FOHTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1885-1887. 1029 



Mr. Sewell. The National Museum and Smithsonian Institution 

 seem to report their proceedings directl}^ to the Committee on Appro- 

 priations, and their appropriations are granted as estimated for in that 

 way without going tlirough any committee of the' Senate, as all other 

 expenses of the Government do. 



Mr. Eugene Hale. What committees do the salaries of the 

 employees of the Departments come under in any case except the 

 Committee on Appropriations? 



Mr. Sewell. They come regularly to the Committee on Appropria- 

 tions, but the interests of the Treasur}^ Department are in charge of 

 the Finance Committee. 



Mr. Hale. The Finance Committee do not deal with the salaries of 

 employees. 



Mr. Sewell. But here is a lump sum for the preservation, exhi})i- 

 tion, and increase of collections in the National Museum amounting 

 to $106,500. 



Mr. Hale. It is the same as the Fish Commission. 



Mr. Sewell. I grant the Fish Commission is of the same character. 



Mr. Hale. There are thirty other items in the bill of the same 

 kind. 



Mr. Sewell. There are very few others, if any. There is a Com- 

 mittee of Fisheries of the Senate to-da}^ that has not a particle of con- 

 trol over the expenditures of the Fish Commission, as it ought to 

 have. 



Mr. Allison. So far as the National Museum is concerned, for the 

 number of employees and the character of work done, the compensa- 

 tion of the persons who perform the work is less than in any other 

 department of this Government. They are employed at ver}^ small 

 compensation and are generally highly intelligent and educated men. 



Mr. Sewell. I do not tind any fault with the compensation or 

 with the intelligence of the gentlemen employed in those bureaus. I 

 merely criticise the mode of doing business. Take the army matters: 

 they are referred to the Militar}" Committee, and naval matters to the 

 Naval Committee, and finance matters to the Committee on Finance. 

 It seems that the Smithsonian Institution, the Fish Commission, and 

 the 'National Museum deal directly with the Committee on Appropria- 

 tions, without supervision on the part of any other committee. 



Mr. Allison. The Smithsonian Institution is not a Government 

 institution. It is controlled by Regents appointed, two [three] by the 

 President of the Senate and two [three] by the Speaker of the House 

 of Representatives, and the others are ex officio members; and the 

 expenditures of the Smithsonian Institution are not even under the 

 control of Congress, I think. The Smithsonian fund is perpetually in 

 the Treasury, drawing a fixed rate of interest, and the income is 

 under the control of the Regents. 



