106 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



especially Secretary's Reports for 1881, 1883, and 1887). It maybe briefly summarized, 

 as follows: 



The delejfates to the luteruatioual Geographic Congress, which met at Paris iu 1875, 

 who were for the most part the diitlomatic representatives of the Governments par- 

 ticipating, passed a unanimous resolution, on the r2th of August, pledging themselves 

 to retjuest their Governments each to establish a bureau of luteruatioual Exchanges; 

 and on the 20th of January, 1876, those delegates who renuxiued in Paris prepared 

 and signed a set of rules for the management of the exchange business. At this time 

 the "Bureau des ^changes" was established iu Paris, under the direction of the 

 Haron de Vattevilie, and the rules agreed upon by the delegat(is and issued by this 

 bureau were generally accepted by the CJoveruments concerned, but no ratifications 

 or other formal aud international agreements were exchanged. England and Ger- 

 many refused from the first to participate in either conferences or conventions relat- 

 ing to international exchanges. 



With the hope of bringing alxuit a more formal agreement, which should have the 

 force aud obligation of a treaty, the Government of Belgium called another conference, 

 which met at Brussels in 1880, but at whicli the United States was not represented. 

 This conference prepared an amended agreement for future cousideiation. 



In the year 1883 (April 10) there was another, more formal, conference at Brussels, 

 at which this country was represented by Mr. Nicholas Fish, the United States min- 

 ister resident. By this conference the articles prepared by the meetiug of 1880 were 

 revised and further amended. At the instance of France the exchange bureaus were 

 relieved from the duty of collecting official publications from the several depart- 

 mental offices for transmission. The articles, as amended, were agreed to by the rep- 

 resentative of the United States. A second special agreement was also drawn up, 

 jtroviding for the immediate transmission of parliamentary journals, annals, and pub- 

 lic documents, which the representative of the United States refused to sign. A 

 protocol, signed by all the X)owers represented, stated the purpose of the proposed 

 conventions to be (1) the collection into a national library of each country of all 

 official publications of every other; and (2) as many literai\y, scientific, and art 

 publications as the bureaus could procure. 



The articles agreed upon in 1883 were signed at a third Brussels conference in 1886, 

 and on this occasion the representative of the United States, Mr. Lambert Tree, the 

 minister resident, signed the additional convention i)roviding for the inmiediate 

 transmission of ])arliamentary daily journals, etc., which his predecessor had rejected 

 in 1883. At this time France declined to participate further iu the conferences, Eng- 

 land and Geruumy still persisting in their refusal. As already stated, only seven 

 Governments besides the United States have acceded to the general convention for 

 international exchanges, and only six to the special agreement for the immediate 

 exchange of the daily journals of legislative assemblies. With the thirty-four other 

 Governments which take part iu the international official exchanges this friendly 

 commerce will x)robab]y continue in the future as it has iu the past, upon the basis of 

 mutual agreements between the parties concerned, but Avithout the sanction or com- 

 l»ulsion of treaty obligations. 



The jirincipal advantage accruiug from these several conferences and conventions 

 has been the establishment of a certain uniformity of procedure iu the transactions 

 of the exchange business by the agents of the countries interested. 



Tlie conventions themselves do not promise any definite improvement in the present 

 system, from the point of view held by the Smithsonian Institution, the main stipu- 

 lations for which it has contended not having been retained in the agreements now 

 under consideration. These are, as stated by Professor Henry (circular letter dated 

 May 16, 1867), aud by Professor Baird (letter to Baron de Vattevilie, dated February 

 8, 1879), that each exchange agency shall, (1) furnish an annual list of all the ofii- 

 cial publications of its Government, and (2) shall charge itself with the collection aud 

 forwarding of snch publications. These provisions appeared iu the agreement of 



