32 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



one hundred copies additional of all documents ordered to be printed in excess of the 

 usual number ; said fifty or one hundred copies to be delivered to the Librarian of 

 Congress, to be exchanged, under direction of the Joint Committee on the Library, as 

 provided by joint resolution approved March two, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven- 



Sec. 2. And he it further resolved, That fifty copies of each publication printed under 

 direction of any Department or Bureau of the Government, whether at the Congres- 

 sional Printing-OfBce or elsewhere, shall be placed at the disposal of the Joint Com- 

 mittee on the Library, to carry out the provisions of said resolution. 



Approved July 25, 1868. 



The following is the provision in relation to the subject in the Eevised 



Statutes : 



Sec. 3796. The Congressional Printer shall, when so directed by the Joint Committee 

 on the Library, print, in addition to the usual number, either fifty or one hundred 

 copies, as he may be directed, of all documents printed by order of either house of 

 Congress, or of any Department or Bureau of the Government. [Revised Statutes.] 



The exchange proposed by this action of Congress, from unforeseen 

 difficulties, has never been fully carried into effect, although several 

 attempts have been made to do so. 



In October, 1874, by special direction of Mr. Spofford, Librarian of Con- 

 gress, four cases of documents were sent to the government of Ontario, 

 Toronto ; and in November, 1874, five cases to the Parliamentary Li- 

 brary, Ottawa, five cases to the government of Japan, and four cases to 

 the Bibliothek des Deutschen Reichstag, Berlin. 



A number of boxes were also shipped to the agents of the Institution 

 in Europe, to be held by them for further instructions. 



A large quantity of these public documents having accumulated at 

 the Institution, it became necessary to provide for their distribution 

 without further delay, and accordingly the Institution issued, in October 

 last, the following circular : 



The Congress of the United States has authorized the exchange, under direction of 

 the Joint Library Committee of Congress, through the Smithsonian Institution, of a 

 certain number of all United States official documents for the correspond ing publica- 

 tions of other governments throughout the world ; the returns to be placed in the 

 National Library at Washington. The works to be distributed consist of reports and 

 proceedings of Congress, messages of the President, annual reports and occasional pub- 

 lications of Departments and Bureaus, &c, the whole relating to the legislation, juris- 

 prudence, foreign relations, commerce, statistics, arts, manufactures, agriculture, geog- 

 raphy, hydrography, &c, of the United States, and including everything, of whatever 

 nature, published, either by direct order of Congress or by auy of the Departments of 

 the Government. The series embraces a large number of volumes each year, the most 

 of which are bound. 



The exchange expected from each government is a complete series of its publications, 

 to include the documents of special bureaus or departments as well as the general pub- 

 lications, of whatever nature, printed at the public expense, and also embracing all 

 such works as are published by booksellers with the aid of grants or subscriptions 

 from governments. 



The Smithsonian Institution, in behalf of the Joint Library Committee of Congress, 

 is prepared to deliver the publications of the United States, free of charge for freight, 

 to any person in the city of Washington or in New York who may be designated by 

 the governments which enter into the arrangement. 



