then read the following.
The Executive Committee have to report that during the past year they have endeavored to keep in view the great objects of the trust committed to their charge; that they have steadily worked for the interests of the Society amid some peculiar difficulties, and that there has been most gratifying progress in our important work.
The acknowledgments we have made from time to time attest that the kind interest of our friends has steadily added to our
Material for a true history of the war,
until we have now a collection which is widely recognized as one of priceless value.
The
Secretary has received from all parts of this country and from
Europe numbers of letters seeking information concerning events of the war, and in almost every instance he has been able to furnish from our archives the information sought.
We have given to a number of writers facts, narratives, &c., to aid them in elucidating the truth of our Confederate history, and we have the most gratifying assurances that our publications are looked to as
high authority, not only in the
South, but also at the forth and in
Europe.
Our friends have given us with cheerful alacrity material which could readily be sold for thousands of dollars, but which is of
inestimable value to the cause of truth; and yet there remains in private hands much that ought to be on our shelves.