The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-07-14

as they did to the Buffalo platfor.n,
leaving tn o m 'stration sh + r its IL
The plump and fAtfooted approval Of the
Nebrask bill by the lard Z els is q master
stroke of fo'icy. tplace hem in the front
IA of the dem rstic TT nation. 1t
may damag the 81 ghtly 1t Messrs. Wheel
er, Mau c., O " r, Peckham and Peck, and
with Mr.. Br dy but i t. ese gentlemen
have any sagacty, they VIII perceive
eonventies. OIherw Sc, they are outside
of any healthy political lrgaa z ton, and will
disappear with the outside factions Of the day
We presc me that the democracy of the South,
identified as they are with the spoils coalition
OF Washington and Tammany Hail, will prefer
TO wait the is. ne of the soft shell convention
of September. But they will gain nothing by
delay. Let them Danish the hope of maintain
ing the democratic party with the administra-
ton. The hard shell convention has decreed
the alternative. The South must either aban-
don the administration or consent to The triumph
Of the anti-slavery alliance over the divided
democracy.
John c. Calhoun, in his day, more than oace
expressed his conviction that the corrupting
influences Of the spoils, if not arrested, would
ultimately sap the foundations OF our repubii
tan fabric, and powerfully contribute to the
dissolution OF the Union, Judging from the poll
teal events of his experience. The dullest oh
server may DOW appreciate the meaning Of
these prophetic apprehensions. Itremains with
the Southern democracy to determine whether
their future associations shall rest upon 1.-the
cohesive power of the pubic plumber" or upon
the principles of the Union and the constitu-
ton, without regard to Presidents, or cabinets,
or spols.
rhc Smithsonian L,brary-Thc Way la w. 4
Public Trusts are Discharged.
1t is singular how the most philanthropic
plans, and even the most stringent legislative
enactments confrmatory Of them, will be de.
feated by the crochetty perverseness Of the in
dividuals who are entrusted with the duty of
carrying them out. Had the Intentions of the
founder and the expressed will of Congress
been conscientiously fulfilled, the Smithsonian
library would by this time have been the finest
in the country instead Of being 2 paltry col
lection, consisting of some ten or twelve thou
sand books. 1t is instructive to review the
history of this bequest and Of its admnistra-
ton, in order that we may profit by the lesson
which it teaches.
James Smthson, q subject of Great Britain,
who had no connection with this country, be-
queathed by his will the whole Of his property
with the exception Of trifing annuity to a
favorite servant) to his nephew, and in case of
the de ath Of the latter without children 'to the
United States of America, to found at Wash
stitution, an establishment for the increase and
diffusion of knowledge amongst men,, The
reversion contemplated by his testament occur
red; and by an act passed July !, 1885, Con-
gress accepted the bequest, and authorized the
President to prosecute the claim of the United
States to the money, in the English courts. II
was soon after recovered and paid into the Trca-
sury, September 1, 1888; but it was not until An
gust 10, ls46, that the act was passed establishnl
the institution and defining its plan Of opera
tions. This act has undergone no subsequent
notifications, and the institution ought there
fore to have been strictly administered uudcr
its provisions.
The capital of the fund, as specified in this
act, was S5l5, l69, and in addition to this. was
the interest that had accrued between Septem-
Der l, 1888, and July /, 1916. This latter sum.
or such portion of it as might be deemed neces-
sary, was expressly appropriated to the cree
ton of buildings and other current expenses,
"a fbn IF tha 1ar
specifically allocated to the perpetual mainte-
nance and support of the institution.
1t should be stated that some difficulty arose
in Congress as to the construction to be placed
on the terms of the bequest, which accounts
for the long delay that occurred in carrying
out the intentions Of the testator. In 1916.
bill reported hy special commission, Mt the
head Of which was Mr.. Robert Dale Owen, o.
Indiana, was, with some amendments adopted
by Congress, and became the law under whica
the institution is now established. BY this
bill it was decided that the Smithsonian Inst-
tuition should be chiefly library, and $4,000,
or about fve-sixths, Of the income'o the
fund were specifically appropriated to the
purchase of books Such other features
only were allowed in connection with this main
provision OF the bill as could be Carried out
without any considerable expenditure of money. |
There was nothing either in the wording or in
the widest Interpretation that could be given to
the meaning OF the act that authorized the ex-
perditure of money in publications
We have now to examine how the deliberately
declared intentions of Congress and the phlan-
tbropic objects of the testator have been carried
out. lis now nearly eight years since the
Smithsonian Institution has been established.
The average annual appropriation of $4,000
destined for the purchase of books, would in
eight years have amounted to 100000. AS
books for libraries can be purchased at an ave
rage rate of dollar volume, it was to be ex
pected by this time the library would have con-
aimed nearly two hundred thousand volumes