Further: the custom here, in respect to the contents of municipal public documents, prevents such discussions of library questions as are usual in the annual reports of other city libraries; so that, if a view of principles and practices in and about such institutions as a class, and of their application in this instance, is to be laid before the public at all, it must be submitted, as in this paper, unofficially. The following table shows the financial, and some of the literary, relations between public libraries and cities in San Francisco, in four other large cities, and in six small cities. The cases were taken promiscuously as they came to hand, of the latest dates available, but all are within a few years. New York has no free public library; movements to establish one there have repeatedly been contemplated, but have been abandoned, because the men who could have set up the library would not encounter the practical certainty of its becoming one more corruptionist engine in the hands of the city rulers. Philadelphia has none, for reasons not known to the present writer, but, very likely, the same as in New York. St. Louis has none now, although its excellent Public School Library may, very likely, become one. New Orleans has none, apparently, because it doesn't want any. Louisville has none, because the devil cannot set up a true church; the enormous lottery swindle which was worked off there a few years ago was ostensibly to establish and endow one, but where did the money go? Assessed Being, Population Value in Whole Gives its of Cities (1880) Millions City Library whole (1880) Tax tax Boston 362,000 $613 $7,261,741 $120,000 1/60 Chicago 503,000 118 3,776,451 54,330 1/75 Cincinnati 255,139 169 1/3 4,070,225 49,016 1/82 Lynn 38,274 22 1/2 332,481 5,730 1/58 Milwaukee 115,587 55 3/4 902,537 17,697 1/51 New Bedford 26,875 25 3/4 390,208 5,148 1/76 Newburyport 13,537 7 1/2 105,686 1,661 1/64 Springfield, Mass. 33,340 29 1/2 307,434 8,231 1/37 Taunton 21,213 15 3/4 213,912 5,195 1/41 Worcester 58,291 39 1/2 557,193 14,860 1/38 San Francisco 233,959 225 2,252,000 18,000 1/125 Vols. Being And per Vols. per Circulation per $1.00 Volumes Cities in soul per year soul of added Library (about) (about) salaries yearly