In the cataloguing and indexing 6,084 cards were made, and 476 volumes were bound during the year. Some of these figures, when compared to the receipts of last year make a very creditable showing. For instance, we received 9,261 more newspapers and magazines, over 2,000 more photographs, and 185 more publications were bound. The Library's subscription list now numbers 16. The loan collections of the Library, were somewhat augmented by additions from Senator Elihu Root of several hundred volumes relating to Brazil and the Argentine Republic, and from Señor Luis F. Corea, former Minister from Nicaragua, who deposited 75 volumes of standard English works and reference books in the Library. During the year our supply of the list of books relating to the classifications of "History and Description" became exhausted and a new edition was made. We also compiled a supplement to this pamphlet, consisting of 34 pages, which included all titles under these headings received up to July 1st, 1909. The demand for both of these publications continues active. To enable the Columbus Memorial Library to properly fulfill the purpose for which it was established by the International American Conferences, it should contain all books published relating to Latin America. Even with ample funds it would necessarily take years to accumulate such a collection, but there are many publications coming within the present scope of the Library, which are needed in the work of the Pan American Union and might readily be obtained from secondhand book stores. As colleges, libraries, and private individuals are rapidly securing the available out-of-print publications so badly needed here, I have the honor to suggest that fifteen hundred dollars be set aside to be used in purchasing such books, and of initiating the work of making such a collection. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE UNION The Pan American Union* is the creature of the four International Conferences held respectively in Washington, 1889-90, Mexico City, 1901-02, Rio de Janeiro, 1906, and Buenos Aires, 1910. In the First International Conference a resolution was unanimously adopted, on March 29, 1890, in the following words: "That the governments here represented shall unite for the establishment of an American International Bureau for the collection, tabulation, and publication, in *The Fourth Conference at Buenos Aires has enlarged the scope and changed the name to "The Pan American Union" from the old title: "The International Bureau of the American Republics." the English, Spanish and Portuguese languages, of information as to the productions and commerce, and as to the customs laws, and regulations of their respective countries; such Bureau to be maintained in one of the countries for the common benefit and at the common expense, and to furnish to all the other countries such commercial statistics and other useful information as may be contributed to it by any of the American republics. That the Committee on Customs Regulations be authorized and instructed to furnish to the Conference a plan of organization and a scheme for the practical work of the proposed Bureau." In accordance with this resolution the Committee considered the matter and made certain recommendations in a report of which the following is a brief resumé : (a) That there shall be formed by the countries represented in this Conference an association under the title of "The International Union of the American Republics," for the prompt collection and distribution of commercial information. (b) This Union shall be represented by a Bureau established in the city of Washington, under the supervision of the Secretary of State of the United States, which Bureau shall be charged with the care of all transactions and publications and that of all correspondence pertaining to the International Union. (c) The Bureau shall be called "The Commercial Bureau of the American Republics," and its organ be a publication entitled "The Bulletin of the Commercial Bureau of the American Republics." The Bulletin shall be printed in the English, Spanish, and Portuguese languages. Its contents shall consist of: (a) Customs tariffs and changes; (b) Port regulations and customs procedure; (c) Commercial and parcel post treaties; (d) Statistics of commerce, production, and other information of special interest to merchants and shippers of the represented countries. (d) That the represented countries shall furnish to the Bureau official documents and laws, statistics, etc., for publication; that the Bureau shall supply information upon the subjects mentioned, to interested parties. (e) The maximum expense to be incurred in the establishment of the Bureau, and its annual maintenance, shall be $36,000. The report furnished a detailed estimate for the personnel of the Bureau, consisting of a Director and nine other employees, at annual salaries aggregating $22,000, and for office expenses and for the publication of the Bulletin, $14,000; the Government of the United States to advance to the International Union a fund of $36,000, or so much of that amount as may be required for the expense of the Bureau during its first year, and a like sum for each subsequent year of its existence. It was provided that the $36,000 cost of maintaining the Bureau should be apportioned among all of the countries in proportion to their population, and that the assessment upon this basis, due from the Latin-American countries, should be returned to the United States which was |