BLUE-BOOKS, the name popularly applied to the reports and other papers printed by parliament, because they exc usually covered with blue paper. The term was,'for like reasons, long applied to the reports sent annually by the governors of colonies to the colonial secretary; and even in technical official phraseology, these arc called "blue books." The practice of printing, and to some extent publishiug, the proceedings of the house of commons, began in the year 1681, when disputes ran high on the question cf excluding the duke of from the succession to the throne. The proceedings on the occasion are extremely interesting. It was stated, that especially after parliaments Ivere dissolved, false accounts of their proceedings were circulated, and, as a remedy, f it Joni] Ilotham moved that the votes and proceedings of the house be printed. Secretary Jenkins opposed the motion, saying: " Consider the gravity of this assembly: there is no great assembly in Qhristendom that does it; it is against the gravity of this assembly, and is a sort of appeal to the people." lie was answered by Mr. Boscawen: "If you had been a privy council, then it were fit what you do should be kept secret, but your journal-books are open, and copies of your votes in every coffee-house, mid if print them not, half votes will be distributed to your prejudice. This printing is like plain Englishmen, who are not ashamed of what they do, and the people you repre sent will have a full account of what you do." Col. Mildmay said: "If our actions be nought, let the world judge of theta; if they be good, let them have their virtue. It. is fit that all Christendom should have notice of what you do, and posterity of what you have done—and I hope they will do as you do, therefore I am for printing the votes." The motion was carried. See Pad. )list. iv. 1307; Kennet, iii. 896. The documents printed by the house of commons accunmlated gradually in bulk and variety, until they reached their present extent. In 1836. the house adopted the practice of selling their papers at a cheap rate. A curious legal and constitutional question immediately arose out of this practice, a publisher having taken proceedings for libel against the officers concerned in circulating the papers, because it was stated in a report concerning prisons that the prisoners read indecent books printed by.him. The chief contents of these papers at present are—the votes and proceedings of the house; the bills read in their sev eral stages; the estimates for the public services of each year; the accounts of the expen diture of the moneys voted in the previous year; any correspondence or other documents which the ministry may voluntarily, or at the demand of the house produce, as con nected with a question under discussion; reports of committees of inquiry appointed by the house; reports of commissions of inquiry appointed by the crown; and annual reports by the permanent commissions and other departments of the government, stating their proceedings during the year. The blue-books of a session, when collected and hound
up, now often till 50 or 60 thick folio volumes. Nothing can seem more hopelessly chaotic than those of a few sessions huddled together unarranged. It deserves to be known, however, that they are all printed according to a peculiar sequence, which enables the whole papers of a session to be bound up in such an order that any paper can be found by consulting an ample index in the last volume. In any library where the blue-books are preserved and properly bound up, the most trifling paper of any ses sion may thus be found with ease; and it need hardly lie said that with much that is use less or unimportant, there is an enormous mass of valuable matter hidden in the blue books, There is no doubt, however, that although the means are thus provided for finding what the blue-books contain, their contents are heterogeneous, and to a great extent cum bersome and valueless. They are not prepared on any uniform system, or subjected to gen eral revision, or what may be called editing. Each officer prepares his own report in his own way, sometimes lauding his own services, or arguing in favor of his own peculiar prin ciples on sonic public question, so that it has been remarked that the B. contain a large number of articles like those in the periodical press, but too cumbersome and dull to get admission there. It has been matter of complaint that the public are with the expense of widely distributing such documents. It is stated in a treasury minute, i circulated among the government departments in May. 1858, with the view of in some measure remedying the abuse, " that the cost of-printing the report of the commission ers appointed to inquire into the, endowed schools of Ireland, and the three volumes of evidence and appendices (including the cost of the paper), was Ło200, and that the weight of the paper used in printing them was about 34 tons."