The administrator of general services is authorized by law to accept for accessioning as part of the National Archives of the United States the records of a federal agency or the Congress that the archivist of the United States judges to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the United States government. In addition, certain personal papers and privately produced audiovisual materials that relate to federal activities may also be accepted. Normally, only records at least twenty years old are considered for transfer; the chief exceptions are essential documentary sources of federal actions and the records of terminated agencies.

Excluded from the recent accessions described below are those that only fill minor gaps or extend the date span of records already in the custody of the National Archives and Records Service. As noted, some of the accessions have been made by the archives branches of the federal records centers and by the presidential libraries.

Cost of Living

The worth of the dollar today may be compared with data reported in over two hundred cubic feet of Bureau of Labor Statistics cost-of-living schedules collected for the periods 1918-19, 1932-33, and 1935-36. What some members of the public thought about efforts to combat more recent inflation is shown in correspondence handled

by a consultant to the secretary of labor during Phase I of President Nixon's economic stabilization program. Both accessions have been made by the Industrial and Social Branch.

Price and wage stabilization controls are not new to the American taxpayer. During the Korean War certain controls were administered by the Office of Price Stabilization (OPS) and the Wage Stabilization Board (WSB), which were units of the Economic Stabilization Agency. The agency was activated during the war to control inflation and to maintain stabilization of the national economy. The Archives Branch, Denver Federal Records Center, has accessioned thirty-one cubic feet of records from 1951 to 1953 of the Denver regional offices of the OPS and WSB, which had responsibility for Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Among the WSB records received are rulings and opinions case files; a general subject file that includes file headings pertaining to accounting, communications, meetings, cooperation with other federal offices, public relations, and wages; and record copies of minutes of the Eleventh Regional WSB meetings. The Denver OPS office had responsibility for the price stabilization program in the region. Of interest are regional price surveys that indicate price changes during 1952.

The Archives Branch, Kansas City Federal Records Center, has recently accessioned sixteen cubic feet of records created

by field units of the Economic Stabilization Agency. The records consist chiefly of correspondence, newspaper clippings, and Rent Advisory Board minutes, 1950-53, for the Rent Stabilization Office located in Rolla, Missouri; rulings and opinions files, correspondence, subject files, minutes, and publicity materials, 1951-53, for the Kansas City and Minneapolis Regional Wage and Salary Stabilization Offices; and ruling interpretations, reports, and minutes for the Kansas City and Minneapolis Regional Offices of Price Stabilization.

The Legislative, Judicial, and Fiscal Branch has accessioned the records of the National Commission on Consumer Finance, 1970-72. The commission was established by the Consumer Credit Protection Act of 1968 to study the functioning and structure of the consumer credit system in the United States and to report on the availability of credit at reasonable rates and the adequacy of the existing systems of credit regulation. The accession includes correspondence files of the executive director and other staff members; typed transcripts of public hearings held by the commission; minutes of commission meetings; research studies on different aspects of the U.S. credit system done by members of the commission staff and outside experts under contract; questionnaires received from banks and other lenders in response to a commission "survey of creditors' remedies"; and records relating to a major investigation of outstanding loans and rates made for the commission by the Bureau of the Census.

War and Peace

Through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Stidham, a collection of documents relating to the Civil War has been received by the Legislative, Judicial, and Fiscal Branch. These include letters signed by Andrew Johnson, William T. Sherman, and

U.S. Grant; several items created by the Confederate States of America, including a letter from J.E.B. Stuart, printed Confederate regulations relating to the preservation of tithe cotton, the activities of produce loan agents, and a small quantity of Confederate currency; and a copy of Lincoln's 1863 Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.

The Dukes County Historical Society, Edgartown, Massachusetts, has donated federal records relating to Fort Sill, Indian Territory, 1867-70, and to Freedmen's Bureau activities in Northern Virginia. These records were discovered in a house on Martha's Vineyard and were formerly in the custody of Colonel Samuel P. Less, who was on active duty in the army during the period covered by the records. The records have been accessioned by the Old Military Branch.

The Modern Military Branch has accessioned five cubic feet of Navy Department Armed Guard reports for the period 1917 to 1918. The records include reports and correspondence submitted by commanding officers of navy gun crews assigned to merchant vessels to protect them in the event of attack by German submarines or surface raiders.

