Evening star., 1928-03-25
ldes in Storage Contain Priceless Official Documents

| ing the gold is of silver. about twi2s
the size and Weighing about tle same
| as the French golden box
| The ends of the binding cords OF the
| treaty OF Ghent also end in silver
| box, but substance much like bees
wax instead Of sealing waZ' vas used.
Notable among the original manu-
| scripts preserved at the State Depart
ment are those containing the ratilica-
tions Of the Constitution by the IL
colonies and containing priceless siZT -
lures. In most cases all members OF
the State constitutional conventions
affixed their signatures. In the case OF
Massachusetts, however, the paper vas
signed only by John Hancock.
Some of the States used fine grade
of cloth paper. Most used parchment.
Some forwarded the notice OF their
ratification at the end Of fun copies
of the Constitution. while others gave
only a brief statement OF their ar
ceptance OF the work Of the constitu-
tional convention. Only MaSsachJsetts,
apparently. stated any objections ana
most of these were incorporated in the
bill of rights.
The paper returned by Hancock con-
tanned mine" suggestions for amend
nents TO the Constitution which would
make It more acceptable to the citizens
of that State. These were that the
states retain all powers not expressly
delegated to the Federal Government:
that there be one Representative for
each 10000 OF the population until the
membership Of the House had reached
| 200: that the Federal Government
should not levy direct taxes, except
| export and import taxes. but should
| levy on the States themselves To meet
expenses: that no company OF mer-
| chants be given exclusive rights IN any
| field Of commerce; that no person De
| tried for any crime which might oe
| subject to an Infamous punishment ur-
| til he had been indicted by a grand
| iury. except in the naval and military
| establishments; that there be no resort
| to the Supreme Court in disputes be-
tween citizens Of different States IN
less more than $4,000 vas involved, or
to the Federal courts in cases involving
less than 81 500; that issues OF fact De-
tween citizens of different States Be
tried by jury; and that no titles Of no.
bility from any foreign state be accept
ed by any person holding once unoeE
the Government.
These priceless papers are very bulky.
most of the sheets being as large as
the top of desk. and are contained IN
an enormous folder, which seldom Is
opened.
| \ -
EOR practical purposes. the most
l. valuable of the manuscripts at the
State Department are the original cop
les of the Federal statutes signed by
the various Presidents from George
Washington TO Calvin Coolidge. II IS
curious TO note that all OF these stat
utes, previous TO the second session Of
the Fifty-third Congress in 1893, were
written out by hand. At that time be-
gan the practice OF printing the stat
utes for the Presidents signature.
These statute manuscripts. even those
OF Washingtons day, continually are
being consulted by practicing lawyers
who are unwilling TO trust 70 the print
ed copies in important cases. The
place Of a comma in the manuscript
may change the whole sense Of the law.
and occasionally slight errors OF this
kind are found which have important
bearings on the course Of justice.
A high degree Of proficiency has been
attained in repairing old manuscripts.
Sometimes a letter will be found torn
in four or five fragments. but it energes
from the restoration process so skilfully
fitted together that only the practiceG
eye can see where anything has been
done To il. Experts from the Govern
ment Printing once are detailed TO the
State Department for some Of this WORK
and doubtless have saved manuscripts
the value of which would run into hun
dreds of thousands from complete de-
struction. The latest scientific methods
evolved in the great manuscript col
lections Of the United States and Eu-
rop are used in this work
Volume after volume in the fileroom
is filled with personal and oficial let-
terS OF Washington. jefferson. John
Adams and other early Presidents. be-
sides. Of course, the full diplomatic cor
reSpondence OF the Nations history.