New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-03-14

The ceilings are abOut forty feet from the hoor' Ii
book is called for that in the upper gallery the
attendant must climb thIrt feet of steep wlndlhg
stairway and walk from fifty feet to $50 feet IN
| going and returning,
There are 1000 public libraries in the United
States that are more conveniently arranged than Is
the Congressional Library. Owing to the incon-
venent arrangement of this library the expenses
Of its administration great notwithstanding the
fact that the man the head of it s one or tile mOs6
capable of executive officers as we'll as one OF the
most accomplished Librarians in the world. Inc
present state of affairs is bad enough but it is daily
becoming worse. The yearly accessions OF DOCKS
amount now to 90 900 volumes and the ratio OF In
crease is rapidly increasing A careful estlmate
made by the architect of the Capitol shows that
with the present ratio of increase the accumulatons
of the library WILL in thirtytwo years more be suf-
fcent to fill the entire Capitol including the Cham
bcrs of the Senate and House of Representatives,
Statuary Hall, the Supreme Court rooms, the ko-
tunda and all the committee rooms
For more than a dozen years the attention OF Con-
gress has been annually called in the reports OF LII
braran Spoord to tho necessity of providing addi-
tional accommodations for the library. During the
same period few men in Congress have laDOreu
zealously to have such accommodations provided
but nothing was accomplished until the last session
because OF ulfiereDceS OF OPINION Si'S'
OF course there have been SolOns in both branches
of Congress who have suggested an easy way 10
solve the difficulty. These descendants of Omar or
Leo the Isauran, have advocated the burning Of
the books and have declared in the fulness OF their
wisdom that the library contains vast amount
of trash which is not worthy of store room.
Some of these statesmen, whose acquaintance with
literature is limited to HOyle's games and few
other kindred works, have gravely suggested the
prOpriety of appointing committee OF congress u
examine the books in the library and decide what
should be preserved and what sold as waste paper
These gentlemen seem to forget that National
library must be inclusive and not exclusive IN lts
selections They forget also to take into consider
alton the fact that very largo proportion OF the
trash consists of books deposited in pursuance
of the Copyright laws of the United States. which
rcouire such deposits to be made In requiring this
the Government takes upon itself the responsibility
of preserving these evidences of literary property.
due which cannot very we'll be evoded. The same
gentlemen also forget that trash has its uscs and
value in both q literary and historical sense
Fortunately the Turks and cOnOclasts are in mi
nority even in Democratic Congress.
On February % the Senate by a vote OF 3S to IS
more than twO-thirdS-passed bill 10 provide for
new Library Building on Capitol Hill The bill was
sentto the House of Representatives on the same
dav. The friends of the measure made careful
canvass among the members of the House and fouud
that more than two-thirds Of the Republicans and
more than one-half of the Democrats were ready to
vote for the bill if it cOud be brought mp. II aV0te
could have been obtained the measure would have
passed the House by n majority greater than two
thirds Why then was it not paSscdf Simply because
Speaker SamuelJ Randall determined that it should
not be. Although 200 members of the House were
for 4Io lp took thp
s,LiiItv of defeating ii by using his authority AZ
Sneaker to prevent 1t from being brought neiore tho
hou,c. 1t Is understood that Mr.. Randall excuses
hlS action an the ground that if he had permitted
tLc Library bill to come up ho wOnld have been
obliged 10 recognize the friends OF some tity other
bIl,, o provide Tor public buildings various parts
OF the country But this Is mere false prctencc;
The Library bill an independent measure and
action upon il would not have necesSitated or In
any manner affected action upon any other bill 1t
is worth remembering that Mr. Randall never throw
any obstacle in tho way of the River and HaIbor
swindc although that measure did not have, as the
Library bill did have, tNothlrdS OF the House i'll It's