540 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



January 18, 1855 House. 



The Speaker (Mr. LINN BOYD) announced the following as the mem- 

 bers of the select committee raised for the purpose of investigating 

 the management of the Smithsonian Institution : 



Mr. C. W. Upham, of Massachusetts, Mr. W. H. Witte, of Penn 

 sylvania, Mr. N. G. Taylor, of Tennessee, Mr. Daniel Wells, of Wis- 

 consin, and Mr. R. C. Puryear, of North Carolina. 



The SPEAKER. The Chair would state that the gentleman from Ver- 

 mont [Mr. Meacham], at whose instance the committee was raised, 

 was not placed on it at his own request. He is one of the Regents of 

 the Smithsonian Institution and thought that under the circumstances 

 he ought not to serve on the committee. Had he not requested to be 

 excused from service he would have been put, according to custom, 

 at the head of the committee. 

 February 6, 1855 Senate. 



Mr. ANDREW P. BUTLER, of South Carolina, from the Committee 

 on the Judiciary. 1 to whom was referred the resolution of the Senate 

 directing said committee to inquire whether any, and if any, what, 

 action of the Senate is necessary and proper in regard to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, made report, which was ordered to be printed. 



It seems to be the object of the resolution to require the committee 

 to say whether, in its opinion, the Regents of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution have given a fair and proper construction, within the range of 

 discretion allowed to them, to the acts of Congress putting into opera- 

 tion the trust which Mr. Smithson had devolved on the Federal Gov- 

 ernment. As the trust has not been committed to a legal corporation 

 subject to judicial jurisdiction and control, it must be regarded as the 

 creature of Congressional legislation. It is a naked and honorable 

 trust, without any profitable interest in the Government that has 

 undertaken to carry out the objects of the benevolent testator. The 

 obligations of good faith require that the bequest should be main- 

 tained in the spirit in which it was made. The acts of Congress on 

 this subject were intended to effect this end, and the question pre- 

 sented is this: Have the Regents done their duty according to the 

 requirements of the acts of Congress on this subject? 



In order to determine whether any, and if any, what, action of the 

 Senate is necessary and proper in regard to the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, it is necessary to examine what provisions Congress have already 

 made on the subject and whether they have been faithfully carried 

 into execution. 



The money with which this Institution has been founded was 

 bequeathed to the United States by James Smithson, of London, to 



1 Mr. A. P. Butler, Mr. Iwvac Toucey, Mr. James A. Bayard, Mr. H. S. Geyer, Mr. 

 John Pettit, and Mr. Robert Toombs. 



