REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 85 



no objection to the assent of this Government to the principle of 

 limited adhesions to the exchange convention of 1886. It was pointed 

 out, however, that as the principle of partial exchange of official 

 documents has been adopted by the United States Government, the 

 proposed reservations to the convention would not materially affect 

 the exchange conditions now existing between the United States and 

 other countries. 



The committee of experts considered not only the possibility of im- 

 proving the exchange of official documents as referred to above, but 

 also the best way of encouraging the exchange of scientific and lit- 

 erary works. The committee's recommendations are embodied in 

 the following extract from a draft convention : 



Article I. Independently of the obligations which might result for each of 

 them from the previous conventions relative to the exchange of publications, 

 the high contracting parties undertake to exchange, as fast as they are pub- 

 lished, at least one copy — 



(«) All the current repertories of national bibliography of a general char- 

 acter. 



(h) As far as possible documents of every kind giving information on the 

 recent acquisitions of their scientitic libraries. 



Art. II. Each contracting State agrees to take all measures which it judges 

 desirable — 



(o) In order to make easily accessible to all interested parties the lists 

 communicated to it according to Article I. 



(&) In order to secure favorable consideration of all the proposals of ex- 

 change which might be addressed to it by all the contracting States with regard 

 to scientific or literary publications included in the above-mentioned lists. 



Art. III. To facilitate generally the exchange of works which are the most 

 important or most representative of the various types of national culture, the 

 high contracting parties shall collect or catalogue the publications received by 

 gift or otherwise which are available for international exchange. They will 

 publish from time to time a list of these works. 



This list will also give the names of works existing in duplicate in libraries 

 which may be exchanged. 



Art. IV. The high contracting parties undertake to encourage in every way 

 the multiplication of exchanges of scientific and literary publications, whether 

 State-subsidized or not, between academies and learned societies, universities, 

 and scientific institutions, as laid down in Article VII of the Convention of 

 1886. 



Art. V. The high contracting parties undertake to publish annual reports on 

 the work of their exchange services. These reports shall be transmitted to the 

 committee on intellectual cooperation, which shall publish extracts therefrom, 

 together with a general report on the work of the international exchanges 

 during the period in question. 



The text of the above draft convention was brought to the atten- 

 tion of this Government by the secretary general of the League of 

 Nations with the request that consideration be given to the feasi- 

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