84 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1925 



COBIMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON THE INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE OF PUBLI- 

 CATIONS, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND 



The committee on intellectual cooperation of the Leacrue of Na- 

 tions called tot^ethor at Geneva July 17-il>, 1924, a committee of 

 experts on the international exchange of publications, of which 

 Prof. O. de Halecki, of the University of Warsaw, was made cliair- 

 num. Mr. H. "\V. Dorsey, chief clerk of the Institution, who has 

 been closely in touch with the exchange service for many years, was 

 sent as the Smithsonian representative. The other members of the 

 committee were Mr. J. Luchaire, Inspector General of Public Edu- 

 cation of France ; Mr. E. Bacha, Director of the Belgian Service of 

 International Exchanges; Mr. V. Benedetti. Director of the Italian 

 Service of International Exchanges; and Mr. B. M. Headicar, 

 Librarian of the London School of Economics and Political Science. 



The above committee, without making any change in the Brussels 

 convention of 1886, recommended an additional protocol, enabling 

 the states that are not yet parties to the convention to adhere 

 thereto with reservations. The resolutions of the committee of 

 experts regarding this matter are as follows : 



The states which have not yet adhered to the convention of ISSG and niijht 

 consider the obligatiou carried in Article II as too burdensome, eitlier on 

 account of the very great number of their official publications or on account of 

 their financial condition, or on any other gi-ound, may accept the convention 

 with the reservation that they would agree with each nation as to the number 

 of publications to be sent. The exchange of those states with states that have 

 unreservedly adhered to the convention would be governed by the same 

 principle. 



The Belgian Government is asked kindly to make a text of the foregoing 

 resolution known to the states parties to the convention of March 15, 1886. 

 These states will at the same time be informed that partial adhesions that 

 may occur under this resolution would be made known to them by the same 

 Government as fast as they took place, the said adhesions becoming com- 

 pulsory only as between the said parties that accepted them and the adhering 

 states. 



All applications for partial adhesion would be made known to the Belgian 

 Government and notified by that Government to every one of the states parties 

 to the convention of 188(5, including those who shall have been allowed to 

 give partial adhe.sion to that treaty, each one of the states being at the same 

 time requested to advise the said Government within one year after the date 

 of such notification whether, so far as it is concerned, it has accepted the 

 partial adhe.sion. Any state which shall not have notified its acceptance 

 within that time shall be considered as refusing to accept the adhesion. 



These resolutions were brought to the attention of this Govern- 

 ment by the Belgian Government. The Department of State referred 

 the matter to the Smithsonian Institution, which replied that it saw 



