88 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Mr. Berry's report showed, conclusively that the methods employed in 

 transporting exchanges between London and New York could not be 

 improved upon, and that any attempt to hasten the distribution of parcels 

 throughout Great Britain would greatly increase the expense beyond the 

 limit that the institution was able to allot to this branch of the service. 



Mr. W. Irving Adams, chief clerk of the International Exchange Serv- 

 ice, was instructed by the Secretary to visit Italy, Switzerland, Austria- 

 Hungary, and such other countries in Europe as he might deem expedient, 

 with a view to the general improvement of the service at large, and 

 through personal contact to establish more intimate relations, if such were 

 possible, with the several exchange bureaus and agencies in those countries. 

 Mr. Adams sailed from New York on May 15, with the expectation of 

 being absent about three months. His report, although covering a part of 

 the next fiscal year, is here given: 



October 9, 1901. 



"Sir: In accordance with your instructions to proceed to Austria-Hun- 

 gary, Italy, Switzerland, and such other countries as, in my judgment, might 

 be advisable, for the jiurpose of promoting the interests of the international 

 exchange service, I sailed from New York on the 15th of May last, de- 

 harked at Antwerp, Belgium, May 26, and at once proceeded to Yienna, 

 Austria. 



"Austria- Hungary. — TheK. K. Statistische Central Commission, Schwarz- 

 enberggasse 5, Vienna, was designated as the exchange agency for Austria, 

 at the instance of Dr. Edward Suess, president of the Imperial Academy 

 of Sciences, and as a result of my visit to Yienna in 1897. Previous to 

 that time all contributions from this country for Austria-Hungary were 

 distributed through the agency of the institution in Leipzig, Germany, 

 and the importance of establishing independent agencies in Yienna and 

 Budapest was made doubly apparent, inasmuch as the agency at Leipzig 

 was becoming overburdened with work, and, furthermore, the returns 

 were not as large as it was thought they would be if separate agencies were 

 established. This theory lias been substantiated by facts, and the contri- 

 butions from Austria-Hungary have gradually increased from year to year. 



"Prof. Karl Theodore von Inama-Sternegg, the president of the K. K. 

 Statistische Central Commission, is much interested in the exchange 

 service and is disposed to render every assistance possible. He cheerfully 

 assented to all the changes which I proposed to him and even volunteered 

 to make a personal effort to procure the official publications of his Gov- 

 ernment and the municipal publications of the city of Yienna for the 

 Library of Congress and to send them as early as practicable. 



"The freight charges for transporting exchanges from Yienna to Ham- 

 burg, and vice versa, have seemed to be excessive, and it was my purpose 

 to ascertain if consignments could not be made by rail to Trieste or Fiume 

 and thence by steamships to New York, which regularly touch at Adriatic 

 and Mediterranean ports. I found upon inquiry that while the latter 

 course might save the Institution perhaps $50 to $75 per annum, the time 

 consumed in transit, owing to the fact that the steamers in the Adriatic 

 service are exceedingly slow, would be nearly three times as great, and 



