10 FIRST TO FOURTH ANNUAL REPORTS

John's offer continued to urge others. The Commission was also to
be plagued by the problem of finding a useful purpose for the Hall
of Records without infringing on the prerogatives of other offices.
For example, a curious division of records then held by the Land
Office was proposed late in 1930: the Hall of Records was in no way
to encroach upon the fields of the Land Office—the Hall of Records
would receive only those records created during the Provincial per-
iod, the Land Office would retain all the records created since state-
hood.

In the meanwhile, early in 1930, Governor Ritchie had asked
Judge Bond to form a committee to estimate the amount of records
which would have to be housed in the proposed Hall of Records
and to estimate the size of building needed and the approximate
cost. Judge Bond associated with him in this survey Dr. J. Hall
Pleasants and Judge T. Scott Offutt and after several preliminary
statements, a final report was made available to the Governor in
February 1931. Judge Bond reported that space would have to be
provided for about 5,000 bound volumes and a like amount of space
for unbound materials. Including a margin of space to allow for the
accumulation of an additional 25 years, Judge Bond proposed a
stack space of 60x40 feet in area by 25 feet in height. For the over-
all size of the building he reported "After working over figures for
space to include a reading and exhibition room, two offices, a repair
room, a bindery, a photostat room, and a dark room for photo-
graphy, washrooms and passages, we come to the conclusion that
two floors and a basement each 60x60 feet in area and 15 feet high,
would suffice."

The cost of such a building was estimated as follows: building
$144,000; equipment including steel stacks, $50,000; architect's fees
and heat connections $25,000. Therefore, a round figure of $250,000
was proposed. Governor Ritchie recommended less than that by
$50,000 to the Legislature then in session and this in turn was $200,-
000 less than had been asked by the Tercentenary Commission for
this purpose (Acts of 1931, Ch. 253). In the same year the Tercen-
tenary Commission was given power to condemn or otherwise to
procure a site for a "Memorial Hall of Records.....in which shall
be gathered all ancient public and private records of the Province
and State of Maryland from the beginning of the province to the