Charlevoix county herald., 1907-10-12
Approach Of an
important Event
Continued from first page)

gathered with special reference 10 the
use TO which 1t Will now be put.
Nearly ten years ago the state librar-
ian, Mrs. Mary @. Spencer, realized
that we should before long come TO
the work that is now before us, and
that there would then be demand for
reference works greater than we have
ever met; and she went to work meth
odically in preparation 10 meet that
demand. The result is what is now
known to those informed al 0ng those
lines TO be the finest and most COM
plete equipped law library i'm the
country with two possible exceptions.
and one peculiarly, a dapted t o the
needs of convention to frame con-
stiluton. And this material is now
classified and indeXed so as TO make
it all Immediately available.
The legislature last May passed "An
Act to provide for legislative and
information department" as the title
is, making the depa rtment branch
OF the state library, and authorizing
the librarian TO appoint an assistant
and clerk to perform the services
contemplated in the act. That SER
vice is to index all information con-
tanned in the public documents Of
this and other states in the library,
and compile in convenient form for
reference, information as to proposed
and pending legislation in other
states, for the assistance Of members
and committees of the legislature.
1t is manifest that such service
would be of peculiar value to con-
stitutiOnal convention, and no time
was lost in getting it in operation.
Mrs. Spencer, who as librarian was
made by the,act the responsible head
OF the new department, appointed as
the assistant in charge Mr.. Lewis
N. Miller, IL lawyer, for many years
clerk Of the house Of representatives.
and peculiarly qualified for the duties
required; and for the clerk to assist
him in the work Mr.. George Clark,
for several sessions bill clerk Of
the senate. These gentlemen visited
the capital Of Wisconsin, where the
pioneer institution Of that kind had
been in operation five or six years,
and observed its methodS;and through
purchase effected by Mrs. Spencer
they procured a complete copy of the
comparative index prepared by that
bureau, which is just as valuable here
our library containing all the docu-
ments and authorities quoted.
Indeed, il is more valuable here,
for our re ference department is a
branch of the library where the books
are kept, and under the same manage
ment, which is not the case in Wis
cOnsin. Their index scheme, too, COW
ers only five or six leading subjects,
here it is enlarged to include all sub
jects treated in constitutions, so that
any member Of our convention deSir-
ing information about constitutional
treatment OF the liquor traffic, for in
stance, or taxation of corporations. or
appointment and tenure Of judges, or
control Of banking, or any other sub
ject, can speedily be shown what
every state has put into its constitu-
tion on that subj ect: and more than
that, he can be referred TO the discus
sions and arguments where the sub
ject was debated in the conventions of
the various states. and to theoretical
treatment Of the matter by reviewers
and writer's i'm books and magazines
easily accessible in the library; so that
in some cases man may examine, if
he cares TO do so. III re than hundred
articles discussing single feature of
constitutional provision. Requests
for this information have been COM
ing in swarms from the delegates
soon to assemble here.
The department has prepared three
bulletins, so called, but they are con-
siderable volumes, putting some of
this information in shape for more
general use. 1t may interest the
reader to know that Michigan does
more printing to give her people full
Information of the doings of their
state government than any other state
Of her rank in population and resour-
pamphlet copies of laws
than many half dozen states; and
any citizen can have for the asking,
II copy Of any act of Importance, or
of any OF the various bulletins Of in |
department and institution
reports, etc, while in some Of the
states it has been difficult for the
reference department TO procure even
one copy Of a constitution, and i'm
possible to procure the three copies