gress, covering the period from 1789 to 1824; 29 volumes of the Register of Debates in Congress, 1824 to 1837; 74 volumes of the Congressional Globe, 1833 to 1872; 42 volumes of the Congressional Record, commencing with the year 1873; in all, 162 volumes of this class. Thus, with what we have otherwise secured with very little cost to the State, we have nearly a complete set of those volumes which contain a connected history of the discussions in Congress and in the country of every important subject of public interest since the foundation of the Government, including that decade of years in which Kansas affairs occupied so conspicuous a part in Congressional proceedings.

SOURCES OF ACCESSION.

Experience teaches that a full library of local history is the most natural nucleus for a general library, and that the local is so related to and so naturally expands into the general, that no dividing line between the local and the general is practicable. Libraries of reference of whatever name are chiefly consulted for the historical and scientific information which may be found in them. That library is best appreciated by library-makers, and those who contribute to libraries, which best contains information respecting its own neighborhood and the State and country within its primary scope of collection, and upon such the fullest gifts are bestowed. Such a library pertains to the origin of things. It is unique; it contains what no other. library contains. It is not a mere duplicate of what a hundred other libraries in the country possess. It therefore attracts the attention of workers in historical and scientific investigation-of those whose business is that of research. Such a library engages the hearty interest and coöperation of other libraries of the country. Its duplicates of local historical materials are eagerly sought for, and compensated by bountiful gifts from the large stores of duplicates which all the older libraries contain.

NEWSPAPER ACCESSIONS.

The unusual growth of the newspaper branch of our library is a marked feature. Of the 5,986 volumes now in the library, 1,573 have been added during the past year.

There are now being published in the State 753 newspapers and periodicals, the regular issues of which are all being preserved in the library of this Society. It is the experience of all historical research in these days, that files of newspapers are the fountain-head of all exact data and information; a true reflection of the daily life of the communities in which they are published. When it is considered that this Society has gathered very full files of the earliest newspapers published in Kansas, and that within the last eleven years it has gathered all Kansas newspapers, and that its library now contains nearly complete files of all the papers published in the newer counties, it may be truly said that its work in this department is unparalleled in the history of library-making. Never before was it attempted by

any society or institution to completely save such records of the earliest history of the founding and growth of a new commonwealth.

These newspaper files are now every day consulted by the people of all portions of the State-for historical and political information, for legal notices and reports of public proceedings, and for the precise facts as to local occurrences of every nature. In most instances the early newspaper files of these counties have already disappeared from the localities in which they were published, and are nowhere else to be found except in our library. The labor attending the gathering in of these newspapers, and the amount of correspondence necessary to the securing of complete files, constitutes a very large part of the work of the Society; but it is undoubtedly the most valuable feature of its work.

The grateful thanks of the Society are due to the thousand editors and publishers in this State who, unstintingly, and with constant expressions of interest in our work in making up this branch of our library, most generously give the regular issues of their paper, and supply upon request all lacking numbers lost or mutilated in the mails.

As regards the whole country, our accumulation of materials of historical information of this class has become very large. Of newspapers and periodicals published outside of the State, the Society is receiving the regular issues of one hundred and two. These are local newspapers of neighboring States and Territories, leading newspapers of the country, historical, scientific and other magazines, and periodical publications of societies and institutions, all contributing to make up a library which shall contain a record of the history and progress of the country in all respects.

A noteworthy portion of a gift of 97 volumes of newspaper files, made by the Boston Public Library, is that of 64 volumes of dates from 1767 to 1830. This is a most rare and valuable contribution to our library of newspaper files, and goes largely to increase the richness of our collection in earlier dates in this most important branch of historical materials. The titles and dates of these files are set out in the appropriate list in this report. In this connection it is proper to mention that among the gifts made by Mr. Edmond M. Barton, of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass., is a set of the files of the National Era, Washington, D. C., from 1851 to 1854. These files cover the period of the agitation of the Kansas-Nebraska question, and the beginning of the settlement of Kansas. They are very full of discussions and of information pertaining to the subject, and include many letters from Kansas, written in the latter part of the year 1854.