The Archives Branch, Chicago Federal Records Center, has accessioned the following additions to the records of the United States Coast Guard: Marine Inspection Detachment, Chicago, original vessel log books, 1959-67, three cubic feet; Marine Inspection Office, Detroit, original office log books, 1853-1907, two volumes; and Coast Guard Base, Sault Ste. Marie, original vessel log books, 1968-70, one cubic foot.

The Archives Branch, Los Angeles Federal Records Center, has received the following addition to its Coast Guard holdings: USCG Air Station, Los Angeles, unit logs for the period January 1, 1972, to September 30, 1972, one cubic foot; and Coast

Guard Base, Terminal Island, San Pedro, unit logs for the period January 1, 1971, to October 31, 1972, two cubic feet.

The Diplomatic Branch has received an additional fifty-four cubic feet of State Department conference files. The accession includes the records of the Paris Conference on Reparations, November-December 1945; the Second Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Paris, April-July 1946; the Paris Peace Conference, July-October 1946; the Third Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in New York, NovemberDecember 1946; and the Meetings of the Deputy Foreign Ministers, 1945-46. Official conference documents, such as minutes of meetings and records of decisions, as well as memorandums, correspondence, and position papers arranged by subject are included.

Two hundred original treaties and other international agreements (TIAS 7236-7427) have been transferred to the Diplomatic Branch from the Department of State. The accession includes the 1971 treaty concerning the reversion of the Ryukyu and Daito islands to Japan, the multilateral treaty for seabed arms control signed on February 11, 1971, and several treaties with the Soviet Union including that relating to cooperation in space exploration.

The Atomic Energy Commission has transferred to the National Archives thirtyfour cubic feet of correspondence, including some exchanged between Vannevar Bush and James B. Conant, and technical reports, 1939-47, documenting the development of the atomic bomb. These records are open for research without restriction.

Bench and Bar

The Archives Branch, Chicago Federal Records Center, has accessioned the follow

ing additions to the records of district courts of the United States: Eastern District of Michigan, Detroit, case files, 18161946, including admiralty, bankruptcy, civil, criminal, and naturalization data, 3,295 cubic feet; Western District of Michigan, Grand Rapids, case files and bound volumes, 1863-1945, including bankruptcy, civil, and criminal actions, 125 cubic feet; Southern District of Ohio, Columbus, bankruptcy dockets created under the 1898 act and dated 1898-1945, 12 cubic feet; Southern District of Illinois, Peoria and Springfield, bankruptcy case files created under the 1867 and 1898 acts and dated 1867-1946, 1,170 cubic feet; Western District of Wisconsin, Madison, bound volumes relating to bankruptcy, civil, criminal, and naturalization matters, 1870-1938, 11 cubic feet; Northern District of Illinois, Chicago, files relating to the rules of the court, 1882-1931, and the appointment and resignation of U.S. commissioners, 1871-1938, 1 cubic foot.

The following records of United States attorneys and marshals have been transferred to the Archives Branch, Chicago Federal Records Center, from National Archives holdings: District of Minnesota, St. Paul, letters sent and received, items relating to Indian allotment fraud cases, and criminal docket books, 1869-99, four cubic feet; and Western District of Wisconsin, Madison, case files, 1892-1908, and a small quantity of correspondence relating to Indian matters, 1894-1908, two cubic feet.

The National Archives recently transferred to the Archives Branch, Kansas City Federal Records Center, six cubic feet of records of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. The records consist chiefly of letters sent, 1853-89, including letters sent by the U.S. attorney for the District of Missouri, 1853-57, grand jury dockets, 1887-1932, and grand jury minutes, 1876, 1890-1918. These records coupled with previously accessioned records of the

U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri offer an indepth account of the administration of justice during crucial periods of civil war, reconstruction, economic panic, prohibition, and world war.

Indian Affairs

The Kansas State Historical Society recently donated to the Archives Branch, Kansas City Federal Records Center, six microfilm rolls of records of the St. Louis Superintendency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. These records, commonly referred to as the Clark Papers, consist chiefly of field notes and plats of Indian lands, claims for Indian depredations, licenses to traders, copies of letters sent, copies of letters received, records of accounts, property returns, and meteorological data of Superintendent William Clark, 1807-55, and records of the Missouri Fur Company including articles of association, records of the board of directors, and account ledgers, 1812-17.

