260           JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS.          Feb. 9,

first establishment of the Library, it has been the practice of the
Librarian to dispose of what a resolution of the Legislature of
1832 terms the surplus volumes by way of sale or exchange for
other works needed in the Library. The State has thus disposed
of the Reports of the State Reporter, it has thus dealt with its of-
ficer, created for its use, whom if any one, it must desire to en-
courage and sustain. It has thus dealt with its own Reporter
without a word of exception to this course from that officer, not-
withstanding the very large pecuniary advantage to be derived to
himself, if the State were compelled to keep upon the shelves of,
its Library the surplus fifty or one hundred copies, of his reports,
and suffered him to go into the market with a monopoly of the
work to exact of the members of the liar whatever price he might
under such circumstances. It is difficult to conceive a reason why
the Maryland Chancery Decisions should not be dealt with in the
same way; and why the publishers of them should be favored at
so large a cost to the State, by the grant of a privilege which the
State does not grant to its own Reporter. The work of reporting
and publishing these Chancery Decisions was undertaken by pri-
vate enterprise for private profit. The State did not originate it.
For all the volumes purchased by it, it has paid a liberal price; a
price, perhaps equal to that paid for the New York Reports of
Johnson, or the Reports of the Supreme Court containing the
opinions of Judge Marshall and Judge Taney. It purchased them
without any reservation or condition in favor of the vendors. It
required in them a property as absolute as is known to our law. It
had a perfect right to dispose of them. The advantage to the Li-
brary of disposing of them is manifest; as thereby the State ac-
quires works of value and in daily use, and parts with supernu-
merary volumes which if they were retained in the Library, might
lie upon the shelves without being used until they were worm-
eaten or consumed away to dust. With these views the Legisla-
ture at an early period after the establishment of the Library passed
a resolution entitled,                                   

"A Resolution authorizing the Librarian to dispose of the sur-
plus books remaining in the State Library."

By this resolution passed on the 6th of March 1832, the Libra-
rian was authorized to dispose of, under the direction of the joint
committee on the State Library, all the surplus books with certain
exceptions .therein mentioned, and to lay out the proceeds under
the direction of the joint committee in the purchase of law books
and other works for the library. Under the resolution as I un-
derstand has arisen the practice of the State Librarian which has
Continued without question or impeachment to the present time.
It would be impossible for the Library Committee to give special
directions in reference to each particular transaction of sale or ex.
change as such might be proposed in the Recess of the Legislatures.