20 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Pacific Mail Steamship Company, New York. 



Panama Railroad Company, New York. 



Red Star Line (Peter Wright & Sons, agents), Philadelphia and New 



York. 

 White Cross Line of Antwerp (Punch, Edye & Co., agents). New York. 

 Wilson & Asmus, New York. 



The concessions of reduced freight on the part of the Pennsylvania 

 Railroad Company and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, us 

 well as by the line of freight steamers between Washington and New 

 York, have been continued. 



The thanks of the Institution are also due to the foreign ministers and 

 consuls of the various Governments for their assistance in taking charge 

 of the transmission of boxes to the countries which they respectively 

 represent. 



Government Exchanges. — By enactment of Congress of March 2, 1867, 

 the Institution was appointed the agent of the United States in an ex- 

 change of ofiQcial public documents with foreign Governments. As pro- 

 vided for by Congress, 50 copies of all official publications, whether ema- 

 nating from Congress or any Department or Bureau of the Government, 

 whether printed at the Congressional Printing Office or elsewhere, must 

 be delivered to the Library of Congress for distribution by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution and to such foreign Governments as are willing to 

 furnish to the Library of Congress a corresponding return from their 

 l)ublications. The conditions of this exchange having been accepted 

 by 38 Governments — of which 19 are European — one box (the 23d of the 

 series since the establishment of this exchange) of United States pub- 

 lications was sent to each of these Governments in April, 1885. 



The returns having for some years fallen considerably short of ex- 

 pectations, Mr. George H. Boehmer, in charge of the exchange office, 

 was detailed, at the request of the Librarian of Congress, and with the 

 sanction of the chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library, to 

 visit Europe for the purpose of arranging for better and fuller returns 

 on the part of those Governments exchanging with the United States. 

 For detailed information of the progress of his mission, success ob- 

 tained, and suggestions relative to the service, I would refer to the re- 

 port on the subject contained in the section '■'■ Government exchange 

 division" of his report on the operations of the exchange office, hereto 

 appended. 



Mr. Boehmer left on his mission on the 24th of July, 1884, and re- 

 turned on the 20th of February, 1885, during which time he visited con- 

 secutively nearly all the European states, obtaining satisfactory re- 

 sults and securing large and valuable additions for the library, consist- 

 ing mostly of parliamentary papers and compilations of the laws of the 

 various Governments. 



One of the principal obstacles preventing the establishment of per- 



