120 REPORT ON EXCHANGES. 



These papers will, in future, be regularly sent you at the end of 

 each session of Parliament. 



With regard to your desire for additional copies of documents relat- 

 ing to the civil and natural history of the colony, I have to state that 

 every effort will be made by the trustees to comply with your request. 

 At present a scheme for placing the disposal of Government publications 

 in the hands of the trustees is under the consideration of the Govern- 

 ment, and as soon as the subject has been dealt with by the ministry I 

 shall be in a position to announce to you more definitely the intentions 

 of the trustees. 



I may add that I am also forwarding copies of our Parliamentary 

 Papers, (1) to the Boston Public Library, (2) to the New York State 

 Library, (3) to the Mercantile Library Association San Francisco, and 

 that I shall be glad to know whether it is your wish that works intended 

 for these or other American institutions should be forwarded to you for 

 registration, or whether any notification of their presentation should be 

 made to the Smithsonian Institution. 



I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 



T. F. Bride, 



Librarian. ' 



Report on the International Conference on Exchanges, held at Brussels, Bel- 

 gium, on the 10th of April, 1883. 



Duriug the months of August and September, 1875, an International 

 Congress of Geographical Sciences was held at Paiis, consisting of sev- 

 eral hundred delegates from all parts of the globe. A prominent result 

 of this conference was a unanimous resolution to enlist the co-operation 

 of the respective Governments there represented in securing the free 

 interchange of official and other publications, in accordance with a 

 proposed plan for the international exchange of scientific publications 

 to be submitted to the contracting powers. 



A number of Governments having expressed their adherence to the 

 project, bureaus were established for the purpose indicated. 



Iu 1877 and again in August, 1880, conferences took place in Brussels, 

 and after an experieuce of some six years a new conference was invited 

 to assemble in Brussels on the 10th of April, 1883, and the proceedings 

 of this conference and the correspondence attendiug it are here pre- 

 sented : 



From the Department of State, January 10, 1883, to the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution. 

 Sir: I beg to inclose to you herewith, for your information and con- 

 sideration, a copy of a note received from Mr. Bounder de Melsbroeck, 

 the Belgian minister, dated the 14th ultimo, on the subject of interna- 

 tional exchanges, and a draft of a convention calculated to accomplish 

 that end. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

 Fred'k T, Frelinghuysen. 



