FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1889-1891. ~ 1283 
I do not know anything in the world about this matter, except that, I 
know that the prices paid for Japanese curios have gone down very 
much in the last two or three years. They used to be considered quite 
rare, but now hardly a week passes when there are not large auction 
sales in this city of Japanese articles. JI have never seen this collec- 
tion, and I do not know whether it consists of articles that can not be 
obtained elsewhere or whether they are antiques, which would give 
particular value to such articles, but I happen to know that all the 
large cities to-day are filled with Japanese curios. I simply want to 
inquire whether this price is considered as being the value to-day, or 
whether there has been any recent valuation, so as to know whether 
$14,000 is an exorbitant sum or not. 
Mr. Henry L. DAwEs rose. 
Mr. Vooruers. I yield to the Senator from Massachusetts. 
Mr. Dawes. I do not profess to know the value of such things, but 
1 have had the opportunity to see the selections made by Mr. Capron, 
and they are not of any ordinary character, like those which are in the 
shops of cities. 
Mr. Voornesrs. Oh, no. 
Mr. Dawes. They are of a very rare kind and are nowhere to be 
found in any of the shops, and they are of inestimable value as com- 
pared with all those that are seen in shops. I would not undertake to 
express an opinion as to their value, but there are no such specimens 
of the wonderful art of the Japanese people as those that were collected 
by Mr..Capron. They are peculiarly valuable specimens of what is 
done in that country, and they are of great value of themselves, as 
compared with other specimens, though I am not able to express an 
opinion upon their money value. IJ know that heretofore they have 
been valued by those in whose judgment I should have great confi- 
dence as being of great value to this country to obtain the possession 
of and keep in the National Museum. 
Mr. Vooruees. In further answer to the Senator from Missouri I 
will state that during the last session of Congress there was a letter 
read here which is in the Congressional Record. It ought to be on 
file now. I tried to find it a little whileago. The Senator from Mas- 
sachusetts knows of the existence of the official communication which 
we secured from the Smithsonian in respect to the value of these rich 
and rare specimens of works of art in Japan, and the amount appro- 
priated in the bill is the value placed by them. We did not pretend 
to appraise them ourselves; we did not know how; and so we secured 
the written official statement. of what such works would be worth at 
this time, and that was within the last year or eighteen months. 
Mr. E. Hate. Mr. President, these works are of such transcendent 
value that it raises a condition of wonderment in the human mind that 
has ever considered them why they were ever allowed to be brought 
