[ 120 ] . 60 



r 



that there can now be no doubt that, if the same plan be continued until the 

 end of the five years, and the funds do not greatly depreciate, there will 

 remain the sum of ."?>li"0,000 in accrued interest to add to the principal. 

 To secure this desirable end without the possibihty of failure, it may be 

 now advisable to petition Congress to receive from ihe^Regents the sum 

 of $150,000, and place it with the original principal sum, nev^er to be ex- 

 pended, and to complete the building out of the remaining funded notes 

 and the accruing interest. 



W. W. SEATON, 

 ALEXANHER D. BACHE, 

 JAS. ALFRED PEAROE. 



REPORT OF THE BUILDING COMVTITTEE. 



Washington, January 2, 1S50. 



The Building Committee have the honor to report as follows: 



In the great desire of the contractor to get the whole Smithsonian build- 

 ing under roof before winter, the progress thereon during the year just 

 elapsed has been rapid — that object having been fully attained before the 

 occurrence of severe weather. The Building Committee deemed this re- 

 suit so important for the protection of a large amount of masonry and wood 

 work, that they participated in tliis desire of the contractor; and did not 

 hesitate to permit an expenditure on the building somewhat larger than 

 the year would have been entitled to under the project of extending the 

 process of construction through a period of five years. It must not, how- 

 ever, be supposed that the expenditures have exceeded the portion of the 

 building fund liable to expenditure under existing resolutions. The por- 

 tion of this fund thus liable up to the 19th of Marcli next, reckoning from 

 the beginning, is $146,000; the aggregate expenditure on building and 

 grounds now falls short of that sum $10,678 S3 — which last sum must 

 therefore be the limit of expenditure in the interim — that is to say, from 

 the 1st of .January to the 19th March, 1850. 



Should tlie Board of Regents leave the project of a five-years course of 

 construction undisturbed, it will be necessary to lessen, for the next two 

 years, the rate of expenditure on the building. On tlie other hand, 

 should circumstances lead the board to desire an earlier completion ilma 

 has heretofore been contemplated, the advanced state of die building re- 

 sulting from the labors of the past year "will be in lucky accordance with 

 such change of policy. 



Besides carrying up the walls of the main cell of the building, and fin- 

 ishing its roof, the central front tov/ers and the four corner towers of the 

 main building are carried up as high as the v^'aUs of the main building — 

 the central rear tower being 30 feet high. 



The architect reports that the stones for the unfinished portions of the 

 building are nearly all quarried; and that the stone-cutting for the cam- 

 panile south, and two north towers, is nearly completed. 



The east and west v/ings, and ranges, are finished, except some few 

 matters of detail, and are ready for occupation. The workmen are now 

 fitting the west wing with bookcases, for a temporary library; and the 

 west connecting range, for uses connected with the library. 



During the past year, with the concurrence of the Secretary of the in- 

 stitution^ and under the advice of the architect, the committee have 



