TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 301 



: trustees, oh a site in the city of Washington, to be selected by them ; and, 

 should the same be on land belonging to the United States, so much thereof 

 as, in the opinion of the trustees, shall be necessary for the purpose, shall 

 be conveyed to them, in consideration of the sum of ten thousand dollars, 

 taken from that fund by the general appropriation act of third March. 

 eighteen hundred and thirty-nine : Provided, That if no such suitable site 

 can be found on the public lands, that then a selection of a site on private 

 property may be made at a price not exceeding one-half cent per square 

 foot, to be paid out of the appropriation in the third section of this act. 

 ' SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That all expenditures made by the said 

 board of trustees shall be subject to the approval of the President of the 

 United States ; and all the accounts thereof shall be reported to the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, and audited under his direction by the proper officers 

 of the Treasury Department; and the said board shall report to Congress, 

 at every session thereof, the state of the Smithsonian fund, and a full 

 statement of their receipts and expenditures during the preceding year. 



SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the first meeting of the trustees 

 of the Smithsonian fund shall be held at the city of Washington on the third 



Tuesday of next; and that, in the mean time, the custody of the said 



fund, and the expenditures under the appropriations herein made, shall be 

 held and authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the appro- 

 bation of the President of the United States. 



SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a board of visitors, 

 to be annually appointed, consisting of nine members ; two of whom to be 

 commissioned officers of the army, to be appointed by the Secretary of 

 War ; two commissioned officers of the navy, to be appointed by the Sec- 

 retary of the Navy ; the mayors for the time being of the cities of Alex- 

 andria and of Georgetown, within the District of Columbia; and one citi- 

 zen of each of the cities of Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown, 

 to be appointed by the President of the United States ; who shall meet on 

 the firat Monday of February, at eleven o'clock, before noon, at the said 

 astronomical observatory, and visit and inspect the condition of the said 

 observatory, and of the Smithsonian Institution generally. They shall 

 choose among themselves a chairman, and shall make report to the Presi- 

 dent of the United States of the said condition of the institution, specifi- 

 cally indicating in what respect the institution has, during the preceding 

 year, contributed to the purpose of the founder the increase and diffusion, 

 of knowledge among men. To this board the astronomical observator shall 

 make a report to the same effect, so far as regards the astronomical branch 

 of the institution, which report shall be annexed to that of the board ta 

 the President of the United States, who shall communicate the said reports 

 to Congress. The services of the members of the said board shall be gra- 

 tuitous. 



SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That there is reserved to Congress 

 the right of altering, amending, adding to, or repealing, any of the provi- 

 sions of this act, which shall be found inconvenient upon experience : Pro- 

 vided, That no contract or individual right, made or acquired under such 

 provisions, shall thereby be impaired or divested. 



SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That, for any other moneys which 

 have accrued, or may hereafter accrue, upon the said Smithsonian fund, 

 not herein appropriated, the board of trustees are hereby authorized to 

 make such disposal as they shall deem necessary for the promotion of the 

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

 men," unless the same shall be otherwise disposed of by law. 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, June 14, 1844. 



Mr. DEBERRY, from the Committee on Agriculture, made 

 an adverse report upon the petition of citizens of the State 



