Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-16

created by Congress last year. It is
small body. headed by the Secretary
Of the Treasury, with all the powers
| necessary to enable it to take, hold
| and administer funds
With a completed faculty" OF
scholarly men welcoming the investi-
gator. imbued with his own spirit of
'esearch, speaking his language
eager to serve him, and having back
of them this great mass of material
the Library Of Congress will develop
a much broader usefulness to writer's
and the public.
Great Collections Here.
AS for the scope of the Library of
Congress and of other libraries and
collections here, Washington already
has libraries containing perhaps more
volumes in proportion to its popuIa-
| ton than any other city in the world
| Apart from the Library of Congress
| with its 100000 volumes and its
manuscripts. maps. music and prints
comprising several million other items,
there are nearly 100000 volumes in
the libraries of the Federal depart
ments and bureaus
| These collections are not merely
| strong: certain of them Che library
of the Surgeon Generals Office and
| the library of the Department of
Agriculture) are almost pre-eminent
| in the special fields of science with
which they deal.
Exceedingly important to an in
vestigator is that, associated with
them, are scientific workers actually
engaged in research, pure and APP
piled. 1t means for an investigator,
instead of collections of inert ma
terial. a group of collections vitalized
by the active use of experts.
There are still other collections In
| one field there is significant material
at Georgetown University, and in
another, the remarkable Latin Amer
| lean collection (Oliveira Lima) at the
Catholic University. There are the
! Pan American Union and the Bureau
| of Railway Economic, the Carnegie
Institution, the Bureau of Historical
| Research. to mention only some of
the more notable.
Copies of Originals.
Certain original manuscripts are
| never likely to come to America. be-
cause European and other capitals
would not part with them, but this
deficiency is being~-net by obtaining
facSimiles.
The library is Systematically secur-
ing substitutes for both the manu-
scripts and the printed rarities, which
will afford to the American scholar
the substance, if not the form, of
them. 1t has, for instance. for years
past been securing transcripts and
facsimiles of manuscripts in the
libraries and archive offices abroad Of
concern to the student of American
history; it secures every published fac
| smile of medieval or ancient manu-
scripts, and every procurable repro
| duction of first editions of the rarities.
In certain distinct fields the Library
has already collections almost, If not
quite, pre-eminent.. In science, for in
stance, it has the greatest American
collection of publications of learned
| societies: it has, through international
/ exchange, the official publications of
| foreign countries, as well as of the
| States. 1t has an enormous collection
| of serial publications. including files
| of newspapers. It has one of the
| largest and richest collections of Rus
sian books outside of Russia, and of
| Chinese literature outside of China.
| 1t has an excellent basic collection of
Hebraica, of Indica and of Scandi-
| navica.
| one of the largest and now one of the
most active. and is being constantly
! enlarged. It's collection of prints
| numbers over 400, 900 items, and of
music Zone of the most notable exist
ing) over a million items. In manu-.
script sources for American history
| it's collection is the most important
single collection in the United States.
All this may seem impressive, but IT
49,
yet what they should be for the Ma
tional Library of the United States.
Privileges for Writers.
Privileges and assistance are given
| writer's and investigators at the Lii
brary of Congress. 1t admits the in
vestigator directly to the shelves, as
signs him an alcove, where he may
have his books and papers about him
or his stenographer and typewriter
and issues books to him for use out
| side of the building.
The effect has been to attract nu
merous scholars to Washington, il
not TO reside, at least to sojourn. They
have already resulted in many book
produced within the walls of the Lii
brary and many another incubated
here. 1t has become a. habit of Ger
tain authors to spend parts of each
year there, and of many professor
in a university or college to spend
there a semester or sabbatical year
At the top of the new stack nearing
completion there will be over 80 small
rooms dedicated to them.
Washington will increasingly draw
to it, as it has notably already drawn
not merely the scholar actively en-
gagged in research, but many a scholar
and man of culture who has retired
from it. thus assuring n general at
mosphere of intellectual breeding anC
experience.
Looking backward, DIR. Ainswortl
Spofford in q paper read before thu
Columbia Historical Society in 1902
mentioned 176 authors identified will
Washington. John Burroughs. fol
instance. wrote Wake Robin" largel.
/. in the vaults of the Treasury Depart
ment. Poets included Francis Scot
Key, John Howard Payne, Walt Whit
man and Joaquin Miller.
Other writer's were John Hay
Frances Hodgson Burnett and Thomas
Nelson Page.
John Hay, once asked what h
thought of the Capitals possibilitie
; as literary center" answered tina
! he thought 1.-The great presses ant
! publishing houses We're the nucleus
OF literary workers, but that the ad
vantages afforded, or to be afforded
by the National Library and othe
Government facilities must of neces
sity invite authors to Washington.
Views OF DIR. Bowerman.
Here on my desk" said DIR. Bower
= man, you will see a clipping of tina
! passage in the Presidents message /
: which he urges the creation Of IN