REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 31 



values shall be paid to the owner or owners, and tbe United States 

 shall be deemed to have a valid title to said lands. 



"That the said commission is hereby authorized to call upon the 

 Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey or the Director of the 

 Geological Survey to make such surveys as may be necessary to carry 

 into effect the ])rovisions of tbis section; and the said olticers are 

 hereby authorized and required to make such surveys under the direc- 

 tion of said commission," 



The amendment of Senator Edmunds was understood to be ottered 

 in a spirit entirely f rieudly to the interests of this Institution, but it 

 differs from that reported from the Committee on Public Buildings and 

 Grounds, iu omitting the name of the Kegents, in placing the appro- 

 j)riation under those for the District, in removing from the Commis- 

 sion the power to lay out the land, and in extending the limits within 

 which they had choice, to the military road, in this, as in other respects, 

 resembling the limits of the larger scheme of the uational park, as 

 generally i)roi)osed. On the 28th of February the Edmunds amendment 

 passed substantially as above given, and by the President's approval 

 of the District bill, became a law on March 2.* 



In view of the fact that the zoological park will probablj^ in any case 

 be the ultimate place of deposit for the living collections now under 

 the charge of the Eegents, and that their secretary is named as one of 

 the commissioners for eftecting the purchase, it seems proper to add a 

 brief statement of the work done by the commission, which, after per- 

 sonally and carefully inspecting the whole course of the stream from 

 Massachusetts avenue to Military road, about 4 miles above the city, 

 found no district so desirable for the single purpose of a zoological 

 park as that lying between Woodley Lane and Klingle Bridge, and des- 

 ignated iu the original bill of Senator Morrill; and the commissioners 

 have proceeded to condemn a tract of 160 acres of the remarkably varied 

 and pictures(|ue country whose character is described in the secretary's 

 letter to the chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and 

 Grounds already cited. 



The condemnation is not complete without the President's {ipi>roval, 

 which had not been given at tiie date of the completion of the fiscal 



'Extracts from the Congressional Record. Mr. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, states, 

 '• I append the report of the Comuiittce on Public Buildings and Grounds that the 

 record may show tlic exact object in view. There is absolute protection from job- 

 bery in the fact that this is to be under the supervision of t4ie Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution." Mr. Dibble says in the same debate, "We are proud of the Smithsonian, 

 and the Smithsonian has already, by gift, not purchase, the nucleus of a collection, 

 and I am informed by the Secretary of the Smithsonian that this place furnishes the 

 right kind of location for the propagation and peri)etnation of these rapidly disap- 

 pearing species of American animals, while at the same time it will serve the pur- 

 poses of a jxiblic park." Mr. Dibble continued, " I am informed that the inquiries, 

 estimates, and offers indicate that the 120 acres which is included iu the design now 

 in front of the re])orter's desk [referring to a large map showing that part of the 

 creek between Woodley Lane and Klingle road, which the Morrill bill placed under 

 tlic care of tbf) RegcutsJ can be purcbawd for eometbiug hm ilmu $800j00Oj etc." 



