REPORT ON EXCHANGES. 133 



disposition of the exchanges, and that but eight of these remained un- 

 distributed. 



Mr. Alviu added that the Smithsonian also distributes European 

 packages in North and South America, bat not officially. Article 1 was 

 then adopted without alteration. 



Upon the discussion of Article 2 as it was in the draft of 1880, there 

 was a conjunction of obligatory stipulations with a contingent stipula- 

 tion. In the present draft this is avoided by the unanimous omission 

 of the last paragraph. 



The words, " with the aid of a subsidy," in the next to last paragraph, 

 were also suppressed. 



Article 3 was adopted so as to read : " Each bureau shall cause to be 

 printed the list of the publications that it is able to place at the disposal 

 of the contracting states. 



"That list shall be corrected and completed each year and regularly 

 addressed to each of the bureaus of exchanges." 



In the morning session of 11th of April Article 4 was adopted with 

 the omission of the words "in certain cases." 



Article 5 was omitted. 



Article 6 having become Article 5, was adopted. 



Article 7 (having become Article 6) was then taken up for discussion 

 and Mr. Euelens (Belgium) explained that the reason of making a dis- 

 tinction in regard to payment of the sea transportation, was because it 

 is generally impossible for the shipper to know the railway tariffs be- 

 yond the port of debarkation, and that when they are known there is 

 great difficulty in obtaining the railway receipt for the freight. 



I stated the custom of the Smithsonian of sending its boxes to the 

 consuls at our own ports free of charge. 



Mr. Alvin and Mr. Euelens seemed surprised to learn that we did not 

 pay the charges to the port of debarkation, and were of opinion that 

 we did so in regard to the shipments to Belgium. 



I read the rule of the Smithsonian quoted above, taken from Mr. Boeh- 

 mer's memorandum, and explained to the conference that these gentle- 

 men were doubtless misled by the fact that the steamship companies 

 had consented to carry the parcels of the Institution free, but that I 

 could not guarantee that our Government would bind itself to deliver 

 them free of cost beyond its own ports. 



Neither Mr. Alvin's, Mr. Euelens', nor my own remarks in regard to 

 steamship companies are fully given in the printed accounts of the pro- 

 ceedings of the conference, but the text of the article as finally adopted 

 rendered an amendment on this subject in the accounts of the proceed- 

 ings unnecessary. 



The president calling attention to the fact that shipments by sea 

 were sometimes made to countries that were not beyond the sea, sug- 

 gested substituting therefor shipments by sea. 



The discussion of the article was then postponed. It was resumed 



