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Smithsonian Institution  711
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MADE BY BAKER-VAWTER CO.
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and the problems before us are concerned.  Your Committee hopes that you concur in its opinion that the meeting served a most valuable purpose, not only in presenting the problems before us, but in laying a foundation upon which we can predicate future action.

It seems to your Committee that we all understand more clearly than heretofore the extent to which this endowment is primarily a private endowment, and the extent to which it has become a public trust supported by Federal appropriations.  It was founded by a private gift to the Government of the United States acting as a trustee for the benefit of mankind. For a long time it was solely dependent upon the income of the original fund and of additional gifts made by friends of the Institution, but little by little, and largely through operation of law, great and important collections have been put in its keeping, buildings have been erected, and today the Institution finds itself not only the [[underlined]]research institution[[/underlined]] that was originally created, but the caretaker of an aggregation of valuable collections, both endowed and unendowed, and representing practically every field of science, archeology and art.  Even if we entertain the opinion, it is no use for us at this day to argue that we should have adhered to the original conception of Joseph Henry and have remained solely a research organization. We cannot divest ourselves of our duties as caretaker of these immense collections which have already fallen into our lap, or which will continue to come to us in spite of anything we can do; but it is important that we should have a clear and distinct understanding of our responsibilities and duties and so organize our work that we shall be in a position to function adequately.

At the present time the Institution is receiving as income from the original fund and additions since made thereto, in round figures, $65,00.00 annually, of which approximately $23,000 is employed for research, counting therein the salaries of the Secretary and the Editor. Measured in the purchasing power of the dollar, this sum is small compared to what it was eighty