[PUBLIC—No. 129.]

AN ACT providing for the completion of the Washington Monument.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be, and is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of two hundred thousand dollars payable in four equal annual instalments to continue the construction of the Washington Monument in the city of Washington: Provided, That before any portion of said sum shall be expended, the proper officers of the Washington National Monument Society, incorporated by the act approved February twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, entitled "An act to incorporate the Washington National Monument Society," shall transfer and convey to the United States in due form all the property, easements, rights, and privileges, whether in possession, or in action, or in expectancy, belonging to the said corporation, to the uses and for the purposes set forth in said act of incorporation; and the said charter is so amended as to authorize the executive officers of said corporation to make said transfer and conveyance in consideration of the sum herein appropriated: Provided That nothing herein shall be so construed as to prohibit said society from continuing its organization for the purpose of soliciting and collecting money and material from the States, associations, and the people, in aid of the completion of the Monument and acting in an advisory and cooperative capacity with the Commission hereinafter named until the completion and dedication of the same. And the construction of said monument shall be under the direction and supervision of the President of the United States, the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, the Architect of the Capitol, the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army, and the First Vice President of the Washington National Monument Society, which officers are hereby constituted, a joint commission for that purpose, and in accordance with the laws regulating contracts and the construction of public buildings by the Treasury Department; and detailed reports of such expenditures shall be annually submitted to Congress.

SEC. 2. That prior to commencing any work on said monument an examination shall be made as to the foundation of the monument in order to thoroughly ascertain whether it is sufficient to sustain the weight of the completed structure, and if the same shall be found insufficient then the further continuance of the work shall not be authorized by anything herein contained until the further action of Congress.

Approved, August 2, 1876.