Annual Report of

the Public Printer

1947

Annual Report of

the Public Printer

For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,

U. S. Government Printins Office • Washington 1947

1947
I
Letter of Transmittal

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

Washington, D, C.

November 17, 1947

To the Congress of the United States: This Report^ submitted pur- suant to the provisions of the act of January 12, 1895 (sec. 19,

ch. 23, 28 Stat. 603), covers the work of the Government Printing

Office for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1947.

Under the 1940 Legislative Branch Appropriation Act, the requirement for the printing of an annual report was again suspended, provided that the original copy be kept on file in the office of the head of

each department or independent establishment. Subsequent appropriation acts have extended this authorization.

Therefore, this being the first printed report since 1939, a fuller description of the operations of the Government Printing Office than

would otherwise be given is included.

The volume of the Government's printing requirements remains at a much higher level than it was in the prewar period despite a sizable

reduction in the immediately preceding two fiscal years. As shown

in greater detail in the report, the year's cost of printing and binding and of blank paper and supplies processed during the fiscal year

totaled $53,009,753.69. This figure includes $12,906,982.98 paid contractors for printing and binding work done by them and $2,831,095

for paper and other materials and supplies furnished these contractors. The extraordinary demands of Congress, the executive departments,

the judiciary, and the independent establishments of the Government

have put on this Office the burden of establishing a service organization

adequate to their varied and often complicated needs. It is the piu*-

pose of this report to describe the service which the Government

Printing Office has provided in the way of improved planning, more

accurate cost controls, better production controls, and a higher quality

of work delivered in accordance with requirements at lowest possible

cost. I am strongly in favor of retaining and strengthening the present

planning, scheduling, and accounting procedures. There is evidence

iii
in the " customer" agencies' reaction to our personnel reductions affect- ing this work that they would not approve any action to reduce the

service they are now receiving.

One of the serious diflBiculties which this Office had during the war

and which continues into the present is the procurement of paper.

Although the supply situation has eased to some extent, paper costs are still going up and up. Some grades are 200 percent above prewar

levels, with no end in sight. I have discussed this matter fully on

pages 1-7.

Since the 1939 report, the Office has occupied new buildings. It has

added relatively little equipment. The condition of plant and equipment and of maintenance methods followed are fully described in the

report.

Like every other large printing plant in the country, the Government Printing Office finds that modernization of its machinery is long

overdue after 7 years of a self-imposed rigid policy of "replacements

only," and even these were restricted to what was most in"gent.

Construction and opportunities for procirrement of machine equipment have not yet developed to a point where it is possible to undertake rapid over-all modernization. Nevertheless, manufacturers have

made many notable advances in design and methods. Throughout

the industry as a whole, limited installations of machinery and techniques have been made. This provides a basis for study and evaluation

of their application to our present and future requirements.

On June 9, 1947, I appointed a committee under the chairmanship

of our Consultant on Methods and Procedures to make a thoroughgoing study with a view to recommending the removal of outmoded

machinery and the purchase of modern equipment to replace or ex- pand facihties as required. The closing section of the report is devoted, in part, to a number of plant improvements and projects on the

need for new equipment and to our plans for future developments and

procedures so far as it is possible to anticipate industrial or manufacturing performance in the years ahead.

Recruitment of technical personnel is very little easier now than it was during the war. The reopening of our Apprentice School will eventually give the Office an additional number of qualified craftsmen,

but its effect wiU not be felt for three or more years. In appropriation hearings, a few department officials have voiced

opinions regarding the high cost of printing at the Government

Printing Office. Careful study of the criticisms has been made. It is believed that the difficulty experienced by the departments in securing

sufficient money for public printing and binding and the allocation of separate funds for printing and for duplicating are the real causes of

iv
the criticisms. A clarification of definitions is highly desirable. In

order to establish better control over pubhc funds expended for printing and binding and for duplicating, the limitations should be re- moved from future appropriation acts and all such funds consolidated.

Studies being made by this Office and by the Bureau of the Budget are expected to lead to appropriate recommendations.

Effective July 1, 1946, Treasiu-y Department duplicating and dis- tribution plants located in 15 cities throughout the United States were transferred to the Government Printing Office by direction of the

Bureau of the Budget.

This decision to place operation of the plants under the supervision

and direction of this Office was reached after a thorough study of management, operation, and need for the service. Concurrent with

this study, conducted by the Bureau of the Budget, there was a

series of discussions among representatives of that Bureau, the Procurement Division of the Treasury, and the Government Printing

Office. On March 19, 1946, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget

asked for my position in regard to transfer of the plants. On March

21, I agreed to undertake their operation. The record of the first year will be found in the section devoted to our Field Service Division

(p. 189).

As the result of another survey in November 1946 by a representative of the Bureau of the Budget and an official of the Government

Printing Office, the State Department printing plant, located in this

city, was transferred to the Government Printing Office, effective

February 1, 1947. The conditions and reasons for the transfer are

also set out in the section of this report just cited.

During the fiscal year arrangements were made to take over the

printing of advance decisions for the Supreme Court. This work

had been produced under commercial contract for many years. When

the contracting firm was dissolved, the Court asked this Office to assume production, and I directed that it be done. The circumstances

leading to establishment of the Unit and the story of its initial ac- comphshments will be found on pages 177-179.

A number of important changes in the functioning of om* Medical

Section subsequent to July 1, 1947, are authorized by the provisions

of Public Law 658, Seventy-ninth Congress. These will be made

after consultation with the United States Public Health Service.

Newly prescribed standards for the Section involve a larger Hbrary, an

increased staff of nurses trained in public-health methods, more extensive record keeping, and changes in employee-relation procedures-

in job placement, sick leave, and leave without pay. All this

represents a considerable addition to the duties and responsibilities V
of this Section and the Personnel Division, of which it is a part.

The research program, described on pages 37-40, is progressing very

satisfactorily. Six reports were printed and, on September 22, 1947,

presented to the national convention of Printing Industry of

America, Inc.

I am particularly pleased with the improved procedures that have

enabled the Public Documents Division not only to handle its increased

activity on a self-sustaining basis but also to offset the cost of all non-revenue-producing functions.

During the year the Office has met congressional and departmental

requirements more successfully than at any other time in the past.

There have been relatively few complaints about our service, and the

production divisions are to be congratulated for doing their work so well under many difficulties. I wish also to express my thanks to Members of Congress and to department and agency representatives

for their cooperation in making our accomplishments possible.

vi
Contents

Letter of Transmittal

Administrative Officials of Government Printing Office xii

PART I. ADMINISTRATIVE

Paper Requirements and procurement problems . . 1 Increased storage facilities needed 7 Survey of Field Printing and Duplicating 8

Earlier surveys 9

1946 survey 10

Cost Accounting and Production Control 19

Estimated charges 21 Source records 22 "Mark-sensing" labor, pay-roll, and cost dis- tribution 22 Machine production 24

Daily cost statement 25

Monthly cost statement for sections .... 25 Monthly comparative production statement . 28

Monthly cost report 28

Production standards 28 Hour costs 30

How each job is billed 30

Costs Reduced Work-simplification program 32 Employee-education program 34

Consultant on Methods and Procedures. . . 35 Research program 37

Division of Accounts 40

Statistical Records Section 41 Treasury Accounts Section 42

Traffic Section 43

Dupe Measurement Section 44

Repay Accounts Section 44

Computing Section 45

Cost Accounts Section . 46

Pay Roll Section 47

vii
Resources and Liabilities 48

Employee Relations,

Activities, and Problems Personnel Division 68

Veterans policy 71 Apprentice School 75 Health and welfare 80

Emergency Hospital 80

Safety program 81 Employee organizations 84

Group hospitalization 84

Group Health Association 84

Group life insurance 85

Federal Credit Union . 86

Cafeteria, Recreation, and Welfare

Association .......... 86

American Legion Post 87

United Veterans of American Wars . 88

Veterans of Foreign Wars 88

Bond purchases 89

Contributions to welfare organizations ... 89

Sick-leave regulations and employee attend- ance 90

Wage negotiations 92

Administrative and supervisory salaries ... 94

Fact-Findins Committee Recommended 95

Office of Chief Cleric 97

Purchasing Division 98

PART II. PLANNING

Division of Planning Service Dated periodicals

Stabihzing work load Review of requisitions

Scheduling committee

Listing printing plates and reproducibles . . Paper shortage

Service to departments

Relations with departmental personnel . . . Personnel

Division of Plant Planning Preorganization planning practices 110

No real plan for production . 111 Accomplishments under new organization . . 113

Paper catalog and inventory 115

Production Planning Section 117

Estimating and Jacket Preparation Section . 118

Jacket Review and Scheduling Section . . . 118

Paper and Material Control Section . . . . 119

Blank Paper and Miscellaneous Supplies Section 119

viii
Division of Commercial Planninsr 119

Commercial procurement of printing .... 1 20

Savings accomplished 122

War assets printing 130

Specialty forms 133

Dated periodicals 137

Income-tax forms 137

Poster and color printing 137

Tabulating-card procurement 138

Program printing 138

Testimonial 139

Why a Division of Commercial Planning , . 1 39

Why separate Commercial and Plant Planning

Divisions 141 Why continue Commercial Planning Division . 1 42

Commercial Planning Division as stabilizer for GPO plant 142

Division of Typosraphy and Design 143

Offset-copy preparation 1 47

Typography Section 1 49

Creation of new art work limited 1 49

Photographic reproduction 1 50

* Good Government printing 1 50

PART III. PRODUCTION

Congressional Printing 1 54

Composing Division Work volume unpredictable 1 56

Congressional work 1 56

Supreme Court Unit 1 57 Shortage of equipment 157

Conformity to standards 1 57 Schedule for every job . . . 158

Unusual jobs 158

Patent Office printing 1 60

Plafemaking Division Improvement in methods 162

Plastic plates 1 63

Plate Vault Section 164

Interdivisional cooperation 164

Presswork Division Work load and personnel 165

OfiFset Press Section 166

Card and Money Order Press Section .... 1 67

Job Press Section 167

Old presses 1 68
Binding Division 168

Machines and personnel 169

Methods and work load 1 69

Maintenance and improvements 1 70

Paper and blankbooks 171 A few outstanding publications 171 Library of Congress Branch 173

Composing Section 1 74

Bindery Section 176

Supreme Court Unit 177

Delivery Section 180

PART IV. SERVICE DIVISIONS

Field Service Division Background of transfer 183

Operational organization 1 86

Patent reprint program 1 88

Surplus equipment acquired 1 88 The year's production 1 89

GPO-State Department service offices ... 190

Division of Tests and Technical Control Paper testing ^

1 91 Paper specifications changed . 1 92

Envelopes 1 93

Technical control of materials 1 93

Ink and miscellaneous materials 1 94

Type metal 194

Press rollers, bindery glues, and miscellaneous

adhesives 195

Research developments 1 96

Detergents for the printer 1 96

Alkaline writing inks 1 96

Printing and drawing inks for cellulose acetate 197

Synthetic varnishes for offset inks ... 1 98

Oil of sassafras in addressograph ink . . 1 99

Chalking of bronze-blue inks 1 99

Revision of engraved map plates . . . 200

Magnesium for bookbinder's dies . . . 200

Miscellaneous bookbinding adhesives . . 201 Resinous adhesives 201 Other adhesives 202

Laminating of documents 202

Nylon sewing thread 203

Typewriter ribbons 203

Assistance to other agencies 204

Contact with printing, binding, and allied organizations 204

Research papers 205

Correspondence 206

X
Public Documents Division 206

Sale of Government publications 207

Cataloging and indexing programs 210

Depository distribution 21 3 Distribution for Members of Congress and

Government agencies 214

Plans for next fiscal year 21 5 Maintenance Division 215

Modernization 216

Preventive maintenance 21

Improved methods for equipment lay-outs . . 21

PART V. FORECAST AND CONCLUSION

Plans for the Future Modernization and improvement of mechanical equipment 219

Raising offset lithography to divisional level . 220

Better coordination of plant and field operational activities 220

Review of cost accounting and production

control 220

Review of title 44 220

Establishment of fact-finding committee . . 221 Improved distribution of pubhc documents . 221 Acquisition of needed storage and working

space 221 Conclusion 222

0

xi
Administrative Officials

OF THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

A. E. Giegengack, Public Printer John J. Deviny, Deputy Public Printer Russell H. Herrell, Executive Officer

LOXLIE V. ADAMS MORRIS S. KANTROWITZ

Superintendent of Presswork Technical Director WILLARD A. ANDERSON RAYMOND H. LECRAW

K^^rnnnlml Si in^ri nf on ri^nt IRVING L. BERMAN, M. D. THOMAS G. MALONEY

IVI^UI V.UI L/ll^UI wl «JU|<^«f 1 llll^llU^iil \Ji LJlilUlII^ JAMES W. BRODERICK JOHN A. McLEAN

Accicfnnf Pmriiirfir^n K^rinrioor «i.^u^^i 1 1 II i&iiutciii KJi r luiisiiivJixiii^ WILLIAM J. CASSIDAY JULIAN H. McWHORTER

PHILIP L. COLE HARRY D. MEROLD

PlQnnin9 N^onoQer Director of Planning Service FFI ly F CRKTOFANF PHII IP C Miy<;FI I Comptroller Director of Field Service Operations

FRED W. CROMWELL FRANK H. MORTIMER

Superintendent of Documents Director of Typography and Design

HARRY FALK J. BASIL PERKINS

Superintendent of Library Branch Disbursing Officer MAYBELLE G. FICKEL MORRIS H. REAVES

Liaison Officer Superintendent of Composition

ALFRED L FLEMING WILLIAM SMITH

Night Production Manager Production Manager

EMMET 1. HILL GROVER W. TRIBBLE

Director of Commercial Planning Director of Plant Planning

S. PRESTON HIPSLEY HENRY H. WRIGHT

Director of Personnel Chief Clerk

xii
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PUBLIC PRINTER

PART I

Administrative

PAPER

REQUIREMENTS AND PROCUREMENT PROBLEMS

DURING the war the procurement of paper was fraught with many

difficulties. These difficulties are still with us in the postwar period.

The Government Printiug Office can no longer count on the assistance

of the War Production Board or the Civilian Production Administration for the orders or directives with which suppliers were required to comply. The Office is left to its own resources in securing the large

amount of paper needed. These annual requirements approximate

180,000,000 pounds, in many grades, weights, sizes, and varieties. The urgent nature of most public printing and binding during the

emergency that still exists makes it imperative that the Office maintain

adequate inventories, particularly in view of paper-market conditions.

These inventories have often been dangerously low in recent years. For example, the supply of newsprint used in the publication of the

Congressional Record reached a point at the close of the first session

of the Eightieth Congress of only enough on hand for 2 days' issue. Had the Congress continued in session, it would have been necessary

to resort to costly substitution—that is, if the Record were to be

published.

When special paper requirements call for manufacture of stocks by

the mills, a miaimum of 60 days is needed to fill the order. In many

instances, it is impossible to secure mill suppHes under 120 days. Siuce

1
the departments are rarely able to anticipate large publications so far

in advance, we must keep stocks on hand which can be used for most

classes of work.

Our Planning Divisions have taken every possible step to simplify

and reduce the requirements for paper. The first of these is substitution of a stock other than that specified by a department when an

agreement can be reached. Throughout the emergency, weight standards have been lowered and the departments have been asked or required to accept hghter weights. Many jobs are redesigned to permit more economical utilization of paper. When possible, margins are reduced, smaller type sizes are used, and linecuts are substituted for

halftones to permit use of coarser-finish stock. The departments have

been asked to reedit material so that extra pages would not be required.

The same methods are being resorted to in order that we may continue

to supply the Government's printing requirements when normal supplies of paper are not available.

The total inventory of all kinds of paper on hand in the Government

Printing Office on June 30, 1947, amounted to 61,175,496 pounds,

which represents approximately 100 days' supply. However, this is only a part of the picture. There is a critical deficiency, or no stock

whatever, in many qualities and grades in common demand.

The quarterly opening of bids for the period beginning July 1, 1947,

by the Joint Committee on Printing yielded only 51-percent coverage.

Out of requirements for 20,040,000 pounds, only 10,235,000 pounds

were received. Failure to bid on newsprint, book, and chemical

wood paper accounted for the major part of the shortage. On some

items in these most commonly used grades no coverage was seciu'ed. The difference must be obtained through open-market purchases. The

question may be asked : Why do suppliers who refuse to bid on regular

requirements sometimes quote in the open market? The answer lies in

the specifications. The Office desires to maintain as far as possible its standard specifications to secure the grades and Iqualities which have

been established over a period of years. On the other hand, contractors frequently wish to furnish grades which may be either lower or higher

than our specifications, depending on the availability of raw materials.

The present-day market and manufacturing conditions are responsible for the difficulties that are being encountered. The demand for paper at this time is unprecedented. As a nation's economy returns

to normal channels, there is an ever-growing commercial demand for

all grades of paper. Advertising is flourishing. Pubhshers are enjoying

such a boom as they have never before experienced. Many new uses have been discovered for pulp and paper, and the requirements of

those who are converting it into new products place hitherto unknown

2
demands on the pulp mills. Furthermore, a number of large mills,

former suppliers to the Ojfice, have been bought by publishiag or converting interests, and their output is no longer available.

Under these conditions, operators naturally desire to run their mills on the fullest possible schedule with the materials available. There is now a market for any kind of paper that can be manufactured. Consequently, the type of paper beiag made is dependent almost entirely on the kind of raw materials on hand. This explaias why we are imable

to demand compliance with rigid specifications and why it is difficult to secure bids under almost any conditions.

When the mills, yieldiug to whatever persuasion or pressure can

legally be apphed, finally agree to furnish a part of the paper required,

they invariably insist that the only paper they will undertake to fur- nish is the kiad they happen to be manufacturing at the time the

order is placed. To protect the Government and comply with procurement regulations, we have adopted the following procedure:

1. After regular openiags of bids at the Joint Committee on Printing, if insufficient coverage is secured, bidders are asked to quote on

exact specffications for additional quantities, and awards are made by

our Purchasiag Division to the low bidders, if any.

2. When no bid or insufficient coverage on these additional quantities of paper results, appeals are made by telephone, telegraph, or

letter. Usually, through this more direct contact, we are able to secure agreement to manufacture all or part of the quantity of paper

required. Our practice then is to secure confirmation of the offer and send out bid invitations based on the specifications, as offered, to all bidders originally invited.

3. If all paper needed cannot be secured on the specifications as

advertised, the specifications are then changed to provide a paper

which will meet the purpose, even though it is not as satisfactory as that origiually specified. At the time the specifications are changed,

the complete bidding procedure is repeated.

4. Orders are given ia all instances to the lowest qualified bidder

or bidders up to the maximum amount needed.

It is recognized that the quality of paper thus secured, even though

acceptable, is not usually up to Government standards. The price often

is higher than normal. There is a recent example of the high price that

the Government is required to pay when the demand so far outruns

the supply. On June 9, 1947, we invited 58 suppliers to quote on 4,245

tons of chemical wood writing paper which was needed for current work. The normal current price is approximately 12 cents a pound.

Five bids were received. Four of these five bids covered a total tonnage

of 450,000 pounds, or 5.25 percent of what was needed, at the normal

3
market price, and the fifth bid was received from a mill which would

take the entire requirement at a price of 17 and 17}^ cents a pound,

depending upon the weight of the paper. Orders were placed for the

450,000 pounds of paper offered at the normal market price and for

only 2,000,000 pounds of the quantity offered by the fifth bidder at the higher price.

This paper is a general-use stock. We also have great difficulty in

securing specialty papers, particularly United States money-order

safety writing paper. The demand of the Post Office Department for

money-order forms has been exceedingly heavy; and as the type of

paper on which the forms are printed is manufactured by very few

firms, it was with great difficulty that we secured sufficient stock.

Several times presses had to be shut down or run on reduced shifts. The design of the present money-order paper has been in use for many

years. In order to enlarge the field of manufacturers from whom paper

of this type can be secured, an investigation is being conducted to determine whether paper of this character can be made through processes other than the one now followed.

Surplus paper secured from the departments or from the War Assets

Administration was a major factor in keeping supplies at a point per- mitting the Office to maintain its service as well as it did. The surplus

stock was used principally to fill orders for blank paper and thus reduce

the need to cut prime stock. It was not generally suitable for production

of the usual run of orders on Government Printing Office equipment in

that it consisted largely of cut stock, a great proportion of it being

ground-wood mimeograph.

By the foregoing methods we have succeeded in supplying the Government's printing needs during the fiscal year 1947 in a fairly satis- factory manner. The percentages of coverage on the regular paper

schedule for the quarterly periods of the year were: July 1, 1946, 47

percent; October 1, 1946, 34 percent; January 1, 1947, 54 percent;

April 1, 1947, 40 percent. The difference was made up in the open

market by accepting stock under less rigid specifications.

Economists can foresee no softening of demand. The output of marginal mills is still commanding premium prices. One of the country's

foremost mills states unqualifiedly that allocations will continue

throughout 1947. Allocations mean that buyers will continue to pay

bonuses for paper of dubious quality and that suppliers will be reluc- tant bidders on Government specifications.

We are still on a hand-to-mouth basis. We advertise and readvertise our needs. We are forced to resort to pleading with suppliers. We are forced to accept less than we need in quantity and quality. With cooperation and management, it is probable that 1948 requirements can be

4
met, but it is believed that definite steps should be taken by the Government to provide a means of securing paper for its needs without the

constant effort and confusion which has characterized the recent years. This problem is far from new. Even during the Revolutionary War

men had to be released from the Army to work in paper miUs so that

the Continental Congress could secure paper stocks needed in the

prosecution of the war.

' In 1916, the House Committee on Printing of the Sixty-fourth Congress reported favorably on a bill (H. R. 17699) authorizing the PubHc

Printer to erect or purchase a pulp-and-paper mill. The committee's

expressed purpose was to provide necessary paper for Government

printing and binding at all times at a fair price" and to protect the

Government from suppliers who ''refuse to furnish necessary paper for the operations of the Government except at exorbitant and noncompetitive prices." The bill contemplated use of wood, minerals, and

other materials found on public lands and proposed cooperation of the

Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior -^^ith the PubHc

Printer. The committee's report went on to cite other intolerable conditions in the procurement of paper that almost exactly parallel those

of today.

During the past several years the PubHc Printer has had a large

number of conferences and meetings with representatives of mills and

dealers in an attempt to secm^e a greater measure of cooperation. The

results to date have been negHgible.

At the second quarterly opening of bids for the fiscal year 1947,

the then chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing reopened the

question of operating mills under Government ownership. His

statement is here quoted in part:

In its efforts to secure paper for the printing required to carry on its functions, the United States Government is confronted with the most serious and critical situation of all time. You, ladies and gentlemen, who represent mills and dealers, do not have to be told how essential paper is to any business or how serious it is when the biggest printing business in the world must contend with shortages.

The Public Printer, who is accountable to the Joint Congressional Committee,

of which I am the chairman, has kept me advised of his difficulties. I know of

his repeated appeals to the paper industry. I know how he has begged and

cajoled mills and dealers to let him have a reasonable percentage of the output

that under different conditions of business you were so anxious to sell him. I know, through him, that your industry has shortages, strikes, price ceilings, high

export prices, duties on imports of pulp, a large commercial demand, diversion

to new uses, and manj^ other conditions that may be advanced to explain our

present inability to get paper. But the fact remains that paper is being made

at the present time in quantities that exceed prewar manufacture, and it is in- tolerable that the Federal Government should have to beg for paper and then

not get it. 5
The Public Printer states that the paper industry, under its able leadership and

with the guidance and cooperation of the War Production Board, did a wonderful

job for the Government Printing Office during the war, as the majority of the mills correctly considered it their patriotic duty to furnish paper to the Government as

their contribution to the war effort; but in some manner they now seem to be under

the erroneous opinion that the Government does not need a large quantity of paper. The demands now being made upon the Government Printing Office are far in excess of prewar requirements. This is illustrated by the fact that for the last quarter of 1946 the Public Printer estimated that he would need 40,000,000 pounds

of paper to meet actual known demands that will be made upon him during that

period, as compared with 21,500,000 pounds required for the last quarter of 1939. The importance of these jobs to the functioning of the Government and to the

individual citizen is shown by only a few illustrations out of the thousands regularly

required to be produced:

Application forms for terminal-leave pay to be distributed to the post offices throughout the United States require 30,475,000 copies, 446,000 pounds of paper. The income-tax forms for the year 1946 and the estimated return forms for 1947

call for the printing of 665,705,000 blanks of various sizes, and will require 5,620,550

pounds, or 140 carloads of paper. Hearings on Pearl Harbor, 39 large volumes, required 500,000 pounds of paper. The Veterans' Administration requires millions of forms. Its various activities in the months of May, June, and July took approximately 4,418,000 pounds of paper. They are all rush, because by the time the copy is prepared the public and

the press are demanding action from the Administration.

Department of Agriculture Yearbook, 247,376 copies, 910,000 pounds of book

paper.

I will tell you frankly that as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing,

under the authority vested in that committee by section 4, title 44, of the United

States Code, I am prepared to back up the Public Printer's recommendations whatever they are—even to the extent of putting the Government in the paper-manufacturing business. The law specifically provides that

**The Joint Committee on Printing shall have power to adopt and employ such

measures as, in its discretion, may be deemed necessary to remedy any neglect,

delay, duplication, or waste in the public printing and binding and the distribution

of Government publications."

The Federal Government cannot, and will not, continue to endure the present

situation. The Government is going to have paper. But what^courses are open to it? The Public Printer, mindful of the responsibility vested in him by law and by

the regulations of the Joint Committee on Printing, has discussed with me the

possibility of establishing Government paper mills. If he has to come to the Joint Committee on Printing and say that all other legal methods of securing paper have

failed, then that committee will have no alternative but to ask Congress to give

him the means of doing his job.

The Office, at the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing,

wrote to approximately 100 mills asking whether they would consider

selhng their property to the Government. About 30 replied. Only

three expressed a willingness to negotiate; the remainder were not

interested.

The matter is now referred to Congress. Obviously, the Joint Committee on Printing and the Government Printing Office should not

6
have to continue the present highly unsatisfactory methods of paper

procurement, with their threat to production of necessary Government pubhcations. It is recommended that Congress give serious consideration to the development of long-range measures to provide

unfailing soiu-ces of paper supplies.

INCREASED STORAGK FACILITIES NEEDED

Om* present plant and storage-space facilities, planned in 1934 to allow a reasonable margin for expected normal expansion, were occupied in 1940. The war period, which followed almost immediately,

made these facilities, particularly storage space, inadequate. It was

impossible to find additional space for lease in the District of Columbia, forcing the acquisition of rental space in Baltimore, Md., and

Alexandria, Va. Furthermore, space had to be taken in New York,

Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, and Atlanta to service our printing contractors operating at those points. With the close of the war, the

five last-mentioned warehouses were closed. During the recent emergency we sought storage relief from the

Public Buildings Administration. We repeatedly asked for use of one

of the War Department warehouses at Cameron, Va. It is ideal for

the purpose of paper storage, having unlimited floor-load capacity,

railroad sidings, and floors at truck- and railroad-platform levels. We

met with no success. The space is now assigned to another agency for

storage of files. The following table shows the present use of our own and commercial storage space and the rental paid

Maximum

capacity Present inventory

Rental

charges

fiscal year

1947

Lb. gross Lb. gross Government owned: GPO buildings 2, 3, and 4 18,000,000 13, 004, 139 Rented space: Terminal Warehouse, Washington, D. C 6, 250, 000 5,250,000 $22, 200. 00 Baltimore Warehouse, Baltimore, Md 2, 625, 000 2,625,000 5, 592. 00 Public storage: Lb. net John F. Rowley Transportation Co., Baltimore, Md 0) 25, 696, 538 267, 460. 58 Robinson Terminal Warehouse Corp., Alexandria, Va (0 16, 582, 675 163,010. 86

1 Unknown; rented on basis of rate per 100 pounds of paper stored, including handling and trucking

charges. The Public Buildings Administration has agreed to furnish an esti- mate for submission to Congress for increased paper-storage space

7
described as project B in the Office's long-range plans for modernization. (See p. 222.) It provides for the acquisition and removal of present

buildings adjacent to building 4; and the enlargement of the warehouse, building 4, to extend along G Street NE., from North Capitol

Street, a distance of 365 feet 9 inches. This should be a reinforced- concrete building 87 feet 6 inches wide, containing three stories and

basement and matching the present warehouse in architecture. It should have four freight elevators and a shipping platform to accom- modate the largest commercial trailer vans. The total sum paid for space and storage, with handling and trucking service furnished by public storage warehouses, during the fiscal year 1947 is $458,263.44. If the present need continues—and there is ample evidence that Government printing and binding requirements

may be expected to remain at or about 1947 levels—there is an obvious

need for expanded Government-owned storage space. Construction of an adequate addition to the warehouse, building 4, could be liquidated

in 5 or 6 years by the application of present rental charges.

