Paid O. Wirth for MS. Catalogue of Colonial Archives,

After some discussion, in the course of which it was brought out that no arrangement had been made as yet for the publication of the calendar, the report was accepted.

The first part of the program, which was then taken up, consisted of a symposium on Historical Work in the Lower South. Prof. Yates Snowden, of the University of South Carolina, dealt with Historical Societies; and the Historical Commissions and Departments were described by Dr. Dunbar Rowland, of the Department of Archives and History of Mississippi. The discussion which followed was participated in by Mr. R. D. W. Connor, secretary of the North Carolina Historical Commission; Prof. M. L. Bonham, jr., of Louisiana State University; Mr. A. R. Lawton, president of the Georgia Historical Society; Mr. George S. Godard, State librarian of Connecticut; and Mr. F. A. Sampson, secretary of the State Historical Society of Missouri. Each of the speakers dealt in the main with the organization, activities, and prospects of the historical agencies of his own State.

The discussion was closed by the chairman, Dr. Owen, who stated that he regarded the present status of historical activities in the Lower South as reasonably satisfactory, with the exception of two or three States, particularly in the matter of State support. While the work in the past had been devoted to the care and custody of archives, State and local, including restoration, cataloguing, and exploitation, as well as the collection of general historical materials, he felt that the task of State-supported agencies was not yet complete, and that the full measure of their duty would not be met until they had undertaken and successfully carried forward plans for better record-keeping. Until State departments of archives and history and State history commissions, or other agencies receiving State support, enlarged their duties and powers, by securing legislative authorization, whereby they could compel better attention to the keeping of current records, the use of standard papers, inks, ink pads, typewriter ribbons, and carbon paper, and also the power to require custodians of records to insure their safety by the use of safes and fireproof vaults, they would fail both in their duty and in their opportunity. Speaking for himself as director of the Alabama State Department of Archives and History, Dr. Owen declared his purpose to secure the passage of a law by the legislature of his State, similar to the Massachusetts law, the pioneer of all such statutes on the subject, and that following its enactment he expected to bring about a thorough standardization and uniformity in record keeping throughout Alabama, in State, county, town, and institutional offices.

The second part of the program, devoted to the publishing activities of historical agencies, was opened by a paper by Prof. Clarence W. Alvord, of the University of Illinois, the full text of which is here given.

PLANNING THE PUBLICATION WORK OF HISTORICAL AGENCIES.

By CLARENCE WALWORTH ALVORD.

Ever since this conference of historical societies was instituted by the American Historical Association papers have been presented before it on various phases of publication activities, so that the literature on the subject is already large and of considerable importance. Where so many learned men have spoken so wisely it is difficult, if not impossible, to discover a new angle from which to view the question to be discussed; but it is, nevertheless, essential to delimit the topic so that it may be clearly defined for those who are to follow. Former speakers at this conference have been interested generally in stating what was the actual status of the work of historical societies and have based their suggestions for improvement upon existing conditions. Without doubt this procedure is logically and psychologically correct, for progress is made slowly by moving from present conditions toward a future betterment.

To-day, however, let us attempt to visualize the end toward which the movement is directed. In other words, let the discussion be limited to the ideal publications. The advantage of this viewpoint lies in the change of emphasis from the is to the should be. The present achievement when compared with the ideal is frequently a disappointment and tends to arouse a real pessimism in the minds of some as to the possibility of reaching the higher plane. On the other hand, a strong emphasis on what should be, if it is accompanied by an emphatic condemnation of what is, may pull us out of our self-satisfaction and awaken energy in the slothful and shame in the ignorant. This sounds like the beginning of a sermon, and, had I the power of the revivalist, I might be tempted to employ my time in delivering one on my text; but my own limitations and the character of this body preclude a course that at times I feel would be justified, in order to arouse the slumbering conscience of many of the historical agencies of this country.

