Publication Number:M-973 Publication Title: Purport Lists for the Department of State Decimal File 1910-1944 Date Published: 1976 PURPORT LISTS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE DECIMAL FILE 1910-1944 On this microfilm publication are reproduced the purport lists for the decimal file of the Department of State, 1910-44. The purport lists (lists of documents) are a subject index to the records that form the central files of the Department for the period. From 1910 to 1963 the Department of State used a decimal classification system for its central files, assembling and arranging individual documents according to subject and assigning decimal file numbers. Documents in the decimal file include instructions to and depatches from diplomatic and consular representatives in the United Stated, memorandums prepared by officials of the Department, and correspondence with officials of other Government departments and with private firms and persons. The decimal file consists of nine primary classes numbered 0 through 8, each covering a broad subject area: (0) general and miscellaneous; (1) the administration of the U.S. Government, including the Department of State and the Foreign Service; (2) the negotiation, application, and interpretation of extradition treaties and individual extradition cases; (3) the protection of private and national interests; (4) the negotiation, application, and interpretation of treaties on claims and individual claims cases; (5) international organizations; (6) commerce, customs administration, and trade agreements; (7) political relations of states, including diplomatic and consular representation and bilateral treaties, conventions, and agreements; and (8) internal affairs of states. Subjects were further defined within each class and identified by a decimal file number. This number may be followed by a slant mark (/), which is followed by another number. The numbers after the slant mark were assigned to individual documents as they were accumulated on a specific subject and indicate the number of documents in the file on that subject. Within several of the primary classes the documents were arranged by country. Each U.S. consulate was similarly assigned a three-digit number. A detailed explanation of the decimal filing system, as modified after 29 years of use, is found in the 4th edition of the State Department’s Classification of Correspondence (Washington, 1939), available on National Archives and Records Service (NARS) Microfilm Publication M600. Parts of this manual have been reproduced in condensed form as appendixes in the descriptive pamphlet for this microfilm publication. The following examples show how the decimal file numbers in each class are formed and what each digit or set of digits represent. Class 0. Example, 051.41 O indicates that the subject is of a general or miscellaneous nature; 51, that it concerns the pouch service of the United States; and 41 (the country number for Great Britain), pouches exchaned with officers in Great Britain. Class 1. Example, 125.5611 1 indicates that the subject is the administration of the U.S. Government; 25, that it concerns an American consular office; 561, that the office is in Madrid; and the final 1, the buildings and premises of the consulate in Madrid. Class 2. Example, 211.41 2 indicates that the subject is extradition treaties. The other digits show that it concerns the negotiation of an extradition treaty between the United States (11) and Great Britain thereunder alphabetically by name of individual involved. For example, decimal file 211.41 B63 involves the extradiction of a individual to Great Britain. Class 3. Example, 312.113 The first “3” indicated that the subject is the protection of U.S. private and national interests. The case relates tot he death (3) in Mexico (12) of a national of the United States (11). Class 4. Example, 411. 32 For correspondence relating to the negotiation, application, and interpretation of claims treaties, conventions, and agreements, the smaller country number follows the class number (4). In this example, the subject related to the United States (11) and Brazil (32). For documents relating to individual claim cases the country against which the claim is made. For example, decimal file 432.11 (name of claimant) would indicate a claim made by the United States (11) against Brazil (32) with the name of the individual claimant arranged alphabetically. Class 5. Example, 512.8 File numbers in class 5 are formed by substituting the class number 5 for 8** in the corresponding subject matter numbers in class 8 and displacing the decimal point two places to the right. Thus, in class 8, public health has the number 8**.12 and the practice of medicine and surgery has the number 8**.128. International conferences on medicine and surgery take the number 512.8. Special subdivisions are provided for subjects not outlined above by adding a capital letter or letters after the decimal point. For example, 500.A designates disarmament, peace, and arbitration, and 500.C is the League of Nations. Class 6. Example, 611.514 6 indicates that the general subject of the document is commerce, customs administration, or trade agreements. This class is arranged so as to indicate that the flow of trade is always toward the country whose number precedes the decimal point (11, the United States) from the second (51, France). The sixth digit indicates a more specific subject category. Thus, 611.514 indicates that the subject is food and drug regulations (4) of the United States (11) as applied to imports from France (51). Class 7. Example, 741.51 This class is concerned with international political relations, diplomatic and consular representation, and bilateral treaties, conventions, and agreements except for the following: extradition treaties (class 2), claims conventions (class 4), multilateral treaties (class 5), commercial treaties (class 6), and postal conventions (class 8). Broad political relations of one state with another are indicated by the use of two country numbers. The smaller country number always precedes the decimal point and the larger number follows it. Thus, political relations between Great Britain (41) and France (51) is represented by file number 741.51. Class 8. Example, 841.65 This class is concerned almost exclusively with internal matters of individual countries. The class number (8) is followed by a country number. The number following the decimal point indicates subtopics within the general category of internal affairs. Thus, 841.65 indicates a document relating to manufacturing (65) in Great Britain (41). Several portions of the decimal file deserve special mention. Although the decimal filing system was designed to accommodate every aspect of State Department business, the voluminous quan- tity or records created during World War I and World War II resulted in several unique files. Records relating to World War I and its termination are in the file category for political relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia (763.72). Similar documents for World War II were placed in various subdivisions of the general category 740~0011, political relations of European states. Most of the documents relating to the course of the war were placed in file categories 740.0011 European War 1939 and 740.0011 Pacific War. Records relating to the settlement of the war are found in 740.00119. Many decimal files were subdivided by adding words after the file number and before the slant mark, such as "European War 1939." Purport lists for several categories of the decimal file are not included in this microfilm publication. These include those sections relating to passports and other citizenship matters (130-138), immigration to the United States (150-151), and visa matters (811.11-811.11185). The Department of State maintained the records and purport lists for these files separately from the rest of the decimal file. Records in categories 150-151 and 811.11-811.11185 are among the records of the State Department's Visa Division in the National Archives of the United States. Visa name files are subject to a 75-year restriction. Records in categories 130-138 are still in the custody of the Passport Office. Certain categories of routine or administrative records have been destroyed because they lacked sufficient value to warrant their continued preservation. Selected samples of these records remain in the files to illustrate the type of documents removed. The purport lists for these categories of records are included in this microfilm publication. The purport lists cover the period from August 1910, when the decimal filing system was adopted, through December 1944. In July 1944 the Department began to place the purport entries on 3- by 5-inch cards. Also at that time individual document numbers (the number after the slant mark) began to reflect the date of the document; for example, a document dated November 20, 1944, would be numbered /11-2044. The purport cards for July-December 1944, included in this microfilm publication, also include some citations for documents dated as early as 1939 but not indexed until after July 1, 1944. The purport lists are divided into three segments (1910-29,1930-39, and 1940-44) that correspond to similar breaks in the decimal file itself. These divisions in both the purport lists and the records were made by the Department of State in 1944 for the purpose of retiring older records to the National Archives and Records Service. The 1910-29 lists are reproduced on rolls 1-223, the 1930-39 lists on rolls 224-431, and the 1940-44 lists on rolls 432-602. The cards for the July-December 1944 period are on rolls 603-654. The purport entries before July 1944 are listed on 8- by 12 1/2-inch pages in bound volumes. Each entry gives the name the recipient or sender, date of the document, and a summary of its contents.