XL JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 



Ilie organizer of tbcSmitbsouiaii iDStitutioUjentertainod the settled opin 

 ion that its operations" should be mingled as little as possil)le with those 

 oftheGovermiieut;" that the funds oi" the [ustitiuiou, being specifically 

 devoted by theterms of Siuithson's bequest to a prescribed object,should 

 not be diverted to other objects, and that consequently the activities of 

 the Secretary should not be engrossed by other engagements which, from 

 their nature or from the administrative cares incident to their manage- 

 ment, might be judged to impair the distinctive singleness and highest 

 efHciency of the Institution in laboring for "the increase and diffusion 

 of knowledge among men." He a'so held that the necessity laid upon 

 the Institution of making annual appeals to Congress for the support 

 and extension of adjuncts not essential to the comiuct of its own special 

 operations is a necessity which should be avoided as far as practicable 

 in the interests of a dignified and single-minded administration of the 

 Stnithson trust; and hence lie thought it desirable that some moredefl- 

 nitedistinction should be made between the Smithsonian Institution and 

 the National Museum, if on the whole it should be judged best to re- 

 tain them under a common jurisdictiou. His own judgment inclined in 

 favor of their entire separation. In the presence of additional engage- 

 ments so vast, multiform, and important as those inv.olved in the con- 

 duct of the Fish Commission, it is obvious that these opinions of Pro- 

 fessor Henry would have gained an added emphasis. 



The late Secretary, Professor Baird, while acquiescing in the strict 

 views of Professor Henry with regard to the precise terras of the Smith- 

 sonian bequest, and while faithfully working, within the proper sphere 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, on the general lines laid down by his 

 l)redecessor, did not, it is presumed, entirely share Professor Henry's 

 opinions as to the reflex influence and effect exerted by the adjuncts in 

 question upon the normal function and legitimate fame of the Smithson- 

 ian Institution. Endowed with a wonderful capacity for administrative 

 detail, and capable of inspiring his subordinates with enthusiam in their 

 work and with loyalty to their ofiticial chief, he doubtless saw in these 

 manifold adjuncts of the Institution only so many auxiliaries to its be- 

 neficent design (" the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men"), 

 and therefore only so many additional accessories to its usefulness and 

 glory. 



Set as 3'our committee are to execute the will of the Regents and not 

 at all to define the scope or jjolicy of the Institution, it would obviously 

 be impertinent on our ])art to essay any prejudgments on the questions 

 that may be raised by the existing attitude of the Institution consid- 

 ered in the kind or degree of its relations to the National Museum, to 

 the Bureau of Ethnology, and to the Fish Commission. The former 

 two of these adjuncts are parts and parcel of our jurisdiction, while the 

 latter from its inception Avas placed under the responsible management 

 of the late Secretary, and is now under the direction of Assistant Sec- 

 retary Goode. 