The Archives Branch, Federal Records Center, Los Angeles, has received thirteen cubic feet of records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs pertaining to the Truxton Canyon Agency, Valentine, Arizona. The accession includes correspondence dealing with the Bureau of Indian Affairs decimal filing system, 1895-1957, letter books, 1899-1910, miscellaneous correspondence, 1912-20, and fiscal records, 1895-1943, including ledgers, case books, and journals.

District of Columbia

Records in the Natural Resources Branch relating to the District of Columbia have been augmented by the accession of letters sent by the commissioners of the District of Columbia, 1871-1965, and abstracts of letters received by the commissioners,

1874-97, with indexes. These records reflect the many official activities of the commissioners from the formation of the commission type of government in 1874 to very recent times.

Census Statistics

Those interested in methodological aspects of the census may wish to examine records received in the Industrial and Social Branch pertaining to the 1959 and 1960 agricultural censuses as well as a manual about the background and history of the alphabetical index to the 1900 census.

Budget Records

Ten series of Bureau of the Budget records were recently accessioned by the Legislative, Judicial, and Fiscal Branch. Most of the series are from the Estimates Division of the bureau and document the budget analyses, revises, and allocations for the Department of State and nine military agencies between 1939 and 1952. Other series relate to the bureau's work with the international assistance programs and federal government organization. Although many of the records are still classified, they and other Bureau of the Budget records convey histories of policy decisions made in the Executive Office of the President.

Social Services

Early and more recent policies and procedures for federal welfare assistance to the states since the beginning of the social security system are reflected in minutes and background papers received by the Industrial and Social Branch from the Social and Rehabilitation Service. These documents, which cover the period 1936 to 1967, are inclusive of special files on the program for

assistance to refugees from Cuba in the period 1962 to 1965.

Merchants and Seamen

Over one hundred cubic feet of customs records for the District of Newport, Rhode Island, covering the years 1790 to 1920 were recently accessioned into the Archives Branch, Boston Federal Records Center. The records concern the operations of the port of Newport and relate to the importation and exportation of merchandise, collection of tonnage taxes, entrance and clearance of vessels, collection of money and accounts of money disbursed by the collector of customs, collection of money for marine hospitals, and seamen registered in the district. Included are import books, covering the periods 1790 to 1866 and 1873 to 1911, that indicate the name and date of each vessel entering Newport from a foreign port, the name of the master of the vessel, the place from where the vessel sailed, the amount and description of the cargo, the rate and amount of duties of the goods being imported, and the name of the person to whom the goods were consigned.

Also included are cargo or vessel manifests that describe the cargo on each vessel entering or clearing the port and list the names of the persons to whom the cargo was consigned and the names of the owners and the masters of the vessels. Most of the manifests cover the years 1790 to 1864 although there are scattered manifests for the period 1865 to 1880. In addition there are records showing goods imported into Newport and then exported to other ports; books of the inspectors, weighers, and gaugers who examined the cargoes of the various vessels in the port, 1799-1870; and monthly and quarterly abstracts of goods imported and exported, abstracts of duties on goods imported, and abstracts of the tonnage of vessels entering and departing Newport for the years 1790-1889.

Also included are records of entrances and clearances of vessels at Newport covering the years 1810-21 and 1859-61. There are many ledgers, journals, cash books, and account books for the collector's office for the years 1790-1917 and correspondence of the collector for the years 1843-45, 1850-54, 1862-73, and 1881-1918.

These records also contain abstracts of American seamen registered in the District of Newport for the years 1835 to 1877. These abstracts give the name, date of registration, age, place of birth, height, and complexion of the seamen, and whether citizenship was acquired by birth or naturalization.

Herbert Hoover Library

The Herbert Hoover Library has processed and opened for research the papers of Brigadier General Robert E. Wood, who served under General George W. Goethals as construction quartermaster general during the construction of the Panama Canal and as director of the Panama Railroad Company. Most of the papers concerning the canal are from 1937 to 1938 when Wood wrote to several members of Congress on behalf of retired employees of the canal and railroad who were seeking improved retirement benefits. During World War I Wood served as the assistant quartermaster general of the army. However, the collection contains none of the general's papers from this period. Following his retirement from the army in 1919, Wood served briefly from 1919 to 1924 as a vice-president of Montgomery Ward and Company before accepting a similar position with Sears, Roebuck and Company in 1924. Four years later he became president of Sears, a position he held until 1939 when he became chairman of the board. The collection contains very few papers from the Montgomery Ward period. There is, however, a set of memorandums and speeches, which were