It is recommended that the Congress give consideration to our need

for additional paper-storage space, and the project just outlined is submitted as meeting requirements.

SURVEY OF FIELD PRINTING AND DUPLICATING

During the war years, and even prior thereto, the PubUc Printer

watched with concern the great expansion of the Government's field printing and duplicating plants. Yet both classes of plants had grown

up in response to a recognized need.

The definition of "field printing," as laid down in section 111,

title 44, of the United States Code, is open to various interpretations.

Departments maintaining authorized field plants interpreted it in

accordance with action they desired to take. Frequently, when the

PubHc Printer sought to apply restrictions on format, style, or materials to be used in public printing and binding, under authority of

section 158, title 44, of the United States Code, the ordering agency

simply withdrew the work and placed it in a field plant. Field plants

competed with the Government Printing Office for hard-to-get paper,

and sometimes, armed with higher priority, took possession of paper

intended for a critical job on which the very same department was

pressing us for delivery. There was similar competition between this

Office and field plants for commercial facihties. This resulted in two

entirely separate printing organizations under different controls but

with overlapping areas of activity.

Duphcating plants, ostensibly engaged only in producing limited

8
numbers of copies requiring no binding equipment, other than simple

stapling machines, were known to be turning out large-quantity jobs

that could not be produced economically by duplicating methods. * To some extent they overcame the economy factor by installing

larger and faster equipment. The question of control crops up at almost

every point where the operation of such plants infringes on public

printing and binding. We have been forced many times into the uneconomical and unsatisfactory production of publications either

because an agency had originally prepared its copy for multilithing

or desired to hold reproducibles for future processing in its duplicating

plant.

Since duplicating and field priutuig plants are located in or near commercial printing centers in practically all 48 States, private enterprise regards them as providing improper competition for business as well as for hard-to-get equipment and materials. Actually, it was the

equipment shortage that led to organized protest on the part of commercial printers.

On December 13, 1945, Printing Industry of America, Inc., representing more than 2,000 members, protested in a letter to the chairman

of the JoLDt Coramittee on Printing. It expressed concern over the use

of Government printing equipment in competition with private

industry.

Owing to conditions resulting from the war, relatively little printing

and bindiQg equipment had been manufactured over a period of

several years. Replacements for outmoded or worn-out machinery and

parts were virtually unobtainable, and the outlook for the immediate

future was not promising. Undoubtedly, the Government had absorbed

a large amount of printing and binding machinery. The Printing

Industry of America, Inc., on behalf of its members, desired that such

equipment be made available to them. Many of these plants, which

were established as a wartime measure, were taking no steps to declare

equipment surplus to their requirements. In some instances, work for other Government agencies was being produced in order to justify

continued operation. Printing Industry of America, Inc., asked for an inventory so that coordination and a greater measure of control

could be estabUshed.

EARLIER SURVEYS

Two previous surveys of printing and duplicating activities have been

conducted by the Joint Committee on Printing—in 1920 and in 1937.

Neither of these surveys provided for a uniform system of reporting

the desired information. Voluminous statistical data were gathered

9
and printed, but were not suitable for proper analysis. Also, in 1937,

inventories were taken of all equipment located in field printing plants

authorized by the Joint Committee on Printing.

In a report dated July 20, 1942, a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations cited many instances of departments and

agencies of the Federal Government with unnecessarily large amounts

of photographic and duplicating equipment. To quote the report: "The

conditions found to exist * * * warrant that further study and

consideration be given to the establishment of central duplicating

offices * * * available to service all Government agencies within

a particular area." Few, if any, changes were made as a result of these

surveys, reports, and recommendations.

1946 SURVEY

On February 1, 1946, the Public Printer wrote to the chairman of the

Joint Committee on Printing urging a survey of the entire situation and

recommending that necessary steps be taken to maintain effective controls over field printing plants and departmental reproduction units.

He further recommended that the Joint Committee on Printing ask

that a representative of the Bureau of the Budget be designated to work with Government Printing Office representatives in the preparation of instructions and questionnaires to be sent to all Government

departments and agencies.

The Joint Committee on Printing acted favorably. The Bureau of

the Budget agreed to assist in conducting the survey, in analyzing the

reports, and in making recommendations for corrective steps indicated

by the survey. Its Director appointed Edward B. Wilber and George

S. Vanderwende of the Administrative Management Division, to repre- sent him in planning and conducting the survey. The Public Printer

designated our Field Service Manager as his representative. The Field

Service Manager's office staff performed the required clerical work.

Numerous discussions were held in connection with the development

of appropriate reporting forms. The Budget Bureau representatives

wanted the opinions of executive-branch agencies in order that the

administrative heads could assist in directing the reporting. Finally, a meeting of the top administrative heads of all major Government departments and agencies in the executive branch was arranged by the

Bureau of the Budget and the proposed report forms were presented to them for consideration. Their reconmiendations were incorporated

into the forms. Then Budget Bureau Bulletin 1946-47: 11 was issued on September 20, 1946, directing the departments and agencies of the

executive branch of the Government to supply the requested data.

10
The report forms were issued in four parts, as follows

Part I—Report of Each Individual Printing and Duplicating

Plant (9 pages).

Part I-A—Individual Report of Office-Type Duplicating Machine Installations (1 page).

Part II—Individual Report of Printing, Duplicating, and Related Auxiliary Equipment, Stored Elsewhere Than in Printing

and Duplicating Plants (1 page).

Part III—Summary Report of Printing and Duplicating Plants

(1 page) . This report furnished to each bureau, agency, or division a complete summarization of its entire printing and duplicating

activities and disclosed many instances in which economy of operation and cost could be effected by elimination or consolidation.

The large volume of printing acquired from funds allocated to budget

classifications other than printing and binding indicates need either

for greater regulation and control of so-called duplicating plants or

for possible amendment of existing printing laws.

Completed reports from all departments and establishments were

received subsequent to February 15, 1947. Analysis of information

reported revealed that 133 printing and 256 duplicating plants were

in operation as of January 1, 1947, exclusive of the Government Printing Office, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the 14 Government Printing Office Field Service plants. Equipment represents an

investment of $13,188,961.17 and the estimated 1947 fiscal year operating cost amounts to $26,680,833.89, an increase over fiscal year 1946

of $3,121,505.86.

Table I indicates the extent of Government printing and duplicating

activity within each State. The District of Columbia has 52 duplicating

and 9 printing plants. The largest of these duplicating plants in terms

of cost of operation is in the War Department. This is followed by the

Department of Commerce plant. The latter employs many copy-typing machines, such as varitype and IBM electromatic typewriters, to prepare copy for statistical reports containing much tabular material.

Often this copy is fm-nished the Government Printing Office for reproduction by the offset-printing process. We now provide a similar service

in our Washington Field Service plant for the convenience of those

Government departments and agencies which do not maintain copytyping units. When properly controlled and applied to suitable classes of work, economies result from this procedure. The largest departmental printing plant reported in the District of Columbia is operated

by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, of the Department of Commerce,

for the production of topographic maps.

11
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Table II summarizes printing and duplicating activities by departments and agencies. A total of 7,721 persons is employed in the 389

plants, with an estimated expenditure of $26,680,833.89 for the fiscal year 1947. The War Department reported 41 printing and 100 duphcating plants, with an estimated total operating cost of $6,902,655.92 in

the same year. The Navy Department follows with 44 printing and 43

duplicating plants with an estimated operating cost of $4,706,748. Estimated cost of operation for the fiscal year 1947, as reported by both

Departments, represents a total decrease of $739,302.68 from 1946.

Many plants reported only part-time utilization of equipment.

Table III summarizes the activities in 30 areas of greatest concentration. Partial utilization of equipment in many plants in these areas

reveals inadequate coordination. Also, sparse supplementary use of commercial facilities further indicates that the size of some individual

plants may be larger than required.

After the consideration of all factors reported, the following analysis

and recommendations were made part of the report and transmitted

to the chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing on May 15, 1947:

The facts revealed by the following analysis should not be used as a basis for any

immediate administrative action, since the validity of the operations of these

facilities by the reporting agencies must be determined by an individual study of each agency's operations and needs, which neither this survey nor any general

type of questionnaire could adequately provide.

The rapid growth of small offset duplicating plants as a means of circumventing

the printing law has obviously resulted from lack of appropriate regulatory measures. The existing definition of "printing" is subject to much misinterpretation

and is, therefore, believed to be inadequate. Since printing is actually a manufacturing process, which can be performed on either large or small machines, it is therefore believed essential to eliminate any distinction between the product of what is now known as "printing" or "duplicating" equipment if effective control

is to be achieved and economy of production is to result. The locations of "field printing plants" throughout the country and their proximity to "duplicating plants" (together with the numbers of both found in many

areas) pointedly indicate the need for considering both as one problem. The follow- ing recommendations are based on this premise, and depart from present practice

so as to permit latitude and exercise of judgment on the facts as they are devel- oped, and to treat the problem in its entirety rather than separating it into two

classes with divided responsibility.

The following recommendations are presented in order that a uniform approach

can be made to obtain the greatest benefits from the facts as they are revealed

in the analyses:

1. That as a continuing program, representatives designated by the GPO and

the Bureau of the Budget be authorized and directed by the Joint Committee on

Printing to inspect those printing and duplicating plants located in concentrated

areas, and such other plants as may be necessary, to determine whether the plants meet program requirements and other practical considerations looking toward

greater utilization of equipment, personnel, and space by consolidation, reduction,

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improvement of equipment, or elimination of plant or equipment. The following

factors should be considered when recommendations are made concerning actions

to be taken in each instance as they effect any changes:

a. Department or agency operations with special emphasis on timeliness of

service.

b. Cost of operations.

c. Equipment requirements.

d. Budgetary or appropriations arrangements.

2. That any recommendations for changes in operations, consolidations, etc., made by the GPO and the Bureau of the Budget be jointly reported to the Joint Committee on Printing together with such recommendations as may require action by the Joint Committee on Printing in accordance with United States Code (title 44, sec. 4).

3. That agency-operated plants be equipped and staffed up to an economic

level, and that all excess work over the established level be procured from other

facilities, such as commercial sources, GPO Field Service oflQces, or from other agency plants when conditions warrant.

4. That the Joint Committee on Printing refer all requests for the establishment

of all new printing or duplicating plants or major changes in existing plants to the GPO and the Bureau of the Budget for comment and recommendation.

5. That appropriate regulations be issued by the Joint Committee on Printing

which will require all printing and duplicating plants to be approved by the Joint Committee on Printing excluding office-type duplicating machines which:

a. Utilize stencils, masters, or direct-image plates prepared by typewriter or

other office device capable of typing or producing typing.

6. Produce no more copies of any one document than can be obtained from any

one stencil, master, or direct-image plate, or any one set of same at one or more

than one successive machine run.

c. Require no binding or finishing operations in connection with the product

thereof other than those which can be performed with common hand-operated

office-type stapling or punching machines.

6. That such annual and additional reports as may be required by the Joint Committee on Printing be submitted by all printing and duplicating plants in order that current conditions may be analyzed and appropriate recommendations

formulated.

7. That the GPO and the Bureau of the Budget submit to the Joint Committee

on Printing by June 1 each year recommended revisions to the regulations of the

Joint Committee on Printing so that they may keep pace with technological improvements and varying conditions.

8. That the Joint Committee on Printing invite the attention of the heads of the various departments concerned to the existence of the apparently excessive

quantities of stored equipment and request that careful consideration be given to the fulfillment of their actual requirements and that the remainder be declared

surplus to their needs in accordance with United States Code (title 44, sec. 59). Since the close of the fiscal year under report and while this

writing was still in progress, the Joint Committee on Printing adopted

(July 24, 1947) a resolution providing that our Field Service Manager,

another representative of the Government Printing Office, and a repre- sentative of the Bureau of the Budget make an inspection trip of the 30

areas of greatest concentration as enumerated in the report of the sur- 18
vey of Government field printing and duplicating plants. The inspectors are to present to the Joint Committee on Printing recommendations for consolidation and elimination and operational changes, based on first-hand observations supported by additional data gathered

through the inspection. The resolution further provides that representatives of the Government Printing Office, Bureau of the Budget, and

Joint Committee on Printing participate in a study leading to the

revision and codification of the printing laws.

COST ACCOUNTING AND PRODUCTION CONTROL

Cost accounting in the Government Printing Office is an important

administrative function. Through modern methods used to ascertain

cost and to control production, each operation stands on its own feet. The system develops the facts needed by the Office to assure its functioning both as an economical business institution and a governmental

service agency.

The Office operates upon a financial structure which is comparable

to, but more exacting than, that of private corporations. The Congress

makes no appropriation to defray the cost of operation. All expenses

must be recovered by charges as is the case in private firms, but with

one essential difference : Surpluses accruing at the end of the year must

be turned in to the United States Treasury.

The size and complexity of the Office, the largest complete printing

plant in the world, now doing more than $53,000,000 worth of business,

having 6,972 employees as of June 30, 1947, operating several thousand

machines, and handling hundreds of requisitions daily, necessitate a thorough and efficient accounting procedure. Every item of cost must

be carefully checked to insure that the most economical methods, in

accordance with the Government's need for superservice, are being

followed.

Because of the great amount of detail and the speed and accuracy

required in such a tremendous accounting operation, normal clerical forces must be supplemented by accounting machines. We employ the

punched-card method—commonly known as the tabulating-machine

system. By the use of a keyboard machine, perforations representing

the figures or words contained in the source record are punched into

cards. The cards are then put through electrical machines, which sort, multiply, add, or subtract, and print the results on prepared forms in

any desired sequence. The total annual cost of the system, including

machine rental and employee pay rolls, was $390,000 for the fiscal year. A careful estimate of the cost of manual processing is approximately $1,050,000.

19
Functions in the Office are broadly divided into two groups: Administrative and production. These groups are further separated into manysubgroups—division, sections, and shifts—each representing a specific cost account. Each is designated by a symbol number. The different

kinds of work performed in each production section have other symbols, called operation numbers. Variations in operations have been

studied and classified, and are designated by class nmnbers. For

example, in the Composing Division, the operation of ''machine composition" may be further classified into "straight,'' ''technical," and

"tabular" matter, or the pressroom operation of "make-ready" may

be classified into "type" and "halftone" forms.

Each division is furnished with a Schedule of Operations and Classes

relating to the work it performs. The use of approximately 1,637

operation and class numbers expedites the reporting of time, production, and materials used, and helps to achieve accuracy in making out

reports and records.

When an order is received, complete specifications for its production

are prepared upon the face of an envelope or jacket, which is given a

jacket number for ease in identification. From this point the jacket

enters the production sections and work requiring accurate accounting

is commenced.

In the congressional appropriation hearings for the current fiscal year, a number of agencies, notably the Federal Security Agency, in

trying to justify need for funds to process an increased amount of

printing, attempted to show that Office charges for work are too high.

In order to find examples to sustain the argument, it was necessary for

that Agency's representative to go back 13 years, prior to establishment of the present cost system. He showed that he had then purchased commercially, for $7.15 a thousand, pamphlets similar to those

for which the Office charged $10.68. All his other claims of high charges were disproved after investigation, but the 13-year-old discrepancy was just as he described it: Under the scale of prices then in effect,

certain classes of printing carried a disproportionate part of the cost of

production, while other classes escaped charges for work actually performed. The overcharge was caused by the unscientific manner in

which price scales had been increased or decreased by flat percentages

to correct over- or under-cost recoveries by the Office. Such action was

patently inaccurate, since individual operations of production do not

remain in exact cost relation to all others. It was useless for the departments to attempt to plan their work in the most economical m.anner,

as such savings were not reflected in the charges. Inasmuch as no

dependable facts as to basic unit costs were then compiled, it was impossible to establish a scale of prices based on actual costs until a 20
system was installed whereby these costs could be ascertained. This was the major reason for the installation of our present cost-accounting

and production-control system. This system, established before the war, has eliminated cost inequities, uncertainties, and many complaints from requisitioning agencies.

Our Scale of Prices, which is directly derived from known costs and

from which all charges for printiug and binding are made, makes

possible the detailed production planning that is saving ordering

agencies many times the annual cost of our accounting planning, and

other administrative operations involved. Labor costs in the Office

approximate those in effect in large printing centers; productivity of

machines and employees is comparable to that of cormnercial plants;

and material costs are similar. Our management methods are fol- lowed by the industry.

Although an attempt is made to recover only actual cost, it is not

possible to be exact, and it has been found that the recovery from the

scale may exceed cost by 1 percent or a little more. On the basis of a $45,000,000 volume of business in the current 1948 fiscal year, with

conditions approximately normal, and assuming that the work in

process remains at the present level, we anticipate turning back to the

Treasury about $450,000. There is an unusual situation at present in

connection with the receipt of a large amount of paper from warsurplus property, which this year may raise the excess-recovery figure

from 1 to 3 percent, or even slightly more—as high as $1,350,000.

If machinery and equipment should become available, it is entirely

possible that much of this amount would be allocated for the purpose

of modernizing the plant. Or if the paper market eases, it probably

would be advisable to increase our inventories of regular stocks,

surplus items not always being of standard size and grade for economical use. Under our system of cost accounting, a detailed description of which

follows, the Office charges for printing must represent reasonable and

accurate cost figures.

ESTIMATED CHARGES

The ordering department is furnished a statement of the estimated

cost of the work to be done. Material-cost estimates are based upon the

quantity to be used and figured at the cost rates which are expected to

prevail during the period to be covered by production. The estimated

production time is multipHed by the operation or machine all-inclusive

hourly rate. The total estimate represents the cost, by principal items,

as planned for the production of the work.

21
SOURCE RECORDS

In order to facilitate provision of simplified, accurate, and standardized work instructions and to coordinate and control production,

central work-recording stations have been established throughout the

service and production sections. Employees receive assignments and

complete instructions at these stations, where all source records of

time, labor, material, and machine costs originate.

"MARK-SENSING" LABOR, PAY-ROLL, AND COST DISTRIBUTION

Of the several ways of posting data on tabulating cards, the marksensing method has been adopted for purposes of pay-roll and cost

distribution. The mark-sensing device automatically reads and converts pencil marks into punched holes to be interpreted by other machines. Use of a special pencil produces a mark which, being electrically

conductive, completes an electrical circuit that actuates the punching

device.

Four cards of different color are used to handle pay-roll and cost

records: The regular pay-roll card, the exception pay-roll card, the

cost-distribution card, and the detail-out card (fig. 1). The regular pay-roll card requires no marking or recording by the

accounting clerk other than clocking. Made up in advance and

punched completely before it is sent to the various sections, it contains the information needed for pay-roll purposes : Date, employee's

name and number, division, section, shift, clock number, and usual

rate, hours, and amount. When these cards are clocked in as the

employees report for work in the section each day, they are filed in

man-number sequence at each clock center to simplify the procedure

to be used during the workday.

In the event an employee works at tasks other than his regular

designation, an exception pay-roll card must be made out to take the

place of the regular card.

The cost-distribution cards are kept in order by operation and class numbers which are prepunched in the cards and printed at the top

of the card for convenience. Whenever an employee begins work on a

different operation or jacket, he receives a cost-distribution card prepunched with the operation and class of the work he is to perform

and stamped with the starting time of that particular operation. At

the completion of that operation, his card is again time-stamped.

The employee records on the left of the card his man number, rate,

machine, group, jacket number, and amount of production. The

specified columns on the right of the card are marked with a special

22
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pencil by an accounting clerk: Machine number, group, jacket number,

hours, and production. As each cost-distribution card is completed for an employee, it is filed in back of his regular pay-roll card in the

regular completed" file. Upon completion of the marking and recording of the cards, they

are checked visually by the accounting clerks for agreement, each

employee's cost-distribution cards are totaled and balanced with his

pay-roll card. After checking, the cards are sent to the Division of

Accounts, where the information marked on the cards is read automatically and punched in the cards by the mark-sensing machine.

Another machine automatically multiplies the rate of pay by the

hours, and punches the resulting amount in the cards. Still another

machine records the information, adding the hours and amount for

each employee. A tabulated statement is thereafter produced, showing on the same sheet, opposite each employee's name; his time and

salary balanced agains-t the cost distribution to the various operations

and classes of work performed. This is the basic information for automatic preparation of pay roll and other cost reports.

By accumulating the pay-roll cards for the 2-week pay period and

by performing automatic mechanical summarizations, multiplications,

additions, and subtractions, cards are obtained with the final information necessary for pay-roll purposes. This consists of gross amount,

retirement, withholding tax, bond deduction, and net amount of pay.

At this time, all cards are combined and the final pay rolls are prepared by machine. All work in the preparation of the pay rolls for the

entire Office is performed within 2 days, and it is all done automatically.

In order to obtain the cost distribution of time worked by each

employee, the cost cards are duplicated by machine and the duplicates

sorted by operation and class. A statement is prepared automatically

by machine, showing earnings of each employee and the appHcable

cost distribution. These reports are available within 8 hours after

close of the working day and are audited progressively each day.

MACHINE PRODUCTION

In some of the production sections, such as in the Presswork and

Binding Divisions, machine equipment represents the producing

factor, and a complete daily record is kept of the work performed by

each machine, including labor in operating it. Central work-recording

stations are used in the same general manner as for labor-cost

recording.

As in the case of labor-distribution cards, the machine-production

cards are sent to our Accounting Division at the end of the shift,

24
where they are punched and automatically recorded according to the

kind of work reported.

All materials needed by sections of the Office are requisitioned on

standardized forms, and the basic information is punched into tabulating cards. The punched cards are sorted, together with master cards

containing the correct imit price for the property number, and then

multiplied to determine the total amount of cost of each requisition. Vouchers for services, such as telephone, power, freight, storage,

supphes, are similarly coded and recorded. The cost and administrative accoimting systems are arranged to balance through the general

ledger.

The cost-accounting system facihtates rapid preparation of accurate

daily and monthly statements, giving detailed information as to the

cost of each job, operation and class of work performed, the cost of operating each section and division, and the total Office operating cost. It makes possible speedy analysis and comparison of various cost factors, so that management may note and correct any mistakes in per- formance. The principal statements which are automatically produced are the Daily Cost Statements, the Monthly Cost Statements for

sections, and the Monthly Comparative Production Statements.

DAILY COST STATEMENT

The labor cost of each section is shown in a separate daily report. It includes all reports by man number, operation and class numbers,

hourly wage of employee, jacket number of job for which work is produced, the number of hourly units required, and the actual production

accomplished. This report hsts all employees, whether in a pay status

or not. When an employee is on leave, the report shows the kind of leave to be charged to his account. This information is also reflected on

the Daily Reconciliation of Pay RoH and Cost Distribution. The daily

statement of machine production shows the machine number, number

of hourly units used, and actual production of the machine. Besides

the daily costs, these statements provide a comparison of actual and

standard production (fig. 2).

MONTHLY COST STATEMENT FOR SECTIONS

A monthly Statement of Cost and Production for each section and

shift is tabulated and furnished to individual foremen (fig. 3). It in- cludes all costs of operating the section, such as leave and holiday pay,

salaries of supervisors and clerks, maintenance and repair costs, general

labor costs, direct labor costs, and production by operation and class. 25
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By comparison of the actual production with the standard production

figures also provided, variations from the standard may be determined

and corrective action taken.

MONTHLY COMPARATIVE PRODUCTION STATEMENT

Foremen are also furnished a monthly report of each operation and

class of work performed for comparison with other shifts, past production records, and standard production. The comparative report by

shifts includes the operation and class numbers, total number of

hourly units, total number of units produced, and the average hourly

production (fig. 4).

Comparisons of this nature are valuable, because they enable foremen to learn something of conditions outside of their own sections and

to judge the effectiveness of their own methods. Comparing production

with that of other sections is an incentive to improve business methods

and a means of increasing manufacturing efficiency.

MONTHLY COST REPORT

At the end of each month, all the daily cost cards, which have been

summarized and filed, are arranged according to the various sections

of the Office, and monthly cost reports are prepared. These reports

are utilized in developing all-inclusive homly costs for the various

chargeable operations and cost of each unit of production. They show

the cost of each item, the number of hours for each type of productive

and nonproductive work, and the total production.

PRODUCTION STANDARDS

By means of the information developed by the cost-accounting sys- tem, costs of operations by individual employees, groups of employees,

or machines may be determined. Cumulative totals by months are maintained. By combining the performance cost record with the

production record, cost and production standards are obtained. These

standards are used as the base in the estabhshment of unit selling

rates, and in preparation of a schedule of prices which represents the

average cost for each operation and class of work. In addition to standards obtained in this manner, research studies are made as to cost and production standards maintained by commercial printers and

binders of the country. This information, combined with Office standards based on past performance, serves as a guide in setting the standards of performance the Office expects to achieve in future operations.

28
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HOUR COSTS

The cost of the manufactured product consists of the sum of the

direct costs—labor and material used in producing the order—plus all indirect costs, the charges to production orders, reported on cost-distribution and machine cards, consist of the direct costs only. To find

the complete cost of manufacturing the product, it is necessary, therefore, to include, in the cost of each production order, the cost of applicable indirect expenses. This is called the all-inclusive hourly rate. Because of their general nature, indirect expenses cannot be charged

directly to each production order. They must, therefore, be distributed over production in such a manner that each kind of product and each

lot of work produced will be charged its fair share of the indirect expenses. In the Government Printing OJEce, the direct-Jabor-cost

method of distributing manufacturing expense is used.

HOW EACH JOB IS BILLED

The reports of productive work turned in daily are filed by jacket

numbers. When work on a jacket is completed, all the cost cards are taken from the file and run through a machine which automatically

multiplies the numbers of hours by the all-inclusive hourly rate for

each of the operations involved and prepares the Jacket Cost Summary

form. Every charge of labor and material for each different type of

work entailed in the production of the job is recorded on this form. All

charges include the overhead according to the all-inclusive hourly cost method. Thus the figures represent the total cost of completing each

of the different kinds of work performed, and the form gives an accurate description of the actual method of production. The Jacket Cost

Summary is then forwarded to our Computing Section so the job cost can be computed (fig. 5). The computer is furnished a finished sample or copy of the job, the

summary sheet of production operations, the estimate, and the production plan. The summary sheet and the estimate act as guides to the

computer in pricing the order.

The computer prices the work in accordance with the average rate

for each operation performed, as shown in our Scale of Prices, and the

ordering agency is thus billed for the cost of every item that went into

manufacture of the job.

Our computers work with the Jacket Cost Summary at the time

the charges are being prepared and their review of the operation numbers contained in the summary indicates the method of production

employed on the order. The report plainly shows the cost of produc30
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31
tion and price at which the job is to be billed. Our computers, being

well versed in all branches of printing and binding, can easily detect

uneconomical production methods. If such cases arise, the method of

production employed is investigated to determine whether better

methods or procedures can be developed. At the time this system was

installed, the Public Printer said:

If I am not disappointed in the results of this work, I am certain material

savings can be made in our present production costs—possibly totaling over a

million dollars annually.

