438 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



ArPOlNTMKNT OF KKCENTS 



By iSpenker. 



August 10, 1846— House. 



A message was received from the President informing- the House 

 that he had approved the bill to provide for the establishment of the 

 Smithsonian Institution. 



The Speaker (Mr. John W. Davis) said that b}' one provision of 

 the bill it was made the duty of the Chair to appoint three regents, 

 and he announced that he had accordingly appointed: 



Robert Dale Owen, of Indiana; William J. Hough, of New York; 

 Henry W. Hilliard, of Alabama. 



APPOINTMENT OF REGENTS 



£y Joint Resolution. 

 August 10, 1846. 



Resolved, etc., That Rufus Choate, of Massachusetts, Gideon Hawley, 

 of New York, Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, William C. Preston, of 

 South Carolina, and Alexander Dallas Bache and Joseph G. Totten, 

 residents of the city of Washington, be, and the same ai'e hereby, 

 appointed regents of the Smithsonian Institution, in accordance with 

 the provisions of the act establishing said institution. 



(Stat., IX, 115.) 



PURCHASE OF CITY HALL FOR THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



February 15, 1847 — Senate. 



Mr. George Evans presented bill: 



Be it enacted, etc., That the regents of the Smithsonian Institution })e, and they are 

 hereby, authorized to purchase of the corporation of the city of Washington, all the 

 right, title, and interest of the said corporation in and to the City Hall of the said 

 city; subject, however, to the conditions and provisions hereinafter sjjecified: Pro- 

 vided, That the corporation shall, on or before the tenth day of March next, enter into 

 bond, with sufficient sureties, to be approved by the Attorney-General of the United 

 States, that they will erect on the Market Space, between Seventh and Ninth streets 

 west, and between Pennsylvania avenue and B street north, a suitable and commo- 

 dious building, in which there shall be included such apartments as may be neces- 

 sary for the accommodation of the circuit court of the United States for the county 

 of Washington, in the District of Columbia, for the use of the grand and petit jurors 

 of the said county, for the offices of the clerk of the said court and the marshal of 

 said District, and for the preservation and security of the books, papers, and records 

 of the said court; and that they will complete the said l)uilding, or so much of the 

 same as may contain the apartments and accommodations aforesaid, and shall pre- 

 pare the same for the said courts and offices, on or before the tenth day of March, 

 1848. And upon such purchase being completed, the said corporation shall release 

 and forever quitclaim unto the said Smithsonian Institution all the right and title of 

 the said corporation unto the said city hall, and unto the possession and occupation 

 of the lot or square on which the same now stands. 



