OE a 
FIFTIETH CONGRESS, 1887-1889. 1049 
existence, and it is for Congress to determine now not whether it will 
create such a bureau, but whether or not it will retain it. Really, 
time would fail me to undertake to go into a general disquisition as to 
the exact authority of Congress to do or not to doa great many things 
which it has done in the past. 
Mr. Oates. Will the gentleman answer another question ? 
Mr. Dunn. If I can. 
Mr. Oates. Was not the origin of this bureau merely a resolution 
authorizing the detail of an officer of the Government to inquire into 
the destruction of fish along the coast? 
Mr. Dunn. Yes, sir; that was its origin, as is stated in the report 
of the committee. Inquiry made under that authority led to the 
making of the appropriations by Congress from time to time for the 
creation of hatching stations, for the construction and equipment of 
vessels, for the construction and maintenance of railway cars to trans- 
port spawn and young fish, and distribute them over the country, and 
for doing all the things that the Fish Commission has done. There 
has been created and brought into existence a plant costing the Goy- 
ernment perhaps more than a quarter million dollars, possibly a half 
million. We now have sixteen hatching stations, several vessels with 
their equipments, and some railway cars constructed for the express 
purpose of transporting spawn and young fish to different parts of the 
country, where they are deposited in the water for development and 
propagation. That is the situation. The bureau is now actually in 
existence. Heretofore the appropriations have been intrusted to Pro- 
fessor Baird, but, unfortunately for science and the good of mankind, 
Professor Baird is no longer alive, and it now devolves upon the Goy- 
ernment to put that bureau upon a business basis or else to abandon it. 
It is not believed that there is any strong sentiment in the country in 
favor of abandoning it, because everybody is aware of the great bene- 
fits that have resulted from its establishment. 
Mr. G. W. Sreevx. Can the gentleman inform us whether Profes- 
sor Baird’s successor has been appointed ? 
Mr. Dunn. There has been designated an officer to take charge of 
that bureau temporarily, Professor Goode, who is now away on leave 
of absence, I believe. By reference of the question to the Solicitor- 
General, it was found that the assistant commissioner, who had been 
really the administrative officer of the Government, was not eligible 
for appointment to the position of Commissioner. 
Mr. Sreete. Is Professor Baird’s successor at the head of the 
Smithsonian Institution ? 
Mr. Dunn. Professor Goode? 
Mr. Sreee. Yes. 
Mr. Dunn. I can not answer that question. Professor Baird, I 
believe, was one of the secretaries of the Institution. 
