XXXV 



nearly half a century after Brooklyn started its niuseuni. the arts and 

 sciences would seem to have been confined to a few wealthy individuals 

 who kept collections in their homes, for it was not until 1870, 47 years 

 after Brooklyn started its collections, that the Museum of Natural 

 History was incorporated. 



While New York was slow in starting', it made up for lost time by 

 proceeding^ to business forthwith, and in 187 1 the legislature authorized 

 Mie Commissioner of the Department of Parks to erect building's for the 

 Museums of iVrt and Natural History at an agfgreg'ate cost, the interest 

 upon which should not exceed $35,000 for each of said buildings. 



Money was six per cent, at the time, and although the plans were elabo- 

 rate, the leg'islature and the city fathers no doubt thou.ght that if these 

 gentlemen expected to carry them out some lover of art must g^o down in 

 his pockets to finish them, but the lovers of art at that time must have 

 i)een as expert in finance as the most conspicuous of our art connoisseurs 

 of today, for when they ag-reed to take the museum bonds for two per 

 cent, the town was up against a stock issue of $3,500,000. And they 

 (lid not stop at that. The legislature was many times invoked to help 

 the good work at the expense of the City, so that up to date there has 

 been expended for the building and equipment of the American Museum 

 of Natural History, $4,462,429.86, and for like purposes for the Metro- 

 politan ^luseum of Art. $4,559,628.29, or a total of $9,022,058.15. Of 

 the stock issued for this purpose $958,000 has deen redeemed, and the 

 balance of $8,064,058.15 is outstanding, on which the city is paying 

 interest averaging 3%, in round figures $240,000 annually, or $120,000 

 aimually for each institution. 



The legislature of 1873 passed an act providing: that out of the ap- 

 |)ropriation for the maintenance of parks in New York there should be 

 appropriated for the maintenance of museums $50,000 annually. This 

 was followed by various other acts increasing: the annual appropriation 

 from time to time, and appropriations were made accordingly up to 

 the time of consolidation. 



With consolidation came the consideration of the amount to be ap- 

 propriated for all the nmseums, based on the custom existing in the 

 several boroughs before consolidation, and the embodying: in the charter 

 of annual appropriations not exceeding $250,000 for all three of them, 

 which has since been raised by the leg'islature to $400,000 for the 

 Museums of Art and Natural History and $95,000 for the Brooklyn 

 Institute of Arts and Sciences. 



The following: are the annual appropriations since consolidation, 

 allowed in the budget of the Park Department by the Board of Estimate 



