F 576 
 .U924 
 Copy 1 
 
 A CRITIC AND A CERTIFICATE 
 OF CHARACTER 
 
 
 Reprinted from the Editorial Section of the fTisconsin Magazine of History 
 Volume III, Number i, September, 1919 
 
'>/9X^ 
 
A CRITIC AND A CERTIFICATE OF 
 CHARACTER 
 
 In the June issue of the Magazine was noted the joint 
 legislative investigation of the conduct of the Historical 
 Society, comment thereon being reserved until the committee 
 should have completed its hearings and made its report. That 
 report was made to the legislature on June 12, and the time 
 is ripe to afford the members of the Society an account of 
 the committee's findings and of the circumstances responsible 
 for the investigation. Any public institution is a fair mark 
 for criticism and, particularly if it be of a constructive char- 
 acter, such criticism may be of much good to the institution 
 at which it is aimed. Whether the criticism to which the His- 
 torical Society has recently been subject has been of a con- 
 structive character we leave to the discrimination of our 
 readers to determine. In so far as practicable we present 
 the story through the medium of original documents, but 
 to the understanding of these a short introduction is essential. 
 In the autumn of 1916 Mr. Publius V. Lawson of Me- 
 nasha, a member of the Society and long a patron of the 
 Historical Library, requested the loan of certain volumes 
 which the rules of the library prohibited sending away from 
 the building. Displeased with this, Mr. Lawson indicated 
 his intention of carrying the matter to the state legislature. 
 Thus began a persistent campaign of criticism of the Society 
 which has now continued for two and a half years. Repeated 
 hearings have been had before legislative committees, a wide- 
 spread solicitation of state officials and private citizens has 
 been conducted, the matter of Mr. Lawson's complaints has 
 been before the curators of the Society on numerous occa- 
 sions, and widespread pubUcity has been accorded them by 
 
4 Editorial 
 
 the press of the state. The failure to convince any of the 
 many committees which passed upon his complaints that they 
 possessed validity or merit, however, has not operated in any 
 way to decrease Mr. Lawson's zeal in prosecuting them. 
 Meanwhile, a mass of misinformation was gradually being 
 disseminated over the state, which in the long run must prove 
 harmful to the Society. At the recent session of the legisla- 
 ture two bills were introduced, fathered by Mr. Lawson, 
 which those responsible for the administration of the Society 
 believed would affect injuriously its interests. Accordingly 
 the legislature was invited to make a thorough investigation 
 of the Society's affairs, with a view to determining authori- 
 tatively the matters at issue. The invitation was acceded to, 
 and in May and June a committee composed of Senators 
 Roethe and PuUen and Representatives S. R. Webster, 
 Hineman, and Roethel conducted exhaustive hearings, 
 taking several hundred pages of testimony. Mr. Lawson 
 appeared before the committee in the capacity of complain- 
 ant and was afforded unlimited opportunity to present his 
 case and to adduce evidence in support of it. He stated that 
 the only complaint "which I have ever made is that certain 
 books in the library which are now withheld from loaning 
 over the state of Wisconsin should be loaned, and the other 
 complaint is the anti-Wisconsin attitude of the Society in 
 its publications." ^ 
 
 In actual practice, however, the investigation took a wide 
 range, embracing almost every aspect of the many-sided 
 activities of the Society. The findings of the joint conmiittee 
 not only completely reject the contentions of Mr. Lawson 
 but they constitute a striking testimonial to the character of 
 the work of the Society and its usefulness to the common- 
 wealth. The complaints of Mr. Lawson are declared to hav€ 
 been inspired by "misguided zeal," and to be "entirely un- 
 warranted and unjustified." In the matter of publications 
 
 'Stenographic record of joint committee hearing, 7. 
 
A Critic and a Certificate of Character 5 
 
 the committee testifies its belief that the Society should pos- 
 sess "broad discretionary powers" ; it recognizes the fact that 
 the history of Wisconsin cannot be made separate and dis- 
 tinct from other history; to limit the Society's pubhcations 
 to events that transpired within the present state boundaries 
 would be, the committee declares, "illogical and undesirable"; 
 and it finds that no publications have been issued which 
 were not "entirely warranted." 
 
