To the House of Representatives
I take the liberty of returning this Joint Resolution (H. J. Res. 230) without my signature, not because I am not in sympathy with its purpose, namely to accord a place to the records of a great patriotic society in a national repository, but because I am convinced that it would not be just to accord this privilege to one such society without according it to all that might desire to avail themselves of it, and because it would be impossible to do that with the present space and equipment available at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum.
I would be in sympathy with any purpose to supply those institutions with the necessary space and equipment, but unless it is in contemplation to do that, I do not believe that it is wise to begin the policy represented by this resolution.