32 ' EEPORT OF THE ACTING SECRETARY. 



number of paintings by distinguished masters, and numerous articles 

 of historical interest and value. Upon her decease on July 3, 1903, 

 it was found that she had bequeathed this entire collection to the 

 Corcoran Gallery of Art under certain specified conditions and sub- 

 ject to the provision " that in the event that the Government of the 

 United States shall establish in the city of Washington a national 

 art gallery that the said articles shall, upon the establishment of said 

 national art gallery, be, by the said trustees of the Corcoran Gallery 

 of Art and their successors, delivered to the said national art gal- 

 lery, and upon such delivery shall become the absolute property of 

 the said national art gallery established by the United States." 



The conditions were of such a character as to cause the Corcoran 

 Gallery to decline the bequest. From what has subsequently been 

 learned Mrs. Johnston seems not to have been aware that the Smith- 

 sonian Institution had been named as the depository for the objects 

 of art belonging to the nation, possibly from the fact that it had 

 never been formally designated as the National Gallery of Art. 



The executors of the will, although desiring to carry out its intent 

 and render possible the maintenance of the collection in its integrity 

 in Washington, felt themselves without authority to award it to the 

 Smithsonian Institution under the circumstances, and the Congress 

 then in session (1903-4) was too near its close to secure Avhat was 

 then deemed necessary legislation, although an appropriate resolu- 

 tion was introduced in the Senate. 



The annual message of President Roosevelt to the I'ifty-eighth Con- 

 gress, third session (dated December 6, 1904), contains the following 

 clause : 



The collections of art contemplated in section 5586 of the Revised Statutes 

 should be designated and established as a national gallei-y of art, and the Smith- 

 sonian Institution should be authorized to accept any additions to said collection 

 that may be received by gift, bequest, or devise. 



No action followed in Congress, but the executors of the Johnston 

 estate still feeling it incumbent upon them to prevent the disposal 

 of the collection by sale, filed a suit on February 7, 1905, in the su- 

 preme court of the District of Columbia, asking a construction of 

 certain doubtful clauses in the testament. By direction of the 

 President, the Attorney-General, on behalf of the United States, on 

 February 10, 1905, entered its appearance in the suit, claiming an 

 interest in the matter. 



It is understood that all the legatees under the will agreed to the con- 

 tention of the Government except the Harriet Lane Home, of Balti- 

 more, founded by Mrs. Johnston, which had an interest in the 

 residuary estate, and which, from a sense of obligation to a public 

 charity, deemed a judicial decision necessary, although some of the 