 The finding with respect to the loan of books from the 
 library is, if possible, even more sweeping. Quite contrary 
 to the complaint that the Society has not pursued a suffi- 
 ciently liberal loaning policy, "it has, if anything, pursued 
 a policy the committee would characterize as too liberal." 
 The library "from its very nature is not, was not intended 
 to be, and cannot be construed to be a circulating library." 
 Accordingly a bill was recommended (and subsequently 
 passed by the legislature) defining the loaning policy of the 
 library and expressly prohibiting in future the loan of works 
 on genealogy, newspaper files, and all rare or expensive 
 books, maps, charts, or other material which in case of loss 
 could not readily be replaced. 
 
 The concluding testimonial of the report, standing as the 
 voluntary tribute of a group of impartial judges, should 
 afford genuine gratification to every friend of the Society 
 and should increase the satisfaction of every member over his 
 connection with it: "The committee finds the affairs of the 
 Society, financially and in every other respect, most excel- 
 lently managed, with a staff, members of which have been 
 with the Society for a score of years or more and whose work 
 to them has become more a labor of love for the institution 
 and its success than for the pecuniary remuneration they 
 receive * * * The committee does not hesitate to say that 
 every member thereof was not only profoundly impressed 
 but actually amazed to find it such a big, comprehensive, 
 serAqceable,^ and helpful institution in which the state may 
 
6 Editorial 
 
 take intense pride, and the committee hopes that every citizen 
 of the state may find opportunity to visit the Hbrary and see 
 from a personal inspection what a wonderful institution Wis- 
 consin possesses in its State Historical Society." 
 
 Notwithstanding this sweeping approval of the manage- 
 ment of the Society Mr. Lawson finds in the report a com- 
 plete vindication of his criticisms. In a letter suppHed to 
 many leading papers of the state he assures the public that 
 "the only two contentions made in the complaint of the con- 
 duct of the Historical Society were sustained by the legisla- 
 tive investigating committee." Members of the Society who 
 take the trouble to compare this letter of INIr. Lawson with 
 the committee report upon which it is based will thereby fore- 
 warn themselves against undue disturbance over future 
 criticisms of the Society which may emanate from the same 
 source. We subjoin the documents which are most pertinent 
 to an understanding of the entire subject. 
 
 DOCUMENTS 
 
 No. 1 : Petition to the Legislature of 1917' 
 
 Menasha, Wis., Jan. 27, 1917. 
 My Dear Mr. Hart : 
 
 I am writing you about a subject we are interested in as long time 
 citizens of Wisconsin, that is its historical records. 
 
 The Historical Society of Wisconsin has singularly failed of its 
 purpose. It has been appropriated millions of dollars by the state, 
 and while it never has done much in writing up the history of the 
 state, it has in the last three years given up state history entirely 
 and published numerous works on the history of Virginia, the Ohio 
 river region, and Lewis and Clark expedition up the Missouri River. 
 It has in preparation other works on the same subject, and in addi- 
 tion proposes to add books on the Gold Seekers of California and 
 numerous works on Kentucky, Virginia, and Pittsburg. 
 
 " This was sent as a letter to Assemblyman Hart, who oifered it as a petition 
 to the Assembly. The copy given here is taken from the Madison Democrat 
 of January 30, 1917. 
 
A Critic and a Certificate of Character 7 
 
 The publication of its foreign material has cost in labor of prepa- 
 ration, proof reading, printing and binding about $20,000 annually, 
 and in meantime Wisconsin history is sidetracked and abandoned. 
 The legislature never intended this use of its money and this foreign 
 matter publication is all illegal and not wanted by anyone. 
 
 Names of some of these books of foreign matter that in no way 
 concerns our state history are: 
 
 Preston and Virginia, dated 1916 
 Frontier Along Ohio, dated 1916 
 Lewis and Ordway (up Missouri) 1915 
 
 Also as to uses of the library of the State Historical Library. 
 The building cost the state $770,000 and the library about 
 $5,000,000. Heretofore the books have been loaned to people all 
 over the state, the borrower paying the expenses of course. That 
 was the purpose of the library and the reason of the support given 
 by the legislature. 
 
 Now by an order just passed by the advisory committee, the 
 loaning of books outside of the building is discontinued. Hereafter 
 books will not be loaned. That order reduces the library to a mere 
 city library of Madison and cuts out all use of the library unless 
 upstate people can take the time to visit the building at Madison, as 
 books cannot be taken from the building. The Superintendent (who 
 is not a Wisconsin man and not acquainted with the purpose of the 
 Society) declares he proposes to make the library purely a reference 
 library, same as the library of Congress. 
 
