632 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



Congress. Not so, sir. The present difficulty originated in 

 a proposition to annul the " compromise" which divided the 

 income equally between the library and the museum on one 

 part, and publications, researches, and lectures on the other ; 

 for the purpose of giving more to the latter department, making 

 that a paramount and controlling interest. 



Let me briefly explain this compromise. 



The first sense of the regents respecting the library, was 

 soon contested under a new reading of the law, one which 

 made the section authorizing the regents to dispose of the 

 possible surplus or residuum, the chief clause of the act, 

 overriding all the rest and overruling all other details. 

 Under this construction, new purposes were to be intro- 

 duced; purposes dissimilar to those provided; purposes 

 w^hich had been proposed to, and discussed and rejected by 

 Congress — namely, the publication of books, and the insti- 

 tuting of scientific researches. 



The early days of the institution seemed likely to be em- 

 bittered by controversy resulting from this new movement ; 

 but, in a magnanimous spirit of conciliation, the friends of 

 the library agreed to a " compromise," dividing the income, 

 after the building should be completed, equally between the 

 library and museum on one side, and publications, researches 

 and lectures on the other. 



The friends of the library reconciled tlieir course with 

 the law thus : If $20,000 a year be expended for books dur- 

 ing the four or five years while the building is in progress, 

 we shall gather a considerable library, and then we may be 

 justified in believing that, for the future, the share that will 

 come to the library under the compromise, may be consid- 

 ered as meeting the requirements of the law ; the friends 

 of the scientific scheme will be propitiated, and perpetual 

 harmony secured. 



I think, sir, that they strained their discretion ; but they 

 acted in the spirit of conciliation, worthy of a fairer requi- 

 tal than it has met. 



Let this matter be distinctly understood. The friends of 

 the library did not begin this controversy. They held to 

 the compromise, and asked only that it should be faithfully 

 administered. They demanded no more for the library than 

 it w^as entitled to under the compromise. They did not ask 

 that it should be made the paramount interest (although 

 some of us believe that such is its legal position.) We 

 were content to abide by the compact; we so voted. It 

 was the proposition, coming from the advocates of the pub- 

 lication system, to annul the compromise, and reduce the 



