ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 47 



in its behalf, secured dedications of land within this territory to the 

 extent of about 1,200,000 square feet, and to say that if this site is 

 selected you hare that amount of land already dedicated forever to 

 the public use. You secure the dedication here of N Street and R 

 Street and of Twenty-eighth Street from M Street to R Street and 

 R Street from Twenty-eighth Street over to Bladensburg Road. 



The Chairman. What do you mean by "dedication?" 



Mr. Wood. I went to the owners of that land and presented to 

 them a petition for signature which dedicated the land to the public 

 use in order that the country might be opened for development ; and 

 if M Street and Twenty-eighth Street from M to R and R Streets 

 had been improved, which could have been done at slight expense, 

 it would have resulted in the upbuilding of that territory. 



The Chairman. I understand that ; but I do not understand how 

 far your scheme for dedication of that land for highway purposes 

 proceeded in law. 



Mr. Wood. It proceeded to this extent, Senator, that the owners 

 there signed a dedication in language similar to this: "We, the un- 

 dersigned owners of the land shown hereon, on this plat in red (the 

 plat showed the length and width of the dedication) hereby dedicate 

 the same to the public use to the United States forever." And that 

 land and the title to that land is in the United States and can not be 

 removed, and copies of those dedications are now on file in the engi- 

 neer department of the District of Columbia. 



Mr. Johnson. Have they been acted upon and recorded? 



Mr. Wood. Yes, sir. 



The Chairman. I do not know anything about the laws of the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia as to an effective dedication, but were these at- 

 tempted dedications on the part of the landowners for highway pur- 

 poses ever accepted by the officials of the District of Columbia? 



Mr. Wood. Yes. sir. In the corner of each dedication as those 

 plats were filed with the Commissioners of the District of Columbia 

 is written the words "Approved and accepted " and signed by the 

 full board of commissioners. 



The Chairman. If that be so, then, if this tract be taken for bo- 

 tanical gardens, those highways, if they are legally existent, would 

 have to be abandoned by official authority and proceeding, would 

 they not? 



Mr. Wood. Of course the title is in the Government in any event, 

 you see : that is land you would not have to acquire. 



The Chairman. Did they dedicate the fee of the soil to the Gov- 

 ernment or only the use for highway purposes? 



Mr. Wood. They dedicated the land to the use of the public for- 

 ever. 



The Chairman. But for what purpose? 



Mr. Wood. For street and highway purposes. 



The Chairman. The documents themselves, of course, will show 

 what was done. 



Mr. Wood. Yes, sir. Now, I do not know what next to say, for 

 there is so much to this — there is so much to it and the people are so 

 deeply interested ; it is quite impossible even to give the committee an 

 outline. You understand, we have been working for more than 20 

 years upon these projects out here — the widening of Benning Road, 

 the widening of Bladensburg Road, and all those projects — and we 