 As it may be difficult and possibly unwise to defeat any appro- 
 priation for the State Historical Society it could be cut down. 
 
 Also, there should be a proviso attached to its appropriation 
 reading like this : 
 
 "Provided the said Society shall loan in any part of the state at 
 the expense of the borrower for transportation, any of its volumes 
 for a reasonable time, not to exceed two weeks. 
 
 Also said Society shall not use any of said funds in the prepara- 
 tion or editing or publication of any works, either bound or unbound, 
 except such as pertain to the history of Wisconsin. 
 
 Also no such funds shall be used for the expenses of the annual 
 address unless the same concerns the history of Wisconsin. 
 
8 Editorial 
 
 Also no part of said funds may be expended to promote historical 
 enterprise other than such as concern the history of Wisconsin." 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 PuBLius V. Lawson 
 [To Assemblyman Haet] 
 
 No. 2 : Rejoinder to Mr. Lawson's Petition 
 
 Hon. Charles F. Hart, 
 
 State Capitol, 
 
 City. 
 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 For your information and that of other members of the legisla- 
 ture I beg leave to direct your attention to a highly erroneous state- 
 ment concerning the State Historical Society which was offered by 
 you to the Assembly in the form of a petition on January 29. If 
 deemed proper, I respectfully request that this communication may 
 be placed before the legislature in the same way as the petition re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 In general your petitioner asserts that during the last three 
 years (which happens to be the period of my administration of the 
 Society) a marked change in the ideals and policies of the Society 
 has taken place, as a result of which its interests have become en- 
 tirely divorced from the subject of state history and its funds are 
 being spent illegally on "foreign" projects; furthermore, that from 
 being a library whose collections are loaned freely all over the state 
 the executive board of the Society has recently prohibited the loan 
 of all books, thus reducing it to the status of a Madison city library. 
 In particular, numerous detailed statements are made designed to 
 illustrate these general propositions. 
 
 With respect to this petition I regret to say that while not every 
 one of your petitioner's detailed assertions is erroneous, most of 
 them are, and that the net effect of the petition is totally mislead- 
 ing. In venturing to call your attention to these errors my purpose 
 will be merely to show you that the Society's policy today (in the 
 points complained of) is identical with that pursued under the ad- 
 ministrations of my two predecessors. Draper and Thwaites. 
 
A Critic and a Certificate of Character 9 
 
 With respect to the Society's publications it has never been the 
 practice to confine their contents wholly within the geographical 
 boundary of the state. The first volume ever published by the 
 Society (in 1855) contains at least one article on the Revolution in 
 the West. From this first volume down to the latest issue more or 
 less material has been published pertaining to things outside the 
 geographical boundary of the state. It will probably be conceded 
 by any sane man that the Society could hardly do otherwise if it 
 publishes at all. For example, how can we deal with the history of 
 the Swiss settlement without saying something about Switzerland.'' 
 Or how can we deal with the history of the Civil War without noticing 
 some of the things which happened to Wisconsin's soldiers after they 
 crossed the state boundary.? Evidently it becomes a matter of judg- 
 ment to what extent the publications of the Society shall be exclu- 
 sively local and to what extent they shall take a wider range. In my 
 own judgment (and the best scholarly opinion of the country can 
 be cited to support me) discussions of such themes as the Revolution 
 in the West, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and of proper indexes of 
 the Society's own collection of manuscripts are unquestionably 
 proper subjects to which to devote the Society's activities. 
 
 Turning to the question of the supposed illegality of the work 
 complained of, I desire to call your attention to the fact that the 
 Society's charter granted by the legislature in 1853 authorizes it to 
 "ordain and enforce a constitution, by-laws, rules, and regulations," 
 not inconsistent with the constitutions and statutes of the United 
 States and the state of Wisconsin: and that article 1, section 1, of 
 the Society's own constitution adopted in 1897 in pursuance of this 
 authorization sets forth as the object of the Society "the collection, 
 preservation, exhibition, and publication of materials for the study 
 of history, especially the history of this state and of the Middle West ; 
 to this end, * * * publishing and otherwise diffusing information 
 relative to the history of the region, and in general encouraging and 
 developing within this state the study of history." Without being 
 a lawyer I am under the impression that the foregoing is conclusive 
 with respect to the question of legality. Whether conclusive or not 
 it is clear that the practice which you have been informed is illegal 
 is of over sixty years' duration and that the three secretaries of the 
 
10 Editorial 
 
 Society, Draper, Thwaites, and myself, as well as the numerous state 
 officials who have in the past disbursed state funds in this connection 
 are alike responsible for the practice. 
 
