perform the functions for which it was chartered, until in fact and in spirit it shall become a state institution; and (2) that a state which has not yet been able to maintain one active, efficient, useful and influential historical society cannot now maintain two. Georgia is the largest of the Southeastern States, and perhaps the most prosperous. Georgians are no less publicspirited than are citizens of her sister states. Georgia can sustain a creditable historical society, but it will require the cordially united effort of all Georgians who are sufficiently interested in the history of their state to give to its collection, preservation and dissemination their money or their time, or both.

Firmly convinced that this disastrous division of interests and activities was founded on no cause which could not be removed, your Curators with the cordial co-operation of officers of Georgia Historical Association arranged a full conference between officers of the two organizations, as to which I am pleased to report that I have never attended one in which was manifested less selfish pride of opinion or more desire to promote the best interests of the whole state.

The Association has appointed a committee of which Dr. R. P. Brooks, formerly De Renne Professor of Georgia History at the University of Georgia, a trained historian and now residing in Macon, is Chairman, to meet a similar committee to be appointed by your Society for the purpose of approving a plan of union of these organizations for the common welfare.

The discussion at the conference was distinctly informal and no plans were formulated. Many suggestions of principle were made and no differences of opinion developed. It was clearly recognized that a necessary basis was the transfer by Georgia Historical Association of its roll of members to membership in the Georgia Historical Society under its ancient charter now eighty-one years old. I am instructed by the Board of Curators to present this question for your consideration with their unanimous recommendation for prompt appointment of a committee of moderate size, authorized and instructed to meet the Association's committee and report back

to the Society at the earliest practical date for its approval a plan of union, with such changes in Constitution and By-laws as it may involve. I lay this recommendation before you and trust that you will act upon it at this meeting.

Through the generosity of Mrs. Margaret Telfair Hodgson there is held in trust for the exclusive use and benefit of your Society, Hodgson Hall, a handsome library building in Savannah and the ground on which it stands. This trust property is not subject to your disposal and can be used for no other purposes than those of a historical society. You own in fee. the vacant half lot immediately south of Hodgson Hall. You have a permanent fund started with small beginnings in 1912 and now amounting to $2,918.69. The annual accretions to this permanent fund are approximately $200.00. These include your interest in the R. J. Nunn Trust Fund which may be relied on to add to the permanent fund approximately $70.00 per annum, and will probably show a very slight increase in each year on account of the accumulations of the trust fund. You own about 40,000 volumes and many thousands of pamphlets a valuable library not up to date. Your liabilities are $1,000 borrowed to meet current deficit of the closing year, and your budget shows a permanent deficit. You have 450 members obligated to pay dues aggregating $2,250.00 per annum. sides these material possessions you have a history which, while not broad in achievement, is honorable and unstained, with no black marks, and has a historical background of eightyone years.

Be

Against this resume of what you have to offer to new members, let us not forget what we lack. For seventy-five years we remained content as a strictly local organization and failed to foster or to use the interest of other Georgians in Georgia history, and during nearly all of those years we subordinated the functions of a historical society to those of a local circulating library. It would be difficult to defend your Society against the charge that it has not made full use of the franchise with which the state entrusted it in 1839. When we consider the facts we are surprised, not that Georgians in other parts of

the state have now rebelled and determined to work independently of us, but that they have waited so long to do so.

A moment's thought will clearly show that the union cannot take place without certain changes. While nearly, if not quite all, of the incorporators named in the original charter of 1839 were residents of Chatham County, the charter is silent as to the domicile of the corporation. It may be fairly concluded, however, that the custom of eighty-one years and the location in Savannah of Hodgson Hall, so necessary to the housing of its valuable library, have fixed it in Chatham County but legal domicile does not control the place of meeting. The Society has never met anywhere except in Savannah-a mistaken policy which should be corrected even if there be no union of the two organizations. From the standpoint of the new Association the inducement to the amalgamation is the building of a state-wide organization which shall in no sense be local. The plan therefore necessarily involves meetings of the Society from time to time in various cities of the state of which Savannah would of course be one. As is the case with most state historical societies, this would probably result in but one meeting of the Society as such in each year. The Board of Curators, however, would meet more frequently. The membership of this Board must be state-wide. The officers of the society, other than the Librarian, would be selected without reference to residence. The quarterly magazine should be in charge of a board of editors composed of trained historians whom Georgia can now offer, with one of them as Editor-inChief. These suggestions are but the expression of my personal opinion, are not official, and are not a part of the recommendation of the Board of Curators. I mention them to assist in your understanding of what is involved in the proposition.

If we shall accomplish this union we shall have in Georgia what the state has long needed; one historical society of statewide personnel, influence and activity, and that society would be the ancient Society which is yours. Its maintenance as an active, useful organization will not be an easy task, for Geor

gians are yet to be educated in appreciation of the importance of such work, and persuaded of their duty to take part in it. The duty of our Savannah members will by no means terminate with this union. It is my earnest wish that none of you will drop membership, but that on the contrary more of you will participate in the expanded organization, not only that Savannah may continue to exert a large influence in it, but that she may not fail in her duty to the State. We have, I submit, a special duty greater than that of our fellow citizens. Nearly a century has passed since the state committed to us this charter. It committed it to us as Georgians. I have no condemnation for the course which you have pursued because of the reasons which brought it about and which I have touched upon; but the fact remains that we have seen fit to keep to ourselves this broad state-wide franchise, and, whether with or without justification and excuse, we have failed to perform one duty which the state undoubtedly expected of us-the enlistment into the activities of the Society of all Georgians without regard to local habitation. I hope we are now about to perform this duty, but we should indeed deserve censure if, when we shall have done so, we, who have for so long almost exclusively enjoyed these benefits, should now shirk the duties yet to come, because we are to share the benefits with so many others.

Respectfully submitted,

A. R. LAWTON,
President.

A LIBRARY OF MANY RARE BOOKS, AND A RICH COLLECTION OF VALUABLE HISTORICAL OBJECTS

BY WILLIAM HARDEN, LIBRARIAN.

It is not to be wondered at that in the course of nearly a century since its founding, the Georgia Historical Society has acquired, among the books composing its Library of more than 40,000 volumes, not a few works of rarity and, in consequence thereof, of some value.

The collecting of a Library did not, for nearly a decade after its founding, receive the attention of its members to such an extent as might have been reasonably expected, but with the absorption of the old Savannah Library Society, in the year 1847, whereby its shelves were enriched with the well-selected stock of the latter, the growth of that department of the Society was more steadily developed, and, at times since then, special efforts have been successfully put forth to strengthen certain sections of the collection. Thus, about two score years ago, attention was called to the need of filling up gaps in the material on hand for the study of English History, and many books were added thereto, at considerable expense.

GEORGIA NEWSPAPERS.

Perhaps the most valuable of the Library's possessions is the collection of newspapers issued in the State of Georgia, but principally in Savannah. The most important of these is the almost complete file of the Georgia Gazette which was started in Savannah by James Johnston, in April, 1763, the first Georgia newspaper. Our files of papers following the suspension of the Gazette is full to the date of establishing of the Georgian, in 1818, of which we have the full office file from its beginning to the date of its failure in 1853. Other newspapers are too numerous to mention here.