His confidence has been sustained by the results obtained. The

system actually has enabled the Accounting, Planning, and Production Divisions to carry on their work in the eflBicient manner that is giving the departments unprecedented service at most economical cost. COSTS REDUCED

In the 1948 legislative branch appropriation hearings, the Public

Printer outlined some of the steps being taken to offset as far as possible the steep increase in the cost of labor and materials. They include

such obvious remedies as thorough planning of every pubhcation, close

control of production through cost studies by oiu* Division of Accounts,

examination of methods and procedures, and a broad program of employee education. Modernization of the plant is projected, but execution must await availabihty of equipment and parts. In the meantime,

various new types of equipment are being studied in their relation to governmental requirements.

In addition to the foregoing, an extensive research program, fully

described elsewhere in this report (p. 37), has been undertaken. It is expected that it wiU bring to light many improvements in utilization of

materials and manpower.

WORK-SIMPLIFICATION PROGRAM

In order to make better use of machinery and equipment, eliminate

waste, and utilize manpower to best advantage, a work-simplification

program was inaugurated in 1944.

Supervisors and employees have been called on to analyze their tasks

and submit proposals for short-cuts or improvements that will save

time, material, and space, or otherwise promote efficiency and econ- omy. Since the program was inaugurated, 1,161 proposals for improved

procedure or new methods have been submitted. Of these, 711 have

been approved and put into effect. A single example will show the nature of the work-simplification

32
proposals and their effect on the work of the Office: The Congressional

Record was formerly printed with rules separating the type columns.

The rules had to be the exact length of the colujnns, which varied

slightly in depth as pages were made up, and consequently required munerous cutting and notching operations. All this work was eliminated by a proposal for the substitution of blank slugs between the

columns, with a resultant simplification of the m,ake-up, an improvement in the typographical appearance of the page, and a saving esti- mated at $3,500 annually. (See p. 145.) Division reports give descriptions of other proposals.

Some of the 711 accepted proposals have resulted in even greater

economies. Others, naturally, are of lesser importance, but in the

aggregate there is a large net gain for the Government through this

kind of employee cooperation.

All employees have been invited, through their supervisors and by

the Public Printer, personally, to participate in the work-simplification program.

Following is a tabulation showing the results to date:

DivisioD Number

submitted In process Approved Eejeeted

Composing 345 50 161 134 Bindery 154 5 102 47 Presswork 130 26 65 39 Planning... 125 15 57 53 Maintenance 79 4 71 4 Platemaking 78 9 60 9 Accounts 64 2 55 7 Stores 53 2 42 9 Documents 47 5 40 2 Chief Clerk's Office 32 3 17 12 Tests 15 1 13 1 Personnel 11 0 9 2 Delivery 9 3 6 0 Purchases 8 0 5 3 Production Manager's Office 7 1 4 2 Public Printer's Office 4 0 4 0 Total 1,161 126 711 324 The submitted proposals offer so many ideas for making improvements in machinery and equipment that the Office is undertaking to secure patents for employees on devices which can be used in Office

operations. While the employee thus secures the benefits which may

accrue from patent ownership, the Government has the free use of

the idea. To date, 43 requests for patents have been received. Of these,

18 have been filed with the Justice Department for legal processing

and 12 have been rejected because of previous patents or for other

reasons. 33
It is not possible to evaluate accurately the total monetary saving

to the Government through the proposals accepted and put into effect,

but many of them represent genuine and important improvements.

The printing industry has shown much interest in this program and

commercial firms have also adopted a number of the suggestions

resulting from it.EMPLOYEE-EDUCATION PROGRAM

We feel that time and money spent in keeping employees fully

informed of all conditions affecting their work are good investments.

During the year, the Public Printer has taken advantage of every

opportunity to bring pertinent matters to the direct attention of

employees.

In December 1946, immediately after the approval of wage increases,

he talked to all supervisors and representatives of wage-negotiation

groups and outlined to them a number of common problems in the

solution of which their help was asked.

Again on January 2, 1947, he gave a series of talks to all employees on each of the three shifts. He gave them a frank account of the over-all

problems growing out of rising costs. He spoke of the work-simplification program and appealed for wider participation. Divisions whose

production could be increased were told the reasons why it was not at the maximum and shown what was needed to bring it to that point.

The talks explained in detail a number of the Office rules and regulations, as well as the reasons for their promulgation.

At that time reduction in force was being applied, or had recently

been applied, to se^^eral divisions of the Office. In order that all employees might understand how such reductions affected the security of

their positions, he explained the reduction-in-force procedures.

He also discussed with considerable emphasis the expected cuts to be

made in printing appropriations for the departments and the need for

this Office to produce every job ordered from it in the most prompt,

most efficient, and most economical manner. On January 30, 1947, the first of a new series of management confer- ences was held for super \risors. These conferences had been held regularly prior to the war, but had to be discontinued imder the stress of

work during the emergency. Supervisors are now being told, in these

conferences, what their responsibilities are and how they can best meet

them. The first conference was devoted very largely to the matter of

strict observance of all regulations and procedures affecting employees

and their work. There had been many complaints from supervisors

when the reduction-in-force procedure resulted in the loss of competent

34
workers, without affecting employees whose performance left something to be desired. It was pointed out to the supervisors that the re- sponsibility for retaining incompetent employees rested solely with

them. A procedure was outlined by which the Office could build up a

case history that would require incompetent or indifferent workers

either to do a satisfactory job or be separated from the service.

Subsequent management meetings have covered such subjects as

safety, housekeeping, sick-leave regulations, the health program, co- operation of the service division with production divisions, and other

matters of day-to-day and long-range importance.

These conferences are a useful supervisory device, and future meetings, to be held at regular intervals, will be devoted essentially to every

item of cost that is reflected in charges for public printing and binding.

CONSULTANT ON METHODS AND PROCEDURES

DuriQg the year, the office of the Consultant on Methods and Procedures started full-scale operations. The position was established

April 1, 1946, in accordance with Administrative Order 38, after its purpose was explained at a management conference attended by the

heads of divisions and sections. At this conference it was pointed out

that the creation of the position of Consultant on Methods and Procedures in no way relieved any other official of the responsibility for

the proper operation of his unit. The Consultant's sole duty is to study

current problems, search out better equipment and methods, and make

recommendations for improvement in any division or section of the

Office. In accordance with this assignment, the Consultant has held many

group and individual conferences with administrative and production

officials, which have resulted in improved procedures, production in- creases, and monetary savings.

By visits to other progressive plants, through correspondence, and

by study of tests and reports, the Consultant has been able to secure adoption of devices, ideas, processes, and operations successfully employed elsewhere. All these are now proviag beneficial to the Office. The following are some of the results which have been directly or

indirectly accomplished through the Consultant's efforts: In cooperation with our Field Service Manager and a representative

from our Accounts Division, all our field plants were inspected and

studied, their operations analyzed, and recommendations made for

their improve^nent.

The services of a telephone engineer were secured without expense

to the Government, and several improved telephone iustallations have

35
resulted. An order for an automatic telephone exchange has been

placed, with an anticipated annual saving of $24,000.

An L-type disk ruling machine, with improved devices which allow

greater production speed, has been installed.

New-type racks for gathering and collating loose sheets and signatures have been built and installed, and their use is now standard

practice.

Small electronically operated jogging machines for use in collating

loose sheets of paper have been adopted.

Electric neutralizers have been installed on the disk ruling machines

to increase their production.

Bench-type electric or magnetic stitchers are now used for light

stitching work. They eliminate the transfer of work to regular pedestal

stitchers.

Packing tables have been set up at folding machines, so that pamphlets and folders may be packed at the machines when no further

operations are needed.

Slightly larger punch holes on stenographer's notebooks for Wire-0-

Binding are giving increased inserting production.

A single book trimmer has been ordered. This device is an attachment to a Christensen stitching machine which automatically trims

pamphlets at the same time they are being stitched, without any

additional manual labor.

Shipping labels, previously written by hand, are now duplicated on

a mimeograph when 20 or more packages are addressed to one destination or have any common information in the shipping labels. In the Press Division, a rubber-compound press blanket has been

tested and established as standard on certain makes of presses. This

blanket saves make-ready time and lengthens the life of printing

plates.

Plans have been laid for installation of packaging and handling

machinery in our Postal Card Section. This equipment is available,

and will be installed in the near future.

The Office has undertaken the manufacture of snap-out forms in

sizes and quantities it can manufacture more economically than commercial houses.

Monotype-spool tickets are now mimeographed instead of handstamped on all jobs requiring 100 or more identical spool tickets.

In the Division of Public Documents, the use of dictating machines

has been established.

An office-type folding machine is being used for folding expiration

notices or other types of office forms when sizable quantities are prepared for mailing.

36
Kotary hand and electric label pasters are being used instead of

applying paste to labels by means of hand brushes and paste pots.

During the year, Printing Industry of America, Inc., representing

approximately 3,200 commercial printers, started cooperative research

with the Government Printing Office. To date, four meetings of the

research committee have been held, and six research reports have

been printed. (See p. 205.)

In the coming year, the Office will make a thorough study with a view to even more complete modernization. For this purpose, a committee composed of top administrative, planning, fiscal, and production

executives has been organized. It will endeavor to find the most effi- cient production equipment which has been perfected and determine

whether it is suitable for the requirements of the Office. RESEARCH PROGRAM

The Government Printing Office is now engaged in a joint research

program with Printing Industry of America, Inc., a Nation-wide

organization of employer-printers. The program aims at the improvement of methods and the extension of scientific and practical information in the governmental and commercial fields of printing.

An address delivered by the Public Printer before the Franklin

Typothetae Association of Detroit on June 8, 1944, contained the

suggestion from which the program was developed:

Many departments of the Government function for the purpose of rendering

services to some portion of the citizenry of the United States. For example, the Department of Agriculture is a great service organization for the agricultural

industry of our Nation. It performs a wide variety and number of services for those who are engaged in agriculture. The Department of Labor performs an invaluable

service not only for labor but for business as well. Statistical research in a variety of fields has, over many years, brought into being

areservoirof information in various departments of the Government which cannot

be duplicated. This is likewise true in other fields, such as general business, for which the Department of Commerce renders so invaluable a service. Farseeing leaders in our industry often ask me why the graphic-arts industry should not organize itself along such lines, and why our industry should not enter

into a cooperative relationship with its Government, through the Government

Printing Office, to the end that there may be established a continuing technical and statistical research activity which will benefit every man and woman who

may be connected with the investor, management, and labor branches in the

graphic-arts field, as well as promote the general advancement of our country.

Some of the suggestions that have been made to me by our leaders are

1. That the business firms and individuals in the printing and allied trades join

together and take the Government Printing Office into their partnership.

2. That there be sent to the Government Printing Office a piece of new machinery every time new equipment is produced, so that the Government Printing

37
Office could try it out under daily working production conditions and be in a

position to furnish authoritative and accurate reports of just what such a piece of equipment will actually do, a service similar in nature to that rendered by the Bureau of Standards to business firms in other industries. The information thus

made available could be furnished either upon an individual's request or through

the medium of an annual printing industry statistical and production yearbook,

which could also contain a great deal of other material of benefit to the printing

industry, such as that contained in the Statistical Abstract of the United States

or the Department of Agriculture Yearbook. Among other things, such an annual

reference book could also give the actual average production which might be

expected from each piece of printing equipment manufactured in the United

States.

3. That the Government Printing OflBce should be in a position to make quickly

available to the industry as a whole, through its own research and by working with a unified graphic-arts organization, information desired and needed by individual members of the industry such as (1) the prevailing labor conditions in a certain

city; (2) the prevailing wage scale for a certain operation; (3) the physical properties of the various materials used by the industry and how they will stand up in actual production; and (4) other similar information essential to the efficient and

economical operation of a printing plant.

If carried through to a logical conclusion, the findings thus made possible would

be invaluable to the industry and to the Government, which is by far the largest individual user of printing.

For several years no definite action was taken, although the proposal was widely discussed. Organization of Printing Industry of America,

Inc., in July 1945, provided a Nation-wide group of printers, whose

forward-looking officials moved promptly to materialize this proposal.

President Newcomb's letter to the Public Printer is a clear statement

of the aims of the program:

August 19, 1946. Printing Industry of America, Inc., and commercial printers throughout the United States recognize that the Government Printing Office is an ideal research

center in which the technical problems of the printing industry could be solved. The size of your organization and the multiplicity of tasks which it faces and

the great responsibility placed upon it, make it necessary for the Government

Printing Office constantly to seek newer and better ways of purchasing or utilizing

equipment, materials, and manpower.

Printing Industry of America, Inc., believes that the developments arising from

research opportunities in the Government Printing Office should be made available

to private industry so that industry as a whole could benefit. It is our belief that the undertaking of a comprehensive research program by the Government Printing Office and the publication of the results of this program

would be an incentive to greater efficiency in the Government Printing Office itself and would be self-liquidating. No additional expense to current operations would

be required. For your consideration, I am submitting as a part of this letter an outline of the kind of research in which the Government Printing Office and the commercial

printing industry are mutually interested.

If the general outline meets with your approval. Printing Industry of America,

Inc., is prepared to call a conference of the leading production and research execu- 38
tives in the industry who would serve without cost as consultants under the program. * * * The end use of the fully developed program would be by publication in book

form by the Government Printing Office of a yearly manual kept up to date and

offered for sale by the Government Printing Office to the 37,000 commercial

printers in the United States. This program and its purpose would be similar to the excellent work done for farmers by the Department of Agriculture in the distributing of its Yearbook for better farming methods.

Sincerely yours,

(Signed) James F. Newcomb,

President. President Newcomb states the advantages of the program correctly.

It will be of great value to the Government, to the commercial in- dustry, to individual printing houses, and to users of printing. Copies

will be supplied to the industry through the Superintendent of Documents sales office and the Government will recover all costs in connection with this distribution.

Later, President Newcomb appointed the following Research Committee to work with officials of this Office: F. F. Pfeiffer, Reynolds & Reynolds Co., Dayton, Ohio.

J. W. Siegel, Trade Bindery, New York, N. Y.

R. J. Hogan, Blanchard Press, New York, N. Y.

Bernard Snyder, American Typesetting Co., Chicago, 111. W. G. Albrecht, Jr., Albrecht Co., Baltimore, Md.

S. C. Hlasta, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, Pa.

F. E. Street, executive secretary, Graphic Arts Association,

Baltimore, Md.

J. R. Brackett, general manager. Printing Industry of America,

Inc., Washington, D. C, ex officio. B. J. Taymans, assistant general manager, Printing Industry

of America, Inc., Washington, D. C, ex officio. Subcommittees are working under the direction of the committee

chairman and the committee members.

The first meeting of the Research Committee was held at the Government Printing Office on February 28, 1947, and a large number of

projects were selected for study by the committee and the Office. By the end of the fiscal year, two reports had been written, reviewed,

approved, and submitted for publication. By September 10 six reports had been printed. Other studies are in various stages of

processing.

Substantial benefits should accrue to the Office under the program,

since the Research Committee will study and report on advances

made in all areas of the commercial industry. President Newcomb

39
expects to assign a part- or full-time research expert to work on special

problems with Government Printing Office technicians. Technical

experts throughout the printing industry will be drawn into the program as consultants to the committee and its subcommittees. Organized research associations have already made many offers of assistance.

In the 1948 Legislative Branch Appropriation Hearings, the Public

Printer described the Research Program as the first of three major

steps being taken to reduce Government Printing Office costs. He

also quoted a statement made by him before the first conference of

Government Printing Office officials and the Advisory Committee of

Printing Industry of America, Inc., which is, in part, as follows:

The Government Printing Office plans to place under the microscope every

single one of its basic manufacturing methods to determine the most efficient techniques. It plans to conduct this research of its manufacturing techniques

simultaneously with an intensive study of its management methods, with the

object of ehminating outmoded procedures and techniques and bringing into use modern techniques of selection, training, placement, and compensation of personnel. Personnel relations especially need study, and policies and practices for a more efficient manner of dealing with this problem must be developed. A pooling

of ideas as to what is to be adopted as standard procedure and technique upon

completion of the reviews and research problems undertaken is essential. At oiu" management conferences, supervisors of all divisions were

told of the research program-—what it offers in the way of opportunity

to them and how they could contribute through it to the success and

advancement of the work of this Office, as well as the betterment of

printing in general.

DIVISION OF ACCOUNTS

This Division performs the functions involving all fiscal and legal

matters, including the handling of finances; accounting; bookkeeping;

cost recording; current cost analysis; measuring ems of type in composition; audit of vouchers for supplies and materials and for printing

done by contract; computing charges for all printing and binding jobs, - blank paper and supphes furnished; record keeping and billing in connection with jobs produced during the fiscal year; receiving remittances

from Government agencies for printing, binding, blank paper, and

supplies furnished by the Office; and collecting all moneys due the

Office from claims, damages, and sales of Government property. It is responsible for all budget work; studies in connection with rates for

printing and binding operations, and their readjustment; compilation

of cost of each printing job as the work progresses through the plant;

preparation and audit of pay rolls; administration of the annual- and

sick-leave laws and regulations; reports with reference to retirement

40
deductions; preparation of financial and cost statements, statistical tables, and reports for use of the Office in general and management

officials of the operating divisions in particular; performance of all functions necessary in connection with the administrative processing

and determination of claims for and against the Government Printing

Office; and the rendering of decisions and furnishing of advice with

respect to the applicability of the laws.

There were 384 employees in the Division of Accounts as of June 30,

1947, as against 122 on June 30, 1939, an increase of 262 for the 8-year

period. This increase is due in part, however, to the addition of duties

brought about by the transfer of 125 time-recording clerks from the

production divisions and 8 employees of the Traffic Section formerly

under the Director of Purchases.

Excluding these transfers of personnel to perform new and additional duties, the increase in employees for the Division amounted to approximately 100 percent for a more than 200-percent increase in

business during the period.

The personnel problems existing during the war and thereafter

have now eased to a point where we have begun to review many phases

of the administrative procedures in effect, looking toward standardization and up-to-dateness in order to meet current needs of the service at a minimum cost. Some of these projects are well underway. For instance, 116 obsolete forms have been ehminated, and 58 old forms have been con- sohdated into 8 new ones. An inventory of the supplies and material on hand is in process of completion. Some of the other projects which are being undertaken

are: Keview of the cost and administrative accounting systems and

procediu-es with a view toward bringing them in line to meet current requirements; review of cost-distribution methods and procedures;

review of present practices and procedures to determine whether they

are in accordance with existing laws; review of title. 44 of the United

States Code, for recommending desirable changes to effect economy

and efficiency in operations and administration; review of cost reports,

looking toward elimination of discrepancies and the discontinuance of reports which may be considered nonessential.

STATISTICAL RECORDS SECTION

During the year the Statistical Records Section processed 6,943

regularly scheduled statements and reports, including several new ones

involving the tabulation of 31,063,400 cards. We also prepared many

special reports. These reports represent an increased work load over

41
the previous year which we were able to absorb with a minimum force

because of revisions effected in methods and procedures, as well as changes in tabulating equipment.

Examples of additional work absorbed without increase of personnel

are the records for storage of printing plates and reproducibles, the

contractors' paper inventory report after audit of balances in contractors' plants, and the inventory of materials in Stores, representing

14,000 items.

TREASURY ACCOUNTS SECTION

During the fiscal year 1947, the Treasury Accounts Section audited

and prepared checks in payment of 47,991 vouchers. These included

27,232 vouchers amounting to $12,906,982.98 for commercial printing.

Total fiscal-year disbursements (excluding pay roll) amounted to $30,947,994.64. Disbursements for these purposes during the fiscal year

1939 were only $6,638,868.75.

Paper orders, which were audited and paid, increased in proportion

to the volume of printing. Bills of lading, which numbered 139 for the

fiscal year 1939, totaled 6,350 in the year under report.

Our Delivery Confirmation Unit processed 7,270 jackets and examined 12,929 billings, checking materials to be returned by contractors,

examining receipts to assure complete deliveries, contacting departments to obtain missing confirmations of delivery of the work performed, seeking to expedite payments on long-standing accounts, and

performing many other related duties.

Our Accounting Unit, consisting of four employees, maintains the

general-ledger control accounts designed to reconcile the administrative accounts with the cost accounts and to show the assets, expenditures, liabilities, revenues, capital, and the unobligated and unexpended

appropriations, as well as the current status of appropriations and

funds available for expenditure, amounts due and collected; accountability for the value of materials, supplies (Stores), and equipment; the

value of plant and other property ; accumulated reimbursable earnings

and expenditures; the liabilities for trust funds, and the resulting

capital or net accountability. Our accounting system conforms in part

to the uniform accounting system outlined by the General Accounting

Office and to the standard commercial accounting system.

Our Paper Inventory Unit, which consists of a supervisor and a

clerk-typist, maintains records of the amount of paper and cartons in

the plants of various printing contractors engaged in program printing

work. As of June 30, 1947, there are 68 such contractors. Shortages in the balances reported, either as a result of physical

42
inventories or as indicated by returns of paper upon completion of a program, are charged to these contractors. Probable shortages, amounting to $47,060.86, have been revealed, of which $33,584.01 has been

recovered, and $13,476.85 is being held subject to further analysis and

information. Of the amount recovered, $6,447.10 was subsequently

refunded as a result of claims by contractors, leaving a net recovery

to date of $27,136.91 resulting from inventory shortages.

During the year, this Unit also kept records on the 14,211,647

pounds of paper issued for use on 17,288 print orders, amounting in value to $1,653,847.63.

TRAFFIC SECTION

It is the responsibility of the Traffic Section to instruct contractors,

department representatives, and all sections of this Office concerned

with shipments, in the procedure to be followed in selecting shipping

and transportation media, in proper methods of preparing shipments

including labeling, and in classifying material to be shipped.

Large-scale shipping by the Office is a wartime development. Prior to the emergency period, we made all deHveries to the ordering agency,

usually in the District of Columbia, and the agency in turn broke down

the distribution and made its own shipments to field offices. The distri- bution was customarily made by railway express. The beginning of

commercial procurement by the Office changed this pattern. When a

job was needed, let us say, on the west coast, it was printed in that area

if found to be more economical to the Government. The agencies had

no facilities for making the distribution, and in many cases the contractors were required to take over the work. Eventually, nearly all departments and agencies began to use this service and to supply dis- tribution Hsts with their orders. We thus assumed the responsibility for delivery to thousands of points throughout the country. Forms and

publications produced in the Government Printing Office were handled

in a similar manner and single jobs have thus been distributed to as many as 45,000 destinations. Our printing procurement program like- wise affected the transportation of blank paper from mill to contractor,

mill to the Office, the Office to contractor, and even contractor to contractor. It was also necessary to consider the routing of shipments to save time and meet delivery deadlines. Economies in shipping were made by selecting the shortest and most practicable route. We took

every possible advantage of rate differentials available by the use of

Army and Navy consolidated service and land-grant roads for shipment of aU printed material for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and

Coast Guard.

43
During the fiscal year, we issued 18,051 bills of lading, including

those of departments which furnished us with quantities kept on hand

for issuance in connection with their consignments. Bills of lading

issued before the emergency averaged less than 150 annually.

This Section examines all transportation bills to determine whether

the charges are in accordance with the classifications. During the year we returned to carriers for correction bills carrying overcharges of $36,120. For example, on a single carload of blank paper misclassined

as "sensitized," the Ofiice escaped a $740 overcharge through our re- view of charges. Freight claims totaling $22,495 were filed during

the year. In the past 6 fiscal years, in-bound transportation of blank paper and

out-bound shipment of printed material totaled approximately 37,000

carloads. By a conservative estimate, we have prevented a million

dollars in charges against the Government on this volume of traffic through our careful planning and supervision of shipments to avoid

reshipping, demurrage, improper routings, and faulty ratings that

are everyday occurrences when traffic is handled casually.

On rush shipments suitable for parcel-post handling the post office's service has been prompt, economical, and efficient. It is used by us whenever possible, and the cooperation of the post office has been very

helpful when special arrangements had to be made to expedite

dehveries of important material.

DUPE MEASUREMENT SECTION

The Dupe Measurement Section measures, records, and reports the

number of ems of type set in the Office and serves as a source for production information for this phase of operation.

In 1947, we measured 2,007,853,700 ems of type. We also recorded

the number of hours reported to the various operations and classes of

work for all operators in our Linotype, Monotype, and Patents Sections, and for readers in the Patents Proof Unit.

The marked turn-over of operators results in additional daily and

weekly reports from the Dupe Measurement Section to the Superintendent and the foremen of the Composing Division. The establishment

of delivery schedules has resulted in shorter ''takes" for the operators

and more proofs to be measured.

REPAY ACCOUNTS SECTION

Thirteen employees in the Repay Accounts Section are responsible

for the preparation and mailing of 15,036 bills to the various depart44
ments and agencies for printing and binding. It maintains records of

work ordered, work charged, and moneys received. Control of the

status of each printing and binding appropriation is accompHshed

from information contained in the printing and binding estimates

fmriished by the planning divisions as compared with the amount

previously billed and the amoimt unobligated. The appropriation laws

are reviewed to det-ermine the availability of printing and binding

funds for established governmental agencies as well as for newly

created and abolished bureaus.

Charges for printing and binding for the fiscal year 1947 were

$53,692,706.67. In the fiscal year 1939, they were $18,238,045.10. The

number of bills issued was approximately 14,000 each year; consolidation of many individual orders into a single monthly jacket, through

the print-order procedure, permitted the detailed listing of many orders on a single bill. The principal decrease in departmental printing for 1947 was in the

War Department—39.3 percent off the 1946 level. The principal in- creases were Veterans' Administration (364.7 percent). Agriculture

(47.9 percent), and Post Office (36.4 percent). More than $3,500,000 was biUed the War Assets Administration.

COMPUTING SECTION

Determination of the proper charges for printing and binding, blank

paper, and miscellaneous services for Congress and the various Federal

departments and agencies is the principal function of this Section.

In an office the size of the Government Printing Office, the planning

of work for production, the physical handling of necessary papers re- quired to provide cost records, and the proper coding of materials and

supplies issued are major tasks. Although every effort is made to pre- vent errors from finding their way into individual jacket charges during the course of manufacture, they sometimes are not noted until the

final jacket computation is made by our Computing Section. During

the fiscal year, 3,866 query slips were sent to the various sections of

the Office in an effort to correct individual jacket charges. These query

slips not only tend to protect the departmental printing and binding

appropriations by assuring the correction of erroneous charges but

they also serve to correct cumulative cost and performance records.

Moreover, they bring to the attention of the Planning and Production

Managers deviations from the original plan of processing and assist in developing more adaptable or fitting procedures for similar future

jobs.

The Section has 39 employees in one Posting and three Computing

45
Units. The Posting Unit maintains records of the amounts credited to each productive division for work performed, the charges for various

classes of work, and other production records which are used in estabHshing rates. The Computing Units determine printing and binding

charges.

Employees of this Section must be familiar with our Scale of Prices

and our Schedules of Operations for all divisions; questions are raised

whenever inaccurate production figures are found. They also make a

final check on all printing and binding purchased commercially to determine that the specifications have been met and the contract terms

complied with.

The work jackets reviewed and computed totaled 86,551.

COST ACCOUNTS SECTION

This Section, with 27 employees, compiles data which are used in

the preparation of the over-all cost reports, including indirect charges

and prorations. It also makes miscellaneous studies and special re- ports for management and furnishes detailed information for the

preparation of our Scale of Prices for the work produced in the Government Printing Office. It assists in the review and preparation of the

schedule of operations and classes of work for the Binding, Composing,

Platemaking, Presswork, and Maintenance Divisions, and for miscellaneous sections.

The mark-sensing method of posting data to tabulating cards for

pin-poses of pay-roll and cost distribution has made possible the daily

reconciliation of distribution of labor costs with pay roll, and has en- abled us to handle the work more expeditiously and with fewer

employees.

