The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-08-29

dous task OF digesting and condensing the
entire contents Of the Library OF Congress
for the benefit Of n few representative ci'l-
zens whose names have been selected. A
friend in Buffalo sends us. with some
! ~caustlo remarks, poor ~SPoPFoRD's plaintive
announcement Of this other enterprise.
wholly distinct from the library Of Historic
Characters and Famous Events" In every
particular except that Il, too. has con-
sumed many years Of Mr.. SPoPFoRD's
valuable life:
''pHiLADHLPHfA. Aug. a. 1900.
DEAR SiR: After many yearsof literary labor !
have achieved In nnlshsd form. dafgely In eollaoora-
ton with my friend CHAs, GIBBoN. Librarian OF ihe
British Museum a condensation Of these two great
Libraries. comprising more than one million nve hun
dred thousand volumes; a collection Of standard liter
allure which ! feel | can recommend 10 ny friends as a
finished digest o. all that Is best and uofthiest In the
literature Of all times and Of all peoples during the
course Of more than sS thousand years OF human In
%telectual Development
have decided In lieu oi spending large sums Of
money In pfomlscuouS AdveriSlrg z. 10 distribute such
cost In the form Of 4 liberal discount to a few repre-
sentative gentlemen who have been TO
me by ny frsndSin Washington, and whose endorse.
menl to NY enterprise will give 10 It the publicity I
Wish.
Your name has been mentioned 10 me; 20 should
you he interested In having full particulars. ! shall be
glad TO furnish them 10 you, and send you specimen
pages and illustrations free Of all expense II You will
kindly acknowledge receipt Of this letter By inolosed
card. Very faithfully yours
"AISswoRrH r ~sPoProRD."
This communication IL decorated with an
engraved picture Of the Library Of Congress
at Washington and It bears a letterhead
reading. Tho Spofford Library Assooia-
ton. AISswoRTH X. SPoFFoRD. Editor. Late
Librarian of Congress-, Washington. ID. c."
In the text Of the letter the recipient IL in
formed that he is the selected beneficiary Of
a proposed distribution,
still another correspondent in Hazelton.
Pennsylvania, sends us a letter which he
received in July, signed by Mr., S%PoFFoRD
like the foregoing. but differing somewhat
In It's specifications concerning the exact
extent Of the labor imposed on that martyr
soul during many years past:
During Nj. sPoFpoRp's ineunbency. our
National Library has grown from being a mere nu-
clcus TO the second largest Library In the world; the
nrSt being the National Library Of England. Of which
Mt. Il GIBBON has been Librarian for up
ward Of tstty years
For many years past Nj SPoPPoRD and Mr
GIDEON have collaborated In making a digest Of these
two great libraries, containing more than three mil
lions OF volumes; a Work that will be an epitome OF all
that Is Standard value In the lite sture Of every Nation
that has had a literature; a History Of Human intelli-
gence from is dawn In China. India. Chaldea and
Egypt, more than eight thousand years ago, to the
beginning OF our twentieth century"
We do not think THE Sun has been too
Il. .gtl -AAx ~ IL nAN
think the Senate Committee let him off too
easily for his share in the Committee on
Distribution scandal. The Imagination
and the sympathetic heart grows
at the thought Of the load Of labor
SPoFPoRD has been carrying. As Chief
Librarian Of Congress he has
been obliged TO work at his desk in
office hours 10 earn the salary OF $4,000
which the Government pays him. He
has been at the beck and call of every
and Representative who wanted
a reference. a date. a quotation. or a
good rotund Latin phrase with which
to end an Grafton. As chief member Of the
" Committee on Distribution" he had TO
supervise the literary style of BARCUs's
young men. to make indexes. to read
proofs. to indorse checks over TO BOOMER.
and to answer inquiries from the selected
In all parts OF the United States; receiv-
ing for all his work and for the use Of his
name a p~ittanoe shameful in its
beggarly i~nadequacy, while the
Of the distribution rolled by him
into the pockets Of BARCUs and of
the Hon. JAMES D. RICHARDSON. And
now we know that on top Of all this SPoP-
FORD has not only been spending his nights
and his vacations and his mealtimes for
Characters and Famous Events" but has
also been trying to find interstitial periods
Of leisure for the colossal task Of reading
and digesting all the books in the Library Of
Congress and ePitomizing all the literature
produced by mankind since human intel
ligence had its dawn in China. India, Chal- |
dea and Egypt.
Is II strange that S%PoFFoRD's overtaxed
should now be In a state unfavor-
able for fine ethical distinctions? Is
it singular that his ideas OF official
propriety in the matter OF the use
Of his post under the Government for
advertising urposes should be somewhat
confused? Ia it any wonder that facts and
figures should be dimming in his memory,
so that one month he writes to a
person in Hazelton that he has
been digesting and epitomizing more than
three millions of volumes. covering the
history Of human intelligence for more than
eight thousand years. while the very next
month he writes TO another selected one in
reducing the number OF books to
one million five hundred thousand. and
down the course OF human intel
development from eight thousand
years TO six thousand?