Opinion on Objects of Natural History Belonging to the Government
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Attorney General J. S. Black responds to a query from the Honorable Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, as to whether objects of natural history belonging to the government are to be placed in the Smithsonian Institution. He affirms that 1. The object of natural history belonging to the government are to be placed in the Smithsonian Institution; 2. Implied repeals are not to be favored; 3. An earlier law is never to be taken as repealed by a later without words to that effect, unless they be so inconsistent that both cannot stand together. Thus, 5 Stat 534 and 10 Stat 572, which place the objects of the Exploring Expedition in the Patent Office do not mean that they should not eventually be transferred to the National Museum at the Smithsonian when Congress supplies appropriations to the Smithsonian for their care, as Congress did on 3 March 1856, based on 9 Stat 102.
Smithsonian Legal Documents
Official Opinions of the Attorneys General of the United States (Book)
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
Opinion of the Attorneys-General
Number of pages: 3; Page Numbers: 46-48