Included in a large contribution made by Dr. Samuel A. Green, of the Massachusetts Historical Society, are 109 volumes of the North American Review, between the years 1821 and 1867, chiefly of the earlier years of this invaluable publication. This gift makes it quite possible, with small expense to the Society, to complete a set of this magazine. Dr. Green also gave

with this contribution 35 volumes of the Christian Examiner, Boston, 1824 to 1867, and 27 volumes of the Journal of the American Unitarian Association, 1854-1869.

One of the most valuable and appropriate gifts in this department has been that made by Francis J. Garrison, of Roxbury, Mass., of 28 volumes of "The Liberator," William Lloyd Garrison's newspaper, for the years 1833, 1838, and from 1840 to 1865, inclusive. The gift of this set of files is indicative of the general appreciation our Society has acquired as a receptacle for materials of the history of the great struggle for human liberty and free government through which our country has passed, and in which Kansas acted so conspicuous a part. Garrison himself said of our Society, in its infancy: "The formation of such a society is cause for special congratulation, and an event of historical importance far beyond the limits of the State; for there is nothing more thrilling in American history than the struggle against 'Border-Ruffianism' (alias the Slave Power) to secure freedom and free institutions to Kansas-a struggle which, if it had terminated otherwise than it did, would have been fraught with appalling consequences, not only to the State itself, but to the whole country, and postponed the abolition of the dreadful system of chattel slavery to an indefinite period." The gift of this set of "The Liberator" files by the son is in keeping with the just appreciation thus expressed by the father.

One of the largest gifts of newspaper files which the Society has ever received, has come during the past year from Hon. F. P. Baker, of Topeka, who has always been one of the most liberal contributors to the library. This gift consists of sixty-five bound volumes, almost wholly of Topeka newspapers, published between the years 1859 and 1885, many of them of the earlier years of this period. A statement of the titles and dates is set out in the appropriate list.

Among other generous donors of newspaper files may be mentioned Dr. W. S. Baker of Topeka, Hon. R. S. Hick of Louisville, Mr. A. C. Waters of Chardon, Ohio, Mr. Wm. Tyrrell of Santa Cruz, California, and Dr. Geo. L. Beers of Topeka. Their gifts are enumerated in the appropriate list.

MANUSCRIPTS.

Among the manuscript accessions of interest which have been added to this class of historical materials which the Society possesses, may be mentioned a gift made by Mr. Edward Byram, of Atchison county, of 711 papers left by his grandfather, Rev. Jotham Meeker, the missionary to the Indians who set up the first printing press in Kansas. Mr. Meeker began printing in the spring of 1834, at the Shawnee Baptist Mission, in what is now Johnson county, Kansas. He did a great deal of printing, chiefly in the Indian languages, for the use of missionaries of various denominations. in their efforts to instruct the tribes of Indians which occupied that portion of the Indian Territory now in the limits of Kansas. His press was used for twenty years in this work, and up to the time when the settlement of

Kansas was begun. The press was afterwards owned by the well-known Kansas editors, George W. Brown, S. S. Prouty, Samuel N. Wood, and Edwin C. Manning. The manuscript papers relate to Mr. Meeker's missionary work, to his printing, and to incidents pertaining to life among the Indians in Michigan and Kansas, during a period of thirty years.

A gift made by Hon. Edward L. Pierce, of Milton, Massachusetts, of thirteen letters written by citizens of Kansas to Senator Charles Sumner in 1854, 1855, and 1856, is noteworthy. The letters relate to the exciting affairs in Kansas Territory during that period. Among the writers the names of J, B. McAfee, Samuel F. Tappan, Mrs. Hannah A. Ropes, Miss Lydia P. Hall, Charles Stearns and James F. Legate may be mentioned.

