THK SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 233 



These are the fruits of what is called the system of active operations 

 of the Institution, and its power to produce other and continuous results 

 is only limited by the amount of the income which can be appropriated 

 to it, since each succeeding year has presented new and important 

 fields for its cultivation. All the anticipations indulged with regard to 

 it have been fully realized ; and, after an experience of six years, there 

 can now be no doubt of the true pohcy of the Regents in regard to it. 



I am well aware, however, that the idea is entertained by some that 

 the svstem of active operations, though at present in a flourishing condi- 

 tion, cannot continue to be the prominent object of attention ; and that 

 under another set of directors, other counsels will prevail and other 

 measures be adopted, and that what has been done in establishing this 

 system will ultimately be undone. It is true, there is cause of fear that 

 the policy in this respect may be changed ; for the system we are here 

 considering requires constant exertion, and is little suited to the tastes 

 and habits of those who seek place and position from mere personal 

 considerations. There is cause to fear, also, from the experience of the 

 past, that the general expenses of a large building, the support of the 

 establishment necessarily connected with it, and the cost of collecting, 

 preserving, and exhibiting specimens of nature and art, will so increase 

 as to paralyze the spirit of activity. Furthermore, the proposition is 

 frequently urged upon the Regents, by persons who have not duly con- 

 sidered the will of Smithson, or who fail to appreciate the importance 

 of the present plan, that a large portion of the income should be 

 devoted to the diffusion of a knowledge of some popular branch of 

 practical art ; and there may be some fear that a timid policy on 

 the part of the friends of the Institution will lead them to favor such 

 a plan. 



To obviate these tendencies, it is the duty of the present Regents, if 

 they are convinced that the policy of active operations is the true one, 

 to endeavor to correct, as far as possible, the errors which may have 

 been committed in the beginning, and to give the Institution such an 

 impulse in the proper direction, that it cannot deviate from it without 

 immediately arresting the attention of the enlightened pubhc, both at 

 home and abroad, who will not fail to demand, authoritatively, a suf- 

 ficient reason for tin; change. 



A ])romise has been made to all persons in this country, engaged in 

 original researches, and who are capable of furnishing additions to the 

 sum of human knowledge, that the result of their labors shall continue 

 to be presented to the world through the Smithsonian publications. 

 The honor of the Institution is also pledged to the scientific and literary 

 societies from which it has received exchanges, in tliis and other coun- 

 tries, that it will continue to send to them at least an annual volume of 

 Contributions, of a character similar to those with which they have 

 already been presented. It is on this condition that the library has been 

 so richly favored, not only with the current volumes of transactions, 

 but also, in many cases, from the oldest societies, with full sets of all 

 the previous volumes of their series of publications. Besides this, the 

 libraries of all the colleges and literary and philosophical societies of 

 this country are supplied with full sets of the Smithsonian Transactions; 