Development of all-inclusive hourly and unit costs for each of the

niunerous production operations involved the auditing of daily tabulated statements of labor, material and supplies, and hand- and

machine-production costs (including the investigation and correction

of errors made in reporting) for each of the 67 sections in various

divisions. The work of all employees in this Section, except one per- son assigned exclusively to duties in connection with our field offices,

contributed in some way to the development of these costs, and their

review provides a reliable basis for the setting of our Scale of Prices.

Approximately 140,000 orders on our Chief Storekeeper and substores orders for paper, envelopes, and other materials and supplies were reviewed during the year to insiu-e charges against operations on

jackets or against various sections.

The cost accounts are reconciled monthly with expenditures recorded

46
in the general ledger. Comparative statements of total operating ex- penses by months (with cumulative totals) for each production section;

and consolidated statements of operating expenses for each of the

maintenance and service sections and for the administrative and planning divisions and monthly statements of operating expenses, also showing cumulative totals; and monthly statements of profit and loss are compiled in this Section.

For each shift of the various sections of the production divisions,

tabulated monthly statements of cost and production are audited and

reconciled with the cost accounts. Monthly cost statements for the

Maintenance Division are also reviewed. These statements go to the

various foremen to keep them informed as to performance and cost. We prepare, among others, monthly and annual reports of cost of manufacturing ink, rollers, and glue; quarterly and yearly reports

show^ing unit costs in the production of electrotypes, stereotypes, rubber plates, and plastic plates ; and statistical tables on production and

operating expenses for each production section for use in the annual

report of the Public Printer.

We maintain property record cards for each individual piece of machinery and equipment, and a cumulative record of cost of repairs is entered. We record information as to mileage, gas and oil used, and

repairs on delivery trucks and passenger cars. In July 1946, we were assigned the work of checking and consolidating financial statements, maintaining a general ledger reflecting in summary form consohdated information, reconciling monthly accounts

current, and maintaining property records of equipment and machinery

for the 14 field offices transferred from Treasury Procurement. This

work is done by one employee in the Field Service Unit with the parttime assistance of two clerks from other units in this Section. In addition, considerable time has been devoted to this new work by the Chief

of the Cost Accounts Section, who also assisted in the preparation of an

accounting manual for use in our field offices. A description of our cost-accounting system will be foimd at page 19. PAY ROLL SECTION

This Section maintains leave records for aU employees of the Office;

daily reconciles cost with pay roU; maintains retirement and withholding-tax records of all employees and special records of employees

who are injured in line of duty. It verifies, completes, and submits to the General Accounting Office all claims made for salary and uncon- sumed leave due deceased employees, and audits the entire Office pay

roll, which amounts to more than $1,750,000 monthly. During the

47
year, approximately 150 claims for compensation of employees injured

in line of duty were processed.

Since the installation of the mark-sensing system to simplify the

vast increase of pay-roll work brought about by much overtime, holiday work, and changes in the workweek, the Pay Roll Section proper

has been reduced from 32 to 24 employees, who compile more information than was compiled previously by the larger force. Changes in the laws and regulations pertaining to sick and annual

leave, which were standardized under authority of the two Leave Acts

of March 17, 1946, and changes in Office regulations, particularly with

reference to leave without pay for illness, and leave without pay for

veterans to enable them to take advantage of their rights and privileges in accordance with law, have increased the volume of our work.

The frequent changes in salaries and pay scales in recent years also

have created much work which we had to absorb.

The Pay Roll Section furnishes information regarding questions on

pay, leave, applicable decisions of the Comptroller General, and civil- service regulations in reference to these subjects, as well as the laws

pertaining to them.

RESOURCES AND LIABILITIES

The total resources available to the Government Printing Office during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1947, including the Office of the

Superintendent of Documents and appropriations and payments for

work, amounted to $81,034,774.20, as compared with $69,514,764.54

for the fiscal year 1946, an increase of $11,520,009.66, or 16.6 percent.

Obligations incurred during the fiscal year 1947 totaled $79,924,-

830.36, leaving an unobligated balance of $1,109,943.84 subject to overadjustments or underadjustments on outstanding obligations of

$9,274,524.53 on July 1, 1947. Obligations incurred in 1947 showed an

increase of $10,942,233.32 over those for 1946.

The total compensation paid to employees, including those of the

Office of the Superintendent of Documents but not including employees

in the Field Service Offices, during the fiscal year 1947 amounted to $21,443,472.72, which included $1,023,665.02 deposited to the credit of employees in the retirement fund through the 5-percent deduction as required by law.

The total expenditures and obhgations for compensation of employees in the Field Service Offices were $2,313,996.80.

Table 1 gives the details of aU resources available to the Government

Printing Office for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1947, and all habilities incurred against those resources during the fiscal year. 48
Table 1.

Resources and liahilities under appropriations for fiscal year ended June SO, 1947

RESOURCES

Appropriation for working capital, legislative act (Public 479, 79tli Cong.), approved July

1, 1946 $24, 200, 000, 00

Deficiency act (PubHc 122, 80th Cong.), ap- proved June 27, 1947 1, 175, 000. 00 Repayments from all sources for printing and

binding 42, 147, 982. 40 Payments from various sources 443, 394. 28 Payments from Field Service Offices 4, 767, 697. 43

Bills receivable, July 1, 1947, for printing and

binding furnished 5, 486, 041. 43

Bills receivable, July 1, 1947, for refunds 96, 198. 32

Bills receivable, July 1, 1947, for Field Service

Offices 538, 960. 34

$78, 855, 274. 20

Appropriation for salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents (Pubhc 479, 79th

Cong.), approved July 1, 1946 1, 300, 000. 00

Deficiency act (Pubhc 122, 80th Cong.), ap- proved June 27, 1947 21, 500. 00

1, 321, 500. 00

Appropriation for general expenses. Office of Superintendent

of Documents (Public 479, 79th Cong.), approved July 1, 1946 370, 000. 00

Appropriation for penalty mail costs (Public 479, 79th Cong.),

• approved July 1, 1946 353, 000. 00

Appropriation for overtime, leave, and holiday compensation

(Pubhc 575, 79th Cong.), approved July 31, 1946 135, 000. 00

Total resources available for fiscal year 1947 81, 034, 774. 20

LIABILITIES Working capital and repayments for printing and binding:

Disbursed to June 30, 1947, other than

Field Service Offices $44, 439, 019. 14 Disbursed to June 30, 1947, Field Service

Offices 4, 374, 076. 14 Outstanding, July 1, 1947, other than

Field Service Offices 8, 686, 769. 13 Outstanding, Jiily 1, 1947, Field Service

Offices 412, 125. 67 Total disbursed and outstanding obhgations 57, 911, 990. 08

Salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents : Disbursed to June 30, 1947 $1, 262, 344. 61 Outstanding obhgations, July 1, 1947___ 52, 878. 12 Total disbursed and outstanding obhgations 1, 315, 222. 73 49
Table 1.

Resources and Uahilities under appropriations for fiscal year ended June 30, 1947—Continued

LIABILITIES—continued

General expenses, OflBce of Superintendent of Documents:

Disbursed to June 30, 1947 $359, 698. 71 Outstanding obligations July 1, 1947 10, 301. 29

Total disbursed and outstanding obligations $370, 000. 00

Penalty mail costs, Government Printing

Office: Disbursed to June 30, 1947 $195, 559. 12 Outstanding obligations, July 1, 1947__- 65, 186. 00

Total disbursed and outstanding obligations 260, 745. 12 Overtime, leave, and holiday compensation,

Government Printing Office: Disbursed to June 30, 1947 $19, 608. 11 Outstanding obligations, July 1, 1947_ _ _ 47, 264. 32 Total disbursed and outstanding obligations 66, 872. 43

Total disbursed to June 30, 1947 $50, 650, 305. 83

Total outstanding obligations, July 1, 1947__ 9, 274, 524. 53 Total disbursed and outstanding obligations, July 1, 1947. 59, 924, 830. 36

Outstanding obligations returnable to U. S. Treasury 20, 000, 000. 00

Grand total disbursed and outstanding obligations 79, 924, 830. ^

Unobligated balance (subject to 10 percent over or under on out- standing orders) 1, 109, 943. 84

Total liabilities 81, 034, 774. 20

Table 2 is a summary statement showing all financial transactions

during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1947, co veering appropriations

made for the fiscal years 1945, 1946, and 1947. This statement also

gives a summary of all expenditures for various items during the fiscal year 1947, regardless of the appropriation from which paid, together

with a recapitulation of disbursements by major items.

Table 3 is a statement of all money deposited during the fiscal year

1947 by the Disbursing Officer as repayments for printing, binding,

blank paper, and supplies furnished by the Central Office to the executive departments and independent Government establishments, for

work produced by the Field Service Offices, and receipts from various

miscellaneous items, and the appropriation to which deposited. The

receipts from these sources during 1947 totaled $52,689,233.69, as compared with $63,082,807.71 in 1946, a decrease of 16.5 percent.

50
Table 2.

Summary of financial transactions in fiscal year ended June SO, 1947

covering appropriations for fiscal years 1945, 1946, 1947

APPROPKIATION FOR 1947

Resources Disbursements

Unexpended

balance on

July 1, 1947, from the

appropriation,

for 1947

Public printing and binding:

Legislative Act of July 1, 1946— $24, 200, 000. 00

1, 175, 000.00

42, 591, '376. 68

4, 767, 697. 43

5, 582, 239. 75

538, 960. 34

Deficiency Act of June 27, 1947. Credits to appropriations by pa3^ents from all sources for printing and binding and other receipts from miscellaneous sources, other than Field

Service Oflaces.. Credits to appropriation, Field Service Offices

Bills receivable, other than Field Service Offices

Bills receivable, Field Service Offices Disbursed for labor... $19,424, 067.44

12, 425, 835. 44 31,070.42

12,658,045.84

4, 374, 076. 14

Disbursed for paper Disbursed for lithographing and engraving Disbursed for materials and supplies Disbursed by Field Service Offices Total... 78,855,274. 20 48, 813, 095. 28 $30, 042, 178. 92

Salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents:

Legislative Act of July 1, 1946 1, 300,000.00 Deficiency Act of June 30, 1947 21, 500. 00 Disbursed 1, 262, 344. 61 Total 1, 321, 500. 00 1, 262, 344. 61 59, 155. 39 General expenses. Office of Superintendent of Documents:

Legislative Act of July 1, 1946 370, 000. 00 Disbursed 351, 698. 71 Total 370, 000. 00 359, 698. 71 10,301.29 Penalty mail cost. Government Printing Office: Legislative Act of July 1, 1946 353, 000. 00 Disbursed 195, 559. 12 Total... 353,000.00 195, 559. 12 157, 440. 88 Overtime, leave, and holiday compensation, Govern- ment Printing Office: Act of July 1, 1946 135, 000. 00

10 .fins 1

Total 135, 000. 00 19, 608. 11 115, 391. 89 Grand total appropriation 81, 034, 774. 20 50, 650, 305. 83 30, 384,468.37 Deduct outstanding obligation of June 30, 1947 29, 274, 524. 53 Unobligated balance of 1947 appropriation, June 30, 1947.... 1, 109, 943. 84

51
Table 2.

Summary of financial transactions in fiscal year ended June SO, 1947,

covering appropriations for fiscal years 1945, 1946, 1947—Continued

APPROPRIATION FOR 1946

Resources Disbursements

Unexpended

balance on

July 1, 1947, from the appropriation

for 1946

Public printing and binding; Unexpended balance, July 1, 1946 - - - $21, 636, 263. 62

5, 190, 908. 77

28, 701. 39

Credits to appropriation by payments from all sources for printing and binding and other receipts from miscellaneous sources

Bills receivable, June 30, 1947

$712, 075. 58

2, 299, 916. 88

31, 131.47

3, 438, 870. 48

ZU, UUU, UKU. UK

Disbursed for paper ^ Disbursed for lithographing and engraving Disbursed for materials and supplies Disbursed for surplus fund

Total 26, 855, 873. 78 26, 481, 994. 41 $373, 879. 37

Salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1946 -- 75, 870. 86 Credit to appropriation 28. 86 Disbursed AA AQQ Q1 44, 480. oi Total 75, 899. 72 44, 488. 81 31, 410. 91 General expenses, Office of Superintendent of Documents: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1946- - -.. L16, UO.oV

Disbui'sed 113, 698. 51 Total.- 113, 775. 80 113, 698. 51 77. 29 Penalty mail cost. Government Printing Office: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1946-.. - 148, 451. 25 Disbursed 79, 840. 40 Total 148, 451. 25 79, 840. 40 68, 610. 85 Grand total appropriation... . - 27, 194, 000. 55 26, 720, 022. 13 473, 978. 42 Deduct for outstanding obligation on June 30, 1947 170, 504. 74 Unobligated balance for 1946 appropriation on June 30, 1947 303, 473. 68 APPROPRIATION FOR 1945

Resources Disbursements

Unexpended

balance on

July 1, 1947, from the appropriation

for 1945

Public printing and binding: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1946 $1, 116, 326. 65

39, 679. 60

16, 203. 96 Credits to appropriation

Bills receivable for June 30, 1947 Disbursed for labor $464. 28 Disbursed for materials and supplies 212, 656. 90 Total 1, 172, 210. 21 213, 121. 18 $959, 089. 03 52
Table 2.

Summary of financial transactions in fiscal year ended June 30, 1947,

covering appropriations for fiscal years 1945, 1946, 1947—Continued

APPROPRIATION FOR 1945—Continued

Resources Disbursements

Unexpended

balance on

July 1, 1947, from the appropriation

for 1945

Salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1946 $61, 286. 07 Disbursed $32.00 Total 61, 286. 07 32. 00 $61, 254. 07 General expenses, Office of Superintendent of Documents: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1946 7.03

—

Total — 7. 03 7. 03 Penalty mail cost, Government Printing Office: Unexpended balance, July 1, 1946 16, 923. 50 Total - 16, 923. 50 16, 923. 50 Grand total appropriation 1, 250, 426. 81 213, 153. 18 1, 037, 273. 63 Deduct for outstanding obligation on June 30 1947 94, 866. 44 Unobligated balance of 1945 appropriation on June 30, 1947 - 942, 407. 19 Total unobligated balances, subject to change by 10 percent over or under on outstanding obligations:

1945 942, 407. 19

303, 473. 68

• 1,109,943.84

1946

1947Total - 2, 355, 824. 71 RECAPITULATION—ALL APPROPRIATIONS

Total paid for labor i $20, 136, 607. 30

Total paid for materials and supplies 16, 209, 573. 22

Total paid for lithographing and engraving 62, 201. 89

Total paid for paper 14, 725, 752. 32

Total paid by Field Service Offices 4, 374, 076. 14 Total paid for printing and binding 55, 508, 210. 87

Total paid for salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents 2 1,306,865.42

Total paid for general expenses, Office of Superintendent

of Documents 473, 397. 22

Total paid for penalty mail cost 275, 399. 52

Total paid for overtime, leave, and holiday compensation. 19, 608. 11 Total 57, 583, 481. 14 Total credit to surplus fund 20, 000, 000. 00 Grand total ^ 77^ 533^ 481. 14

1 Includes $966,809.77 deposited to credit of retirement fund.

2 Includes $56,855.25 deposited to credit of retirement fund.

3 Includes $1,023,665.02 deposited to credit of retirement fund. 53
Table 3.

Statement of all moneys deposited during fiscal year 1947

1944

Deposited to the credit of appropriation for public printing and binding:

Printing and binding for departments $39. 85

Miscellaneous collections 11, 213. 19 1945

Deposited to the credit of appropriation for public printing and binding:

Printing and binding for departments 33, 696. 81 Miscellaneous collections 5, 982. 79

1946

Deposited to the credit of appropriation for public printing and binding:

Printing and binding for departments 5, 070, 263. 12 Miscellaneous collections 120, 645. 65 Deposited to the credit of appropriation for

salaries, Office of Superintendent of Documents: Refunds 28. 86 1947

Deposited to the credit of appropriation for public printing and binding:

Printing and binding for departments 42, 147, 982. 40

Miscellaneous collections 443, 394. 28

Field Service Offices 4, 767, 697. 43

Deposited to miscellaneous receipts:

Damage to Government property 2, 201. 86 Refund of terminal-leave compensation.. 612. 82 Reimbursement, excess cost over contract price 100. 00

Special deposit account: Telephone calls 85. 09

Collector, Internal Revenue (tax on

travel) 4. 12

Speeches, etc 85, 285. 42

$11, 253. 04

39, 679. 60

5, 190, 937. 63

47, 359, 074. 11

2, 914. 68

85, 374. 63

Total 52, 689, 233. 69 Table 4 is a statement of production by major items for the fiscal years 1945, 1946, and 1947. The principal increases in 1947 over 1946

were: Electrotypes, stereotypes, and matrices made, 7,173,176 square

inches; postal cards printed, 561,047,400; money orders printed,

54
10,015,380; copies wire-stitched, 49,892,891; signatures gathered and

covered, 12,013,244; sheets passed through ruling machine, 5,155,271;

books sewed, 1,137,605; sheets perforated, 1,571,369.

The principal decreases in 1947 from the previous year were: Actual

press impressions, 210,430,889; signatures gathered, 105,768,647;

sheets tipped, 9,681,527; sheets indexed, 39,019,239; signatures sewed,

8,931,971; copies pimched and drilled, 210,856,984; tablets made,

1,263,578.

Orders placed for commercial printing in 1947 decreased 1,629, or

17 percent, from the fiscal year 1946.

Table 4.

Production of principal items entering into printing and binding in fiscal years 1945, 1946, and 1947—Main Office and Congressional Library Branch

Item

f^nTTi TMitftf inn Unit 1945 1946 1947

Total charges for printing and binding

Bills computed Number

$77, 309, 497. 53

102, 107

57, 932, 942

2, 386, 933, 000

ouu, Qnn AQfi oyo, oui "iCii 1, 407, 132, 607

414,837, 728

260, 697, 001

51, 885, 482

94, 501, 072

3, 081, 864

9, 671, 920

$47,224,867.36

78, 580

46, 317, 937

2, 309, 892, 200

004. ^Ort, ±o\Jf 1QA Q^n I7OV

1, 075, 904, 802

341, 267, 864

347, 681, 854

49, 086, 405

84, 007, 650

2, 666, 181

2 2, 877, 910

36, 956, 778

3, 718, 376

2, 977, 242

2 20, 157

55, 531, 525

27, 918, 452

78, 917, 559

170, 585

2 717, 680

1,024, 395, 975

1 $53, 009, 753. 69

86, 551

53,491, 113 2,870,939,600

904 019 '?in ^i7Tt, Oi.\> 865, 473, 913

332, 014, 142

241, 913, 207

39, 404, 878

133, 900, 541

1, 290, 007

3, 058, 987

48, 970, 022

2, 536, 600

1, 430, 401 6,327

16, 512, 286

33, 073, 723

69, 985, 588

140, 763

1, 855, 285

813, 638, 991

Electrotypes, stereotypes, and matrices

Postal cards printed- Square inches . Number.

rln Actual impressions.. do

do

do

Tips made do. do Books rounded and backed. .. do

Copies covered do

Signatures gathered and covered do

Impressions stamped do 4, 116, 696

4, 493, 575

1, 588, 634 Books cased in do

do

Sheets indexed do

Sheets passed through ruling machine

Signatures sewed. do

do

59, 904, 763

54, 054, 462

363, 560

6, 875, 160

1, 355, 994, 034

3, 620, 950

5, 465, 256

16, 806, 084

829, 716

17, 983

Sections sewed ... do

do

Copies punched and drilled do

Impressions perforated do

do 8, 507, 234

7,424, 475

689, 279 9,503

10, 078, 603

6, 160,897

721, 640

7,874

Tablets made do

Miscellaneous rebinding do

Orders placed for commercial printing do

1 This amovmt does not include the value of assets purchased in prior fiscal years and allocated to cost

this fiscal year.

2 Decrease resulted from change in method of reporting. Table 5 shows the charges for printing and binding and blank paper

and supplies furnished during the fiscal year 1947 and the service for

which the work was done. The grand total charges increased $5,784,-

886.33 (12.2 percent) over those for the fiscal year 1946. The principal

increases are: Veterans' Administration, $3,967,464.04 (364.7 percent)

55
Post Office Department, $930,094.43 (36.4 percent); Agriculture Department, $586,135.12 (47.9 percent). Printing and binding for

Congress increased $1,190,884.55 (28.4 percent). The principal decrease

is War Department, $5,405,204.89 (39.3 percent). The charges for

War Assets Administration amounted to $3,693,936.26.

Table 5.

Charges for work and to whom delivered during fiscal year ended June 30, 1947

Congress

Congressional Record $1, 239, 865. 28

Miscellaneous publications 808, 453. 29

Miscellaneous printing and binding 529, 748. 13 Publications for international exchange 32, 376. 62 Franked envelopes and document franks 124, 443. 94

Bills, resolutions, and amendments 503, 404. 91 Committee reports 188, 839. 41 Documents 255, 124. 03

Hearings 1,062,377.98

Federal Register 505, 366. 41 Supplement to the Code of Federal Regulations 125, 000. 00

Total $5,375,000.00

Private orders by Members of Congress:

Documents, reports, bills, etc 21, 435. 94

Speeches 67, 642. 89 Other private orders 3, 221. 84

Congressional repay 2, 860. 37

Superintendent of Documents 2, 097, 496. 29

Library of Congress 790, 677. 40

Agriculture 1, 807, 935. 22 Commerce 1, 638, 226. 55

Interior 672, 190 23

Justice 580, 096. 80 Labor 573, 019. 40

Navy 5,414,748.72

Post Office 3, 482, 73L 41

State 1, 087, 098. 76 Treasury 4, 725, 677. 00

War 8, 318, 747. 82

Administrative Office of the United States Courts 72, 473. 53

Alien Property Custodian 8, 511. 84 American Battle Monuments Commission 194. 89 American Committee for the Protection and Salvage of Historical Monuments in Europe 4, 028. 72 Atomic Energy Commission 700. 93 Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System 738. 47 Bureau of the Budget 179, 934. 01 Central Intelligence Group 49, 350. 78

Civil Service Commission 315, 996. 16 56
Table 5.

Charges for work and to whom delivered during fiscal year ended June 30, 1947—Continued

Civilian Production Administration $164, 837. 67 Committee on Fair Employment Practice 5. 70 Commission of Fine Arts 276. 92 Council of Economic Advisers 2, 893. 17 Court of Claims 30, 549. 35 Court of Customs and Patent Appeals 7, 825. 37

District of Columbia Government 106, 994. 25 Export-Import Bank of Washington 5, 208. 64 Farm Credit Administration 26, 721. 58 Farm Security Agency 25, 360. 27 Farmers Home Administration 65, 978. 92 Federal Communications Commission 44, 127. 52

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 13, 173. 77

Federal Loan Agency. 132, 734. 39 Federal Power Commission 49, 534. 44

Federal Security Agency 873, 221. 67

Federal Trade Commission 43, 184. 81 Federal Works Agency 150, 384. 19 Foreign Economic Administration 304. 08

General Accounting OflBce 274, 514. 71 Government Printing Office, Field Service Office 350, 301. 60

Interstate Commerce Commission 204, 877. 29

National Academy of Science 355. 12 National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 31, 983. 55 National Archives 8, 574. 44

National Capital Housing Authority 2, 644. 91 National Capital Park and Planning Commission 92. 37 National Forest Reservation Commission 830. 85

National Gallery of Art 7, 206. 23

National Housing Agency 744, 772. 51 National Labor Relations Board 147, 931. 50 National Mediation Board 5, 599. 29

Office of Civilian Defense 6. 50

Office of Defense Transportation 7, 998. 50

Office of Economic Stabilization 2. 70

Office of Government Reports 1, 105. 87

Office of Housing Expediter 8, 028. 79

Office of Price Administration 905, 973. 53

Office of Scientific Research and Development 267. 95

Office of Selective Service Records 218. 95

Office of Temporary Controls 798, 850. 63

Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion 17, 007. 36 Panama Canal 96, 826. 20 Pan American Union 54, 767. 74 57
Table 5.

Charges for work and to whom delivered during fiscal year ended June 30, 1947—Continued

Patent Office $622, 597. 30

Petroleum Administration for War 129. 45

Philippine Alien Property Administration 36. 59

Philippine War Damage Commission 29, 063. 75

Price Decontrol Board 312. 33

Railroad Retirement Board 76, 768. 07

Securities and Exchange Commission 58, 214. 11 Selective Service System 84, 809. 67

Smaller War Plants Corporation 177. 30

Smithsonian Institution 125, 175. 20

Supreme Court of the United States 64, 826. 59 Tax Court of the United States 11, 906. 46 Tennessee Valley Authority 78, 701. 77 United Nations 183, 399. 51 U. S. Maritime Commission 188, 533. 62 U. S. Tarifif Commission 17, 856. 28

Veterans' Administration 5, 055, 211. 57 War Assets Administration 3, 693, 936. 26 War Shipping Administration 1, 670. 07 White House 11, 636. 02

Total 53, 009, 753. 69 Table 6 is a statement giving the details of production costs for

each section of the Office, exclusive of the Office of the Superintendent

of Documents, grouped under the headings of compensation (including

salaries, wages, lea^e, and holiday pay in the production sections)

materials, supplies, equipment, and machinery; maintenance and

upkeep; administrati\^e and clerical expenses; and other major items

entering into the cost of production.

Table 7 has been broken down into three separate tables showing

work produced by the Government Printing Office, work produced

by outside contractors, and all work produced. These are itemized

statements of the classes of work charged for during the fiscal year

1947. There were 13,953,029,924 copies of printed or bound material

charged for during the fiscal year, an increase of 1,085,886,493 (8.4

percent). The charge for paper stock was $18,289,302.12, an increase

of $2,798,498.43 (18 percent). The charge for work produced in part

by outside contractors was $18,386,922.31, a decrease of $2,461,564.72

(11.8 percent). The grand total charges were $53,009,753.69, an in- crease of $5,784,886.33 (12.2 percent).

58
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Number

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pages 83,033

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783

296,

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Number

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52,877 9,

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88,043,472 41,

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63
The value of property received as a result of the transfer of the

Duplicating and Distribution Branch of the Procurement Division,

Treasury Department, to the Government Printing Office and used

to establish the field offices is $974,401.67.

Surplus property valued at $3,427,572.10 was received from various

Government agencies. The cost of putting this property in condition

for use or sale was $383,545.52, leaving a net value of $3,044,026.58.

Surplus property received Paper, envelopes, and cartons $3, 299, 482. 85

Less cost of putting in condition for use or

sale (included in total cost of Central

Office) 383, 302. 62 Standard forms

Less cost of putting in condition for sale (included in total cost of Central Office) _

22. 404. 92

242. 90

$2, 916, 180. 23

22, 162. 02 Equipment and supplies 105. 684. 33 Net value 3, 044, 026. 58 Table 8 gives the details of the inventory of stock and machinery

and equipment on hand in the Central Office at the close of the fiscal year 1947. The value of paper, envelopes, material, and supplies was

$7,573,684.51, as compared with $4,517,261.39 in 1946, an increase of

$3,056,423.12. The value of machinery and equipment at the close of

the fiscal year 1947 was $6,661,532.24, as compared with $6,471,750.29

in 1946, an increase of $189,781.95. The total of stock of all kinds and

machinery and equipment on hand at the close of the fiscal year 1947 was $14,235,216.75, as compared with $10,989,011.68 in 1946, an

increase of $3,246,205.07.

Table 8.

Inventory of quantity and cost of paper and envelopes, supplies, machinery,

and equipment on hand June 30, 1947

Item Pounds Cost

Paper and envelopes:

Printing.. Mimeograph

Safety Writing

Map , Manifold Bond

Ledger

Index Cover Manila

Kraft Tagboard

Cardboard

11, 252, 750 $1,002,822.15

17, 237, 352 1, 004,316. 42

64, 648 10, 992. 48

11, 092, 706 1, 276. 582. 20

106, 314 18, 263. 54

2, 561, 162 471, 353. 88

3, 696, 117 696, 666. 80

3, 070, 251 557. 403. 05

2, 251, 302 457, 348. 46

633. 391 86. 400. 63

493, 060 51, 930. 66

689, 554 44, 554. 60 52,448 5, 900, 40

378, 861 34, 406. 39 64
Table 8.

