Viewing page 101 of 239

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-70-

- 2 -

monies involved in the trust would be received and applied to the establishment of the Smithsonian for the purpose set forth by Mr. Smithson. The report of the committee that prepared the initial bill stated:

It is then, a high and solemn trust which the testator has committed to the United States of America, and its executive devolves upon their Representatives in Congress duties of no ordinary importance.

In the commission of every trust, there is implied tribute of the soul to the integrity and intelligence of the trustees; and there is also an implied call for the faithful exercise of those properties to the fulfillment of the purpose of the trust.

Your Committee are fully persuaded, therefore, that...the Congress of the United States, in accepting the bequest, will feel in all its power and plenitude the obligation of responding to the confidence reposed by him, with all the fidelity, disinterestedness and perseverance of exertion which may carry into effective execution the noble purpose of an endowment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.

On the basis of the 1836 Act, the English Court of Chancery released the Smithson money to the United States, but a number of years elapsed as Congress debated what form the Institution should take. The Act of August 10, 1846 (9 Stat. 102) chartered the Smithsonian in its present form - which is comparable to a charitable trust - and entrusted its management to a Board of Regents. The Board is not an advisory group; it bears full responsibility as trustee for carrying out the Smithson trust.

The Board of Regents includes, and benefits from, representation from all three branches of Government, as well as from the private sector, but the Institution is not under any branch of Government and does not perform governmental functions. The Institution's sole function is to carry out its trust responsibility "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge...," a responsibility supported by the 1836 pledge of faith by the Congress.

The Board of regents establishes Institution policy and oversees the management of Smithsonian assets. This independent authority is, however, subject to the obligations imposed by law on all trustees: to exercise good judgment in carrying out trust purposes, to be faithful to the trust, to exercise prudent oversight of trust activities, to maintain strict records of trust assets, and to be prepared to justify their stewardship to all proper authorities.

Activities approved by the Board of Regents are supported by a variety of funds: trust endowments of the Institution, gifts,