 

 Klingle road, and to select from that district of country such a tract of 

 land, of not more than one hundred acres, which shall include a section 

 of the creek, as said commission shall deem to be suitable and appro- 

 priate for a zoological park. 



That the said commission shall cause to be made a careful map of said 

 zoological park, showing the location, quantity, and character of each 

 parcel of private property to be taken for such purpose, with the names 

 of the respective owners inscribed thereon, and the said ma]) shall be 

 filed and recorded in the public records of the District of Columbia; 

 and from and after that date the several tracts and i)arcels of land em- 

 braced in such zoological park shall be held as condemned for j)ublic 

 uses, subject to the payment of just compensation, to be determined by 

 the said commission and approved by the President of the L'nited 

 States, provided that such compensation be accepted by the owner or 

 owners of the several parcels of land. 



That if the said commission shall be unable to purchase any portion 

 of the land so selected and condemned within thirty days after such 

 condemnation, by agreement with the respective owners, at the price 

 approved by the President of the Cnited States, it shall, at the expira- 

 tion of such period of thirty days, make application to the Supreme 

 Court of the District of Columbia, by petition, at a general or special 

 term, for an assessment of the value of such land, and said petition shall 

 contain a particular descrijition of the property selected and condemned, 

 with the name of the owner or owners thereof, and his, her, or their 

 residences, as far as the same can be ascertained, together with a copy 

 of the recorded map of the park; and the said Court is hereby author- 

 ized and required, u[)()n such applictation, without <lelay, to notify the 

 owners and occupants of the land and to ascertain and assess the value 