 Turning to the matter of the loan of books from the library the 
 practice today stands on the same basis as it has always stood so 
 far as the sources of information at my command disclose. The 
 library has always been regarded as primarily a reference library. 
 Along with this books have been circulated to such an extent as might 
 be possible, having in view the general character of the library and 
 the extension of the greatest service to the greatest number of users. 
 There are certain classes of books which are not loaned away from 
 the building either because of their rarity or value, or because of the 
 consideration that the greater interest of the public is served by re- 
 taining them for use within it. There is nothing new about this 
 policy. It is true that changing conditions and demands from time to 
 time must be met by corresponding changes in the application of the 
 general policy laid down. The executive committee has passed no 
 order to my knowledge prohibiting the loan of books from the library, 
 and there has not been a day since my administration began that 
 books have not been out on loan. On January 29, the day you in- 
 troduced your petitioner's communication, some fifty of our volumes 
 were scattered over the state and about one hundred thirty more 
 were in the hands of teachers and students of the University, state 
 officials, and others here at the capital. 
 
 The reasonable limits to which this communication may extend 
 will not permit me to note and refute all of the errors of detail con- 
 tained in your petitioner's communication. I request, therefore, that 
 my omission to note any given assertion shall not be construed as 
 acquiescing in its accuracy. 
 
 You have been informed that in the last three years the Society 
 has given up state history entirely. I merely note by way of com- 
 ment that at the present time the state printer has in course of pub- 
 lication two volumes, one devoted wholly to state history (An Eco- 
 nomic History of Wisconsin during the Civil War Decade) and the 
 other chiefly to the history of the state ; and further that there has 
 not been a single instant during the three years of my administra- 
 tion during which one or more works on the history of the state has 
 not been under preparation. 
 
A Critic and a Certificate of Character H 
 
 You have been told that the cost of this "foreign" work is about 
 $20,000 annually. For the reason that the work is inextricably 
 bound up in the general administration of the Society it is not 
 possible for me to give a precise statement of the sums spent annually 
 on that portion complained of. It is perfectly safe to say, however, 
 that it does not exceed one-fifth the amount you have been informed. 
 The detailed information upon which this estimate is based will 
 cheerfully be placed at your disposal if you care to take the time 
 to go into it. 
 
 You are informed that the library building cost the state 
 $770,000 and the library itself about $5,000,000. I do not perceive 
 that this information is at all germane to the subject under discus- 
 sion, yet I advert to it by way of illustrating the carelessness of your 
 petitioner's statements. The cost of the library building, it is true, 
 was $770,000. There is no way of ascertaining at the present day 
 the cost of the library through the sixty years of its existence. Since 
 1901, however, the appropriation for the purchase of books and 
 similar material has totalled about $97,000. During the Civil War 
 period nothing whatever was being spent. For the whole period 
 from 1854-1901 it seems probable that the average expenditure did 
 not equal or exceed one-third the amount appropriated since 1901. 
 Assuming, however, an annual average expenditure of $6,000 for the 
 entire sixty-three year period the total amount would be something 
 less than $400,000 instead of the $5,000,000 you have been informed. 
 
 With respect to the advice which your petitioner gives the legisla- 
 ture as to the conditions which it should attach to the Society's 
 appropriation, it may be said that in part matters of judgment only 
 are involved. Of the wisdom of the petitioner's judgment I submit 
 this single illustration: It is complained that the annual address in 
 the last three years has not concerned the history of Wisconsin. The 
 titles of the three addresses in question (the last two of which only am 
 I personally responsible for) have been : The Treaty of Ghent — and 
 After ; The President of the United States ; and Abraham Lincoln as 
 War Statesman. Concerning the first it may be noted that both 
 British and American armies operated in Wisconsin during the War 
 of 1812 and that the very address complained of recounts the 
 strenuous efforts of the British negotiators of the treaty to make 
 
12 Editorial 
 
 Wisconsin along with the Northwest a great Indian barrier state. 
 With respect to the second and third I venture to observe that the 
 president of the United States is also the president of the citizens of 
 Wisconsin and that Abraham Lincoln was war statesman for Wis- 
 consin as well as for the rest of the country; in short, that all three 
 of these subjects were eminently proper for the State Historical 
 Society of Wisconsin to listen to ; and that whether proper or im- 
 proper they differ in no material respect from the addresses of pre- 
 ceding years when the administration of the Society was in other 
 hands than my own. 
 
