REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



47 



small items iu different appropriation bills, and also an item of $2,000 to cover the 

 expense of an immediate exchange of parliamentary documents with the countries 

 entering into the treaty of Brussels in 1886. To this latter treaty for the immediate 

 exchange of the Congressional Record no effect has yet been given by reason of 

 lack of funds. The amount originally appropriated for the service of the year 

 1892-'93 was $12,000, as stated above, and this was su'1>sequently increased by a 

 deficiency appropriation of $5,000 upon urgent representation of the need of this 

 further amount to carry the work through the year. 



COKRESPONDKNTS. 



The new list of corresponueuts begun upon small ledger cards, January 1, 1892, 

 has proved of great convenience, and it is only by introducing labor-saving devices 

 in the arrangements for handling the records thab it has been at all possible to meet 

 the growth of the service with the smaller clerical force. 



The number of new ledger cards on July 1, 1892, was 9,808, and on June 30, 1893, 

 16,340, classified as follows: 



1NTEKN.\TI()NAL EXCHANGE OE OFEICIAL IXJCUMENTS. 



Under the treaty of Brussels of 1886, the text of which was given in full in the 

 report of the curator of exchanges for 1887-'88, the exchange of the official publi- 

 cations of theUnited States Government with other countries has been continued by 

 the Institution, and it now forms a very large proiiortiou of the bureau's work. 



The entire nurnber of publications sent abroad during the year under the provision 

 of the act of Congress of March 2, 1867, and of the treaty above referred to Avas 

 31,850, and there have been received in return 5,196 packages. The United States 

 Government Departments have forwarded to their correspondents abroad 16,074 

 packages, and have received in return 12,922 packages. The total number of 

 exchanges for Government libraries has therefore been 18,118 packages received and 

 47,924 packages sent abroad, a total of 66,042 packages, or about 65 per cent of the 

 entire number handled. 



The very inadequate return for the great number of documents sent out is in part 

 undoubtedly due to the fact that no other country publishes on such a lavish scale 

 as our own. Direct solicitation made by a special represeutative to the governments 

 with which we are in correspondence would also probablj"^ result in a considerable 

 increase to the Library of Congress. 



The exchange on account of Government bureaus is shown in detail in the follow- 

 ing table : 



