REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 

 Dishiirsements. 



57 



Salaries and conipensatiou of eniplo.v6s 



Salaries of foreign agents 



Pi eight , 



Packing boxes -. 



Printing, stationery, postage, etc. 



From Con- 

 gressional 



appio- 

 priations. 



$11,038.49 



1, 500. 00 



99S. C7 



443.41 



407. 44 



Kepaynients. 



14, 988. 01 



$142. 00 



1,113.06 

 222. 50 

 316. 53 



1, 794. 09 



Bills for tlie transportation of exchanges have been rendered to all Government 

 Bureaus receiving or sending publications during the year, excejit in a few instances 

 where the amonut was trilling. The total received from such sources was $1,771.53, 

 as mentioned above. 



It may not be superfluous to repeat the statement made iu previous years, that this 

 method of meeting the expenses of the Exchange Bureau is extremely unsatisfactory 

 both to the Smithsonian Institution and to the Goverument Bureaus that have occa- 

 sion to make use of the service, and I again recommend that a sufiicieut appropriation 

 be procured to cover the entire cost of the exchanges, thereby enabling it to under- 

 stand at a glance the exact amount appropriated for such purposes. At present the 

 appropriation is distributed through all the principal appropriation bills of the 

 Goverument. 



In order to effect the desired change, that is, to collect iu a single item the entire 

 appropriation for international exchanges and at the same time to make allowances for 

 the ])ayinent of ocean freight, the sum of $27,500 was asked for, for the fiscal year 

 18H9-'90 based upon the detailed statements submitted in my last report. The amount 

 finally appropriated was .'§15,000, the same as that for the year preceding. 



CORRESPONDENTS. 



The number of correspondents now upon our books is 16,002, divided into societies 

 and institution.s, individuals, foreign and domestic, as follows: 



A comparison with similar figures for last year shows a net increase of 2,o72. 



INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE OF OFFICIAL POCUMENTS. 



The exchange of official docnments between the Government of the United States 

 and that of foreign countries has been carried on through the intermediary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, though this exchange has only been placed upon a defi- 

 nite diplomatic footing since January 15, 1889, the date upon which the convention 

 signed at Brussels on March 15, 18SG, was proclaimed by the President of the United 

 States. This convention, the textof which was given in full in Dr, Kidder's report on 

 exchanges for the year 1887-'8S, provided that there should be established iu each of 