 In conclusion, permit me to remind you that in the Historical 
 Library the state possesses one of the great reference libraries of the 
 country, recognized as such far and wide by scholars. It is not ques- 
 tioned that the legislature has the right either to destroy it or to 
 revolutionize it at its option. The measures aimed at by your peti- 
 tioner amount not to a reform, but to a revolution. On every proper 
 occasion I have urged members of the legislature to visit the library 
 and acquaint themselves with its operation. I desire to improve the 
 present opportunity to extend this invitation to you personally and 
 through you to every member of the present state legislature. Until 
 you shall thus acquaint yourself with our work I respectfully sug- 
 gest that it would be inadvisable on the strength of mere unfounded 
 assertions either to revolutionize or to ruin the state's greatest 
 library. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 [Signed] M. M. Quaife 
 February 1, 1917. 
 
 No. 3 : Forward Wisconsin^ 
 By Publius V. Lawson, LL. B. 
 
 In reports of the Superintendent of the State Historical Society 
 he says : 
 
 "It may readily be conceded that established society in Wisconsin 
 is still too immature." 
 
 ^ This document, thus entitled by the author, was sent in broadcast fashion 
 to public officials and private citizens of the state during the autumn and winter 
 of 1918-19. 
 
A Critic mid a Certificate of Character 13 
 
 "That the citizens of Wisconsin have never individually come to 
 the support of their historical society." 
 
 "A large portion of the citizens of Wisconsin are uninformed 
 concerning its work, and even unaware of its existence." 
 
 The entire state has just passed through a period of reply to 
 slander of our good name from outside, and the author of that quoted 
 all the state delegations, and other papers concerning contested 
 education, political science, welfare laws, statesmanship, invention, 
 mechanics, manufacture, agriculture, dairying, bred cattle, bred 
 deeds, and medical science. In seventy years of statehood it has ad- 
 vanced the world most in comfort, progress and human rights of 
 any similar commonwealth. Nothing immature about that. 
 
 As to the support of the Society : The state has built for it a 
 beautiful marble building costing $770,000, donated something over 
 a million dollars for its library, and much more than a million for 
 maintenance of the Society. During the five years past the state 
 has donated about $350,000 for maintenance, out of which the one 
 who wrote the above libel on our people has taken about $20,000. 
 In bequests the Society have received $114,000 during its existence. 
 The above is a complete answer to nonsupport by our state indi- 
 vidually and collectively. 
 
 As to the admission that the Society has not met with its ex- 
 pected success, and therefore the people of the state are "not aware 
 of its existence," is unfortunately too true. The reason is obvious. 
 The reason is its one man factor, whose work is scattered, scheme- 
 less, with no logical or natural order or design to promote the his- 
 tory of Wisconsin, but ranges over a rummage field, from an insult 
 to the Pope of Rome to a "reprint" on "ginseng plant," two 
 centuries out of date. It may interest loyal admirers of our state 
 to look over the slack scattered and useless efforts of the Society 
 and therein will be found the reason why the Society gets nowhere. 
 It is to be found in its kind of publications. An annotated list of 
 the motley disassociated subjects with a territorial range of the whole 
 union is given below. 
 
 The purpose of founding the Society was to promote the history 
 of Wiscon? m and not to exploit the gold diggers of California, or 
 reprint a two century old French work on ginseng, or exploit a news 
 
14 Editorial 
 
 article making insulting reference to the Pope. Draper in numerous 
 addresses told how the Society was to glorify the state. Judge 
 Baensch, its president, said four years ago, "the plan of the Society 
 contemplates it be the people's society." 
 
 The charter of the Society limits its right to publish in these 
 words, "to diffuse and publish information relating to the descrip- 
 tion and history of the state" — Chapter 17, LaAvs 1853. This right 
 has never been changed or modified and stands the governing law. of 
 the Society today. The Society has not now and never had any 
 right to employ its staff in editing foreign works not pertaining to 
 the history of our state, or to publish them at expense of its tax- 
 payers. To do so is a criminal misuse of the funds of the Society. 
 The legislature has made the Society generous donations assuming it 
 would conform to its foundation law and exploit the marvelous story 
 of our state. No one ever expected it to waste its time and rich 
 inheritance as promised by the Superintendent, "to include every im- 
 portant aspect of the historical field," for which "no single lifetime 
 will suffice." To include this world history the name of its published 
 works is changed from the well-known "collections" to "publica- 
 tions," and error of law, morals, and judgment that has been vigor- 
 ously practiced, while work on Wisconsin history he reports as 
 "indefinite and remote." Thus our state on the waiting list is 
 forgotten. 
 
