REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 41 



proceeded to Germany, and upon his return to Paris in Septenil>er it 

 was iinall}' arranged that he should call on the representati^•o of the 

 minister, as the minister himself was absent. The Secretary did so in 

 company with Mr. Henry Vignaud, the first secretary of the embassy, 

 but in the contiiuied absence of the minister the Secretar}^ was referred 

 to Monsieur Louis Liard, chief of the libraries of France, to whose 

 charge has recently been transferred the matter of the Exchanges, 

 and on whose recommendation the minister of public instruction, the 

 Secretary was assured, would almost certainly act. 



The Secretary saw Monsieur Liard, who stated that the exchange 

 affairs had onl}^ recently come into his own department, and while 

 looking up the matter of appropriations the Secretary told him that 

 at a time when the French appropriation for the exchanges was 

 10,000 francs per annum the minister had explicitly promised him, 

 in the presence of the American minister, Mr. Eustis, that he would 

 ask the Chambers to increase the amount, instead of which, Mr. Liard 

 informed the Secretar}", the appropriation had been reduced to 6,000 

 francs. He then promised that there would be no further reduction, but, 

 on the contrary, that there would be an increase. The Secretary spoke 

 to him privately about the Smithsonian Institution, and told him the 

 difficulties that were experienced in France about the delay in trans- 

 mitting piircels to the interior, which he promised should he looked 

 after. 



As a result of the conversation above noted, the Secretary believes 

 that there is a better prospect of an ultimate improvement in the 

 French exchange service than he has ever previously allowed him- 

 self to feel. 



GERMANY. 



A letter of similar tenor to that already cited to the American 

 ambassador at Paris was written to the United States ambassador in 

 Berlin, in which it was stated, however, that the United States Gov- 

 ermnent was sending through the Smithsonian Institution six entire 

 sets of its pul)lications to the German Empire, and that various depart- 

 ments and offices of the German Government have sent their publi- 

 cations in exchange, but not in quantity that would be deemed an 

 equivalent for those of the United States. It was further stated that 

 it seemed desirable that the German Government should, if it did not 

 wish to become a party to the Brussels treaty, establish some suitable 

 bureau or office, charged with the duty of collecting all publications, 

 not confidential, issued b}^ the Imperial Government, or by the govern- 

 ments of Baden, Bavaria, Saxony, and Wiirttemberg, to be transmitted 

 to the United States in exchange for the six sets of publications now 

 forwarded to Germany for those countries. 



