TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 299> 



[H. R. No. 418.] 



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. 



SEC. I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

 United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the 

 Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United 

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

 Treasury, War, and Navy, the Postmaster and Attorney Generals, the 

 Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of 

 Columbia, and the Mayor of the city of Washington, 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 diffusion of 

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

 duties, and liabilities, incident to corporations. 



SEC. 2. And be it farther 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 from time to time their 

 compensations. And the secretary and treasurer only shall receive pecu- 

 niary 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, under the penalty of fifty thousand dollars, with sureties to the 

 satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the safe custody and faith- 

 ful 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 eight hundred thou- 

 sand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, by investment of that 

 sum in certificates of stock to that amount of the United States, bearing 

 interest at the rate of six per cent, a year, from and after the passage of 

 this act, redeemable at the pleasure of Congress by the substitution of other 

 funds of equal value and yielding the same income, the said interest being 

 payable half-yearly on the first Mondays of January and July. The said 

 stocks to be applied in manner following : First, to constitute a fund of five 

 hundred thousand dollars, bearing interest as aforesaid, to supply the place 

 of the same sum received at the mint of the United States at Philadelphia, 

 in gold, on the first day of September, of the year eighteen hundred and 

 thirty-eight, and on the fourth day of the same month invested, for account 

 of the United States, in five hundred bonds of the State of Arkansas, of 

 one thousand dollars each, bearing interest at the rate of six per cent, a 

 year, payable half-yearly, and the principal of which is redeemable on the 

 second of October, eighteen hundred and sixty. Secondly, to constitute a 

 fund of three hundred thousand dollars, bearing interest as aforesaid, to 

 supply the place of an equal sum invested in one hundred and forty bonds 

 of the States of Arkansas, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio, and of interest 

 which has accrued, and may hereafter accrue, to the said amount of three 

 hundred thousand dollars, from the said sum deposited at the mint of the 

 United States at Philadelphia, on the first day of September, eighteen hun- 

 dred and thirty-eight ; the said fund to be applied to the execution of the 

 purpose of the testator, " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 

 mon," in manner following : 



Of the said fund, there shall be applied for 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. 



