TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-1841. 205 



title of the trustees of the Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of 

 knowledge among men, with perpetual succession, and the usual powers, duties, and 

 liabilities incident to corporations. 



SET. 2. And be it further enacted, That the corporation so constituted shall have 

 power to appoint, from citizens of the United States other than members of the board, 

 a secretary and a treasurer, to hold their offices during the pleasure of the board, and 

 removable at their pleasure, and others to be appointed in their places, and to fix 

 their compensations. And the secretary and treasurer only shall receive pecuniary 

 compensation for their services, and those of the members of the board of trustees 

 shall be gratuitous. And the offices of secretary and treasurer may, at the discretion 

 of the board of trustees, be held by the same person. The secretary and treasurer 

 shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of the duties of their respective offices; and the 

 treasurer shall give bond, with the penalty of $50,000 with sureties to the satisfaction 

 of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the safe custody and faithful application of all 

 the funds of the Institution which may come to his hands or be at his disposal. 



SBC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the sum of $508,318.46 placed in the Treasury 

 of the United States on the first day of September, 1838, as the proceeds, in part, of 

 the bequest of James Smithson to the United States, together with all sums which 

 have been or may hereafter be realized, shall be passed hereafter to the credit of a 

 fund, to be denominated the Smithsonian fund, in the Treasury of the United 

 States. And the faith of the United States is hereby pledged for the preservation 

 of the said fund undiminished and unimpaired, to bear interest at the rate of six 

 per cent a year, payable on the first days of January and July to the treasurer of the 

 board of trustees of the Smithsonian fund, to be applied to the purposes of the fund, 

 conformably to the laws, and subject to the revision and regulations of the board of 

 trustees. 



SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no part of the said Smithsonian fund, princi- 

 pal or interest, shall be applied to any school, college, university, institute of educa- 

 tion, or ecclesiastical establishment. 



SEC-. 5. And be it further enacted, That the appropriations to be made from time to 

 time by Congress, to the purposes of the Smithsonian Institution, as declared by the 

 testator, shall be exclusively from the accruing interest, and not from the principal, 

 of the said fund: Provided, That Congress shall retain the power of investing, at their 

 discretion, the principal of said fund in any other manner so as to secure not less than 

 a yearly interest of six per cent. 



SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the sum of $30,000, part of the first year's 

 interest accruing on the same Smithsonian fund, be, and the same is hereby, appro- 

 priated towards the erection and establishment, at the city of Washington, of an 

 astronomical observatory adapted to the most effective and continual observations 

 of the phenomena of the heavens; to be provided with the necessary, best, and 

 most perfect instruments and books for the periodical publication of the said observa- 

 tions and for the annual composition and publication of a nautical almanac. 



SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said observatory shall be erected under 

 the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the approbation of the 

 President of the United States. And the site for the same shall be selected upon land 

 in the city of Washington belonging to the United States; and the land necessary for 

 the same, and for any other buildings proper to be connected with the said observa- 

 tory and the appurtenances thereof, is hereby granted, and shall be duly conveyed, 

 as a deed of gift, to the trustees of the Smithsonian fund, and to their successors for- 

 ever, in aid of the purposes of the said Institution. 



SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That all expenditures made by the said board shall 

 be subject to the approval of the President of the United States; and all the accounts 

 thereof shall be reported to the Secretary of the Treasury, and audited, under his 

 direction, by the proper officers of the Treasury Department; and the said board shall 



