FIFTIETH CONGRESS, 1887-1889. | 1261 
Navy, and the Architect of the Capitol, upon a suitable site to be selected by said 
commission on one of the Government reservations in the city of Washington, in 
accordance with plans prepared under the direction of the Chief of Engineers and 
subject to the approval of the board of directors; and said building shall be suscepti- 
ble of further extension and enlargement without marring its architectural harmony 
and effect. 
Sec. 3. That said building when in condition to receive the objects prepared for 
safe-keeping and exhibition therein shall be subject to such rules, regulations, and 
restrictions as shall be provided by the board of directors. 
Sec. 4. That the sum of $100,000 is hereby appropriated, out of any money in [the] 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the commencement of said building. 
Referred to Committee on Military Affairs. 
January 23, 1889—House. 
Report from Secretary of War, with additional statement. 
(Fiftieth Congress, second session, House Ex. Doc. No. 102, 5 pp.) 
January 25, 1888—House. 
Mr. R. W. TownsuEnp, from Committee on Military Affairs, sub- 
mitted report (H. 3849) to accompany bill (H. 12111). 
On July 31, 1888, the following resolution was adopted by the House 
of Representatives, on the motion of the chairman of this committee: 
[See House proceedings of July 24, 1888. ] 
The responses received from the War and Navy Departments to 
that resolution indicate that the project of a national military and 
naval museum is regarded with favor by the highest military and naval 
authorities of the United States, and that should Congress direct the 
establishment of such a museum it will have the cordial and earnest 
support of those upon whom its successful organization and adminis- 
tration must depend. The Secretary of the Navy, in his communica- 
tion to the House of Representatives, says: 
Referring to so much of said resolution as invites suggestions ‘‘in regard to the 
establishment of a national military and naval museum in the city of Washington, 
of a scope and character similar to the museums now in existence in the principal 
cities of Europe,’’ I beg leave to state that collections of the character proposed, 
embracing, besides models, etc., showing the progress of the United States in the 
science of offensive and defensive warfare, trophies of victories won over foreign 
enemies of the United States, and statues or portraits of distinguished military and 
naval officers who participated in such victories, would, in the opinion of this 
Department, be of great historical value and constitute a permanent source of inter- 
esting and useful information for the public at large. 
Such collections would, doubtless, in addition to the material already in possession 
of the Government, be, in the course of time, largely increased by suitable donations 
from the various States of the Union and from private persons willing to part with 
cherished mementoes when the opportunity of making them a part of the national 
collections is afforded. Such collections, however, should find a permanent home 
ina building of dimensions sufficient, not merely for present but also for future 
needs, and of a style of architecture that will make it an ornament to the National 
Capital, and, with its contents, a source of patriotic pride for citizens in all parts of 
the United States. 
