JREPORT ON EXCHANGES. 63 



Inclosure from legation of Uruguay, New Tori; December 14, 1884, to 



the Secretary of State, Washington. 



Sir: I Lave the honor to address your excellency for the i)nri)ose of 

 bringing- to your notice, by means of the copy herewith inclosed, the 

 iuvitatiou which the Government of the Republic that I represent has 

 the high honor to address to you, for the purposes stated in the note. It 

 extends this invitation feeling every confidence in the lofty Americiin 

 spirit and the good will of the United States Government. 



I transcribe to your excellency, in full, the note whereby I am in- 

 structed to bring to the notice of your Government this invitation ; it 

 reads as follows : 



^' Montevideo, October 29. 1884. 

 " Mr. Charg:^ d'affaires : 



" I send you a printed copy of the law recently passed by the honor- 

 able general assembly of the Republic providing for the establishment, 

 in the national library, of a bureau which is to be called 'The Central 

 Bureau of International Exchanges of Publications.' 



" In pursuance of the ])rovisions of article 8 of the reglementary de- 

 cree of that law, you will be pleased to invite the Governuient to which 

 you are accredited, in the name of the Republic, to conclude a conven- 

 tion for the exchange of publications on various subjects. Two objects 

 are had in view by the Government in pursuing this course, viz, to 

 draw still closer the cordial relations which exist between this Republic 

 and that of the United States of America, and to encourage, by facilitat- 

 ing them as far as possible, the knowledge and study of literary, scien- 

 tific, and other questions among the nations of America, whose advances 

 in progress and civilization must speedily place them on a footing with 

 the most i^rogressive nations of Europe. Your superior enlightenment 

 renders it unnecessary for me to advance any arguments in order to show 

 the importance of the proposed convention, or the advantages which must 

 accrue from it to the nations adopting it. If, as is to be hoped, the 

 United States Government agrees to conclude the arrangement in ques- 

 tion, it ma^' be done on the basis of that which already exists between 

 this Republic and Chili, or of that concluded by Belgium with vai ions 

 other nations, which you will find in the inclosed printed documents, if 

 the United States Government does not consider that certain modifica- 

 tions are necessary, which the Government of this Republic is prepared 

 to consider. You will be pleased to request that Government to send 

 you a reply in regard to this matter. 



" Manuel Herrera y Ober." 



In bringing the foregoing note to your knowledge, and inclosing the 

 printed copy of the conventions to which it refers, permit me to ho])e 

 that the cabinet of which your excellency is so distinguished a mem- 

 ber will not consider the plan which 1 hereby have the honor to submit 



