1 76 Memo7'ial of George Brown Goode. 



nor from that moral responsibility which the country already attaches to it from its 

 charter and from a general impression of the power it is supposed to possess. And 

 yet it seems to us that the Institute is the most suitable agent for such purposes. It 

 is always present; the very intuition of its organization was to promote matters of 

 science, to arrange and preserve specimens of natural history, and to advise on sub- 

 jects connected therewith. It ought to be supposed that the Institute possesses 

 among its members competent knowledge for such duties, and that it has all the 

 devotion and zeal and exckisiveness of feeling which the well-being of matters of 

 science requires. During the period when the Institute exercised more influence 

 than now, its vigilant vice-president was daily in his rooms, and for hours, advising 

 and directing, to the great benefit of its management and to the prevention of many 

 an injudicious expenditure. 



In addition to these considerations, the organization of the Institute renders it 

 peculiarly deserving of the confidence of Government, as it can offer, as an agent for 

 government property and government expenditures, a board of its own ofl&cers. 



The ofiicers of the Institute consist of a president, vice-president, two secretaries, 

 one treasurer, and twelve directors. Six of these twelve directors are the heads of 

 Government Departments, namely, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Attorne)'-General, 

 and the Postmaster-General. These are directors ex officio, and constitute the 

 Departments through which all Government expenditures are made. Six others are 

 elected by the Institute from among its members. These six at present are the 

 Hon. Mr. Woodbury, the Hon. Mr. Preston, Mr. Dayton, Foturth Auditor; Commo- 

 dore Warrington, of the Navy; Colonel Totten, of the Corps of Engineers, and 

 Colonel Abert, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers.' 



These are the whole of those who are recognized by the charter as ' ' Officers of the 

 Institute," and constitute, by the charter, "a board of management for the fiscal 

 concerns of the Institute." 



The whole board consists of seventeen, five of which are the officers named, six are 

 the heads of the Government Departments, ex officio directors, and six are elected 

 annually from the body of members. Now, as it is hardly within the verge of pos- 

 sibility that the president, vice-president, secretaries, and treasurer of the Institute 

 will be filled by any other than men of known fitness and good character, so is it 

 impossible that eleven (adding the six ex officio directors), a majority of the board, 

 can fail to deserve the fullest confidence of the Government. Then if we look to the 

 six elected directors and reflect for a moment upon the palpable and decided inter- 

 ests of the Institute, and upon the vocations of its members, it is a probability so 

 remote that it may be considered an impossibility that a great majority of this 

 board of management can ever be other than persons deserving of confidence, holding 

 important public places and in the employ of Government. 



Now, then, if the Government were to place the control of its collections and of 

 the appropriations for arranging and preserving them under this "board of manage- 

 ment, ' ' it would be placing its property and funds where all its other property and 

 funds are placed, namely, under its own officers and under accustomed and long- 

 established responsibilities. But these officers are also officers of the Institute ; there- 

 fore, to place this property under that board would also be to place it under the 

 Institute. 



'Since this paper was written a new election of directors has taken place, namely, 

 on the 25th January, 1843, when the Honorable Mr. Walker was chosen in the place 

 of the Honorable Mr. Preston, who could no longer attend, and Commodore Maury, 

 of the Navy, was chosen in the place of Commodore Warrington, who was unwilling 

 to serve. 



