228 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION 



We judge that to obtain the service of the best man for such a 

 position the Carnegie Institution should be prepared to pay a salary 

 of $5,000 per annum ; that $3,000 more should be appropriated to 

 pay each year the professor who should teach on leave of absence 

 from his university ; that the assistance of younger men and of a 

 typewriter would be needed in the work of the institute to an extent 

 represented by about $2,000 a year, and that there would be need of 

 an office, a small seminary room, and a small library of historical 

 books of reference. An annual expense of $12,000 might be reck- 

 oned upon as adequate ; less would suffice in the first year. 



2. A Search of Europeari Archives. — Vast masses of material for 

 American history- exist in European archives. Incomplete exami- 

 nations of them, partial reports upon them, have abounded, and 

 scholars have used them, but for the most part casually and without 

 the possibility of being certain that their searches were exhaustive. 

 Good logic, good sense, and the example of the best European prac- 

 tice would alike dictate that inventories should come first, and ex- 

 ploitation after^vard ; that we should first find out what material 

 there is, and then lay plans for using it. We therefore recommend 

 that steps be taken toward a thorough examination of the archives 

 of Europe, with a view to comprehensive and detailed inventories of 

 the materials which they possess for the history of the United States 

 and its various parts and dependencies. It should include a search 

 of national, and in some cases of provincial, municipal and family 

 archives ; of the archives of the Vatican ; of the great religious 

 orders ; and of other ecclesiastical bodies and officials formerly hold- 

 ing sway in any part of America. Especial attention should be 

 paid to the repositories of historical manuscripts in Spain relating 

 not only to the history of the United States, but to that of our new 

 possessions, which can not be properly managed without a completer 

 knowledge of their previous development. 



There are two possible ways by which such an inquest might be 

 conducted. It is possible that a competent supervisor might be en- 

 gaged to reside in Europe continuously until the inquiry is finished, 

 to employ proper persons to make searches simultaneously in each 

 country, and to push the task to a speedy conclusion. But practical 

 difficulties of detail might work against this plan. The Americans 

 best fitted to search in various countries respectively, though usually 

 able to secure an occasional year in Europe, might not be able to be 

 abroad simultaneously. In that case another plan would be prefer- 

 able, though slower in covering all Europe. According to this, 



