XLVIII THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
to praise the praiseworthy acts of those against whom, in power 
or out of power, it struggles; we can, however, say of our press that 
in the subjects it selects for discussion, and in its treatment of them 
it is reputable, and that there is scarcely a paper published in the 
country which cannot with confidence be introduced into any house- 
hold and read by the members of the family. In their support of 
and sympathy with the Empire in the titanic struggle in which it is 
engaged the press of Canada is actuated by the highest patriotism. 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES 
The disposition to collect records and books is as old as records 
and books. Libraries are as old as and co-extensive with civilization; 
indeed we must regard the presence of libraries as an essential char- 
acteristic of civilization. The establishment, however, of public 
libraries by municipalities, free and open to all the citizens, is of 
comparatively modern date. The Public Libraries Act of England 
was passed in 1850, and was largely due to the energetic intelligence 
of a Scotch member of the House of Commons. The presence in a 
community of any considerable number of well selected books, easy 
of access, must exercise on the mentality of the people an admirable 
influence, provided the books are used. It is often said that libraries. 
exist to provide positions and salaries for librarians; that the books 
are but little used; and that such as are used are works of fiction. 
It must be remembered that works of fiction in most public libraries 
have been selected with a certain degree of care, and with a certain 
sense of responsibility. In the public libraries of Ontario there are 
twice as many books belonging to the non-fiction class as to the fiction 
class. It is not easy to obtain statistics as to the circulation of books 
of these respective classes; I have the figures, however, for 1915 for 
the Toronto library. There the number of non-fiction books taken 
out for home reading was 175,903, and the number of reference books 
used (which of course are non-fiction) was 209,594, making a total 
of 385,497; while the number of works of fiction taken out for home 
reading was 446,802; so that the circulation in these classes for 
adults was non-fiction, 46, and fiction, 54 per cent respectively,— 
not a great disparity. The juvenile circulation for the same year 
in the Toronto library is most interesting and instructive. In this 
class the number of books taken out for home reading was 249,260, 
and amongst them fiction was scarcely represented; they were works 
on travel, biography, history, literature, fine and useful arts, popular 
science, myths, and legends. The juvenile circulation in works of 
reference is represented by 146,536, the books being consulted in pre- 
paration for school debates, essays, compositions, etc. We thus 