Inventory of quantity and cost of paper and envelopes, supplies, machinery,

and equipment on hand June SO, 1947—Continued

Item Pounds Cost Paper snd envelopes—Continued

Bristol board . 4, 634, 070

578, 068

663, 611

1, 719, 831

$426, 260. 42

32, 676. 31

36, 173. 25

265, 999. 27

3, 044. 40

182, 828. 17

121, 411. 05

Newsboard— .-- - - - - - . Binders' board

Miscellaneous . Tags

Cartons --

Total - 61, 175, 496 6, 787, 334. 43

jMaterial and supplies; Miscellaneous supplies. . . . 550, 900. 30

4z, o\)z. yo

38, 309. 65

73, 805. 84

8, 257.01

6, 989. 47

65, 584. 86

Book cloth... . Ink ingredients Buckram _ . _ . Leather - - Gold leaf , Imitation leather Total, material and supplies 786, 350. 08 Total paper Mid envelopes and material and supplies 7, 573, 684. 51 Machinery and equipment . 6, 661, 532. 24 Grand total 14, 235,216.75 Table 9 shows the number of copies of pubhcations printed in 1947

for Congress, executive departments, and independent Government

establishments. The fiscal year 1947 shows a decrease of 369,610,078

copies of publications (52 percent) over 1946.

Table 9.

Publications furnished Congress, executive departments, and independent Government establishments during the fiscal year 1947

Number of copies Congress (not including Congressional Record) 13, 751, 120

Congressional Record 6, 313, 605

Federal Register 4, 867, 982 Supplement to Code of Federal Regulations 9, 000

Speeches and Congressional Orders 20, 581, 220

Superintendent of Documents 19, 177, 657

Library of Congress 237, 585 Department of Agriculture 28, 534, 867

Department of Commerce -__ 3, 599, 214

Department of the Interior 3, 247, 167 Department of Justice 584, 165 Department of Labor 6, 006, 438

Navy Department 35, 996, 798

Post Office Department 7, 293, 900

State Department 6, 334, 967

Treasury Department 8, 854, 912

War Department 96, 995, 268

Administrative Office of the United States Courts 240, 618

Ahen Property Custodian 2, 550 65
Table 9.

Publications furnished Congress, executive departments, and independent Government establishments during the fiscal year 1947—Continued

Number of copies American Battle Monuments Commission 1 American Committee for the Practice and Salvage of Historical Monuments in Europe 500

Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System 5, 258 Bureau of the Budget

_

370, 344

Central Intelligence Group 115

Civil Service Commission 5, Oil, 051

Civilian Production Administration 12, 174 Committee on Fair Employment Practice 1 Commission of Fine Arts 702

Council of Economic Advisers 16, 400 Court of Claims 45, 383 Court of Customs and Patent Appeals 1, 149

District of Columbia government 78, 758

Export-Import Bank of Washington 6, 043

Farm Credit Administration 266, 761 Farm Security Agency 55, 752 Farmers Home Administration 2, 532

Federal Communications Commission 44, 755

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 16, 446

Federal Loan Agency 651, 948

Federal Power Commission 68, 870

Federal Security Agency 8, 763, 972

Federal Trade Commission 32, 372

Federal Works Agency 260, 155

Foreign Economic Administration 2, 849

General Accounting Office 278, 309

Interstate Commerce Commission 353, 003

National Academy of Science 3, 000

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 7, 576

National Archives 12, 022

National Capital Housing Authority 994

National Capital Park and Planning Commission 250

National Forest Reservation Commission 3, 800

National Gallery of Art 164, 047

National Housing Agency 1, 877, 276

National Labor Relations Board 35, 104

National Mediation Board 8, 464

OflBce of Defense Transportation .702

Office of Economic Stabilization 6

Office of Government Reports 10, 000

Office of Housing Expediter 132, 500

Office of Price Administration . 15, 739, 281

Office of Scientific Research and Development 76

Office of Temporary Controls 2, 606, 813

Office of War Mobifization and Reconversion 300, 084

Panama Canal 35, 360

Pan American Union 150, 684

66
Table 9.

Publications furnished Congress, executive departments, and independent Government establishments during the fiscal year 1947—Continued

Number of copies Patent Office 3, 960, 662 Petroleum Administration for War 7, 941

Philippine War Damage Commission 1, 808

Railroad Retirement Board 2, 276

Securities and Exchange Commission 95, 000

Selective Service System 3, 035, 629

Smaller War Plants Corporation 200

Smithsonian Institution 97, 586 Supreme Court of the United States , 257, 282

Tax Court of the United States 72, 784

Tennessee Valley Authority 39, 867

U. S. Maritime Commission 899, 651 U. S. Tariff Commission 25, 983

Veterans' Administration 24, 935, 964

War Assets Administration 7, 300, 502 War Shipping Administration 13, 000

White House 48

Total 340, 808, 858

Table 10 is a comparative statement of the charges for work delivered

during the fiscal years 1938 to 1947, inclusive. The number of copies

of printed matter increased 120 percent during the last 5 years, and

paper used increased 146 percent. The grand total charges, including

blank paper and supphes furnished, increased 148 percent during this

5-year period.

Table 10.Comparative statement of charges for work delivered during fiscal years 1938 to 1947, inclusive

Fiscal year Number of copies

Charges for composition,

plating, press- work, binding,

author's alter- ations, and

rush work

Charges for paper

Total charges

1938

1939 1940

1941. - 1942 Total, 1938 to 1942, inclusive- 1943

1944.. ..." 1945 1946

1947 Total, 1943 to 1947, inclusive Grandtotal, 1938tol947, inclusive. Percentage of increase, 5-year period

1943-47 over 1938-42

6, 524, 377, 197

6, 599, 935, 832

7, 233. 642, 096

7, 563, 876. 277

12, 001.023,577

$12, 307, 059. 03

12, 773, 810. 78

14, 137, 374. 33

19, 484, 952. 91

27, 617, 164. 72

$5, 652. 257. 03

5, 464, 234. 32

6,012, 829. 39

9, 108, 620. 90

19. 073,179. 18

$17,959,316. 06

18, 238, 045. 10

20, 150. 203. 72

28, 593, 573. 81

46, 690, 343. 90

39, 922. 854. 979 86, 320, .361. 77 45.311.120. 82 131,631,482. 59

16, 310, 148, 973

22, 869, 414, 943

22, 016, 984, 936

12, 867,143, 431

13, 952. 399, 570

51, 179, 404. 04

46. 482, 387. 74

61, 374, 969. 65

31, 734, 063. 67

34, 720, 451.57

26, 657, 782. 50

25, 109, 652. 61

25, 934, 527. 88

15, 490, 803. 69

18. 289, 302. 12

77, 837, 186. 54

71, 592, 040. 35

77, 309, 497. 53

47, 224, 867. 36

63, 009, 753. 69

88, 016. 091, 853 215, 491,276. 67 111,482, 068. 80 326, 973. 345. 47

127, 938, 946. 832 301, 811, 638. 44 156. 793, 189 62 458, 604, 828. 06

120 150 146 148 67
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS, ACTIVITIES,

AND PROBLEMS

PERSONNEL DIVISION

The continuing and most difficult problem of the Personnel Division

is the recruitment of qualified journeymen craftsmen. Among the factors contributing to the difficulty are a general shortage in the printing

crafts and lack of housing in Washington. The Office will continue to work with the Civil Service Commission and other agencies to solve

this problem. With the return of peacetime conditions, the Commission

is holding examinations and, as registers are established, conditions

should improve.

Another big task is the conversion of war-service and temporaryindefinite employees to permanent status as they qualify through

competitive examinations.

There were 1,327 appointments and 980 separations from Office rolls during the fiscal year. These figures include 999 appointments by

transfer of employees in the 15 field offices which were operated by the

Procurement Division of the Treasury Department in the previous

year. Appointment of 33 employees of the State Department printing

plant transferred to the Government Printing Office are also included.

During the year, 569 employees resigned, 113 retired, and 161 were

separated by corrective action because of absenteeism, misconduct,

or failure to meet Office requirements. Deaths accounted for removal

of 33 names from the rolls. As of June 30, 1947, there were 7,955 employees on the rolls, including 983 field-office employees, compared with 7,687 at the end of the

previous year, when the field offices were not under Government

Printing Office control. Records of the Division show 7,627 personnel

actions processed during the year in contrast to only 2,224 in 1939.

Turn-over for the year was at the rate of 17.54 percent.

The Division interv^iewed 13,156 persons and received 28,392 letters regarding personnel matters. It has been relieved of the heavy burden

of recruitment it had to assume during the war years, when turn-over was so heas^y that 11,559 new employees had to be enrolled between

the closing months of 1939 and September 1945.

Until 1939 there was no division in the Government Printing Office

devoted wholly to the personal factors involved in production of

printing.

In the wake of publicity relative to more amicable employeremployee relationships in industry. President Roosevelt on June 24,

1938, issued Executive Order 7916 directing that each Federal agency

estabhsh a Personnel Division, to be headed by a Director of Personnel,

68
qualified by training and experience to super\^ise agency functions of

appointment, placement, efficiency ratings, in-ser\rice training, personnel management, and grievance-settlement procedures; act as liaison

officer between his agency and the Ci\^il Service Commission; and serve

as a member of the Council of Personnel Administration.

A Director of Personnel for the Government Printing Office was

appointed February 1, 1939, from a register established by the Civil

Service Commission as a result of a Nation-wide open competitive

examination. The new official took general supervision over personnel

procedures. Personnel clerical work was then being carried out by a

staff of four clerks, with the larger clerical and stenographic force of

the Chief Clerk available, upon call, whenever personnel procedures

required additional assistants. The printing plant in 1939 was seriously

overcrowded, but a new building was under construction. The introduction of new personnel procedures was postponed until completion

of the new building afforded space to establish and make operative the

procedures outlined in the President's order, so far as they would

conform to title 44 of the United States Code and further the production needs of the Government Printing Office. The Personnel Division

contemplated by the order would include several sections, namely.

Office of the Director of Personnel; Board of Wage and Salary Review;

Efficiency Rating Review Board; Grievance Board; Medical, Safety,

and Health Section; Recruitment, Selection, and Placement Section;

Appointment, Retirement, and Records Section; Classification and

Organizational Survey Section; Employee Relations and Welfare

Section; and Training Section.

A few of these functions were already being carried out to the extent

then generally practiced by Federal agencies. There was a Board of

Discipline to investigate cases of misconduct; efficiency ratings were

issued annually and could be reviewed by the Efficiency Rating Review

Board; preemployment physical examinations and first-aid treatment

for injuries and illnesses were given by the Emergency Hospital Section; hourly employees had the right of collective bargaining, but

annual employees were not under the Personnel Classification Act and

the Office had no formal means for adjusting salary differences; per- sonnel records were less detailed than at present; and there was no

in-service training or promotion plan except the Apprentice School

and a plan for trades helpers.

The new building was completed and occupied in 1940, and early in

1941 the contemplated personnel procediures began to take form. The

tremendous expansion of governmental activities beginning in 1939,

associated with the war and our possible entry into it, caused enormous demands for printed material, necessitating the hiring of many addi69
tional employees. The clerical staff engaged on personnel work was

increased from time to time to keep pace with the increasing work. In

January 1941, the Classification and Organizational Survey Section was established, and the position of classifier was created for the purpose of conducting surveys of individual jobs and of groups and classes of jobs to insure that rates of pay were fair, equitable, and in line with

wage scales for similar work in other Federal agencies and in private

industry. In May 1941, a Director of Training was added to the staff for the purpose of formulating in-service training programs and promotional policies.

To meet the manifest and growing needs of the Office, the Division

of Personnel was placed under a full-time Director in 1945.

From 1939 through the war years, labor turn-over was highly abnormal. The posts of large numbers of employees entering the armed

services had to be filled pending their return. As the manpower

shortage increased and the labor market diminished, recruiting became more difficult and less satisfactory. Emphasis had to be placed on

recruiting, hiring, and placing new, untrained personnel. The Civil

Service Commission granted the Office authority to recruit directly.

From the beginning of the war until the fall of Japan, the Personnel

Division made every effort to cooperate with the armed forces and all other Government departments and agencies in releasing trained personnel. To do this, it was necessary to establish policies and procedures

that would enable the Office to develop the employees who remained

and to simplify work to the point where each individual increased his

production. During this period, the principal function of the Personnel

Division thus became the promotion of personnel utilization.

A full year's experience, with the appointment of a registered nurse

as personnel relations representative, has shown the advantage of

giving attention to the health and social problems of employees who

take sick leave frequently or extensively or take leave without pay.

Through home calls and Office interviews, it has been possible to improve the attendance of many employees; and in all but 11 out of the

270 absentee cases handled by the personnel relations representative,

the employee returned to duty.

An Employee's Handbook is in preparation by the Personnel Division to serve as a basic training manual. Since the handbook is intended as a complete guide in all relations between the Office and its employees, officials and supervisors charged with administration of

personnel policies are participating in preparing the text. Consideration is being given to the compilation of a Foreman's

Manual which will be devoted, primarily, to improving the supervisor's

ability to deal effectively with subordinates in the interpretation of

70
Office rules and regulations as they are affected by production, and

when and how to interpret them, so that every foreman will do the same thing in similar circumstances. Another purpose of the manual is to guide foremen in the preparation and administration of performance

standards.

Objectives for the fiscal year 1948 include establishment of advanced

personnel policies, aptitude tests and examinations, procedures leading

to improved and closer supervision by officials, and increased quantity

and quaUty of production by workers.

Plans and programs for training employees for better jobs will be

expanded to stimulate promotion from Avithin. Training programs now in force are expected to add to the strength

of the organization, not only at trade and craftsman levels but also by

developing men and women of initiative and promise for key positions

in the Government Printing Office for the years ahead. The latest studies and experiences in industry are being drawn upon; and whenever an industrial method or technique of value is discovered, it is adopted.

A comparison of the turn-over statistics of the Government Printing

Office with similar figures from other departments of the Government

indicates that turn-over is low and that it reflects a healthy condition

in the Office. Veterans Policy

The most salient feature of the Government Printing Office personnel program since the close of the war probably has been its consideration for retumiQg veterans. The Office has an active program for the readjustment and contiauing welfare of returned and returning servicemen—not only adhering to the letter of the laws which define their rights and privileges but

going far beyond mere adherence ia an endeavor to carry out the spirit of the laws and to let veterans know that we are miadful and appreciative of their service to our country. There is nothing passive nor

perfunctory about our policy; it has been of concrete benefit to all returned veterans, each of whom, upon reemployment here, has been

reassigned to duty either in. the same or a similar position or in a

higher grade position in line with his added skills, and with appropriately higher pay. Each veteran of World War II who has returned to duty has been given every promotion or salary increase which would

have accrued to him had he been steadily employed here instead of

going away to war, plus such additional advancements to existing

higher grade vacancies as the requirements of the service and his

quahfications made feasible. Every one of our returned veterans is

71
today in a position equal or superior to that which he would have held

had the war not intervened.

We are glad to have veterans return to their jobs. They had been

originally appointed at a time when they could be selected in a free

labor market, and they had been trained on Office work. When they

left in large numbers for military service, the Office, like other industries, was forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel in the labor market

to acquire sufficient help to meet greatly expanded production requirements. Much of the residue thus brought up was of a class not usually

considered employable. It was, therefore, a great relief to be able to slough off that element when the veterans returned.

Here are statistics for veterans on Government Printing Office rolls

Total number who left Office to enter armed forces 2, 495

Returned and presently employed 1, 130

Still on military leave 502 Reemployed but later left Office 492

Not requested reemployment here, owing to employment elsewhere, etc.; 90-day eligibility period expired 308

Killed or died in mihtary service 63 Not employed here prior to mihtary service: Now on rolls 289

Left Office subsequent to appointment 174 Disabled and receiving disabihty compensation 139 Employed in our field offices 282

Carried on our rolls on extended leave without pay to attend school under

GI bill of rights 17 Administration of our veterans policy is in the hands of officials who are themselves veterans and active members of veterans'

organizations.

The position of Veterans' Coordinator was established in August 1945,

when the first servicemen began returning to duty here. Our object was

to insure a central and definite authority and source of assistance for

veterans, with personalized service to each of them upon return to duty;

to provide aid to veterans in channeling their problems through the

proper line and staff divisions of the Office; and to render assistance in

matters calling for contact with the Veterans' Administration or other

Federal agencies.

Veterans of World War II are informed individually of Office policy

at the time of their return to duty. Administrative and supervisory

officials of the Office have been made familiar with our policy in order

that they may cooperate; and they are cooperatiug.

The procedure carried out for each of the 1,622 veterans of World

War II who so far have returned to duty here, and which wiU be carried

72
out for each of tlie remaining 502 employees yet to return from military

leave, is: The Veterans' Coordinator, the Director of Personnel, and the superintendent of the division in which the employee was or is to be assigned

welcome and interview each returning veteran. They engage him in

friendly conversation and ask him to relate the highlights of his war

experiences, to discuss any problem he may have, to review his Government Printing Office experience, and to reveal any information

which might assist in expediting his reassignment and readjustment.

They explore possible placement opportunities with and for the vet- eran in the light of any added skills—or handicaps—he may have

acquired since joining the armed forces. These factors are discussed

with the veteran to the extent of complete understanding. Care is taken

during this conversation to inform the veteran fully of his rights and

privileges and their relationship to the production requirements of the

Office. The Veterans' Coordinator also advises each veteran, in a

general way, of his rights and privileges under the GI bill of rights, tells him how such rights and privileges may be obtained, and offers assist- ance in making any necessary contacts with other Federal agencies.

The Veterans' Coordinator is available on a full-time basis, and vet- erans are encouraged to consult him whenever they wish assistance of

the kind he is equipped to provide.

Following the welcoming interview, an inventory is made of the

skills the veteran has acquired as a result of his military service.

That inventory is used for upgrading him to any higher grade vacancy

which may exist at the time of his return or which may occur in the

future.

When the inventory of skills has been made and the veteran's preference as to type of work has been determined, he is interviewed

by our Medical Director to determine whether he is physically

qualified for the duties of the position to which he is to be assigned.

The personal opinion of the veteran as to whether he is physically

qualified is a factor in this decision, as the Office wishes to avoid

assigning any veteran to a job which he feels he will be unable to hold.

For the handicapped, a whole new procedure of man-job matching

techniques has been developed. All jobs in production divisions have

been analyzed to determine the actual physical motions involved; all unessential physical requirements have been eliminated; and, with

the close cooperation of our Medical Director, the streamlined requirements have been matched to the physical capabilities and limitations

of the prospective incumbent. The physically handicapped veterans

who have been placed through this procedure are now productively

engaged in jobs on which their abilities are brought into use and their

73
particular physical limitations are not a factor in their work, nor a handicap or hazard to themselves, their coworkers, or the Office. After returned veterans are reassigned to duty and given the benefits

(promotions, salary increases, etc.) which accumulated to them during

their absence, we follow up on their readjustment to the job and

watch for opportunities to utilize any higher skills they may demonstrate or develop. Supervisors, including division heads, keep close

check on their work and increased ability and efficiency in order that

they may, wherever possible, be given preference when higher grade

vacancies occur. To insure that information on special and additional skills of each

veteran would be kept current, all veterans were again asked in January 1947 to fill out a questionnaire listing and describing any additional skills or training they had acquired subsequent to their reem- ployment here and which they felt might qualify them for advancement. This procedure will be repeated at intervals in the future so that our records will be complete. The information thus brought to

light is recorded in a card-index file of specialized skills, to be consulted for locating persons possessing any specialized skill for which

need arises. The Coordinator keeps fully informed on legislation—existing, pending, and proposed—which might affect veterans employed in the

Office; arranges interviews with representatives of the Veterans' Administration, Civil Service Commission, Adjutant General's Office,

and other organizations; and acts as direct liaison between our Director of Personnel and our operating officials, to insure that the latter are informed of current and pending policies concerning veterans. He

recommends new procedures or amendments to existing procedures

affecting veterans employed here; keeps the Director of Personnel

informed on all matters relating to veteran transactions ; and familiarizes himself with any material relating to handicaps affecting employment in the Office. He follows up each reassignment to duty of a

returned veteran, observing the effectiveness of the placement and the

veteran's degree of adjustment and satisfaction. He maintains and

prepares all records and statistical data concerning veterans which

may be required beyond the normal records of the Personnel Division.

Among benefits enjoyed by veterans and services offered to them

are the following:

A number of returned veterans who served in this Office prior to March 16, 1942, have now had their war-service appointments converted to permanent status, under civil-service rules and regulations.

Competitive civil-service status is given to all 10-point (disabled)

veterans, unremarried widows of veterans (subject to existing require74
ments), and other veterans who may prove eligible through length of

service or through previous employment.

Veterans are encouraged to add to their educational qualifications,

and extended leave without pay is granted to those who apply for

such leave for the purpose of attending school under the GI bill of

rights.

The Office maintains a housing ser^^ice to assist returning veterans

to seciu'e adequate housing. Necessary priorities are secured for vet- erans who wish to qualify for residence in a Government housing

project. Assistance is also given returned veterans who wish to prociu'e a loan under provisions of Public Law 346 to buy or build a home.

The recreation division of the Government Printing Office Cafeteria,

Recreation, and Welfare Association (see p. 87), composed of employees

of this Office, has established a committee to assist returned veterans

in any way possible in problems which normally fall outside the purview of official action. This association maintains liaison and communication with veterans who are still away in military service, particularly those overseas or in military and naval hospitals, sends gifts, and

in other ways assin*es them that the Government Printing Office maintains interest in them.

Apprentice School

Our Apprentice School, which was closed during wartime owing to military service of young men of apprentice age, was reopened in

August 1947.

Apprentice training in the Government Printing Office is on a 5-year

plan. It provides formal classroom instruction in theory and supervised shop practice both in the school and in production divisions.

There has been an intense amount of interest shown, both within

this Office and by persons outside, in the reopening of the school.

Officials of this Office and leaders of the printing industry have been

collaborating to complete arrangements and research necessary to assure the maximum success of the school. Special attention has been

given to the choice of competent instructors, both for trade training

and for academic work; to the selection and purchase of necessary

printing equipment, materials, and supplies; and to the revision and

preparation of instructional material and texts, all of which involved a tremendous amount of research and editorial work. The schoolrooms

have been reestablished in larger, newly decorated quarters and will

provide an ideal environment. The area is fluorescent-lighted and

air-conditioned.

In addition to the Director of Apprentices, the faculty consists of

four instructors as follows: One for academic subjects, one for com75
posing, one for bookbinding, and one for presswork. These instructors were selected from 70 journeymen of this Office who competed through

a comprehensive 2-day written examination, supplemented by ora

interviews. Two of these instructors are themselves graduates of the

Apprentice School. Since their graduation, they have had experience

as journeymen in this Office. The clerical staff of the school consists oi one secretary and one clerk. The subjects and the number of class periods (ranging from 1 to 3

hours each) are:

Subject Class periods Survey of English fundamentals 130 History of printing 26

Federal Government 26 Applied English 52 GPO Style Manual 26 Chemistry in printing 20

Cost and estimating 26

Printing appreciation 6 Typography and design 20

Composing-room practices 149 Pressroom practices 149 Bookbinding practices 149 The general purpose of the Apprentice School is to train young men

and women in the various branches of the graphic arts and specifically to prepare them for careers as journeymen craftsmen in the Government Printing Office. There is the further aim—and expectation—that

from their ranks there will emerge future supervisory and administrative personnel. This expectation has been well justffied in the past, as a number of the present officials of this Office are graduates of our school.

There is no obligation on the part of the Office to enroll the graduates

of the school as journeymen employees, nor is there any obligation on

the part of the apprentices to remain with the Office after gi'aduation.

However, a rev^iew of the records of the 640 apprentices who have made

up the 14 classes trained in the Office since 1922 shows that all graduates have been offered journeyman employment; that 80 percent of

them are still with this Office; and that most of the others remained for

several years. A number of them are now in the Government service

elsewhere, including Congress, where they are employed as printing

clerks. Admittance to the incoming class of apprentices has been limited to returned employee veterans of World War II who have permanent

civil-service status. A competitive examination for such veterans was

announced within the Office on March 5, 1947. Applications were

received from 313 of the veterans on our rolls, 303 of whom presented

76
themselves to compete in the written examination on March 29. This

examination consisted of a S-hom* general test. Those who attained

passing ratings were listed on a register on the basis of their performance in the examination. From among these, a sufficient number who

had made the highest scores were given oral interviews, and 75 were

selected for assignment as the school's first quota.

Future training classes will be scheduled at 2}^-year intervals until

the school is again operating at capacity. Under the law, the Government Printing Office is limited in the training of apprentices to not more than 200 at one time.

Those veterans who competed in the written examination but were

not finally selected for admittance to the school will be considered for

openings which may occur throughout the organization in higher grade

positions than the examinees now hold.

Apprentices are paid while learning. In the first year they receive

90 cents an hour. Thereafter, the scale is set at a percentage of the current wage rates of journeymen for the trades in which they are apprenticed, as follows: Second year, 60; third year, 70; fourth year,

80 ; and fifth year, 90 percent.

The basic rates paid to journeymen in the Government Printing

Office at the present time are $1.80 and $1.88 an hour for a 5-day,

40-hour week.

Present apprentices, as veterans of World War II, will be entitled

to apply for veterans' subsistence allowances under Public Law 346.

This is possible because our school is a recognized on-the-job training

institution. Such subsistence payments are independent of and supplemental to wages paid by this Office. No credit is given in our school for any previous experience the

student may have had in the printing^ trades. All appointees must

begin on the same basis and complete the full 5-year course. When entering the school, all apprentices are given the same 6- month probational course, which affords them an opportunity to become acquainted with practices in each of our various production

sections. They spend one-half of^ each day in the classrooms and the

other half in shop-work activities. During this period, the instructors

and shop supervisors observe the reactions of each apprentice to the

various classes of work, and the individual reactions of the apprentice

are given consideration in making final placement into a specialized

branch of the trade. Successful completion of this 6-month probationary period marks the real beginning of the apprenticeship. Each

apprentice is then assigned permanently to that branch of printing

for which he seems best adapted.

For the next 2 years the students attend classes 1 day each week

77
and spend 4 days in shop activities. For the following 2}^ years they

work in the production divisions, beside selected journeymen, to obtain trade experience. The final 6 months of the 5-year course is spent

in acquiring specialized skills on certain types of hand and machine

work.

As a larger number of apprentices are assigned to composing than

to presswork or bookbinding, the course in composition may be taken

as an example to illustrate the school's method of teaching trade

practices:

The composing course, like the other trades taught, has been broken

down into three stages of preparation; namely, the elementary, the

advanced, and the speciahzed. The elementary stage deals primarily

with habit-forming principles, fundamental trade operations, and

industrial procedures. The advanced stage treats the subject in such

a way as to stimulate appreciation of good printing by emphasizing

the esthetic as well as the commercial value of the work. The specialized stage is set aside exclusively for the development of trade skills. The goal of the course is to fit the prospective journeyman for any

branch of the composing room. The fundamentals of hand setting,

make-up, lock-up, proofreading, and monotype keyboard and linotype

composition are taught in their natural sequence.

Lesson sheets are used in teaching the fundamental operations.

Before each assignment is handed out, the instructor devotes some

time to explaining the relevant facts pertaining to the lesson. This

lesson-sheet series is followed by a carefully selected set of work projects made up of small reprint jobs, dealing mostly with such work as name cards, letterheads, programs, billheads, etc. The advanced stage takes up the study of typography. Here projects

of a varied nature are issued to students in manuscript form. Several

lay-outs of each assignment, showing the kind of type, size, etc., are drawn on paper and submitted to the instructor for approval. The

student is then permitted to set the type specified in his own lay-out.

