The Portland daily press., 1894-03-23
A RARE COLLECTION.
Autographs and Manuscripts in Uncle
M Sam's Possession. ~
The Most Important Are in the State De
partInent-How They Are Kept.

collections of original manuscripts in the
world. Of course they are American
manuscripts. and they are worth all OF
the other American manuscripts in exis-
tence many times over. They have not
only an historic but a cash value. Some
of them are part of the archives OF the
State Department. some are COLLECTIONS
which Congress bought and paid for by
special appropriation. The revolutionary
archives alone could be sold at auction
for half a million dollars. Many Oh
them belonged to the government orlg-
nally. The Others were purchased 10y
Congress by appropriations aggfega5lhg
$165, 900. All of the manuscripts thaI
Congress bought are still in the state
DEPARTMENT. and with the exception OF
the Franklin papers all of them are half
century older than when the govern
ment bought them. Their value has in
creased with age. Mr.. Allen, the State
Department librarian, tells me that the
cash value of these revolutionary arch
ives undoubtedly exceeds half million
dollars. No one could possibly form. an
estimate of the value of5all OF the State
Department archives. They include the
original Declaration of independence
the Constitution of 1.-THE United States
and the originals of all the laws Of Con-
qress. 1t would be sacrilege to put
money value on them.
The Revolutionary Archives.
The revolutionary archives are in seven
sets, acquired by the department at
different times There are the records
of the Continental Congress, which were
deposited in the State Department under
authority of the act of September IS,
1889. Then there are the papers of WASH
ington, Jefferson, Franklin. Hamilton,
Madison and Monroe. Here is what they
cost:
Continental Congress records Notnlng
Washington papers S45, IVY
Jefferson naners 20, 600
Franklin papers oo,UoU
Hamilton papers 1o,uoo
Monroe naners 20, 900
Total Sloo,ooo
Congress bought the Washington manu-
scripts (the Starks collection)ln two lots
the first in 1884 and the second in lo4y.
The Madison papers were purchased III
May lS4S, the. Jefferson and Hamilton
papers in August, 1S48, and the Monroe
papers in 1s49. Then Congress went out
of the manuscript business until Au-
gust 1882, when it made appropriation
for the purchase of the Franklin collec-
tion from Henry Stevens of London.
There are 974 volumes of these precious
manuscripts. But this is no index to
the number of them. Some of these
volumes are folios of loosely bound pa
pers of varying size; some OF them are
quartos of heavy linen sheets ON which
the manuscripts are mounted. AS Tar
as possible, all of the manuscripts are
being remounted and rebound, but the
nropress Of the work is slow. The de-
nartment has not the facilities for carry
ing the work forward rapidly, and Con-
oress will not make an adequate appro-
priation for it.
What Shoold be Done.
This rebinding of the manuscripts is
absolutely necessary to their preserva-
ton. Congress ought to make distinct
appropriation fer the purpose and hurry
the work forward. 1t should do more.
It should make appropriations for the
publication of all these papers in printed
form. SO that it would not be necessary
to consult the originals. Anyone who
has worthy object in consulting these
papers can obtain an order from the Sec
retary of State, which will give him
access to them. They are constantly
being examined by historians and other
writers. If there were printed copies to
which those who sought information
could be referred the thum bling of the
Originals would stop, and the wear and
| tear on them would almost cease. =
Congress did make an appropriation
some Years ago for the publication of the
diplomatic correspondence of the srevo-
| lutionary war. But, probably in an
economic spirit, Congress provided that
| the correspondence should be "edited. !"
| AS "a result great deal was omitted
| because in the individual judgment of
| the editor it was not important enough
| for publication. A few days ago a gen.
| tleman came to the department librarian
hewail:ng the fact that convention
with France, part of the revolutionary
records. was not to be had. 1t was an
| important link in the chain of history.
| Mr.. Allen said that he was quite sure
| that the. document was in the depart
ment archives. He looked for It, and
| there it was. But the editor of the
Diplomatic Correspondence" in his
| omnipotence, had thought this paper
unnecessary to his compilation, which
was n practical demonstration of the
fact that the publication is not SO vaiua-
| BILE as it might be.
Original Declaration of independence.
Only few weeks ago the original
| Declaration of Independence was re-
| moved from the upright frame, in which
| it has been exhibited for many years in
the State Department. library rolled up
put in tin cylinder and stored III tne
steel vault which stands on the north
side of the library room. 1t has for
COMPANIONS the appeal to King George
and the Constitution of the United States
two of the most important documents
in the archives of the government.
These documents are very seldom shown
| TO anyone. In fact, there are few appll-
cations to see them. Comparatively
few people know that the Constitution
is on file IN the department, and SO very
| few people make inquiries for it. DIS
tinguished visitor would have no din
Guilty in obtaining view of 1t. Next
| to these documents, perhaps the most
important of the department. archives