 The Society should have at its head one who is for our state, 
 who loves its story and traditions. The reputation, glory, and won- 
 derful achievements of the great pioneers of art, letters, science, and 
 mechanics who have made our state the grandest of all common- 
 wealths should not be left to uninformed strangers to record their 
 glorious works. 
 
 A list of illegal miscellany and misfit literature produced by the 
 Society : 
 
 "Removing the Papacy to Chicago" — a ribald jest, uncalled for, 
 and exposing the entire schemeless fritter of present activities of the 
 Society. Moreover the article is copied from the Chicago press 
 without credit. It should be repudiated. 
 
 Proposed volume on Ginseng — a reprint of a French work of 
 1716, on ginseng, two centuries old. Fortunately this work of trans- 
 lation has been held back by the war. 
 
A Critic and a Certificate of Character 15 
 
 Captain Pryor — 8 pages — an officer in Lewis and Clark Expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 "Dream of Northwest Conspiracy" — 40 pages — relates to the 
 Civil War conspiracy of Vallandigham. 
 
 Journal of Journey Detroit to Miamitoivn, Indiana in 1790. 52 
 pages proceedings. 
 
 Proposed to publish "one or more volumes on California Gold 
 Seekers" having procured several diaries for this purpose and adver- 
 tises for more. 
 
 Journal of Lewis and Ordway up the Missouri River to the 
 Pacific — a volume of 444 pages, which critics say contained nothing 
 new as all had been published before. Cost state about $5,000. Five 
 members of the staff labored on it for six months. 
 
 Proposed work on Kentucky History has employed the time of 
 the staff for four years. Recently the Superintendent exults in 
 getting $2,000 from Kentucky to help pay for assistance on the 
 work. Thus calmly making of Wisconsin a print shop to edit, print, 
 publish, and bind the history of Kentucky. 
 
 "Chicago's First Lawsuit" — a slave case tried in Louisiana — 15 
 pages. 
 
 "McKay's Journal" — of journey on upper Missouri River, 24 
 pages, of which the Superintendent says, "It is not expected that 
 it will prove interesting." 
 
 Reproduction of all files of Missouri Newspapers down to 1825. 
 "The Frontier a World Problem" in which the name of our state 
 does not occur. 
 
 "A Constitutional Series" "will run to several volumes." This is 
 the special travail of the Superintendent, "unmature" in state his- 
 tory and unlearned in the law — unsuspecting that "brevity is the 
 soul of wit." 
 
 Magazine of History, should be of "Wisconsin History." 
 "Frontier advance on Upper Ohio" contains old letters of the 
 Revolutionary war near Pittsburgh, of which four volumes have 
 been issued costing the state about $20,000, and employed the best 
 talent in the Society who could work wonders for our state history 
 if permitted to do so. Two volumes more of the work is promised at 
 the expense of Wisconsin and its history. 
 
16 Editorial 
 
 The Farmer Bottomley papers in a volume costing several thou- 
 sand dollars, which was an "enterprise to which the personal atten- 
 tion of the Superintendent" was given, best exhibits his conception 
 of the glorious achievements of the people of this state and why 
 he regards them as "immature." 
 
 The Preston Virginia papers — a volume calendar, which the 
 Superintendent says "is as interesting as a tax list," cost the state 
 about $5,000. The report says : "It is expected before its termina- 
 tion this series will include a considerable number of volumes." 
 
 The Annual Address for the last five years has been made by an 
 outsider on a subject not connected with the state. 
 
 The superintendent and staff are employed most of the time on 
 six periodicals not connected with the Society, but edited, proof 
 read and carried on at its expense and in its offices. These are: 
 
 (1) The proof reading and work due to editing the volumes 
 brought out by the Lakeside Press of Chicago. State does not print 
 the work as yet. 
 
 (2) "The Mississippi Valley Historical Review" — a quarterly 
 edited, and all work done by the staff. The state has not as yet been 
 asked to print it, but the Society pays $200 to aid the work. 
 
 (3) "In like fashion it assists in making possible the publica- 
 tion of "Writings on American History." 
 
