a a ee eee 
FIFTIETH CONGRESS, 1887-1889. 1267 
‘made in uniforms down to the present time. The Quartermaster- 
General of the Army, Gen. S. B. Holabird, states that the existing 
collection at the Philadelphia general depot is being duplicated. These 
uniforms, when suitably mounted, will form an exceedingly interest- 
ing department of the proposed museum, and the existence of such a 
collection will have much historical value in the future as well as 
immediate popular interest. The same may be said of the uniforms 
of the Navy. 
The statements sent to Congress by the Secretaries of War and the 
Navy, in reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives, 
show that it will be an easy matter to organize a historical collection 
of American inventions in small arms which will be of great interest 
and value. At present we have no such collection which is accessible 
to the public. The arms which the Government now possess are 
scattered among the arsenals and navy-yards of the country. . It is 
well known that the citizens of this country have shown great inge- 
nuity in the development of firearms, and have contributed many of 
the most important inventions in this field which have been made dur- 
ing the past century. All the other great governments of the world 
have instituted collections of small arms to illustrate what their citi- 
zens have accomplished in this department of effort. The United 
States should not be behind other nations in providing a place where 
such a collection can be assembled and kept accessible to inventors 
and to all who are interested in the subject. The very large collec- 
tion at the National Armory, at Springfield, Mass., fai furnish 
an admirable nucleus for the department of small arms which it 
is proposed to place in the national military and naval museum. 
After careful consideration, the committee unanimously recommend 
the enactment of the accompanying bill, introduced by Mr. Townshend, 
of Illinois, and referred to the committee. 
Committed to Committee of the Whole. 
DETAILED STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURES REQUIRED. 
October 2, 1888. 
Sundry civil act for 1889. 
The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution shall submit to Con- 
gress at its next session a detailed statement of the expenditures of the 
fiscal year 1888, under appropriations for ‘‘ International Exchanges,” 
‘** North American Ethnology,” and the ‘‘ National Museum,” and 
annually thereafter a detailed statement of expenditures under said 
appropriations shall be submitted to Congress at the beginning of 
each regular session thereof. 
(Stat., XXV, 529.) 