This method teaches the student to visuahze his work before attempting to compose it. These projects are extended in scope, to include

booklets, folders, and various kinds of novelty printing. To augment

this study, the class is given a more extensive course in lay-out and

design by one of the printing designers of the Division of Typography

and Design. At intervals throughout the 5-year period, special lectures are given the classes by superintendents of production divisions or by

technicians who are skilled in highly specialized fields of the graphic arts. Working on a rotating schedule, each student of composing receives an average of 3 months in each production division, repeating after a complete change in placement has been effected. 78
The final 6 months of apprenticeship are devoted to speciahzation,

including an intensive training period of 6 weeks each in the Proof- room and in the Monotype and Linotype Sections. At the end of these

trial specialization courses, the apprentice may elect to return to any

branch of the graphic arts in which he has trained to establish his

qualifications for that particular type of work.

During the 5-year course, each apprentice spends 1,352 hours in the

school classrooms and 9,048 hours working in the production divisions on hve jobs, which contributes proportionately to the output of the

Office. The classrooms afford training features which would not be

available in regular production-division-work routine and include such

academic and technical training as are believed necessary to equip the

apprentice with knowledge and experience which will enable him, at

the earliest possible time, to assume responsibilities of a full-fledged

craftsman.

The apprentice not only collects data and writes the copy for his

printing projects but he is also urged to plan, compose, and supervise

the printing of such projects. In previous years, the result of this

method of directed self-instruction has been most satisfactory.

Students are encouraged to participate in the numerous national

printing contests which are sponsored by leading trade organizations

and trade journals, and in previous years several of our apprentices

have won recognition in this field. Formal commencement exercises, with diplomas, mark the graduation of each class of apprentices into journeyman status and onto the

rolls of the Government Printing Office as craftsmen.

The printing machinery and miscellaneous equipment used in the

school is composed of items originally purchased for the school

between 1922 and 1938, supplemented by surplus property procured

from other departments. The equipment of the school is currently

valued at approximately $20,000. The lay-out has been well planned

to achieve the best possible conditions for teaching, study, and work

projects.

Apprentices who went from the school into military service, interrupting their apprenticeship, have been provided opportunity to complete their apprentice training upon their return to duty. This is beirig achieved by assigning them to work for the remainder of their

training course beside selected journeymen craftsmen in the production divisions under general supervision of the Director of Apprentices.

The length of time yet to be served varies for each returnee, ranging

from a few months to several years. Seventeen of the returned

veterans have thus completed the remaining portions of their apprenticeships and have been graduated and assigned to journeyman

79
positions in the Office. Twenty-seven more are still engaged in completing their interrupted training. They are being detailed to the

reopened school intermittently for special study to supplement their

training in the production divisions.

In addition to the Apprentice School, there are a number of other

training opportunities in the Office, especially for persons below the

journeyman grade, offering in-service trade training which qualifies

them as carpenters, electricians, pipe fitters, machinists, platemakers,

etc. These helper-trainee positions are filled by selection of employees

already on our rolls and showing aptitude for such work. In making

selections, veterans are given preference. The trainees serve 5-year

periods, with gradual assignment to increasingly difficult and responsible duties and with yearly advancements in grade and salary if their

service and progress are satisfactory. After reaching top-grade helper

status, they may be selected to fill vacancies occurring in journeyman

positions in their trade. Maintenance Division employees, for example,

are trained by this method.

Health and Welfare

EMERGENCY HOSPITAL

The Emergency Hospital, organized as a Medical Section in the

Division of Personnel, pro voided 25,770 treatments to employees during

the year, including medical and surgical first-aid for injuries in line of

duty, non-Office injuries, and minor illnesses; preemployment examinations and physical-fitness examinations for job placement. The hospital staff includes the Medical Director, foiu* nurses, and a secretary.

Added equipment includes a basal-metabolism machine and a whirlpool bath, both acquired through the War Assets Administration

from surplus property.

Resignation of the Medical Director on March 16, 1947, necessitated

the appointment of a successor. A number of applications were received

and each applicant's qualifications were carefully reviewed before

selection was made. The new Director has specialized in the study of

occupational diseases, dermatosis, mental hygiene, and fatigue.

Plans are being made to expand the services of the Emergency Hospital under the provisions of Public Law 658, Seventy-ninth Congress,

entitled ''An Act to Prov^ide for Health Programs for Government

Employees." This will be done in cooperation with the United States

Public Health Service. It is expected that that Sersrice will set up

standards on a Nation-wide level for a preventive medical program for

Federal employees. Such programs in private industry have established the fact that they pay dividends in increased efficiency and

productivity.

80
Under the new law, heads of agencies, within the limits of appropriations made available therefor, are authorized to establish, by contract

or otherwise, health-service programs which will provide medical and

dental care for employees under their jm^isdiction, limited to treatment of

on-the-job illness; dental conditions requiring emergency attention; preemployment and other examinations; referral of employees to private

physicians and dentists; and preventive programs relating to health.

The basic health program provided by this act includes: (1) Promotion of the individual employee's health; (2) diagnostic and advisory

services; (3) treatment, medical and dental, as defined by the act; (4)

prevention of disease; (5) analysis and statistics; and (6) maintenance

of medical records of employees as confidential information.

It is interesting to note that the Government Printing Office has had

for many years a Hospital and Medical Section which provides nearly

all the services just now beiag inaugurated in many Federal agencies,

but it is hoped to evolve a broader preventive medical program from

the present emergency first-aid set-up.

Plans include a larger medical library and nurses trained in publichealth methods. Changes are to be made in filuig and keeping records;

and new procedures will be considered regarding employee relations;

job placements, sick leave, and leave without pay.

In addition to providing immediate treatment for injuries and ill- nesses, our Medical Director maintains liaison with the Medical Directors of the Civil Service Commission and the Bureau of Employees'

Compensation regarding health and physical requirements of all printing-trade jobs; surveys and recommends control measures relating to health and physical hazards in the printing trades; records and controls cases of communicable diseases; and maintains a complete medical folder and treatment card file on each employee, beginning with the

preemployment physical examination. Our Medical Director also makes periodical inspections of the plant and approved plant surveys

in cooperation with the United States Public Health Service.

SAFETY PROGRAM

There is a growing interest throughout industry in safety measures and accident prevention. The Government Printing Office as a manufacturing plant utilizing high-powered machines has long been aware

of the problem, and our safety committees have been functioning for a number of years. On November 19, 1945, President Truman re- quested all Federal agencies to make accident-frequency surveys to determine whether the services of a fuU-time safety officer for each

agency would be advisable.

On September 3, 1946, a full-time Safety Officer was added to the

81
rolls and assigned to the Medical Section. Our Safety Officer was

appointed to act in an advisory capacity to supervisors in fulfilling

their responsibilities for the safety of their employees ; to maintain and

analyze accident records and statistics; to make housekeeping and

safety investigations as directed ; and make recommendations to management for improving our safety program.

After surveying the safety problems of the Office, our Safety Officer

submitted a report embodying his findings and recommendations,

among which was the recommendation that responsibility for safety

be vested in a representative committee of officials under the chairmanship of an official other than the Medical Director.

Consequently, in order to reheve our Medical Director of responsibility for the safety program and to allow him more time for the additional responsibilities placed upon him by the passage of Public Law

658, the Public Printer revised his Administrative Order 5, effective

February 1, 1947. The revised order places responsibility for the pro- motion, organization, and administration of safety in the hands of an

Executive Safety Committee, under the chairmanship of our Mechanical Superintendent.

Under the direction of the Executive Safety Committee, a Safety and

Housekeeping Subcommittee makes inspections and lost-time-accident

investigations. Our Housekeeping Subcommittee prescribes corrective

action to reduce the recurrence of accidents.

In general, the functions of the Executive Safety Committee are:

(1) To reduce to writing and keep current acceptable safety policy and

procedure; (2) coordinate safe practices in the Office; (3) establish shop

safety committees and determine their structure, manner of functioning, and duties; (4) enforce all necessary safety rules and regulations;

(5) recommend and introduce general safety and personnel-protective

equipment; (6) promote safe practices through the use of visual-training aids, instruction, conferences, and supervision; (7) recommend the

adoption, when applicable, of such safe practices as may come to the

attention of the committee from other sources, including the Federal

Interdepartmental Safety Council; and (8) keep adequate records to conform with those of the Division of Labor Standards and the

National Safety Council.

The Executive Safety Committee is endeavoring to secure employee

participation. It hopes to make the employee safety-conscious

through the reestablishment of a safety committee in each section.

These committees are composed of the foreman, a safety officer, and an

employee representative elected by the section employees.

Interest in safety is being stimulated by the inauguration of a poster

program, using Government and commercial safety posters and posters

82
prepared with special reference to our particular accident experiences.

Surveys have been made of our machinery and equipment for possible installation of additional safeguards. The use of personalprotective equipment is being extended.

With the aim of directing attention to any arising need for special

emphasis on safety, we introduced a new series of safety bulletins.

These are posted on bulletin boards in the sections throughout the

Office; copies are also made available to superintendents and foremen

for their files. The first two bulletins were issued during the year:

Safety Bulletin No. 1 required submission of brief reports on all minor

injuries. These reports are followed up to assure removal of the causes

of such accidents. Safety Bulletin No. 2 prescribes the use and handling

of gasoline. Experiments in our Division of Tests and Technical Control on the use of substitute detergents having high fiash points have been

so successful that they are being reported to the entire printing

industry through its national organization.

In the calendar year 1946, there occurred in the Government

Printing Office a total of 175 lost-time accidents. In addition, 4,232

employees received minor injuries requiring first-aid treatment. This

gave the Office an accident frequency of 14.4 for the year, an increase

of 20 percent over 1945. Many of the 1946 injuries were sustained by

skilled tradesmen who know their jobs and are completely familiar

with the machinery and other equipment with which they work.

Injuries of this kind can be eliminated, and the safety program of the

Office is designed to create that effect. No comparison can be made in accident severity, as records were not

maintained prior to September 1946. The accident-severity rate for the

10-month period ending June 30, 1947, was 0.029. Thi3 rate compares

favorably with the average for the printing and publishing industry, as determined by the National Safety Council. The accident-severity rate

for the industry as a whole, as reported by the Council, is about twice

that of our plant.

Since the purpose of the safety program is not only to provide for the

employees' welfare but also to reduce the cost to the Government, a

table of the direct cost per employee per year for the entire Federal

civil service and for this Office is included here:

Year Federal Government GPO

1944. $5. 85

5. 22

4. 78

$2. 66 4.31

2. 44

1945 1946These figures are from The Injured Federal Employee, Bureau of

Employees^ Compensation, June 30, 1947.

83
Employee Organizations

Employees of this Office are encouraged to participate in undertakings that improve morale or otherwise provide the benefits that can be derived from group action and group association. During the

past few years, activities of this kind have grown in munber and'

scope. The reports which follow indicate a broad and lively interest on the part of our employees in such activities, which can be expected

to increase as postwar conditions bring added opportunity for participation.

Group hospitalization.—Group hospitalization has continued to

increase. When the plan was introduced into the Office on May 1, 1935,

515 employees joined the organization. On April 30, 1939, there were

1,629 members. At the close of the fiscal year 1947, membership had

mounted to 2,979.

For the nominal cost of 65 cents a month, members are assured 21

days' hospital care, including semiprivate accommodations, bed and

board, general nursing care, use of operating room, ordinary medications, and routine laboratory examinations. If more than 21 days'

hospitalization is needed, the participating hospitals allow a discount

of 10 percent on room accommodations.

Under contracts in effect a year or more with no hospital service

having been given in the preceding year, each participant becomes

eligible for 30 days instead of 21, and in lieu of 10 percent discount

participants obtain a reduction of 50 percent on charges for semiprivate accommodations for any confinement beginning within the 30

days and extending continuously for not more than 6 months from the

date of admission.

The contract makes special provision for hospitalization in other

cities in the event an accident or an acute illness occurs while the

subscriber is out of the city and unable to utilize facilities of a local participating hospital.

Participation is open to all employees of the Office under 65 years

of age who have been in sound health for 30 days preceding the date

of application for membership. There is also available a contract

for the subscriber and spouse at $1.50 a month or spouse and un- married children under the age of 18 at the rate of $1.75 a month.

Employees who hold the subscriber-spouse or subscriber-family contracts may obtain group-hospitalization benefits for their unmarried

dependent children between the ages of 18 and 25 years at a cost of

65 cents a month for each child. Group Health Association.—Membership in Group Health Association, organized in 1937 to furnish medical and hospital services to its 84
members, is open to employees of the Government Printing Office. A nonprofit organization, it is managed by a board of trustees. Government Printing Office participants elect a representative and

alternate to the advisory council. The representative attends council

meetings, makes informal reports, answers inquiries, and obtains

application blanks for interested employees of the Office. Group life insurance.—The Government Printing Office Group Life

Insurance Association was organized May 1, 1931, to provide group

life insurance to our employees. It is underwritten by a legal reserve

life-insiu-ance company.

Employees under 35}^ years of age may obtain insurance of $1,000

per unit (maximum 3 units) at $1 a month per unit. Beginning at age 36, to the maximum age of 60, the amount of insurance per unit

is from $966 to $200, depending upon age at time application is ac- cepted. The amount of insurance granted to members is not reduced

with advancing years, and members may continue this protection after

they leave the Government service.

The reserve fund of the association, which has increased steadily

each year, was established in an effort to maintain indefinitely the $1

per unit monthly dues, should the present premium rates of the association (which are adjusted annually) be materially increased owing to the group's attaining a high average age or showing a high-mortality

experience.

The following comparison shows the changes which have occiurred

during the time indicated:

As of Apr. 30, 1939 As of Apr. 30, 1947 1 Increase Number of claims paid: Death 236

13 64229 406

Disability 14 Total 249 671 420 Amount of claims paid: Death.. $213, 307

10, 083

$668, 561. 86

16, 338. 21

$455, 254. 86 Disability 6, 255. 21 Total 223, 390 684, 900. 07 461, 510. 07 Units in force: First unit . 3, 580

1, 950

480

4,696

2, 719 1,055

1, 116 769

575 Second unit Third unit Total 6,010 8, 470 2.460 Amount of insurance in force: First unit $3, 112, 714

1, 688, 197

386, 146

$4, 140, 692

2, 336, 701

843, 885

$1, 027, 978

648, 504

457, 739 Second unit Third unit Total. 5, 187, 057 7, 321, 278 2, 134, 221

I Cumulative. 85
Federal Credit Union.—The Government Printing Office Federal

Credit Union was granted its charter on August 20, 1935, under

authority of the act approved June 26, 1934. The purpose of the

Federal Credit Union system is to estabUsh a further market for

securities of the United States and to make credit available to people

of small means for provident purposes through a national system of

cooperative credit, thereby helping to stabilize the credit structure

of the United States. The statement of condition as of June 30, 1947, is as follows: ASSETS Loans $148, 791. 81 Cash in banks 34, 667 24

Petty cash fund 10. GO Change fund 2, 000. 00

United States bonds 165, 427 00

Federal Savings and Loan shares 246, 000. 00

Other assets 229. 39 Total 597, 125. 44

LIABILITIES Shares 567,464.91

Reserve for bad loans 22, 078. 24 Undivided profits 588. 23 Withholding taxes 356. 25

Profit and loss 6, 637 81 Total 597, 125. 44

Total membership 4, 445

Total loans to members since organization $2, 786, 893. 81 Loans to members are payable either in monthly or semimonthly

installments, the interest charge under the act being 1 percent a month on unpaid balances.

Owing to wartime restrictions, the shares deposited by members

exceed the demand for loans, and it, therefore, became necessary to purchase interest-bearing Government securities as shown in the state- ment.

Cafeteria, Recreation, and Welfare Association. —The Government

Printing Office Cafeteria, Recreation, and Welfare Association is a

nonprofit organization devoted to the maintenance of the cafeteria and

the coordination of recreation and welfare activities in the Office. The cafeteria is operated for the convenience and benefit of the

employees. It is not the purpose to operate at a profit, but merely to produce a working capital with a sm-plus sufficient to provide for neces- 86
sary improvements and replacements of equipment. Open 24 hom*s a

day, the cafeteria serves approximately 7,200 persons daily. At the

present time it employs 99 persons, including the manager.

Control and management of the association, subject to approval by

the Public Printer, are vested in the employees of the Office, who elect a general committee of section representatives with delegated power to

elect the officers of the association. Section representatives are elected on the basis of 1 representative for each 100 employees or fraction

thereof in each section. The board of directors is made up of the officers of the association, two representatives named by the Public Printer,

the recreation director, and one other representative of the recreation

division, and the four members of the board of auditors. The board of

directors manages the association and its property, subject to approval

by the Pubhc Printer.

The cafeteria has been given a high sanitation and health rating by

the Health Department of the District of Columbia. Our Medical

Director makes periodic inspections.

In spite of the many difficulties encountered during the war because

of food rationing and the shortage of competent workers, there was no

break in the service of the cafeteria. Security regulations made it necessary to deny service to outsiders, but that restriction has been

removed and employees may now bring in their friends and relatives.

The recreation division is governed by a council composed of two

members of each organized club, who in turn elect the director, assist- ant director, and secretary-treasurer. No membership fee is charged,

and competitive sports, dances, outings, and various activities are sponsored and encouraged. Bowling and golf attract the largest groups,

while Softball, basketball, tennis, chess, checkers, shuffleboard, fishing,

rifle and pistol, and camera clubs all have interested members. Eleven

hundred employees are actively engaged in competitive sports.

The recreation division also provides weekly lunchtime movies,

radio, and music in Harding Hall.

American Legion Post.—Government Printing Office American

Legion Post, No. 33, now has 762 members, of whom approximately

one-third are veterans of World War II. In addition to the usual assistance furnished veterans in filing claims,

assisting their widows, etc., the post engaged in many other activities. At patriotic observances members participate in making the necessary

arrangements and act as color bearers. On Memorial Day, graves at Arlington National Cemetery are decorated. Welfare activities include

a regular monthly contribution to the District of Columbia Department milk fund for tubercular children.

87
The post was represented at the District of Columbia Department

Christmas party held at Walter Reed General Hospital, contributing •> toward refreshments and gifts for patients. At the annual visitation to Mount Alto Veterans' Hospital, under the auspices of the post auxiliary, cigarettes and useful personal articles were distributed to all , patients. 1 As a part of the Americanism program of the Legion, certificates and

medals were presented to the outstanding boy and girl of the gradu- i ating class of Elliott Junior High School, both at the February and \ June graduation exercises. Another well-established Americanism activity is the sponsoring of an American Legion junior baseball team

at the Coolidge High School, of this city.

The post formerly restricted its membership to ex-service employees

of the Government Printing Office. Recognizing that there was a desire on the part of some members of the post to have veteran sons and

daughters participate in the activities and patriotic work of this post,

the constitution was recently amended to admit them to membership.

United Veterans oj American Wars.—The United Veterans of American Wars, Government Printing Office Unit No. 1, was organized in 1922, and it is the oldest veterans' organization in the Government

Printing Office. Its membership numbers 328 and is composed of

Spanish-American, World War I, and World War II veterans. Its purpose is to aid and assist its members in time of illness and distress.

Unit No. 2, known as the Colonel Charles Young Unit, has an active

membership of 15 and about 25 inactive members. The unit welcomes

World War II veterans, of whom several have already been taken into

membership. It is a member of the Joint Memorial Association, composed of 15 veteran organizations. On Sunday, May 25, the association

held impressive memorial services for deceased veterans at St. Luke's

Episcopal Church. On Memorial Day, the unit assembled at the

Government Printing Ofiice to accept contributed flowers for decorating the graves of veterans. Both units participated during the year in many patriotic and social events. Veterans of Foreign Wars.—Although Government Printing Ofllce

Post 3874, Veterans of Foreign Wars, is one of the youngest organizations in the Office, its growth in a little more than 3 years indicates a

bright future. Membership on June 30 was 260. The Public Printer is a charter member of this Post, as well as of the American Legion. The

post has accumulated approximately $8,000 which will go toward the

construction of a home.

The principal purpose of the organization is to help comrades and

88
their families in distress, particularly those who are hospitalized. In the

year's poppy drive, $1,300 was realized for hospital and relief work.

Other activities have included participation in a number of civic and

patriotic gatherings. The post colors have been displayed at memorial

services at Cedar Hill Cemetery, War Memorial in West Potomac

Park, and Arlington National Cemetery.

A bowling team in the Seventeenth National Tournament League is sponsored by the post. Incidentally, the team brought home some of

the tournament prize money.

BOND PURCHASES

The Government Printing Office Bond Unit, under the direction of our Disbursing Officer, was established in February 1944, to afford

employees the opportunity of participating in the pay-roll savings plan.

The primary purpose of the plan is to shift the war loan from the

commercial banking system into the hands of the people. The taxpayer

must bear the entire cost of the war debt plus bond interest. He escapes

paying the interest only by bu5dng bonds. Moreover, millions of

Americans have found the pay-roll plan the only sure way to save. For

these reasons the Public Printer mges every employee to take part in it and gives them every opportunity to do so. Since its inception, the Bond Unit has participated in four war-loan

drives and one victory drive. These drives were in addition to the

regular pay-roll savings plan. Actual cash sales during the five drives,

excluding pay-roll deductions, amounted to $1,358,393.75.

The pay-roll savings plan made a slow start, but increased steadily

until January 1945. At the all-time high, 5,617 employees were

participating in the plan, representing 83.8 percent of our personnel.

By November 1946, participation had ebbed to 2,618, or 37.7

percent, while present figures show 2,844, or 41.8 percent, of total employees.

Deductions made from salaries of employees, from the date of the

establishment of the Bond Unit to the present time, amount to $2,666,122.64, and actual bond issues total $2,638,631.25, the differ- ence being attributable to individual accounts where the accumulation

of cash is insufficient for the issuance of a bond.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS

The Office ranked high among Government agencies in contributing

to welfare organizations throughout the war years and since the

ending of hostilities. They have given $121,193.20 to the American

Red Cross, $236,114.13 to the Community Chest, and $8,439.81 to help toward the prevention and treatment of infantile paralysis.

89
Many other civic and humanitarian activities and projects have

been substantially supported. These include clothing collections and

special foreign relief funds; sewing, knitting, and surgical-dressing work

carried on as a part of the American Red Cross program; Children's

Hospital collections; and National Symphony benefits, among others.

Blood donors, organized throughout the OflSce, contributed 5,797

pints of blood to the Red Cross blood bank. The organization is still active and has furnished 160 pints of blood to veterans' hospitals.

SICK-LEAVE REGULATIONS AND EMPLOYEE ATTENDANCE

This Office has made continuing studies of the effect of sick-leave

regulations on employee attendance. Our records show a progressive

tendency to regard the maximum of sick leave allowed merely as an

extension of annual-leave privileges. Om* records further show that a

disproportionate amount of sick-leave taking immediately follows or precedes week ends, holidays, and approved annual leave.

Diu-ing the past six calendar years, the average use of sick leave per

employee on an Office-wide basis has been as follows: 1941^—7.25 days;

1942—9.69 days; 1943—10.16 days; 1944—9.35 days; 1945—11.85

days; and 1946—14.60 days.

The temporary dechne in 1944 can be attributed to the effect of Administrative Order No. 26, which provided that employees reporting sick during the 40-hour work period (Monday through Friday)

would not be required or permitted to work on Saturday, an overtime

day carrying premium pay. This regulation was patterned on a navyyard plan. It was rescinded in 1945, after the end of the war in Europe

brought a slight relaxation in our work load.

The following table shows sick leave taken in the 9 months'—September 1944 to May 1945-—when the order was in effect, and during the

corresponding months of 1945 and 1946, after controls were removed.

The latter figures closely approximate those for 1943-44.

1944-45 1945-46 Percent

increase

September . Hours

29,310

42, 420

37, 220

34, 484

55, 504

49, 896 52,644

38, 834

42, 954

Hours

57, 843

93, 174

61, 802

84, 698 88,748

63, 862

67,632

86, 696

75, 104

97.34

119.64

66. 04

145. 61

59. 89 27.99

28. 47

123.24

74. 84

October November ^ December . ... . . . January . February March ....

April May

Total 383, 266 679, 559 77. 30 90
The sick-leave experience of this Office is apparently common

throughout the Government. Dr. Leon Schwartz reported in the

June 1944 issue of Personnel Administration that the average employee

of the Bureau of the Census was away on sick leave 11.1 days during

1943. He further reported that approximately 40 percent of sick

leave was used for ^'illnesses of convenience." This was based upon

investigations by the "sick-report nurse" and upon the ''cmrious drop

in illness on pay days," which was marked by its consistency and its being almost constantly around 40 percent. One-fourth to one-third

of the employees reporting sick were not at home when the visiting nurse called. On pay days, sickness dropped between 40 and 50

percent.

The Pubhc Printer reported the results of the apphcation of Administrative Order No. 26 to the Civil Service Commission on May 1, 1946, and concluded his letter in this manner:

Before making a final decision regarding the desirability of modifying or rescinding Administrative Order No. 26, I will appreciate an expression from you

for my guidance in answer to the following questions

1. Does Administrative Order No. 26 constitute a worth-while personnelutihzation program within the purpose and the spirit of A Program for Economizing in Personnel as outHned in Form 4462, Better Use of Personnel?

2, On the basis of complaints received concerning this program and the infor- mation supplied by this Office, does the Civil Service Commission recommend

rescinding Administrative Order No. 26? No reply was received.

In management meetings with supervisors and in talks to employees,

the Pubhc Printer has repeatedly pointed out that sick-leave costs are a part of overhead that must be passed on in charges for printing;

that abuse of the privilege constitutes a fraud against the Government

and a threat to the security of employees^—but the apparent abuse

continues.

The temporary improvement shown while Administrative Order

No. 26 was in effect leads to the behef that a 2- or 3-day delay in

charging time off to sick leave would result in greater accuracy in

allocating such time, would effect a considerable reduction in Government pay-roll expenditures, and would greatly improve the service

of Government agencies. Possibly the introduction of incentives,

such as the partial conversion of unused sick leave to annual leave,

would accomphsh the purpose without hardship to employees and to the over-all advantage of the service.

The Government Printing Office cannot impose restrictions that are not made equally applicable to all Federal employees. The condition is apparently Government-wide and should be viewed from that stand91
point. It is, therefore, recommended that consideration be given to the

establishment of regulations that would result in Government-wide

reduction in the misuse of the sick-leave privilege.

WAGE NEGOTIATIONS

Prior to the passage and approval of the law now popularly known

as the Kiess Act, the rates of pay of craftsmen in the Government

Printing Office were set by legislative action. This act, however, pro- vides for the fixing of rates of pay by the Public Printer. In some

instances, approval by the Joint Committee on Printing is required.

The pertinent part of the act is briefly as follows:

The rates of wages, including compensation for night and overtime work, for more than 10 employees of the same occupation, shall be determined by a con- ference between the Public Printer and a committee selected by the trades affected, and * * * become effective upon approval by the Joint Committee on

Printing * * *; and compensation determined as provided herein shall not be

subject to change oftener than once a year thereafter * * The first negotiations were conducted by the immediate predecessor

of the present Public Printer shortly after the passage of the Kiess Act

in 1924, and were completed in December of that year. In 1926, wages

were again negotiated and the rates in the Government Printing Office were brought to a point approximately as high as anywhere else in the

United States, which condition prevailed for a number of years. Not

until 1941 did the journeymen of the Office again request negotiations

with the Public Printer, who did not feel that conditions at that time

justified a recommendation to the Joint Committee on Printing that

wages be increased. He fully explained the reasons for this decision in a

series of talks to the employees of the several shifts at meetings in

Harding Hall on February 25, 1942. Approximately 9 months later,

the employee committees decided to carry an appeal to the Joint Committee. After hearings and deliberations, the Joint Committee sus- tained the Public Printer's decision that wage increases in the Office

should not be granted unless Government-wide action were taken to

raise the pay of all Federal employees. Following such Governmentwide increases, rates were renegotiated, in accordance with the terms

of the Kiess Act, in August 1944, October 1945, and December 1946.

