Evening star., 1900-04-11

American students to learn that there ex-
lists neither n complete collection nor de-
tailed list of the documents of the First 10
the Fourteenth Congress, inclusive 1859 to
1917. Such, however, is the condition of af-
iairs as far as my researches have extend
ed. In the city of Washington there is no
complete collection in any library whether
that of Congress, of the Senate of the
House Of Representatives. of the State De-
partment, of the Navy Department or of the
war department. In the last named de-
partment however, is probably the most
nearly complete set, result largely due to
the sagacity of its librarian, Mr. David
Fitzgerald, whose strenuous efforts years
since, supplemented by the writer's activ-
ity in late years left no opportunity un-
improved of adding to its collection AS to
other cities. the libraries of New York are
especially deficient; in Boston, the Atheu-
aeum and the public libraries are probably
as well supplied as the Department of War;
in the west the University of Chicago Ii
brary contains perhaps the fullest set in
the country; other cities, SO far as known
are less fully provided with such docu-
ments.'
While these statements are in the main
correct, the Senate librarys collection of
Public documents covering the period men,
TONED by Gen. Greedy is such that original
gaps nave beer. filled, in various ways, until
II is now possible to comply with almost
any call for information relating to the pro-
teed'hss OF Congress, or reports or CORE
Spondence from or with executive depart
menus oL the government, Notwithstanding
the unSySttmati2 methods which obtained
during the first quarter of a century of the
republic. Nevertheless there is room for
vast improvement as may be judged from
these quoted statements of Gen. Greely, and
the further facts mentioned by him, that
In the early Congresses apart from Jour-
naiS, there was no clear-cut deniarkaI;on
and the separate printed publications of ali
klnds were brought together under the in
definite term of state papers. These Iubli-
cations, except the legislative journals Of
both houses, were issued as the occasion re-
quired in all sorts of shapes and sizes, with
separate no paRination and without sny
serial numbering"
The burning of the Capitol by the British
in 1874. which deprived the government of
the contents Of the Congressional Library
that had been accumulated during the pre-
cedlng two decades, caused another great
less by destroying the valuable records of
Congress, the accumulated reports to Con-
gress by the President and the members of
his cabinet, reports of congressional COM
mittees, and a quantity of important mis-
cellaneous material. Much OF this matter
was lost forever. In 1881 and 1893 how
ever, Congress directed the secretary of the
Senate and the clerk Of the House to assort
the important and voluminous executive
communications, the reports and miscel-
laneous documents then in their care, many
of which were in manuscript. This assort-
ment having been made, authority was
given to print the most valuable of the ma
terial, and In order to make the work as
complete as possible there was to be in
cluded in the printed volumes such pre-
viously published documents as were
deemed worthy of publication. The result
ing compilation, thirty-seven large volumes,
known as American State Papers, comprise
a large proportion Of the most important
records and documents in existence relat-
ing to the history of the first three decades
of the government under the Constitution.
In addition, there are the United States
Supreme Court reports. now numbering ia
volumes: Cohbetts Parliamentary History
Of England, SO volumes; Hansard's Parlia-
mentary Debates since 1903, 500 volumes;
writings and biographies of famous men,
including Adams, Bancroft, Benton, Blaine
Buchanan, Calhoun, Cleveland, Conklfng,
Cushing. Greeley, Hamilton. Jackson. JET
ferson. Madison, Marshall's Washington,
ster. Among the working tools" of the
library are all standard encyclopedias,