the preservation of ancient monuments should be formed, consisting of 18 members, 

 five to be recognised experts and 13 representatives of government departments. 



Saxony. In 1894 a Royal Commission was appointed for the preservation of monu- 

 ments. This body consists of a Councillor of the Ministry of the Interior who acts as 

 chairman; two members nominated by the Evangelical Lutheran Consistory; two experts 

 entrusted with the duty of cataloguing artistic monuments; and a member selected by 

 the Antiquarian Association of Saxony. The Commission is in direct communication 

 with the 28 administrative districts of Saxony, and is empowered to issue instructions to 

 their officials. It deals with enquiries addressed to it by the Ministries and the Evangeli- 

 cal Lutheran Consistory with regard to the destruction, preservation and restoration 

 of artistic monuments. The existing national monuments are subject to its super- 

 vision, and it gives advice as to their protection. It issues instructions with regard to 

 continuing the work of cataloguing, and has published reports on general questions 

 dealing with the care of antiquities, and three small volumes of advice with regard to 

 the preservation of objects made of wood, metal, ivory, earthenware, glass and tex- 

 tiles, the preservation of pictures in oils and distemper and the preservation of prints. 



In addition, the territorial offices of public works are expected to acquire, as far as 

 possible, precise knowledge as to the existence and condition of ancient buildings and 

 monuments of historical and artistic interest situated in their districts, and to notify 

 the Commission when the buildings and monuments in question are in any way en- 

 dangered. The same officials are also required, when repair or restoration of such 

 buildings is undertaken, to make drawings of inscriptions, dates, masons' marks, etc., 

 and to display the greatest care in preserving these from destruction by scraping or from 

 disfigurement by paint or plaster; and further, they must report immediately when the 

 demolition of a public building of artistic or historic importance is contemplated. The 

 Commission also has local agents of its own. The Evangelical Lutheran Consistory has 

 also taken steps to prevent the alienation of ecclesiastical monuments, and has instructed 

 its subordinates to use experts in all additions to or restorations of ecclesiastical build- 

 ings or to apply to the Association for Ecclesiastical Art. The Saxon Government has 

 established a " Denkmalarchiv," or collection of records relating to monuments, designed 

 to serve scientific as well as practical purposes. In 1909 a law was enacted "against 

 the disfigurement of urban and rural landscapes," in which wide powers are given to the 

 police to prohibit advertisements and even new buildings in streets where their presence 

 would be a disfigurement. 



Spain. The preservation of ancient monuments is at present a part of the work of 

 the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts. There is no law on the subject, 

 though a number of Royal orders and decrees have been issued. In subordination to 

 the Ministry there exists in each Spanish province .a " Provincial Commission of Historic 

 and Artistic Monuments," whose chief duty is to make recommendations to the Govern- 

 ment as to what ancient buildings, etc., lying in their provinces, shall receive the title 

 of " national monuments." After such a recommendation, the Government consults 

 with the Royal Academies of History and of Fine Arts, and if accepted, the building 

 becomes a national monument and its preservation a direct charge on the State. 



: Sweden." 1 There have been provisions for the preservation of monuments of antiquity 

 in Sweden since the early part of the 1 7th century, and all carved stones, ancient graves 

 and treasure, have been since then regarded as, in a manner, State property, or at least 

 under the direct protection of the State. This protection has since been extended to 

 old church monuments and to vestments of the pre-Reformation era, as well as to the 

 fabrics of ruined churches, such as exist in abundance in Gotland. It is probable that 

 a new law will soon be passed making it impossible for the owners of old church treas- 

 ures to sell them without direct Sta4;e authorisation. At present they have to be offered 

 to the State before sale, but there is no guarantee against their sale. The law of 1867 

 provides that " all monuments preserving the memory of the Fatherland's inhabitants 

 in ancient times are put under the protection of the law, so that they cannot be altered, 

 injured or destroyed by the owner of the land under other conditions than those speci- 