 (4) "It has donated the labor, by no means light, of editing 
 the "Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Society" 
 
 (5) Development of Chicago — a volume edited and proof read 
 by the staff, but state not yet asked to print. 
 
 All the information of this paper is found in reports of the 
 Society for 1914-15-16-17. 
 
 The publication of this inappropriate material has been justified 
 by the Superintendent by reference to the work of his predecessor, 
 Dr. Thwaites. But the reference is an injustice. The Sons of the 
 American Revolution paid for the three volumes of the events of 
 the Revolution on the Upper Ohio, and Dr. Thwaites never supposed 
 the Society was authorized to carry on publication of foreign history. 
 
A Critic and a Certificate of Character 17 
 
 No. 4 : Report of the Special Joint Committee of the Legis- 
 lature TO Investigate the Affairs and Management of 
 THE State Historical Society* 
 
 The special joint committee of the legislature appointed under 
 joint resolution No. 48, S. to make an investigation of the manage- 
 ment and affairs of the State Historical Society and report to the 
 legislature, submit the following report: 
 
 The committee had exhaustive hearings on the affairs of the 
 State Historical Society, especially as relating to complaints made 
 by Honorable P. V. Lawson, and while admitting Mr. Lawson's deep 
 devotion to the Society and as having only its best interests at 
 heart, in the judgment of the committee a misguided zeal led him to 
 make complaints that the committee finds were entirely unwarranted 
 and unjustified. 
 
 In the opinion of the committee the Society should have broad 
 discretionary powers in the matter of pubHcations that it issues, and 
 while these publications should relate primarily, of course, to the 
 history of our own state, the committee recognizes the fact that 
 this history cannot be made separate and distinct from other history, 
 especially the history of the great West, of which Wisconsin was 
 originally an integral part; and to limit historical publications to 
 events that transpired within the present state boundaries appears 
 illogical and undesirable. This matter should, the committee be- 
 lieves, be left entirely to the discretion and good judgment of the 
 Society. The committee finds that the Society has issued no pub- 
 lications that were not entirely warranted. 
 
 In regard to loaning books from the library the committee be- 
 lieves that the Society, quite contrary to the complaint made that it 
 has not been responsive enough in complying with requests for the 
 loan of books and other material from the library, has if anything 
 pursued a policy the committee would characterize as too liberal. 
 The State Historical Library from its very nature is not, was not 
 intended to be, and cannot be construed to be a circulating library. 
 Many of its books are rare volumes that could not be replaced at 
 all or only at great expense and it would seem preposterous to allow 
 
 * Reprinted from the Senate Journal for June 12, 1919. 
 
18 Editorial 
 
 these to be sent broadcast over the state. The committee is of the 
 firm opinion that the State Historical Library was intended to be a 
 reference library and all acts of the legislature and the wording of 
 the charter, constitution, and by-laws of the Society seem to bear 
 out that assertion. The rooms of the Society are open at all times 
 to the public to secure any desired information and the committee 
 finds that it is not even necessary for persons living outside of the 
 capital city to come to Madison to secure the information they want 
 but that it will be furnished on written application by the Society, 
 the staff of which the committee finds is ready at all times to make 
 the most thorough research of its collections to obtain and supply 
 the information desired. The courtesy and accommodation of the 
 staff in such inquiries for information could not be more commend- 
 able. To find books and volumes necessary for research work by 
 parties who come to the reference library missing therefrom because 
 they have been sent out to other points in the state would be in the 
 opinion of the committee an ill-advised state of affairs. The practice 
 of loaning out books has been it seems merely one established by 
 custom. The committee recognizes the fact that there may be books, 
 pamphlets, and other material not of intrinsic value and not of a 
 rare nature that can with propriety be loaned out on request with- 
 out detriment to the interests of the Society as an accommodation 
 to the public, and the authority to make such loans might wisely be 
 possessed by the Society to be exercised in its discretion and judg- 
 ment subject to such rules and restrictions as may be adopted by 
 the Society. 
 
 In the absence of statutory provisions on this subject the com- 
 mittee introduces and recommends for passage the following bill in 
 order that there may be no more controversy over the loaning of 
 books by the Society. 
 
 A BILIi 
 
 To create subsection (8) of section 44.02 of the statutes, relat- 
 ing to the State Historical Society. 
 
