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Smithsonian Institution  779
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In the years since the original fund was gathered, further sums aggregating in round figures one-half a million, have been collected. Thus it is that one million and a half - with an annual income of, say, $85,000 per year - is the only permanent and unrestricted fund which this great Institution can count upon for research work, though through personal solicitation this is added to by occasional gifts of friends for immediate use and for specific purposes. You are all aware of the sums spent by many of our industrial corporations in technical research, and you doubtless know, too, of the funds which our State and privately endowed universities have for research work; [[underlined]]hence the great need[[/underlined]] of our Institution requires no lengthy dissertation from me. The question is how are we to meet the difficulty?

The situation as it exists today might be summed up as follows: The Government accepted a large private gift in a fiduciary capacity. In the early years of the Institution's history, $60,000 loomed as a large sum, and Dr. Joseph Henry, the first Secretary, made it go as far as possible by refusing steadfastly to take on other activities. Even his scientific library he turned over to the care of the Library of Congress, - so jealous was he to adhere to the principle that the acquisition of knowledge meant research and nothing else. But even Henry could not refuse the gifts of scientific material turned over to him by act of Congress, and so it has come about that the curatorial duties of the Institution have steadily grown at the expense of its investigational work. Congress has been generous, and is now appropriating for the [[underlined]]administration, maintenance[[/underlined]] and [[underlined]]operation[[/underlined]] of the various departments and museums under the Smithsonian Institution, something like one million dollars per year, which represents the income on twenty millions, but nevertheless the real purpose of the Institution is being overlooked.
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