The Interyiational Exchange System 4 1 1 



" International Exchange of Official Documents, Scientific 

 and Literary Publications," and the second for the "Imme- 

 diate Exchange of the Official Journals, Parliamentary 

 Annals and Documents " of the States interested. 



The first convention was entered into by Belgium, Brazil, 

 Italy, Portugal, Servia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United 

 States. Its essential provisions were that each State should 

 establish an Exchange Bureau, and should provide for the 

 interchange of the respective official documents, parliamen- 

 tary and administrative, and other works executed at govern- 

 ment expense, each State assuming the cost of packing and 

 transportation to the place of destination, except that where 

 the transmissions were to be made by sea special arrange- 

 ments might regulate the share of expense to be borne. 



It was also provided that the official exchange bureaus 

 should act as intermediaries between the learned bodies and 

 literary and scientific societies of the contracting States, 

 for the reception and free transmission of their publications. 



The second convention, which was adopted by the same 

 countries, with the exception of Switzerland, provided for the 

 transmission to the leg^islative chambers of each contracting 

 State immediately upon publication of copies of the respec- 

 tive official journals and the parliamentary annals and docu- 

 ments that are made public. 



To these conventions Uruguay and Peru subsequently 

 gave their adherence, so that there are now ten States, in- 

 cluding the United States, under treaty obligations to main- 

 tain exchange relations. The carrying out of this obligation 

 on the part of the United States, as far as the first treaty was 

 concerned, did not change the prevailing conduct of the ex- 

 change service carried on by the Smithsonian Institution. 

 To the second treaty, the immediate exchange of official 

 journals, effect has not been given by the United States 