Senator John Sherman, of Ohio, has given the Society the original manuscript, written by him, of the remarkable report made by the Kansas Congressional Investigating Committee of 1856. He has also given the Society a scrap-book which he caused to be made for the use of the committee, which contains 135 broad pages of cuttings from the newspapers of that period, wholly relating to Kansas affairs.

Hon. Frank H. Betton has given the Society some interesting manuscripts of Dr. Matthew Thornton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence who was the donor's great-grandfather.

In November, 1885, Gen. Frank Reeder, of Easton, Pennsylvania, gave the Society an extract from a manuscript diary kept by his father, Gov. Andrew H. Reeder, during the period of his connection with the history of Kansas Territory. The extract includes dates from the 5th to the 23d of May, 1856, and is a record made by Governor Reeder of events immediately preceding and during the time of his concealment and escape in disguise from the Territory through Missouri. This extract is included in the third volume of the Collections of the Society, published during the past year.

PORTRAITS.

Appropriately-framed portraits, nearly life size, of Col. Daniel H. Horne and Dr. F. L. Crane, pioneers of Topeka; of William Lloyd Garrison, the life-long advocate of the freedom of the slave; and of Senator John Sherman, the early friend of Kansas, have been added to our gallery, the gift of the subjects of the portraits, or of their friends. A finely-executed, lifesize, oil-painted portrait of ex-Governor John P. St. John has been given the Society by Mrs. St. John, being the sixth of the portraits of Kansas Governors now in our gallery. It was painted by Peter S. Noble, formerly Adjutant General of Kansas. The fine portrait of Governor John A. Martin, the present Governor of Kansas, which has just been placed in our gallery, is a gift to the Society from the Governor's associates in the executive offices of the State. It was painted by the well-known artist, Selden J. Woodman. Several hundred portraits and other pictures besides have been added to our collections, which are mentioned in the appropriate list.

NEEDED ROOM.

The library and collections of the Society have grown far beyond the accommodations for room given it in the State House. Provision should be made so that in the completion of the Capitol suitable and ample room. shall be given the Society for many years to come.

VOLUME OF COLLECTIONS.

During the year the third volume of the Collections of the Society has been published, a volume of 519 pages. This contains the third and fourth biennial reports of the Society; the executive minutes kept in the offices of the first two Territorial Governors of Kansas, Governors Andrew H. Reeder and Wilson Shannon, during the terms of their official service, 1854-6, together with brief biographical sketches of the two Governors; an extract from Governor Reeder's diary, written during the period of his escape in disguise from Kansas in May, 1856; historical addresses of Governor James W. Denver and acting-Governor Frederick P. Stanton; and the proceedings of the Quarter-Centennial Celebration, held in Topeka, January 29, 1886, under the auspices of the Society.

CATALOGUING AND CLASSIFICATION.

The Legislature, at the extra session, 1886, made an appropriation for the Society for extra clerk hire for indexing and cataloguing the library. The Board of Directors, in the application of this appropriation, have used it in the direction intended by the terms of the appropriation, but so far the expenditure has been chiefly in preliminary work. As a preparation for the work, it was necessary that the library should be classified, and the books and collections arranged in library system. The Society has always been short in its clerical force, and for two years previous to the taking ef fect of this appropriation it had been deprived of half the clerical help which had been employed for the two years previous, the deficiency having been only partially supplied gratuitously. Hence, books, pamphlets, newspaper files, manuscripts, everything had necessarily been placed in defective system, or left unplaced. The work of the year thus far has therefore been largely devoted to that of disposing of accumulated work necessary to the placing of the library in systematic classification for cataloguing. Meantime, largely augmented current accessions have proportionately increased the general work in the rooms of the Society. The issue from the press of our third volume of Collections, and the preparation of its very complete index, also the preparation of the lists and papers contained in this Fifth Biennial Report, have contributed to the burden of work during the past year. The system of classification which has been adopted is the decimal system, which has been brought to its present state of perfection by Mr. Melvil Dewey, Secretary of the American Library Association, and which is the system most widely employed in the more newly classified libraries of the country. The books are being placed on the shelves and numbered in