TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-1847. 323 



of the said Institution; and that six per cent interest on the said trust fund, it being 

 the said amount of $515,169, received into the United States Treasury, on September 1, 

 1838, payable, in half-yearly payments, on the first of January and July in each year, 

 be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the perpetual maintenance and support 

 of said Institution; and all expenditures and appropriations to be made, from time to 

 time, to the purposes of the Institution aforesaid, shall be exclusively from the accru- 

 ing interest, and not from the principal of the said fund. 



SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the business of the said institution shall be 

 conducted by a board of managers, to be composed of the Vice-President of the 

 United States, the Chief Justice of the United States, during the time for which they 

 shall hold their respective offices; three members of the Senate and three members 

 of the House of Representatives, together with seven other persons, other than mem- 

 bers of Congress, two of whom shall be members of the National Institute in the city 

 of Washington, and resident in the said city; and the other five thereof shall be 

 inhabitants of States, and no two of them of the same State. And the managers, to 

 be selected as aforesaid from Congress, shall be appointed immediately after the pas- 

 sage of this act the members of the Senate by the President thereof, and the mem- 

 bers of the House by the Speaker thereof; and those so appointed shall serve until 

 the fourth Wednesday of December, the second next after the passage of this act; 

 and then, and biennially thereafter, on every alternate fourth Wednesday of Decem- 

 ber, a like number shall be appointed in the same manner, to serve until the fourth 

 Wednesday of December, the second succeeding their appointment; and they shall 

 also constitute and be denominated a joint standing committee of Congress on the 

 Smithsonian Institution; and vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or other- 

 wise, shall be filled as vacancies in committees are filled; and the other seven man- 

 agers aforesaid shall serve for the tenn of two years from the fourth Wednesday of 

 December next after the passage of this act; when, and on every alternate fourth 

 Wednesday of December thereafter, a new election thereof shall be made by a joint 

 resolution of Congress; and vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise, 

 may be filled in like manner by joint resolution of Congress. And the said managers 

 shall meet and organize, by the choice of a president, in the city of Washington, on 

 the fir.-t Monday in September next after the passage of this act, and they shall then 

 fix on the times for regular meetings of the board; and on application of any three 

 of the managers to the superintendent of the said Institution, it shall be his duty to 

 appoint a specy al meeting of the board, of which he shall give notice by letter to each 

 of the members; and at any meeting of the board of managers, five shall constitute a 

 quorum to do business. And each member of the board of managers shall be paid 

 his necessary traveling and other actual expenses in attending meetings of the board, 

 which shall be audited and recorded by the superintendent of the Institution; but 

 his service as manager shall be gratuitous. And whenever money is required for the 

 payment of the debts or performance of the contracts of the Institution, incurred or 

 entered into in conformity with the provisions of this act, or for making the pur- 

 chases and executing the objects authorized by this act, the superintendent or the 

 managers, or any three thereof, may certify to the president of the lx>ard that such 

 sum of money is required; whereupon, he shall submit the same to a committee of 

 three of the managers appointed for that purpose for examination and approval; and 

 upon such examination and approval, he shall certify the same to the proper officer 

 of the Treasury for payment. And the said board shall make all needful rules, reg- 

 ulations, and by-laws for the government of the Institution and the persons 

 employed therein, and shall submit to Congress, at each session thereof, a report of 

 the operations, expenditures, and condition of the Institution. 



SEC. 3. A nd be it further enacted, That after the board of managers shall have met, 

 and become organized, it shall be their duty forthwith to proceed to select suitable 

 sites for such buildings as may be necessary for the Institution, and suitable ground 