The following steps make up the usual procedure of preparing and

conducting negotiations:

1. Either formal or informal notice to the Public Printer from one

or more of the crafts that they desire to negotiate new rates of pay.

2. Posting on bulletin boards of advice to all groups affected that

they may proceed with the election of committees.

92
3. Posting on bulletin boards in the sections affected the names of

committee members selected, advising that they are acceptable to the

Public Printer and offering the opportunity to all employees to state

objections, if any.

4. Letters to the chairmen of the committees advising that no objections having been filed, the committees are acceptable to the Public

Printer.

5. After all committees have been selected, first meetings of the

committees with the Pubhc Printer are scheduled sufficiently in ad- vance to permit the several groups to submit their proposals.

6. All the meetings are held in an informal manner. In addition to the Pubhc Printer, there are usually present the Deputy Public Printer,

who may have to conduct future meetings in the case of the Public

Printer's unavoidable absence; a representative of the Personnel Division, who does not participate in the negotiations except when called upon by the Pubhc Printer or the committee members to answer

questions; and a stenographer, who keeps a record of the proceedings.

At each meeting the date for the next meeting is usually set.

7. When agreement is reached as to the new wage rate for each of the crafts represented in the negotiations, these rates are submitted to the Joint Committee on Printing for final approval. Such approval is sometimes not requested until the negotiations with all groups have

been completed.

8. Immediately upon approval by the Joint Committee, an administrative order is posted on the buUetin boards for the information of

all employees.

Owing to factors over which the Public Printer has no control, wage

negotiations may spread over a period of several months. The employees are given full opportunity for expression. In 1946, not fewer than

50 meetings had to be held with the 10 committees to establish the per

diem rates of pay shown in the Public Printer's administrative order

issued at that time:

1 . As a result of negotiations conducted under authority of the Kiess

Act (U. S. C, title 44, sec. 40), the following hourly pay rates, agreed

upon by the Public Printer and the negotiating committees representing the employees, were recommended to and approved by the Joint

Committee on Printing, effective December 18, 1946:

Composing Division (all journeymen) $1. 88 Presswork Division: Platen pressmen 1. 72 Cylinder pressmen, including Miehle vertical 1. 88

Offset pressmen and operating head pressmen 1. 98 93
Platemaking Division: Photoengravers $2. 10 Electrotype finishers and molders 1. 94

Stereotypers 1. 94 Binding Division (all journeymen) 1. 80 Maintenance Division: Carpenters 1. 88

Electricians 1. 88

Machinists 1. 88

Pipe fitters 1. 88

2. Key-worker positions established under Administrative Order No.

36 will continue to receive the same differential as heretofore.

3. Under the authority conferred by section 40, title 44, of the

United States Code, effective December 18, 1946, the pay rate of all hourly wage employees not subject to the negotiating provisions of

the Kiess Act was increased by an amount which, when added to the

14 percent received July 1, 1946, created a rate 20 percent in excess

of the rate in effect June 30, 1946.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPERVISORY SALARIES

This subject is treated briefly here because the question is frequently

raised, usually during wage negotiations with employee representatives

when costs are being discussed. Exact salary tables for the commercial industry are hard to obtain because such information is generally

regarded as confidential.

Beginning at the foreman level, the Office pays a differential of 31.75

percent over the wages of skilled journeymen. In the commercial industry, the range is much greater. In large printing centers, such as New

York and Chicago, foremen receive a weekly minimum of $100, with

the maximum being much higher. In Washington, the commercial

range is $100 to $125, and in a few instances even more. Our foremen

are paid the minimum.

Division superintendents in commercial plants receive from $7,500

to $10,000 annually. The same class of Government Printing Office

officials are paid from $5,905.20 to $6,862.80.

In plants doing an annual business of $1,000,000 or more, it would

be unusual to find a production manager receiving less than $10,000

a year. A Washington printing house operating only two departments employs a production manager for each, with combined salaries

in excess of $14,000. A midwestern plant, considered small in compari- son with the Government Printing Office, pays its production manager

$15,000, and this is not an isolated instance. It is evident that if the

larger plants pay division superintendents $7,500 to $10,000, production managers would draw from $15,000 to $25,000.

94
The midwestern firm mentioned pays its comptroller $8,500 and its personnel officer $9,000 plus bonus and trust-fund earnings that raise

their annual incomes to $12,000 and $13,000, respectively. The range

for comptrollers, treasurers, or chief accountants runs from $6,500 to $15,000 for companies in the million-dollar-business class, with exceptional tops of $25,000 being reported.

Printing Industry of America's latest report shows average pay of

the top executive in printing houses to equal slightly more than 1 per- cent of sales; that is, $50,000 annually for the head of a $5,000,000

business. When the profit rate is higher, salaries may go as high as 2.4 percent of sales. The $5,000,000 company represents employment for

approximately 1,000 persons, in comparison with the 7,000 employees

in the Government Printing Office. One of the more prominent commercial firms in Washington pays its top man three and one-half times the salary of the Public Printer. It pays each of two others twice the salary of the Public Printer. One

printing firm, also in Washington, paid its head official $24,000 before

the war. An employee of the Government Printing Office recently

accepted a position as manager (not the top executive) of a Washington printing house at $10,000 a year. Not one of these Washington

firms employs more than 600 persons. A midwestern firm employing

1,000 persons pays its president $45,000 a year and its vice president

$20,000—with a share in the profits. A well-known Boston printing

house paid its president $50,000 before the war plus a share in the profits.

Executive assistants, usually holding the title of vice president, draw

from 50 to 75 percent of the amount paid the top executive.

While our size and volume of business demand a large administrative

staff, the salaries paid are comparable only to the averages in printing

houses whose business is less than $1,000,000 a year. FACT-FINDING COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED

PubKc printing and binding has always been a controversial matter; no doubt it always will be. From the earliest days of the Republic,

the Government's agencies have desired to retain complete authority over the publications which they originate. The control which has

been for many years vested in the Joint Committee on Printing and

the Public Printer has been accepted only as a matter of necessity.

In every period of emergency aU traditional objections are again

brought out by those who would discard the organization, so laboriously constructed, to control expenditures, methods, processes, quantities, style, prices, content, distribution, and sources of supply.

Ambitious or misinformed agencies and individuals within the Gov95
ernment receive eager assistance from commercial groups. Salesmen,

form designers, publishers' representatives, and dealers in equipment swarm through Government offices with estimates, samples, lay-outs,

and arguments in favor of their product. They will help Government

officials to plan a projected publication with specifications suitable

only for their own plants. When they fail to secure contracts, they

turn their fire on the system and the printing regulations. The public

official who is willing to listen can have an already finished job re- planned, repriced, rescheduled. Under these hypothetical conditions,

the cost is always favorable, the quality is excellent, and delivery dates

are unfailingly met.

All this anticontrol activity, plus many honest differences of opinion,

plus the obvious possibility of error on both sides, calls for a continuing,

impartial fact-finding board. In 1946, the Public Printer initiated a movement for its establishment in a letter to the Director of the

Bureau of the Budget, which, in part, reads as follows:

I will recommend to the Joint Committee on Printing, provided you have no

objection, the setting up of a committee of three—to be composed of a person appointed by the Joint Committee on Printing for the specific purpose, a repre- sentative of the Bureau of the Budget, and a representative of the Government

Printing Office—to which will be referred all questions raised by the various departments and agencies as to the services rendered by the Government Printing

Office or as to the charges made for the same; also that this committee be charged

with the responsibility of thoroughly investigating the causes for the criticisms and have the authority to recommend, through the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, any corrective action which the committee may think necessary to eliminate such causes, if found justified.

This would make available to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget and to Congress an informed and unbiased opinion as to the efficiency and economy with

which the Government's printing demands are met. I can well understand the

confusion that now exists with reference to this subject. From my own investigations of the comparatively few cases called to my attention, this confusion results,

I am certain, from general statements made by departmental representatives who

do not have a sufficient knowledge of the subject or of the facts involved to enable them to examine and discuss the situation intelligently or correctly. In many cases these statements are made in all sincerity but by persons who do not realize or have

little knowledge of the problems, difficulties, and technicalities involved in producing a printing job efficiently and economically. Such statements cause lack of confidence not only in the Government Printing Office but also in the agency

involved, as well as in the minds of members of the appropriations committees

and other officials involved, with the resultant handicaps to those charged with

the efficient production of the Government's printing and duplicating. I sincerely

feel that a fact-finding committee of the type I have suggested, together with an

admonition that no criticisms are to be made by the Government Printing Office of the activities of the agencies or by the agencies of the services or charges by the Government Printing Office until such statements are cleared by the fact-finding

committee, will be of material assistance to all of us who are charged with the

responsibility of seeing that printing needs are economically and efficiently met. 96
The Director of the Bureau of the Budget concurred in the recommendation, but suggested that the committee be increased to five to include a joint representative of the War and Navy Departments and

another from the other major departments. The Pubhc Printer again

appealed for the creation of the committee during the legislative appropriation hearings for 1947. He repeated his plea in the 1948 hearings. Current criticism of controls over public printing and its cost, discussed elsewhere in this report (p. 20), indicate that the need for

impartial review of such criticisms is very real. It is hoped that the

committee will soon be ready to function. The Government Printing

Office is ready to cooperate.

OFFICE OF CHIEF CLERK

Sixty-eight members of the Guard Section and 121 employees of the

Sanitary Section account for the largest percentage of the personnel

assigned to the Chief Clerk. The total for all sections—Correspondence

Unit, Files, Guide, Messenger, Guard, and Sanitary—is 220. This represents an increase of only 23 since 1939, and should be compared with

235 at the end of the fiscal year 1946.

Based on a 1-month count, it is estimated that the Chief Clerk re- ceived 315.400 letters during the year, which were time-stamped and

referred to various sections of the Office. AU filed correspondence was

cross-indexed. Outgoing letters and packages totaled 168,148. More

than 15,000 active personnel files (personal and medical) were maintained. During the year, 409 photographs of new employees were made

and filed. This is the lowest number in several years, the decrease being

attributable to reduction in labor turn-over. The Chief Clerk is charged with responsibility for dealing with all infractions of Office regulations, conducts interviews relating to misconduct, and reviews and records all conversations and correspondence

having to do with these matters. Employee relations, settlement of

bad debts, lost or stolen property, disputes between employees, and

many other similar matters are under his jurisdiction.

The small guide force (six employees) receives all visitors on official business, as well as applicants for employment, and issues passes to them before permitting them to proceed to any section of any building, taking up the passes when visitors leave. The Guide Section

acts as a clearinghouse for telegrams, special-delivery letters, personal

letters to employees, and smaU packages and proofs coming from other

departments. It routes notices and other material for Office-wide dis- tribution and performs miscellaneous minor clerical duties.

Six employees in the messenger pool make half-hourly tours of

97
offices in the administrative divisions and hourly tours of all other

sections for pick-up and delivery of mail, small packages, and interoffice communications, covering 36 numbered stations. It also performs

for other divisions minor clerical work which can be done as ffiler. Establishment of the pool resulted from a work-simphfication proposal submitted in 1944, when messenger vacancies in the administra-*

tive divisions totaled approximately 30 and they could not be ffiled. The present arrangement has improved the service and produced

savings estimated to equal $40,000 annually during the war years. To cover 3 shifts, the Guard Section has 8 officers and 60 men,

exactly the niunber employed in 1939 before the Office floor area was

increased by 49 percent. During the year, the Section turned in 7,163

reports of conditions requiring action by other sections. It took up

170,000 passes at the several entrances and exits of the four buildings.

Peak employment of guards was reached in 1942, when authorized

strength was 100 men. The reduction in force since that year has been

made possible by improved inspection and reporting procedures and

by a series of training courses that greatly increased the individual

efficiency of guard-force members.

The Sanitary SectioD has cooperated with the Medical Section,

Housekeeping Committee, and Safety Committee in keeping all buildings in such clean and orderly condition that commercial printers

who see our plant and offices frequently declare that the Office is a model for the entire printing industry.

The Chief Clerk, in addition to his regular duties, serves on the

Committee on Simplified Office Procedure and on the Efficiency Rating

Review Board. The Assistant Chief Clerk is Chairman of the Griev- ance Board, the Welfare Control Committee, and is a member of the

Safety and Housekeeping Subcommittee of the Executive Safety

Committee.

PURCHASING DIVISION

Present-day market conditions for paper, metals, textiles, chemicals,

and the many other materials necessary in the operation of the Government Printing Office continue to be difficult and unsettled. At times

during the war period, after exhausting all other means of obtaining

needed supplies, the Office could appeal to the War Production Board

and later to the Civilian Production Administration for aid. Now that

all Government controls have been abolished, the burden of the Purchasing Division is greatly increased.

Diu-ing the fiscal year ended June 30, 1947, there were four advertisements for paper—two for 6 months' requirements for envelopes and

98
two for 6 months^ requirements for bindery, pressroom, platemaking,

and miscellaneous supplies. Total paper requirements for the fiscal year amounted to approximately 180,000,000 pounds. In each of the

four attempts to get quotations for paper, the bids were solicited by

advertisements in trade publications, daily papers, and circular letters sent to approximately 275 prospective bidders. For the first quarter

of the fiscal year, 19 bids were received, covering 47 percent of re- quirements; for the second quarter, 19 bids, covering 34 percent of

requirements; for the third quarter, 22 bids, covering 54 percent

of requirements; and for the foiu"th quarter, 14 bids, covering 40

percent of our requirements.

In all cases in which the bids did not cover the estimated requirements, it was necessary to readvertise for spot purchases by the issu- ance of open-market specifications, telegrams, and telephone inquiries,

and in most cases by personal appeal to the manufacturers and jobbers

to supply the paper necessary to meet Government printing demands.

The percentage of coverage received on the quarterly advertisements does not give a true picture of the situation. While the Office

received the percentage of coverage mentioned herein on its paper

requirements, no bid was received for newsprint paper and only a smaU amount for book, writing, and offset papers.

Because of discontinued Government activities, the War Assets Administration has continued to report paper declared surplus, and

in this manner large quantities of usable stocks have been received.

This is also true of printing equipment. Many items have been obtained

through this procedure. Such equipment and supplies were installed in

the Government Printing Office or turned over to om* field offices. During the fiscal year, the Purchasing Division issued 15,987 orders,

totaling in cost approximately $31,561,188. A large percentage of the

orders were for printing and binding. The volume of printing demanded

by Government departments and agencies has not dropped to the

point at which all requirements can be taken care of in the Government Printing Office. It is, therefore, still necessary to have a large

volume of printing done by conunercial firms throughout the United

States. Since we began the purchasing of printing commercially and

until the close of this fiscal year, we have placed 53,306 orders, at an

obhgated cost of $114,749,168, with 2,039 contractors in 296 cities. We furnished the paper for practically all these jobs and the plates for a very large proportion of them. When these costs are added, the total

expenditure for printing represented by commercial orders is approximately $200,000,000.

Owing to lack of sufficient storage space for stocks necessary to meet

demands, we have spent in this fiscal year more the $450,000 for the

99
storage, handling, and hauling of paper. Several years ago, the Public

Printer reconunended that an additional warehouse be built, and this

recommendation is repeated in this report. (See p. 222.)

Throughout the war period, it was very difficult to place orders for

machinery and equipment of all kinds. This condition still exists. During the actual war years no orders could be placed, as practically

all the factories engaged in the manufacture of printing equipment

were working on contracts for war materials. In the present fiscal year, however, orders have been placed for presses, binding machinery,

motortrucks, indoor material-handling trucks, and other machinery

or equipment. Delivery, of course, on many of these items will be

spread over a period of 2 months to 2 years. The report of the Chief Storekeeper shows receipt of 3,393 carloads

of paper during the year, or 173,814,255 pounds net, and many

millions of envelopes. The Stores Shipping Unit made shipments of

blank paper, printed forms, printed matter, and miscellaneous material to Government agencies and commercial printers totaling

32,717,120 pounds. Confidential matter shipped by regular mail

amounted to 1,032 sacks weighing 45,491 pounds. It processed and

filled 6,345 orders for 326,513,485 copies of standard forms and supplies

for departments and agencies. This Unit shipped out more than

15,000,000 pounds of waste paper and approximately 800,000 pounds

of other waste materials, such as scrap iron, copper waste, zinc trimmings, used electrotype plates, and linotype, monotype, and stereo- type dross. The report of the Chief of the Telephone Section shows that while

there is a downward trend in the number of calls, they are still being

handled in large volume. A recent traffic study showed an average of

1,100 calls per hour against approximately 2,100 at the end of the

immediately preceding fiscal year.

100

UAI!

DEPUTY PUBLIC PRINTER

PRODUCTION MANAGER

NIGHT PRODUCTION MANAGER

COMPOSING DIVISION

Superintendent of Composition

Sections: Linotype Monotype Hand

Patents Job

Proof

FIELD SERVICE MANAGER

PLATEMAKING

DIVISION

Superintendent of Platemakins

Sections: Electrotype Moldins

Electrotype Finishing Stereotype Photoengraving

Plate Vault

PRESSWORK

DIVISION

Superintendent o

Prejswork

| Sections: ' Main Press I Job Press Card and Money i Offset i

FIELD SERVICE DIVISION

Director Field Service Operation!

Field Service Offices Boston Kansas Cily, New York Mo.

Philadelphio Denver

Cleveland San Francisco

Cincinnati Los Angeles

Chicago Seottle Atlanta Washington,

Dallas D. C. Survey or.d Reports Section

BINDING DIVISION

Superintendent of Binding

Sections; Pamphlet BooU

Blanl< Cutting and Packing

BRANCHES, DETAILS, AND DELIVERY

Branches: Library of Congress Smithsonian Institution Supreme Court

Details: Capitol Patent Office Others authorized by law Delivery: Delivery Section Garage

BOARD OF INSPECTIONPAPER, ETC.^ Deputy Public Printer (Chairman)

Superintendent of Composition

Representative of Joint Committee

on Printing BOARD OF INSPECTIONBINDING MATERIAL i Deputy Public Pfinler (Chairman)

Superintendent of Binding

Representative of Joint Cpmmitic

BOARD OF CONDEMNATION 2 Deputy Public Printer (Chairmen)

Superintendent of Composition

Representative of Joint Committee

on Printing SAFETY COMMITTEE

Mcdicol and Sofety Director (Choirmon)

Superintendent of Plotemoking

Superintendent of Binding Superintendent of Composition

Superintendent of Presswork Superintendent of Documents

Mechanical Superintendent

Chief Clerk Chief Storekeeper

Chief, Delivery Section

BOARD Of' M/

Director of Pu

Comptroller Superintendent Superinfende

Superintendent

Technical D

Chief Slorekeei COMf

REMEL7

Deputy Public Planning Mane

SupetintendenI Superintendent

CAFETERIA AND RECREA- TION ASSOCIATION'

General Committee

Board of Directors

'Superintendent of Documents.

^Esloblishcd by Piinling Act of Jonuory 12, 1895. All other boards estoblished by the Publ

' Cooperofive orgoniiotion of employees operates Cofeterio, sponsors recreotionol ond ente CHART I
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PUBLIC PRINTER

PART II

P!anning

ON APRIL 16, 1943, four planning di\risions were created by Administrative Order 14, which was issued to effect control ovqt planning,

production, procurement, and deh^rery of printing, and to fix responsibility for the completion of work within the time specified by the

Government Printing OflGice in line with the requirements of the

agency requisitioning printing. On January 1, 1946, the order was

supplemented to abolish the position of Production Planning Assistant

to the Public Printer and create in its stead the position of Planning

Manager, establishing him as the principal liaison official in departmental contacts and giving him the responsibility of administering the

activities of the four divisions.

In addition to carrying most of the duties of his predecessor, the

Planning Manager was charged with the postwar consolidation of the

personnel in the divisions. Under his direction the force was reduced

from the 1945 high of 347 to its June 30, 1947, level of 244 employees.

Because of the comparatively recent organization of planning in line with modern engineering trends and with the Government's requirements for service, charts showing the set-up of each planning division

by personnel classifications and functions have been included in the

reports of their activities. The Planning Manager is also chairman of the Requisition Review

Board and is a member of the Committee on Remelting Plates, the

Style Manual Board, and the Work Simplification Board. He fre- quently serves on special-purpose committees and is the Public Printer's chief consultant on all matters directly relating to the activities of

the planning divisions.

101
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

ORGANIZATION CHART

ADVISORY COMMITTEES

DIVISION OF PLANNING SERVICE

The administrative order which created this Division in 1943

assigns to it responsibiUty for receipt and registration of all congressional and departmental requisitions, issuance of waivers where direct

procurement by the ordering agency is in the Government's best

interest, selection of publications best suited for commercial procurement, establishment of schedules, maintenance of records on day-to- day progress of work in the production divisions, and all Office liaison

with ordering agencies on questions which arise in the requisitioning

and production of public printing and binding. It also administers the

printing and binding laws, regulations, and orders, and performs all functions relating to the foregoing activities, usually in cooperation

with the other divisions of the Office. In the fiscal year 1947, there was a marked increase in the number of

printing and binding requisitions received and handled. The number of

waivers granted to the agencies for direct procurement was 32.5

percent under that for the previous year. The largest percentage of

these waivers was for marginally punched continuous forms, which are used over special alining devices, and miscellaneous items that are regularly carried in stock by dealers. The figures for this and the

immediately preceding fiscal years are:

Activity 1945 1947

Printing and binding requisitions received— 67, 886

4,918

1,700

6, 844

2,912

$1, 852,903.85

$47, 224, 867. 3649

74,224

4, 816

1, 645

6, 133

1, 963

1 $1, 840, 479. 71

$53, 009, 763. 69

65

Blank paper requisitions received... Supply orders received Standard-form orders received (Form 2390 for open jackets) Waivers issued Expenditures on waivers by departments

Cost of printing and binding, blank paper and supplies.. Number of employees (close of fiscal year)

I Amount expended on 492 waivers has not yet been reported. DATED PERIODICALS

During the year, a concerted effort has been made to insure prompt

issuance of all dated periodicals. With the cooperation of the ordering

agencies and our production divisions, a performance record without

precedent in the Government has been achieved. In the last 2 months

of the year, every scheduled date for proofs has been met by the Office

and only relatively few deliveries of the completed publications were

behind schedule, even though these 2 months were^probably the

busiest of the year.

102
STABILIZING WORK LOAD

The extraordinary printing and binding requirements of the Eightieth

IJongress not only taxed the production facilities of the Office but also Dresented many problems in connection with the scheduling of departnental printing. It was necessary to resort to commercial procurement

)f a large volume of work, particularly composition. In many cases, lowever, it was possible to do the binding in the Office, and commercial

contractors, after completing the press sheets on such orders, shipped

them to us for bindery finishing. Plates or other reproducibles were also returned by the contractors to be available for future reprints.

Because of the large backlog of work on hand, the ordering agencies were frequently asked for additional time. While our requests sometimes were granted, in most cases the agencies insisted that the originally requested date would have to be met. Herein lies one of the most

serious obstacles to stabilized production of pubhc printing and binding. Usually within a few weeks after the adjournment of Congress, the

volume of work drops to a point where it would be desirable to have a

certain amount of filler. The Division of Planning Service has asked the

several departments and agencies to advance some of their larger pubHcations for production during the short slack season, and these discussions appear to be meeting with reasonable success. During May and June of this year, the War Department submitted

about 700 orders for reprints of their publications, in addition to their

usual number of current requisitions. Through close cooperation of the

Department and our planning and production divisions, a large per- centage of these have been scheduled for Government Printing Office

production at times when certain types of equipment are available and

without delaying other pressing work,

REVIEW OF REQUISITIONS

An average of 300 different orders were received on every workday

during the year. The Requisition Section reviews these to insure that

they are in compHance with the printing laws, the rules and regulations

of the Joint Committee on Printing, the decisions of the Comptroller

General, and the standards of the Government Printing Office. All

orders for printing of an informational nature, totaling 300,000 units

(number of pages times number of copies) or more must be accompanied by clearances from the Bureau of the Budget. It is the Requisition Section's responsibility to see that the clearances have been made.

The Section also enforces Bureau of the Budget Regulation No. 4,

which estabhshes standard letterhead and envelope specifications and

103
places limitations on many other miscellaneous items. Requisitions for

standard forms are checked for weight, color, and grade of paper, trim

size, and color of ink, in order that deviation from approved standards

may be corrected. On all new or revised accounting forms which carry

the statement ''Approved by the Comptroller General,'' final proofs

are sent to the General Accounting Office for approval before printing.

This Section is also responsible for entering on the printing order

the proper number of copies required by law for depository libraries,

foreign exchanges, and use of Congress. The depository libraries receive

only the classes of publications they have asked for, and consequently

distribution lists vary with each order. The Section must add to the

printing order all "rider" requests from agencies other than the one

initiating the work. Unless the ''rider" orders are added before the job

goes into production, higher cost would result. Indicating the proper

"distribution" involves following up hundreds of standing orders from

various departments and from our Public Documents Division for

many classes of congressional and departmental publications.

SCHEDULING COMMITTEE

A Scheduling Committee, composed of five printing technicians,

representing each of the four planning divisions and the Office of the

Production Manager, reviews every requisition received by the Office,

and within 48 hours establishes a schedule for completion of the work

ordered. No publication is put into production until this determiaation

has been made. Before a final decision can be reached, it is necessary

to investigate and answer the following questions:

Is equipment available in the Office for production of the publication in accordance with the requested delivery date?

Is the publication better suited to commercial production? If so, can the commercial supplier meet the schedule?

What production method shall be used? Is a combination of

methods or sources to be used?

Is paper stock available? If not, can it be procured? Should a

substitute be used?

Should recommendation be made for any change in the ordering

agency's specifications to enable us to meet the schedule or to provide a more satisfactory job at lowest possible cost? The committee also reviews requests for waivers in order to insure

that the best interests of the Government are served by release. If it

is more practicable for the Office to produce or procure the work in

question, the waiver is refused. As a result of this close review, the

granting of waivers has declined considerably, as shown in the table

104
on page 102, and release is usually given only for stock items or other

specialty materials procurable through Treasury Department contracts. In some instances, it is necessary to release jobs on which

schedules cannot be met. Proofs returned by the ordering agencies

are routed through the Scheduling Committee for a check on changes

and corrections which might alter the established production plan.

The scheduling of work, first undertaken by the Office during the war emergency, is one of the foremost steps to better service. Prior to the commencement of scheduling, a much greater length of time was

required for production of an average publication, and in many in- stances a routine order might be shunted aside for several months, or even for as long as a year, to allow other publications, under pressure,

to go through.

LISTING PRINTING PLATES AND REPRODUCIBLES

The Division of Planning Service was given a big additional assignment during the year. It has been preparing lists for each Government

department or agency showing all plates, mats, negatives, and illus- trations that were in storage for possible reprint orders. The departments and agencies were instructed to review the lists and indicate all items which would not be required for reprinting and which could,

therefore, be destroyed. This action became necessary because over a

period of years so many plates had accumulated in our Plate Vault

that all available space was being utilized. There was a further need of

salvaging metal and restoring it to production channels.

The lists were about 8 months in preparation, using the record cards

of the Plate Vault Section and Planning Service Division's ledgers to get identifying data. A total of 95,000 different publications was

reported. The departments and agencies have passed on 25,000 of them and have indicated that 17,000 sets of reproducibles, involving as many as a thousand plates on some of the larger publications, may be

destroyed. If the percentage is maintained on the remaining 70,000

publications, there w^iU be ample space for plate storage for many years

to come, and a large amount of dead metal will be recovered.

To prevent further unnecessary storing of plates, ordering agencies

are now required to specify on their requisitions how long reproducibles are to be held. At the expiration of this period, the reproducibles are destroyed unless a requisition extending the storage expiration date is submitted.

