168 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



carry into effect the bona fide intention of the testator, the said James 

 Smithson, and to report the same for the consideration and action of Con- 

 gress at the next session thereof. 



[S. No. 293.] 



A BILL to provide for the disposal and management of the fund be- 

 queathed by James Smithson to the United States, for the establishment 

 of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 

 States of America in Congress assembled, That the Vice-President of the 

 United States, the Chief Justice of the United States, the Secretaries of 

 State and of the Treasury, the Attorney General of the United States, and 

 the Mayor of the city of Washington, all during the time when they shall 

 hold their respective offices, together with three members of the Senate and 

 four members of the House of Representatives, to be annually elected by 

 their respective Houses, on the fourth Wednesday of December, shall be, 

 and hereby are, constituted a body politic and corporate, by the style and 

 title of the trustees of the Smithsonian Institution for the increase and dif- 

 fusion of knowledge among men, with perpetual succession, and the usual 

 powers, duties, and liabilities incident to corporations; 



SEC. 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 dur- 

 ing the pleasure of the board, and removable at their pleasure, and others 

 to he appointed in their places,, and to fix their compensations. And the 

 secretary and the treasurer only shall receive pecuniary compensation for 

 their services, and those of the members of the board of trustees shall be gra- 

 tuitous. 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 dutie.s of their 

 respective offices, and the treasurer shall give bond, with the penalty of 

 fifty thousand dollars, 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. 



SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the sum of placed in the 



Treasury of the United States on the day of a> tin- 



proceeds in part of the bequest of James Smithson to the United States, 

 together with all sums which 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 centum 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 regulation of the 

 board of trustees. 



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

 fund, principal or interest, shall be applied to any school, college, univer- 

 sity, institute of education, 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 Insti- 

 tution, as declared by the testator, shall be exclusively from the accruing 

 interest, and not from the principal of the said fund : Provided, That Con- 

 gress shall retain the power of investing, at their discretion, the principal 

 of said lund in any other manner so as to secure not less than a yearly In- 

 terest of six per centum. 



SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the sum of thirty thousand dol- 

 lars, part of the first year's interest accruing on the said Smithsonian fund, 

 be, and the same is hereby, appropriated towards the erection and estab- 

 lishment, at the city of Washington, of an astronomical observatory, 