A Clitic and a Certificate of Character 19 
 
 The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and 
 assembly, do enact as follows : 
 
 SECTION 1. A new subsection is added to section 44.02 of the 
 statutes to read: (44.02) (8). To loan, in its discretion, for such 
 periods and under such rules and restrictions as it may adopt, to 
 libraries, educational institutions, and other organizations, or to 
 private individuals in good standing, such books, pamphlets, or 
 other materials that if lost or destroyed could easily and without 
 much expense be replaced; but no work on genealogy, newspaper 
 file, or book, map, chart, document, manuscript, pamphlet, or other 
 material whatsoever of a rare nature shall be permitted to be sent 
 out from the library under any circumstances. 
 
 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage and pub- 
 lication. 
 
 The committee also recommends for indefinite postponement bill 
 No. 61, S., re-referred to this committee from the committee on state 
 affairs. 
 
 The committee finds the affairs of the Society financially and in 
 every other respect most excellently managed, with a staff, members 
 of which have been with the Society for a score of years or more, and 
 whose work to them has become more a labor of love for the institu- 
 tion and its success than for the pecuniary remuneration they re- 
 ceive. This is highly gratifying in view of the high standing and 
 reputation the Society, which was founded in 1853, has obtained all 
 over the nation. Housed in one of the finest buildings of the state, 
 with a floor space of three acres, in which are deposited over 200,000 
 invaluable historical volumes and documents, constituting the third 
 and perhaps second largest historical library in the United States 
 and one of the largest in the world, it has become a repository of 
 reference material that is consulted for important information not 
 only by every class of activity in our own state but often in the 
 nation. The committee does not hesitate to say that every mem- 
 ber thereof was not only profoundly impressed but actually amazed 
 to find it such a big, comprehensive, serviceable, and helpful institu- 
 tion in which the state may take intense pride and the committee 
 hopes that every citizen of the state may find opportunity to visit 
 the library and see from a personal inspection what a wonderful 
 institution Wisconsin possesses in its State Historical Society. 
 
20 Editorial 
 
 A complete record of the proceedings at the hearings held by 
 the committee is attached herewith to be filed as a part of this report. 
 
 Senator H. E. Roethe, (Chairman) 
 Senator A. J. Pullen 
 Assemblyman S. R. Webster 
 Assemblyman M. L. Hineman 
 Assemblyman Herman Roethel 
 
 No. 5 : Mr. Lawson's Comment on the Report of the Joint 
 Legislative Committee^ 
 
 "The press notice sent out from Madison entitled 'Historical 
 Society Given Clean Slate,' was incorrect, not true, and misleading. 
 The Historical Society is housed by the state in a granite and marble 
 building costing $770,000. The state has appropriated some 
 $6,000,000 for equipment and maintenance in the last seventy years, 
 and this year $63,500. For five years past most of the publications 
 have been books on Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Lewis and 
 Ordway up the Missouri River, all of it tliirty to seventy-five years 
 before Wisconsin was a territory. Promised works were several 
 volumes on the gold diggers of California, and translation of a work 
 on ginseng from Paris, 200 years old. Because of such gross neglect 
 of Wisconsin history the legislature investigated the Society. 
 
 "In its findings the committee was careful to refer to the great 
 collections of the Society and administer rebuke without injuring the 
 Society, in which it was wise. Of its publications the report says: 
 'The publications should relate primarily, of course, to the history of 
 our state, the committee recognizes the fact that this history can- 
 not be made separate and distinct from other history, especially the 
 history of the West of which Wisconsin was originally an integral 
 part.' This finding was exactly in accordance with the complaint 
 made in which it was shown the anti- Wisconsin attitude of the Society 
 had in late years almost entirely ignored state history. 
 
 "Another complaint was the refusal of the Society in last four 
 
 years to loan genealogies outside of the building, for the sole reason 
 
 someone may call at the library to consult the book while it is loaned 
 
 up state. It was maintained by complainant that the people up state 
 
 * Reprinted from Milwaukee Journal, July 2, 1919. 
 
A Critic and a Certificate of Character 21 
 
 who paid for the books by taxation have as much right to the loan of 
 the books as the one who called at the library. And the expense of 
 going to Madison to consult the books was prohibitive. The investi- 
 gating committee entirely agreed with this view, and proposed a bill 
 compelling the loan of all books except those 'of a rare nature.' 
 
 "Thus the only two contentions made in the complaint of the 
 conduct of the Historical Society were sustained by the legislative 
 investigating committee." 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 016 091 003 3