REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



61 



the Congressional Record shall be supplied to the Library of Con- 

 gress for distribution, through the Smithsonian Institution, to the 

 legislative chambers of such foreign Governments as may agree to 

 send to the United States current copies of their parliamentary 

 record or like publication. 



The estimate submitted for the support of the service during 1915 

 Was $32,200, including the allotment for printing and binding, and 

 this amount was granted by Congress. The repayments from private 

 and departmental sources for the transportation of exchanges ag- 

 gregated $4,819.41, making the total available resources for carrying 

 on the Exchange Service $37,019.41. 



During the year 1915 the total number of packages handled was 

 275,756, a decrease of 65,911, as compared with the preceding year. 

 The weight of these packages was 367,854 pounds, a decrease of 

 199,131 pounds. These decreases were caused by the suspension of 

 shipments to a number of countries on account of the European war, 

 as explained below. 



The number and weight of the packages of different classes are 

 indicated in the following: table : 



It should be added that the disparity between the number of pack- 

 ages dispatched and those received in behalf of the Government is not 

 so great as indicated by these figures. Packages sent abroad usually 

 contain only a single publication each, while those received in return 

 often comprise many volumes. In the case of publications received in 

 exchange for parliamentary documents and some others the term 

 " package " is applied to large boxes containing a hundred or more 

 publications. No lists of these are made in the Exchange Office, as 

 the boxes are forwarded to their destinations unopened. It is also a 

 fact that many returns for publications sent abroad reach their des- 

 tinations direct by mail and not through the Exchange Service. 



