The Washington times., 1901-08-01
A USEFUL LIBRARY BUREAU.

n UOEE UL UlDhhh1 DU hEdO.
The division of photography Of the Ii
brary CT Congress has just brought out
"A Union List of Periodicals. Transln-
tions, and Allied Publications Currently
Received in the Principal Libraries Of the
| District of Columbia" 1t will surprise
| many readers of this document to discov-
| er how many libraries. of sufficient i'm
portance for consideration in such work.
exist in this District. The War Deplrt
ment alone has three the department 81
brary proper. the Adjutant Generals j
| brary, and the Surgeon Generals library;
the Interior Department four. the Patent
| Office library. the Geological Survey. the
| Bureau of American Ethnology. and the
| Bureau Of Education library; the Treas
/ ury Department two, that of the Bureau
OF Statistics and that OF the Coast and
| Geodetic Survey; the Department of sgri-
culture two. its own proper and that or
the Weather Bureau; the Department of
| State and the Navy Department. one
each: and the Smithsonian Institution,
| one OF which 1t takes entire charge, and
another which it leaves in the custody of
| the Librarian OF Congress. Then there is
also. of course. the greatest of all. the
| Library OF Congress II is notable that
| ume, which A P. C. Griffin, chief of the
division. says is about twice as large as
| the corresponding list published by the
Boston Public Library and covering the
| libraries of Boston and its neighborhood.
Another compilation of allied character,
though prepared under the direct auspices
of the division of periodicals. is Check
list of American Newspapers of which
sets parts Of sets are to be found in
the Library of Congress. This includes
many quaint publications. almost forgot
ten even by experts, such as stephen II.
Branch's Daily Hand with Truth and
Heart In It, of which the library pos
| sesses numbers from September l to Sep
tember a, 1853.
The purpose of the photographers is to
get the resources of the library into such
shape as to be readily accessible to Con-
gress, for whose benefit the collection was
primarily designed. Mr.. Griffin and his
assistants keep close watch of proceed
ings in Congress. and of public discus
sSons outside which are liable to bear
fruit In legislation. and wherever a fruit
full topic Is discovered, the collection of
the titles bearing upon 1t Is at once un-
dertaken. The search is not limited to
monographs or general historical, geo.
graphical. or statistical works. but ex-
tends to magazine articles, editorial lead
ers from some of the more prominent
newspapers, etc. Even the best speeches
which may have been made in Congress
| in past times. reports of committees, con-
sular correspondence and Presidential
and departmental messages have their
place in these works. Before the out
break of the war with Spain, but when
| it was apparent that Congress was liable
| to get into wrangie over Cuba, bibli-
ography Of Cuba. including all the maps.
ancient and modern, in the possession of
| the Library, was prepared.
The same service was rendered in the
! case of Hawaii before the debate on the
/ admission of that Republic to the United
States had got under way. The Nicaragua
| Canal received similar treatment, with a
| broad reference to material covering Pan
/ anna. Darien, and the valley of the Atra-
| to, Tehuantepec, and Honduras. and the
| SueZ Canal. Porto Rico, the Danish West
| Indies, mercantile marine subsidies.
| trusts, and colonization are each the sub
| ject of book; and at the request of some
| ingenious member of Congress the divi-
sion is preparing a report on the political
| boss. The photography of colonization is
already extensive in its scope, but Is LA
| BILE to be made larger still as the subject
naturally further subdlvides itself. 1t has
proved very popular compilation and the
| library has been obliged to bring out two
| editions OF it. 1t deals with the terrific
| TO the annexation of Hawaii, and of the
| islands acquired from Spain in 1888. has
! chapter on the expansion of the United
States between 1898 and 1903. and others
about the colonies held by the several
European countries, proteetorates, the
Far East. commercial relations, open
DOORS. and spheres of influence. a
pamphlet on the Philippines has recently
been put through the press. and a digest
| of the printed archives of States and mu-
inequalities in the United States is in
rpn1
of some of the New England records, with
not only the titles of the various local his
tories, etc, but syuopses of their several
contents.
Ii is not alone as a publishing office
that the division of photography makes
itself useful. 1t aims to be of as much
use as possible to scholars at a distance
who need in their work information on
special topics obtainable only from the
Library of Congress or through its agen-
cy. but who cannot afford a long journey
to Washington and back. The theory of
the management is thai if one of these
scholars were to come into the reading
room he would receive every attention,
and il is not too much to ask that the
facilities OF the Library be afforded him
If he be deferred by the expense and in
convenience from coming 1t will require
considerable tact and judgment, doubt
less, to prevent this division from becom-
ing a mere bureau of general information
maintained free by the Government for
the benefit of the public and used largely
by crdnES ana crazy PERSONS II an lued
Of the facilities it affords once becomes
widespread. From July l. 1899. to the
same o.te in 1900-the latest TO which sta
tistics are obtainable-1,lSl letters were
sent out from the division in answer 10
enquiries. The subjects covered wide
range including The Chapins in the War
of the Revolution. Opinions of Tories
on the ability of the colonists to govern
themselves" THE United States flag in
Mexico in 1871 Colonial Horticulture"
--Raleigh's colonies and Historical man
uscripts relating to Deer Isle, Me.
some of the members of Mr.. Griffin's
staff do photographed work for their
own profit. taking time outside or Office
hours for this purpose Mr.. Slade is now
engaged in this manner on photography
of King Alfred the Great. which he hopes
to have ready to take advantage of the
interest sure to be awakened in the sub
ject by the coming commemorative fes-
tivities.
POLITICAL COMMENT.
For the time being the aiherents of Ad-