The appeal of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for the means
to organize, exhibit, and make available for the public benefit the
articles now stored away belonging to the National Museum I heartily
recommend to your favorable consideration.

The attention of Congress is again invited to the condition of
the river front of the city of Washington. It is a matter of vital
importance to the health of the residents of the national capital,
both temporary and permanent, that the lowlands in front of the city,
now subject to tidal overflow, should be reclaimed. In their present
condition these flats obstruct the drainage of the city and are a
dangerous source of malarial poison. The reclamation will improve the
navigation of the river by restricting, and consequently deepening,
its channel, and is also of importance when considered in connection
with the extension of the public ground and the enlargement of the
park west and south of the Washington Monument. The report of the
board of survey, heretofore ordered by act of Congress, on
the improvement of the harbor of Washington and Georgetown, is
respectfully commended to consideration.

The report of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia presents
a detailed statement of the affairs of the District.

The relative expenditures by the United States and the District for
local purposes is contrasted, showing that the expenditures by the
people of the District greatly exceed those of the General Government.
The exhibit is made in connection with estimates for the requisite
repair of the defective pavements and sewers of the city, which is
a work of immediate necessity; and in the same connection a plan is