The times., 1897-07-04

face of the globe In the first place. MT
Young does not intend that the spoilsmcn
shall have anything TO do with hepersonnel
of kis staff; and, in the second place, ne
intends. if he can accomplish the result
through the aid of Congress, that the
LIBRARY shall become complete i'll every
detail
Il consider ed the request of the Prcsi-
dent 20 take this place very carefully,
said Mr.. Young, and only reached the
conclusion to accept after giving IL the
most panstaking consideration. | have
been doing newspaper work for years, a nj
had relations that were pleasant anu
agreeable, but found that this was life
position. somewhat in line with nay Iabors,
anG opening the door To a future in which
/ might none to labor for tn benefit of the
whole country, and in which | !aSc
personal ptide. The Congressional Library
IS 4 great national institution, and any
man might feel proud TO Toe at its head.
| therefore accepted the place and expect
to uivc my iift tu his work.
"In my talk with the President, he
said he wished me 10 give the Library
my best work, to select my assistants with
care, being GUIDED hy their merit only,
and, when this had been done and the
force was in good working order, he
would place il under the civil service, out
OF the reach Of the spokesman. l have
been accused by cer ain papers, particu-
larry the New York Post, with being
spokesman l am far removed from that
charge. l propose 10 select my assistants
in accordance with the qualifications OF
the applicants. In library OF hrs size
peculiar qualifications TOR the worn are
requisite, and we cannot make an III
discriminate selection Of persons simply
for the sake Of giving them "a place On
tht Government pay roll.
Il DO not propose to make any changes
in the existing force unless 1t be for calSc
II should lind any timber in the Library
that is useless it woIld not be good policy
to continue 1t there, but any ana dll
oil the employees who are serving the Gov
e-nment usefully VIII be retained. come
into the office absolutely unpledgcd To a
living human being Ny selection was
unsolicited, so far as ! was Concerned,
and my only ambition viii hc to serve
! the Library to the utmost extent OF my
/ ability. There are men there WHO have
/ been in the institution for years and are
familiar with their duties II would
not only be unfair to those men but unjust
! to the Government to deprive it of tier
/ experience and valuable aid
Up to tins time / lave gNou the sub
! ject Of patronage absolutely no oousil-
! GRAFTON, and I DO not expect to until
! some little time has elapsed. l leoeivc
| hundreds of letters from applicants and
have been ovelTun with callers VINO want
]
! all aside without satisfactory concl'.si0ns
to themselves. When l 60 reach that
! question l expect TO GeaI With it Icm
| the standpoint Of merit, for We cannot
enter upon The business Of making cX-
/ periments in this great Institution.
If my life Is spared ana | have the
hearty cooperation OF Congress l hope L.
make the Library the most magnificent
thing of the kind in the world. l have had
some experience in this line. l am more
or less familiar with the great libraries
Of the world; lave seen, visited and care
fully Inspected them all. The building here
| IN Washington is the greatest building Oh
| tie globe built for library purposes, and
! IL should contain the most magnificent
| and mostcompleteS set OF book i'll the world
! TO accomplish this there is vast amount
| Of labor 10 he done.
LAS soon as the books are removed and
we can see just What there is on the
| shelves we Will look for the gaps III our
| selections in the various branches uf liter
atuTe, and seek to fill them up. There are
| great quantities OF what might be called
| light literature, some of which closely
trends upon the domain Of trash, AMI a
vast amount Of standard literature, but
| there is much more that is desired / las
long been Needed, and those who have
hitherto been iii charge have realized this
fact, but owing 10 the condition of the
room III which the library has been housed
it has been apparently impossible TO inter
est Congress in the work. Our copyright
laws bring us only a certain number and
a certain class of books. There are books
agEregating many volumes in the course
OF the year that we should have, but which
can only be had through purchase These
purchases must be made and the gaps
indicated must be filled up. l have every
reason to believe that Congress Will be
generous in this matter.
Il nope to see he Library assume Some
thing of the nature of the British Museum
and we will If we can awaken the patriotic
sentiments Of the American people. That
building should be the repository of every
great WORK of art and every book treasur,
that can possibly be had. The British
Museum and National Library has beer
added to from time to time by the dona
tiors of rich men, an d by bequests made by
men, who have left to the government TIM
results of their lfe'S labors Take an in
stance in my own city recently A gen
tlcman of independent means who retired
FROM business years ago made fad o
collecting autographs. He had, beyont
doubt, the finest collection of autographs
in the world. He was getting old and Gus
about for some place where his collection
would be appreciated. He donated it L
the Historical Society Of Philad elphia
That collection ought to be in the Librar,
of Congress, and those are the things
among others, that 1 hope to see comm:
into the Library in a short time.
There are many large private lihrarie
that should be bequeathed to the nation
Many men have fads on the book subject
| They make collections on specific sui
jects or along particular lines. 1t ma
be prize fighting or II nay be horses.
may be a Shakesperian or q Dante fat
that has possessed the owner of this col
lection during many years of his life. Hi
] children may not be similarly inclined
| Nine times out of ten such collections ar
either distributed among unappreciatiy
persons or put up at auction and sole