162 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



Dr. Burnett will expend as large a part of his time as is possible 

 upon the '' Letters of delegates to the Continental Congress." Miss 

 Davenport will give all her time to the book of treaties. It is hoped 

 that much larger progress than in preceding years will be made in the 

 volumes of "Proceedings and debates in Parhament respecting North 

 America." The matter derived from the Commons Journals, the 

 Lords Journals, and the Irish Journals can certainly be completed. 

 The redaction of properly constituted texts of the debates on America 

 from the various, and always more or less imperfect and discrepant, 

 materials in existence is a work demanding high editorial qualifica- 

 tions and can scarcely be undertaken with full vigor until a special 

 editor can be assigned definitely to the series. Yet some progress 

 in the sifting of these versions and preparing them for the work of 

 such an editor can probably be made, and it is hoped that early in 

 1914 Mr. Stock, having finished the work on which he is now en- 

 gaged, may be able to take up the editing of this series. 



Far from desiring that the work of the Department shall be stereo- 

 typed in a few efforts or confined to the few enterprises already 

 undertaken, the Director plans various other publications useful to 

 the historical profession. But it is easier to plan than to execute, 

 and mention of them may be superfluous until our hands are more 

 nearly free or there are other resources for undertaking them. It 

 may, however, be well to say that the Department has a definite 

 intention of proceeding, as soon as it can do so without detriment to 

 the work now in hand, toward the preparation of a series of docu- 

 mentary volumes illustrating the history of negro slavery in America. 

 This is a task of great importance, relating to the history of at least 

 a tenth of our population, and bearing ultimately on one of the 

 greatest problems of American life ; yet no governmental commission, 

 either federal or state, is, for well-known reasons, likely to undertake 

 the scientific documentation of this portion of our history. But in 

 the existing state of the Department's present work it would be 

 premature to enter now upon details of this plan. 



MISCELLANEOUS OPERATIONS. 



The Department will no doubt maintain, in 1914, activities similar 

 to those described above, under this heading, in that portion of this 

 report which relates to the last twelve months. 



