XXIV PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS. 



Your committee, however, is painfully impressed with the fact that the powers of 

 the Smithsonian Institution as at present organized are scarcely broad enough to 

 embrace the work proposed. And the committee is equally impressed with the fact 

 that even with enlarged authority its present financial condition would absolutely 

 prevent anything like eflicientand creditable performance of the work contemplated. 



It is well known to the members of this Board that a great wealth of material — 

 material which would be of immense utility in the successful accomplishment of the 

 purposes indicated by the associated colleges, lies l)uried in tlie crypts and cellars 

 of the National Museum. 



If our Institution is unable for want of room, as it undoubtedly is, even to place 

 this valuable material on exhibition for the public, eye and as little able to arrange 

 it for scientific uses, the problem of providing halls for lectures and meeting the nec- 

 essary expenditures incident to the work proposed, becomes serious and formidable 

 in the extreme. 



Your conunittee is not prepared to make definite recommendations to the Board 

 for its final or ultimate action. 



That which is clearly inexpedient to-day may ))ecome not only expedient, l)ut 

 eminently desirable to-morro\v. 



If in your judgment the committee should retain its powers and report progress 

 from time to time in the future, it will l)e our highest pleasure to comply with your 

 further demands. 



Yours, truly, J. B. Henderson, ChairjiKiii. 



Smithsonian Institution, 

 WdsliliHjion, D. ('., Jamiary SS, 1900. 

 My Dear Senator Henderson: 



At your request I hand back to you the letter which I sent you some time since in 

 a personal capacity, now authorizing its use as in your discretion you may deem fit, 

 though I do so with some hesitation, since it deals with a matter on which the Board 

 has not yet defined its policj\ 



Under the circumstances, I can then, jjerhaps, be of most service by pointing out 

 what the attitude of the Board has been under analogous circumstances in the ])ast, 

 and by indicating in a general way the present situation of the Institution and its 

 relations to the scientific bureaus in Washington. 



I will first comply with your request by citing the passage in the communication 

 of the representatives of the American Association of Agricultural Colleges and 

 Experiment Stations, concerning which you inquire. This passage reads as follows: 



"The committee has thought that perhaps the Secretary and Regents might not 

 look favorably upon the idea of constituting the Smithsonian the permanent agent 

 for the control and direction of such graduate work, but that they might be will- 

 ing to take the initiative in its organization and direction, and when the successful 

 plan was fully developed, might generously relinquish its control to a separate and 

 independent management. ' ' 



Next, at your kind solicitation, I take this occasion to speak of the plan in ques- 

 tion, which, you will remember, is but one of several plans. With these I have 

 large sympathy, as with every step in aid of the higher education and research. Let 

 me recall, however, not my opinions, but the decisions of Congress and the Regents. 



After the Smithson bequest had been received by the Government, nearly ten 

 years were employed by Congress in considering the form which the Institution 

 should take. The most distinguished members in Congress and almost all the nota- 

 l)le educators in this country expressed their opinions, and the proposal that the 

 Institution should be more or less a teaching body, or in some way assimilable to a 

 university, was most thoroughly discussed and embodied in various bills, which 

 failed to become law. The i)roposal then was defeated, and its defeat created a pol- 

 icy for the Institution, which has been followed by the Regents up to this time. 