Pessimism is almost inevitable to one who examines the publications of our historical bodies; for about 50 per cent of their output is almost worthless and a very large proportion of the remaining 50 per cent should be greatly improved. These figures are not based on statistics and only represent an impression obtained from a rather

intimate knowledge of certain classes of publication. If those who have been chosen to discuss this paper prefer a lower or higher percentage, I shall not dispute with them, for the point I wish to emphasize is indisputable, namely, that a relatively large percentage of our present publications are not worth the effort put forward to produce them.

This paper will discuss the ideal and not the present-day status; but I am not blind to the actual conditions existing in our societies. There will always be ambitious but untrained members desirous of seeing their uncritical productions in print; and undoubtedly this is a condition which we shall not overcome. There must, therefore, always be some quarterly or annual publication the sole purpose of which is to furnish this gratification; but such publications do not enter into our consideration to-day. They may be left to take care of themselves; but no society or historical department should be satisfied with them alone. The personal recollections of the burning of the First Congregational Church, of a corn-husking bee of olden times, or the account of some equally exciting topic almost lost in the usual accompaniment of a flowery sketch of the history of the United States, may be tolerated at the annual meeting and be published in the annual transactions; but the society that rests after the momentous labor of giving birth to such mental children is moribund; and when the Nunc Dimittis is sung over it, there will be no cause for tears.

Having in this cavalier fashion thrown into the dump heap some 50 per cent of the printed matter of our historical organizations, as not worth our consideration to-day, we may turn to the real publishing activities of the historical societies and institutions; and these are limited to the publication of the sources of information within the field of each and the scientific interpretation of the same. For this purpose the publishing work should be so organized that successive volumes of high-grade work conforming to the canons of historical criticism may be put forth through a number of years; in fact a plan may be devised to-day that will meet the exigencies of all future time. There is no excuse for the appearance of a fortuitous volume from the press of any institution. The appearance of each volume should be the result of a plan carefully matured, a plan that will provide for publishing, in the course of time, all sources of information that are discoverable.

This rule, when stated, seems almost self-evident; yet some of the very best historical societies are not following it, and therefore it will be worth while to consider it more in detail. We shall take up, first, the publication of the sources. The plan for this should be comprehensive in scope and capable of indefinite expansion. In order to have that elasticity in all directions that is needed for a

growing body of collections, there seems to be no better method than the breaking up of the whole period of history that constitutes the field of investigation into definitely limited epochs and phases of development, to each of which a series of the historical collections should be devoted. For the colonial or territorial periods the sources are generally scanty, present few problems of arrangement, and may all be published in series, corresponding to the usual chronological epochs. After statehood is entered upon, the documentary material increases rapidly in bulk, and it will be found necessary to devise some scheme, as logical as possible, of breaking it up into topical series parallel as to time. Into a political series may be gathered all those letters and documents that illustrate the struggle of parties and allied topics. Closely connected with this would be another devoted to the statistics of politics and population, illustrated by maps based on the carefully compiled figures. For papers emanating from the offices of the chief executive and the judiciary there may be reserved special series. Many other series of prime importance will suggest themselves, such as the educational, ecclesiastical, and the most important economic series. Bibliography is the handmaiden of our science and should be provided for by a separate series which will grow rapidly as the work progresses.

As each series is supposed to be sufficiently expansive to include every discoverable document within its limits, so the subject matter of each volume in the series should be so conceived that the historical student will not be obliged to supplement it with difficult searchings in archives or other printed works. This exception should be noted, that, at times, it may seem better to calendar rather than to reprint documents already easily accessible in well-known publications. In order to attain the ideal, the editor must not rest content until the last bit of information that should be included is discovered, even if the search has to be world-wide in scope. Thoroughness must be the first characteristic of each volume, and this thoroughness must be supplemented by the most scholarly editorial apparatus in notes and indexes.

The advantages of such a comprehensive plan are obvious. The first one that appeals to me is that the volumes to be published will grow continuously and almost without effort, as new material comes to the office, for every document that is found will fall naturally into one of the proposed series, and in the course of time there will be the manuscripts of several volumes always ready for the press.

Another advantage is that the method banishes the fortuitous volume, which is so frequently printed because the material happens to be at hand, and for no other reason. How frequently such volumes, that have no relation to the other work of the organization, appear, need not be enlarged on. Most frequently they are published with