Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/329

Rh the other hand, the local society of the town or county, with its more popular membership, can do most to arouse that local patriotism and foster that spirit of local provincialism which, when widely diffused throughout the community, means for the state society that popular moral support which leads to rich gifts and large appropriations. Thus the state and local societies, being mutually supplementary, may through affiliation and cooperation become most effective in spreading the gospel of historical interest.

Second. The possibilities of cooperation in the collection of historical material for permanent preservation are evident. For, while the state society will aim to make its library the largest and most complete within the Commonwealth in state and local history, (including at the same time materials of national and world history as well as much that is classed as politics, economics, sociology, and jurisprudence,) few local societies will go beyond the collection of materials of local and state history. Local societies aim, first of all, to collect and preserve the materials of local history, and while doing this they may effectively assist the state society in securing matter along the same lines. At the same time the members of local societies may cooperate effectively with the collector of the state society in securing manuscripts, books, pamphlets, etc., which are of more general interest. In Iowa, where the State Historical Society has placed a collector in the field, this phase of cooperation now appears to be most promising. On the other hand, the state society will often find it possible to turn over duplicate material to the libraries and collections of local societies.

Third. The publication of data of state and local history is one of the most important offices of the historical society. And I believe that as time goes on this function will become more and more pronounced, notwithstanding some contemporary evidence of the tendency to yield to the solicitations of publishers who make books valuable by limiting the editions. I do not believe that the historical society has fulfilled its highest mission when it has collected a large library of books and manuscripts and housed them securely in a marble palace. For after the materials have been collected their contents should as far as possible be made accessible through publications. Are there manuscripts of great value? Let them be carefully edited and published by the state society. Has some student done a scholarly and critical piece of work? Let it be published in the quarterly of the state society or as a separate monograph. Finally, the state society should furnish all of its publications at a nominal price or in exchange to all of the local societies and public libraries in the Commonwealth. On the other hand, the local societies may cooperate in this field by publishing their proceedings, which will contain reminiscences, recollections, and reflections of old settlers and pioneers, as well as notes and in-