The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-09
BOOK COSTS $3,OOO, ,OoO
LAST VOLUME OF THE REBEL. LION RECORDS ISSUED. ,@
The Work Has 127 Volumes. Z Thirty-six Years Spent in Its
 Compilation.

ANo A0HlGQGIhtG INCIOiNo OA hAAS -"~N Hon. has just been issued and the worK is completed except for the general in- dsxes and supplemental volumes -ol statistics, which will be finished with in the coming fiscal year. It mas cost the Government upward of $3,UVo,VVV L. collect, compile and publish these re cords. which in their printed form include. as the preface states, every, thing having any apparent hlstorlcai value" such value being determineu by the compilers. The entire issue. excluding the general index and sta tisticaI volumes, now in press, IS com prised in 127 books of an average Q! 1000 pages each, or an aggregate of 127,000 pages of printed matter, sayJ the Washington correspondent of The New York Sun.
 In the preface of the first edition or his personal memoirs, dated St. Louis. January 21, 1875. General sherman re- fered somewhat sarcastically to the de- lay In issuing the book. At that time not 8 volume in it's present form had appeared. He. said: At the rate of progress for the last ten years 1t is probable that a new century will come before they are published.
 The sheer was doubtless thrown out for the purpose of expediting the work. Little did the old hero imagine at the time that twenty-five years would be consumed in its publication, and no more did he comprehend the scope OF the work. At that time 1t was esti- mated that forty volumes would fuinii all the requirements.
 Ten years later In a preface to the second edition of his revised memoirs the irascible Sherman, In similar strain. again reverted to the war re. cords. II am afraid he said, If assume again the character of prophet I must extend the time deep into the next century. and pray meanwhile that the official records of the war may-ap- proach completion before the next war. or rather. that we as people. may be spared another war until the last one Is officially recorded"
 His prayer was not fulfilled; there
 was another war ere the records of the Rebellion were finished in book form, but their completion will not extend any deeper into "the next century than a few months hence. There has. perhaps been cause for complaint. al- | though 1t was critical undertaking, | which required care and time.
 The job was started tentatively thir- | ty-six years age, but 1t did not take
 actual form until 1874. Volume I was | issued in 1880. The compilation was at | first in charge of civilians connected | with the War Department. but alter
 ward was more fully organized hy an | army officer. Lieutenant Colonel K. N. | Scott. After 'Scotts death, Hoard of | Publication was provided for by Con- | gress. lcomposed of an army officer, | who was president. and two civilians. In December. 1898, the greater part l of the books being completed. this | Board was dissolved by the Secretary of War. and the unfinished volumes handed over to an army officer again. From 1891 to 1898 more than one hun dred persOns were employees in the war records office. It has bsen gi- gantic undertaking, but after all has repaid its cost. It is largely by means of this vast government publication,
 involving such enormous outlays and
 90 many years of painstdking labor. that the true greatness and patriotism of. the people of both sides of th., line are now more fully understood and appreciated, and the animositiss of the war days greatly allayed.
 The first series, with Q set of maps, of which there are thousands, deals principally with the battles and cam paigns, and includes official reports. or ders. returns. letters and telegraphic despatches on every conceivable sub iect relating thereto. The second se-
  rnents relating to prisoners of war end state. The third series embodies the official calls fer troops, and the douu- ments covering the history of the drafts. organization of armies and re- lated subjects on the Union side. The fourth series embodies similar matters on the Confederate side. There is a copious index with each hook. besides which there is to be the general index to the whole,
 Congress provided for the issue of an edition of Il, 900 copies of each separate volume the greater number of which were distributed through designations made by Senators and Representatives. The benehClaries have been receiving the books for twenty years It an average rate of about six volumes per annum. AS more than 1856, ,000 books in the aggregate have been printed and Ilus distributed, a large force has been constantly required for the mailing ser vice alone rver since 1880, work which has been done in the War Department. A certain portion W ere reserved for safe at cost, and each executive depart ment of the government also received a compliment.
 All tie sets for free distribution were IoEg ago exhausted, hut the public pressure for the work still continues. Congress has already been importunel to reprint the entire set but it will hardly do so. Nearly every public library in the country of any conse- quence has been supplied with a set of the rebellion recores.
 Many people supposed the record are a running history of the Civil War; written by competent historians ap- pointed by the government. They are nothing of the sort. Not a line was written by the compilers. other than footnotes CT headings, explanatory of the documents. The war records so- called are a collection of all the ac- cessibe official documents, whether reports. returns, letters, telegrams ,or
 what not, relating to the rebellion, ar ranged in chronological order in the sequence of events.
 They are printed exactly as written. the Compilers merely correcting bad spelling and subjecting them to a gen- eral rule of punctuation and address. They were not otherwise edited. De- casionally d footnote Is ventured to explain some obscurity, or reference which otherwise would not be under stood. The works great feature is that the documents relating to given event like Gettysburg, for instance, are all brought together. It Is, therefore. q work of enormous value to the histor- ian of tocay and for all time, as well IS to the country. but 1t is not history in itself in the common acceptation Of the term, otherwise than as the docu- mcntS themselves tell the story of great events, which in fact they do.