476 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



of the Patent Office, and not to the relief of the other departments of 

 the Government. I hope that the enlargement of the Patent Office 

 building, which has been paid for by the patent fund, will not be used 

 for the convenience and accommodation of other departments. What 

 says the Secretary of the Interior? In his last annual report, after 

 enumerating various bureaus of his Department which need additional 

 accommodations, he says: 



I therefore recommend that the two wings of the Patent Office be finished, and 

 that they be appropriated to the accommodation of the Department of the Interior 

 and the different offices thereto attached. They will thus be brought under one 

 roof, the communication between the head of the Department and the different 

 bureaus will by greatly facilitated, and the records of the Government safely lodged 

 in a fireproof building. 



I had hoped when I saw $216,468 taken from the patent fund for a 

 beautiful palace that the models of the inventions and the inventors 

 and mechanics of the country would receive some benefit from it; but 

 I see it is utterly hopeless, seeing this recommendation of the Secretary 

 of the Interior, and the wreck that is taking place in the Patent Office 

 of the models and inventions of the country. 



The Senator from Mississippi and the Senator from Maryland have 

 given me some information on the subject of the resolution. And now 

 I would say to those gentlemen, both as Senators and Regents of the 

 Institution, that I entertain not the least unkind feelings toward the 

 Smithsonian Institution. On the contrary, I would be willing to do 

 anything reasonable that is within my power to facilitate its great 

 object and the benefits which the country expects to derive from it; 

 but at the same time I am unwilling to bestow benefits on that 

 Institution at the sacrifice of the old and greater interests of the 

 patentees and the Patent Office. With these feelings, I think there 

 was no impropriety in offering the resolution. 



If the Smithsonian Institution is not to take charge of these curiosi- 

 ties, it seems to me that something should be done to relieve the Pat- 

 ent Office- from its present embarrassing condition in relation to the 

 exhibition of its models. I think the patent fund, the fund contrib- 

 uted by the mechanics and inventors of the country, ought to be used 

 solely for the benefit of the Patent Office and not for any other depart- 

 ment of the Government unconnected with that fund or its interests. 



According to my promise I now move to lay the resolution on the 

 table, although I shall vote against the motion and hope it will not 

 prevail. 



Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS, of Mississippi. Will the Senator withdraw 

 the motion ? 



Mr. I. P. WALKER. Certainly. 



Mr. DAVIS. I shall consume but very little time. Having made as 

 much explanation as I thought was due to the occasion in relation to 



