THIRTIETH CONGRESS, 1847-1849. 455 



Institution was imposing upon the Government, he wished to see its 

 affairs thorough!}^ investigated and brought before the public. That 

 this fund had been received from the United States; that the United 

 States had discharged its duty as trustee with fidelity; that this fund 

 had been sunk and lost — these were all true; and, according to his 

 construction of the Constitution and of the duties of a trustee, he con- 

 sidered that the Government was exonerated from any further respon- 

 sibility in connection with this fund. It was well known that the 

 original fund had been lost, and it was known, too, that the law estab- 

 lishing the Smithsonian Institution took the money out of the Treasury 

 of the Government — out of the people's pocket. When the Smith- 

 sonian Institution was founded ever}^ dollar of the money received from 

 Mr. Smithson was gone — not a dollar of it was available. He had 

 opposed an institution of this kind being established with funds taken 

 out of the Treasury; not that he was opposed to an institution estab- 

 lished upon the Smithsonian fund — not that he disapproved of the 

 object of the donor — but he was opposed in time of war, when we were 

 incurring a very heavy public debt, to going into the Treasury and 

 establishing an institution of this description, at an expense to the 

 people of some five or six hundred thousand dollars. 



Another reason was that he believed under the law itself the money 

 had been improperly withdrawn from the Treasury of the United States. 

 The House had been informed by the able and eloquent gentleman from 

 Alabama that the Regents had withdrawn money from -the Treasury to 

 the amount of $242,000, and by an extraordinary process of financier- 

 ing were doubling and compounding it. They had been informed also 

 that none of the principal had been expended. How had this been 

 done? Why, when the law was passed every gentleman here at all 

 familiar with the subject knew that this fund was gone — that not one 

 dollar of it was left. He had the documents before him to show that 

 this was the fact. But the law placed that in the Treasur}^ which was 

 not there; it was a legal fiction. It said that a certain amount had 

 been placed in the Treasury in 1836 and had remained there and been 

 drawing interest from 1836, and that the interest on that sum (which 

 was not in the Treasmy) was 1242,000; and this amount was appropri- 

 ated to the erection of this institution called the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. He had believed it wrong; he still believed it so. But under 

 this law how this amount of money had been drawn out of the Treasury 

 he had never been able to ascertain. He was in hope, now that a run- 

 ning discussion had arisen on the subject, that they would be informed 

 how this large amount of money had been drawn out of the Treasury. 

 He could find no authority for it in the act establishing the Institution — 

 no authorit}^ for drawing out of the Treasury this large amount of 

 money and placing it in the hands of their secretary, or at interest, or 

 making any other disposition of it. 