In preparing reproducibles-in-storage listings, it was discovered that

the Reports of the United States Board of Tax Appeals involved the

storage of stereotype mats and plates on 53 volumes, approximating

105
1,400 pages each. The reports frequently are reprinted for pubHc sale and consequently mats had to be kept on hand for recasting of stereo- type plates whenever plates became worn. New reports are received

at the rate of two or three volumes a year. In the future, after the re- ports are printed, several press sheets will be run on paper suitable for camera reproduction. The sheets will be held until spare time is available for the making of negatives for use on future reprints. By the proposed method, savings in storage costs amounting to $4,000 annually can be made on this group of publications.

PAPER SHORTAGE

The serious paper shortage during the year aggravated the problems

of the Planning Service Division. It was almost the exception rather

than the rule when a requisition could be processed to completion

without the necessity of discussion and negotiations with the department on the question of paper. In order to meet schedules, frequent

substitutions had to be made. Furthermore, grades, particularly as to general quality and color, were often so unsatisfactory that there were

frequent complaints about completed publications. It is now not unusual for mills and suppliers to furnish three or four shades of paper in a skid of less than 2,000 pounds; sorting it out is impossible. Departments seem to realize the unsatisfactory paper-market conditions and

have been very cooperative on the whole, but the Division is kept quite

busy trying to maintain the good relations that are threatened by paper

shortages and inadequacies.

The most embarrassing situation of this kind was caused by our

inability to secure a sufficient amount of safety paper to keep production of money orders at a necessary level. Stock on hand was practically

exhausted on March 1, 1947, and during the following 3 months there was continuous negotiation, through our Purchasing Division, with

the limited number of processors who were able to produce paper of

this kind. Post Office Department officials were in almost daily consultation with this Division. At the same time, our Money Order

Section had to make numerous adjustments in its production schedules

in an effort to keep up with requirements. Only in the final month of

the fiscal year was sufficient paper secured to get production on an

adequate schedule.

SERVICE TO DEPARTMENTS

There are from 6,000 to 10,000 different jobs in various stages of

production at all times. It is the function of our Departmental Infor106
mation Section to keep constant record of their progress, to follow up

the intermediate schedules, and furnish any reports on them required

by the ordering agencies. Each step in the progress of a publication is reported from the production divisions by Telautograph, and this Section enters the reports on a control card maintained for each job.

Any deviation from schedule is immediately called to the attention of

the Office of the Production Manager for correction.

All memoranda from departments requesting changes in specifications on jobs already in production are routed to this Section, and its progress clerks are responsible for seeing that the work jackets are properly altered. This Section also maintains Telautograph connections with several

of the larger departments. During the course of a day, there are many

inquiries by telephone from the approximately 80 departmental liaison

officers. This system of scheduling and follow-up of all publications is of

immense benefit to the departments. Many of them have expressed

complete satisfaction with it and are on record as desiring that it be

continued. When a reduction in force in this Division ehminated a

technical position connected with the servicing of one of the larger

departments, it objected strenuously and at that time stated that it would fight any proposal to make further reduction in this Section, even declaring that it would go to the Joint Committee on Printing if there were a proposal to reduce the service by changing the system

of reporting.

RELATIONS WITH DEPARTMENTAL PERSONNEL

It is believed that the Government Printing Office gets many

unreasonable requests for dehvery of printing because personnel

within the ordering agencies do not sufficiently understand the organization of this Office and the technical aspects of production. Fre- quently orders for standard items are delayed until "there is only a few days' supply of forms remaining." Oftentimes our liaison is carried on with people whose experience has been hmited to ordering of

mimeograph or multilith work and who apply the same time hmitations

for printing that they would apply to that type of reproduction. The

Division of Planning Service goes as far as it can to keep printing

Haison offices in the departments and agencies advised of the service

that can be rendered by the Office. They are told, whenever the opportunity presents itself, of the procedures which they should follow to get their printing in the speediest, most efficient, and economical manner and are invited to come to the Office for a discussion of their

107
problems before submitting requisition and copy. The Division of

Planning Service is ready at all times to supply information or arrange

conferences to deal with such matters as preparation of manuscript,

illustration copy, schedules, methods of production, and other technical problems.

During the year, many group discussions and conferences were held

with every large ordering agency and most of the smaller establishments for the purpose of setting up programs for the production of

their jobs or for laying out the plans for unusual publications. These

meetings, in almost all instances, were well worth the time expended

and insured trouble-free production when the pubhcations finally came to the requisition stage.

Following are a few excerpts from the many letters of commendation and appreciation that were received by this Office during the

year, some of which were largely the result of arrangements established

by group conferences:

It has been called to my attention by those members of my staff who maintain

contacts with the Government Printing OfBce for the Federal Housing Administration that they have been receiving very courteous and efficient cooperation

from the GPO.

This letter is simply to thank you and to let you know that I appreciate it, particularly in view of the very great pressure under which I know you are now

operating. (Commissioner, Federal Housing Administration, January 9, 1947.)

* * *

I hope that you will accept for yourself and extend to your staff my hearty

thanks and congratulations on the efficient and expeditious performance in printing the Medical Survey of the Bituminous-Coal Industry. The report is an excellent example of the printing art. I have been gratified to hear from various members of my staff about the courteous and painstaking efforts of your printers and supervisors in getting the

report out in record time. I deeply appreciate this spirit of cooperation. (Secretary

of the Interior, April 24, 1947.)

* * *

I am writing to express appreciation for the splendid cooperation and excellent

service rendered by your planning service and production staff in the recent hurry-up job of printing the report of the Special Session of the Judicial Conference

of Senior Circuit Judges. (Chief Justice of the United States, May 6, 1947.)

* * * As Chairman of the President's Advisory Commission on Universal Training, 1 would like to express the great appreciation of myself and all the other members

for the miraculous job which the Government Printing Office performed in publishing our report. The rigorous time schedules which we fixed, the poor shape in which we sub- mitted copy, and the unorthodox manner in which we used galley, and even page

proof, as though it were a working draft, placed burdens on you and your Office which were heavy and may in many instances have appeared to be unreasonable. 108
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Our requests would have been wholly unwarranted if we in turn had not been

hastening to file our report within the time specified by the President and to make

it as nearly a perfect document as we could under our own time limitations. For

all the many inconveniences to which we put you, we apologize, and for the courtesy and eflBciency of you and all the hundreds of other employees in the Govern- ment Printing Office who cheerfully accepted these inconveniences and still turned

out our job on time, we express our very sincere thanks. Because of the unusual and outstanding services rendered by the Government

Printing Office in this instance, I am taking the liberty of sending a copy of this

letter to the President. (Chairman, President's Advisory Commission on Universal

Training, May 29, 1947.)

* * *

I am writing to convey to you the sentiments of the libraries receiving our Cumulative Catalog and to join with them in expressing appreciation of the expeditious treatment you are according it. Since the distribution of the January issue, subscribers have praised the prompt issuance of the Cumulative Catalog, emphasizing the importance of prompt publication to the usefulness of the catalog. The

success which the Cumulative Catalog achieved so far is, therefore, due in large

part to your efforts.

I also wish to express my appreciation of the ready cooperation which members

of your staff have given the Library of Congress in preparation of the fifth edition

of the Subject Headings and the Rules for Headings and the Rules for Descriptive

Cataloging. (Librarian of Congress, June 11, 1947.)

* * *

It is with great pleasure that I inform you of the cooperation which the Commission recently received from members of the Planning Division of the Govern- ment Printing Office, and I wish to express the gratitude of the Commission for that

cooperation of your staff. This past week the Commission was faced with the task of filing a brief with the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which has been completed but 3 days before the scheduled date of filing. The members of the Planning Service Division were extremely cooperative in arranging for the delivery of this brief in such a short period of time and I am happy to say that the brief was completed

and filed on schedule. (Acting Chairman, Federal Communications Commission,

June 11, 1947.) PERSONNEL

The Planning Service Division had, on June 30, 1947, 55 employees,

compared with 49 at the end of the previous fiscal year. About 10 percent of the force is normally assigned to night duty or shift 2. A new

position was created for processing of plate-storage cards. One employee (a veteran) is being carried on the rolls while going to school.

One other employee, on detail to the Division during the previous

fiscal year, has been transferred to the Division rolls. Three vacancies,

not included in the 1946 figures, were filled during the year. The dis- tribution of the employees by sections and the number in each

classification are given in chart II. 109
DIVISION OF PLANT PLANNING

The functions of the Division of Plant Planning are performed by 75

employees, working on 3 shifts in 5 sections. The distribution of the

employees by sections and the number in each classification are given

in chart III. For every printing and binding job processed by the production

divisions of the Government Printing Office, Plant Planning must lay

out a production scheme, prepare an estimate, designate paper stock,

write and review a work jacket, assign each publication to specific press

groups or other equipment, and establish dates for the intermediate

schedules which control the flow of work. It also controls the ordering

and utilization of paper and fills departmental requisitions for blank

paper and miscellaneous supplies. The functional scheme, by units, is given in chart IV.

During the year the Division made 38,730 estimates and prepared

51,390 work jackets. It also processed 1,448 print orders (suborders) on which individual jackets and estimates were not prepared. Comparative and informal estimates are not included in the foregoing

figures nor do they show the very large number of jackets handled two

or more times because the plan for printing and binding operations

subsequent to type composition had to await approval of galley and

page proofs.

The administrative order creating the Division in 1943 was the

result of conditions and requirements that completely outmoded the

then-existing planning organization. It added many entirely new functions and procedures in order to meet the departmental demands for

unprecedented service. There was no made-to-order pattern in the

printing industry for the Division to follow. Only minor changes have

since been found necessary in the original reorganization plan. An

effort will be made in the report of the Division's operations to show

what changes have been made, why they have been considered necessary, and what has been accomplished by them.

PREORGANIZATION PLANNING PRACTICES

Prior to the establishment of the Plant Planning Division as presently organized, no attempt was made to schedule proofs or

delivery of all publications. The Ofiice followed the time-hallowed

custom prevalent in nearly all manufacturing plants of keeping

equipment change-overs at a minimum by running through all work

of one class before turning to another. As long as this practice met

the Government's service requirements, it was the easiest way and

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probably the cheapest. In the relatively few cases in which the ordering agency requested dehvery by a given date, the request was carried on the jacket, and production supervisors were expected to follow up

the job and see that the date was met. In the first years of the war

the requests, of course, became much more frequent and were eventually responsible for the introduction of scientific scheduling.

Requisitions were not necessarily processed through the Planning

Division in the order received. Weeks or months might pass before even a jacket number was assigned to orders received in a routine manner. Under these conditions the departments had no way of knowing even approximately when their jobs would be delivered. Often as many as 3,000 or 4,000 requisitions were on hand, waiting to be

processed. By contrast, there are now very seldom more than 500

unwritten jackets on hand at any one time, and they are processed

in the order of their urgency.

Several methods were tried in an effort to keep orders current. A

weekly ''low jacket number" was designated so that all jobs up to that number could be worked on during the week. A ''60-day jacket"

list was issued periodically in an effort to complete all jobs over 60

days old. Obviously, neither of these plans was completely workable,

since they did not take into accoimt the variety of jobs, the amount

of work to be done on each, or the department's dehvery needs.

These procedmes were based entirely on the sequence of jacket

numbers.

Another system added a penalty charge on work which could not

wait its turn. At first, this charge was 50 percent; later it was cut to 20 percent. Agencies with limited funds were at a disadvantage.

Early in the war, congressional speeches, bills, and hearings were

taken care of by a smaU night force and then, as now, were produced

under terrific pressure. Several employees had to be added to the

night shift to expedite congressional dehveries.

NO REAL PLAN FOR PRODUCTION

The specifications carried on department requisitions were seldom

questioned by jacket writers, and jobs were repeatedly reprinted without considering possible economies in use of paper or choice of methods.

There was insufficient planning personnel and no procedure for careful

production planning. Jackets were little more than shop orders.

The nimiber and kind of plates to be made or mended, the size of

the press sheet, and the size or kind of press to be used were left to the

discretion of production supervisors at various levels. When jobs were ready for press, they were imposed and assigned to

111
the press which needed work. Efforts to match paper sizes with press

capacity were casual.

Bindery sections used their own judgment on ganging books or forms for folding, punching, perforating, and other operations, as well

as the methods to be used.

These decisions were made by qualified craftsmen, but they were handicapped by lack of information on over-all Office work loads and

objectives as well as departmental requirements. Furthermore, they

used time which could better be spent in production or supervision.

The jacket writer had no authority to specify production methods.

His work consisted principally of transferring from the department

requisition to the work jacket information concerning such items as the trim size, the quantity ordered, the color of ink, and the quantity

of paper. On book work, paper quantity was estimated and the notation "Issue as required" left the pressroom discretion to draw stock as

it saw fit. A few other notations, such as "Plates on hand,'* "Make

plates," or "Mend plates," were inserted. Many jackets were merely

marked "Set or mend as necessary."

Additional items of information now put on the work jacket have

relieved the production divisions and have helped to assure that the

departments get the maximmn of printing and binding for the funds

expended.

Cost estimates were not based on the method of production but on

flat rates and scales. No estimates were made on depository orders or Superintendent of Documents riders, and very few on departmental

riders. Dated periodicals were seldom estimated because complete copy was not received until after production had been started.

However, an estimate was made on each order for miscellaneous

suppHes, such as ruled tablets, stock blankbooks, and stenographers'

notebooks. These estimates have been eliminated as unnecessary, since

the prices are shown in our Catalog of Standard Forms and Miscella- neous SuppHes.

After they were written, the jackets were checked for omissions by

the head jacket writer. He was not a technician, so there was no review

of jackets for technical errors. No date was set for each division to complete any given jacket, so some jobs were processed quickly, while

others lay for long periods of time in each division or section, depending on the work load or the type of work to be done, without considering

the needs of the ordering agencies.

The Planning Division had no control over the sizes, grades, weights, or quantities of paper ordered by the Government Printing OflSce. This was done by the Purchasing Division, which had no connection

with the planning of work for the presses and other equipment, nor 112
with the determination as to what paper stock was to be used on any

particular job. Consequently, many of the stock-sheet sizes were not

suited to economical production and some of the grades and weights were not in keeping with the end use of the products.

Each jacket writer assigned the size and quantity of paper to his

jobs as he saw fit. He did not know whether the necessary quantity of a particular grade was available, or would be available at the time the

job was to go to press. Under this method, if a jacket specified a 32- by

42-inch sheet, a 21- by 32-inch sheet might be drawn and printed, re- gardless of the quantity involved, thus doubling the press run. The Purchasing Division ordered replenishments based on past use

of each grade of paper without regard to the fact that many large jobs were one-time orders. Uneconomical sheet sizes were repurchased

because they had been run before. The press was made to fit the paper

size instead of buying sheets to fit the press. This system was bad enough even when paper was plentiful and

manufacturers were anxious to bid on Government contracts, but

under present conditions of paper shortages, reluctance of bidders,

and slow, uncertain deliveries of paper, it would be entirely unworkable. Before 1940, it was the Ofiice policy to carry in the Stores Section

smaU quantities of certain standard forms for emergency issue only.

The general practice was to print each form as required for a specific

departmental jacket in quantities ranging from 5,000 to 1,000,000 ' copies. Stock books, pads, tablets, stenographers' notebooks, etc., were stored by the bindery and issued upon receipt of jackets specifying

such items.

To insure economical manufacture, it was decided to print an esti- mated 3 to 6 months' supply of all standard forms and miscellaneous

supply items. We centralized the control of the program in the Blank

Paper and Miscellaneous Supphes Section and the storage and issue

of it in the Stores Section. All stock items carried by Stores are now

included in our Standard Forms and Miscellaneous Supplies Catalog,

which contains 437 items, as compared with 157 listed in issues of several years ago. The practice of printing such items on departmental

jackets was discontinued upon establishment of the new policy.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS UNDER NEW ORGANIZATION

The operating expense of the Division for the fiscal year 1947 was

approximately $283,000. The exact figure cannot be determined be- cause this Division and the Division of Planning Service are combined

as one group on the second shift. 113
For a period of 27 months, July 1943 through September 1945, this

Division kept a record of the comparative cost of jobs as specified by

the ordering agencies and as produced with our recommended changes.

For this period the average annual savings were 61,072 man- and

machine-hours and 648,000 pounds of paper. The average annual

monetary saving was $294,196, more than the entire Division over- head. Many of these economies are recurrent because of frequent

reprints, and the same savings are being made daily on new jobs.

The figures used here apply only to the savings brought about by

recommending changes in a publication that would reduce its cost and do not take into account the Division's normal function of select- ing the most economical production method for every job printed,

due consideration, of course, being given the ordering agency's

specifications.

Two War Department jobs will serve as examples of the hundreds on which savings are regularly made by reviewing the specifications.

The Department submitted a request for 17,750 copies of a training

manual. The specifications called for 16- by 10)^-inch trim size and

544 pages printing as right-hand pages only, or a total of 1,088 paper

pages. Our planners, reviewing the specifications, recommended a trim

size of 14 by 10}^ inches, which permitted more pages out of a press

sheet. It would fold down to larger signatures with subsequent savings

in paper, presswork, and bindery operations. The Department's

acceptance of this suggestion and of our further recommendation

that the manual be printed face-and-back resulted in a saving of

115,576 pounds of paper, 3,676 man- and machine-hours, and in a reduction of $23,306.78 in the cost of the job.

The War Department requisition for a publication entitled 'Treventive Maintenance Practices for Ground Signal Equipment" called

for 390,275 separate-cover copies. When the ''O. K.-to-print proofs" were received, it was discovered that the pamphlet made 34 text pages. Because of the large number of copies, this pamphlet was an

ideal job for our magazine web presses, except that 34 pages and cover

required working the job in 2 loads, 1 of 32 pages 2-up and 1 of 4 pages

8-up. In addition to this, a flat-bed run of the cover 4-up would have

been necessary. The covers would be folded and the two signatures and

cover placed on an insetting machine and saddle-stitched. By a little resetting and elimination of white space, the pamphlet could be run back into 32 pages including cover. The War Department agreed to the

condensation and the elimination of the separate cover, with the result

that the pamphlet was run 32 pages 2-up on one magazine web press in one load and saddle-stitched on the press. Adoption of our recom- mendation reduced the cost of the job by $3,797.

114
Under present practices, plans always provide for filling equipment

to its capacity. In many instances this has been accomplished by

running small-size, large-order jobs, such as money-order applications,

in the waste press space. PAPER CATALOG AND INVENTORY

A new sheet size, 40 by 52 K inches, which is a multiple of the most

common form size, 8 by 10}^ inches, has been established. Use of

11,000,000 sheets of this size during the fiscal year, based on face-andback printing of 25 forms to the sheet, compared with 16 or 18 on pre- viously stocked sizes, has saved 5,278 machine-hours. This saving will continue year after year. In some instances items used for specific jobs were reduced in size to an absolute minimum, which effected a considerable saving. As an

example, a sheet size of 24 by 32 inches of a 70-pound M. F. paper was

used for congressional bills. Research by our Plant Planning Division

disclosed the fact that it could be reduced to 22)^ by 31 inches, which

results in a saving of 6 pounds of paper for every 1,000 sheets used.

The normal consumption is approximately 8,000,000 sheets annually.

On the basis of 6 pounds per 1,000 sheets, a saving is made at the rate

of 48,000 pounds a year. The control and maintenance of our Paper Catalog and Inventory of

regular items was the responsibility of the Purchasing Division prior to transfer of these functions to the Division of Plant Planning. The

change placed the responsibility with this Division of determining and

assigning to each job the grade, color, weight, and most economical

size of paper to be used in manufactiu'e.

The number of items regularly carried in stock has been reduced

from 728 to the present listing of 499, thereby saving space and reducing warehousing problems and record keeping. The smaller figure

includes a few new items which were added to establish a well-balanced

inventory, with a range of choice sufiicient to satisfy the requirements

of practically all jobs.

Mimeograph paper is being purchased }^-inch oversize to permit

trimming of battered or rough edges, thereby eliminating trouble in

further machine processing by the ordering agency. Changes in prime

stock sizes, in order to attain the most economical number of standardsize cut sheets, has brought mimeograph-paper savings to 73,000

pounds annually.

Many orders for letterheads are received which require use of the

letterhead form on mimeograph paper. Having sizes of mimeograph

paper conform to standard sizes in writing and bond papers, except for

115
the extra trim, results in further economy by eliminating reimposition

and additional make-ready for a different sheet size. Sizes of cover stocks, ledger, and index have all been changed to provide better press fills or more economical lay-out.

Inventory control is more positive by centralization in the Division

having the best knowledge of equipment capacity. Accurate methods

of estimating paper requirements result from use of tabulated reports

of past use, quantity obligated for work in process, and quantities on hand and on order.

A study by this Division of the causes for shortages and spoilages

placed the responsibility in a majority of cases on the inequities and

lack of uniformity in our Paper Allowance Chart.

This chart, as revised by us in cooperation with the Office of the

Production Manager and the Division of Accounts, is reducing shortages and overs in production. It has almost altogether removed the

necessity for returning to press to make up shortages.

The method of securing Superintendent of Documents rider orders

has been revised with the result that the Procurement Section of the

Documents Division now has ample time and information to order additional copies of department publications before the department order

is completed. By this arrangement, achieved through changing the

notification form, both confusion and expense are reduced.

Cooperation between divisions in the Office has resulted in adapting

the offset process to printing of ruled sheets for cash books, ledger

books, and other record forms usually done on bindery pen-ruling machines. Printing of down lines, faiQt lines, and headings in one operation and one color has been responsible for tremendous savings.

Offset production permits printiQg of a sheet double the size possible on a pen-ruling machine. Folding, gathering, and sewing operations are halved, and proportionate savings are effected throughout

the manufacture of such jobs.

Not all pen-ruling work is economically adaptable to offset printing.

Short-run work, ruling work only, and jobs with no bindery operations

may still be produced more economically by bindery ruling.

The letterpress and offset printing standards, which are of great

assistance to the departments in planning or preparing copy for their

publications and to this Office in simplifying production and controlling costs, were worked out by our Division of Typography and

Design in collaboration with this Division. The more economical

plate-mend and plate-storage procedures now in effect are partly the

work of Plant Planning representatives.

116
PRODUCTION PLANNING SECTION

In addition to determining the general plan for each individual job

received in the Office and preparing a tentative schedule for it, this

Section has investigated many of the broader problems of planning and

production during the year. It has, for example, devised a lay-out for producing 20-page pamphlets of document size in quantities of 5,000

or less by the offset method. As formerly laid out, this irregular number

of pages resulted in excessive folding charges, but under the new plan

the pages are combined into regular signatures that present no production problem.

This Section is investigating the possibility of increasing the maximum of pages to be saddle-stitched. Test runs on 64-page folds have

been favorable. If the tests continue to be satisfactory, the plan will

eliminate much insetting and costlier side stitching.

Construction of a complex War Department technical manual has

been redesigned to simplify and expedite production. In the last 6 months of the fiscal year, three orders totaling 385,000 copies have

been received for the improved manual.

The consultant on methods and procedures and representatives of the production divisions recently requested that this Section study

the effect of imposition or lay-out for press on the economy of subsequent binding operations. The purpose of the investigation is to determine whether jacket writers should make up a dummy of all publications for insertion in the work jacket. There is a question

whether the advantage of this explicit designation of imposition and

folding would not be offset by the loss of freedom production supervisors now enjoy in determining the most economical method according to work loads. The proposed practice would also add to the work

of this Division. The Imposition, Presswork, and Folding Guide,

which was developed during the investigation, wiU be useful in revising

the production divisions' Imposition Book and will be made available

if it proves advisable to adopt the recommended jacket procedure.

The old requisition form, used by the departments for many years, was not suitable for complete description of jobs ordered. The form was redesigned by the Division of Typography and Design in accord- ance with changes made in the items by this Section. Its approval by

the Bureau of the Budget and adoption by departments for requisitioning of printing and binding has eliminated many misunderstandings and resulted in clearer specifications.

Production of many department forms, memo books, stenographers'

notebooks, tablets, blankbooks, and miscellaneous items of printing

have been improved and expedited through the work of this Section.

117
It has made many suggestions which are being adopted into our revised

Scale of Prices, provided assistance on special assignments of other

divisions, and helped with many problems of ordering agencies.

ESTIMATING AND JACKET PREPARATION SECTION

Besides the routine work required of this Section, as indicated by

its title, it has done a great amount of work for the departments and

for other divisions of the Office. For example, 1,281 informal estimates

made during the year show the extent to which the ordering agencies

look to it for guidance in preparing and planning their publications

prior to ordering. It provides similar service for congressional committees and Members of Congress, and prices all sales copies for our Superintendent of Documents. It is the planning section most closely

connected with the individual production divisions and sections, and

its work plans reflect the benefits of close contact and cooperation with

production supervisors.

JACKET REVIEW AND SCHEDULING SECTION

Working with visible record boards that show every job in press or scheduled for press production, this Section has been able to reduce

delinquencies in the Presswork Division almost to the vanishing point.

It also stabilizes the work load in press groups in such a manner that

congestion is avoided even though the flow of orders into the Office is extremely irregular.

Equipment other than presses is less susceptible to scheduling by

individual units, but records are kept of capacity and work on hand so that the same general application of scheduling insures completion of work on the dates established.

Because of our familiarity with plant conditions, the planning of

many large jobs, such as the income-tax forms and the Pearl Harbor

hearings, is handled entirely within this Section. On these two jobs, as on many others, smooth, economical, and prompt production was

achieved.

Clerks trained within this Section are now doing many jobs which

were at one time the responsibility of technicians, employed at much

higher grades of pay.

Applications for domestic money orders are produced for the Post

Office Department at the rate of about 400,000,000 annually, with

delivery spread over the entire period. Great savings of paper and in

press-hours have been made by running these in combination with

other forms.

118
Reviewing of all jackets by this Section keeps errors at a minimum

and helps to insure that the Government gets better printing and

binding more efficiently and economically in this Office than it could

possibly get from any other source. PAPER AND MATERIAL CONTROL SECTION

A section chief and eight employees controlled the ordering and

issuing of approximately 180,000,000 pounds of purchased paper stock;

also of 3,132,392,767 sheets of paper, 6,035,500 envelopes, 139,730

yards of tracing paper and cloth, and 4,409,211 pounds of roll stock

secured from war surplus. This Section turned the surplus to good

account by having it utilized in production, thus helping to maintain

normal inventories and reducing the need for purchase of prime stock.

It also disposed of $45,000 worth of usable waste as a substitute for prime stock, and has greatly reduced odd-lot stocks and discontinued

and obsolete paper items.

A survey of some regular stock items was made to determine if changes in size were necessary for better utilization. As a result, several

changes were made in sizes. Additional sizes were added for capacity

production on the new L-type disk ruling machine that is now being

erected.

To achieve better quality of illustration work in printing by the off- set process a new grade of paper (litho offset coated) was added.

BLANK PAPER A^'D MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES SECTION

This Section, consisting of a chief and four clerks, processed orders,

requisitions, estimates, and jackets for paper and supplies representing more than $7,000,000 worth of business in the past year. The comparative figure for 1939 was $1,658,733. It disposed of 17K million pounds

of surplus paper to departments. All the liaison necessary to service the

Government's blank-paper needs was carried on by this Section. It should be added that prior to the establishment of the present organization these orders were received on printing and binding requisitions

and all the work of processing the orders was done by craft technicians

at much higher rates of pay.

DIVISION OF COMMERCIAL PLANNING

The Division of Commercial Planning was established for the purpose

of setting up and reviewing cost estimates, specifications, and schedules

for aU printing and binding procured from commercial sources. Its tech119
nical personnel must be familiar with the equipment of contractors so that the production plans it prepares will be in conformity with available facilities. It certifies bids taken by the Purchasing Division, selects the best and lowest bidder, and maintains progress-of-work records before the award is made and during the time the successful bidder has

the job in production, performing these and related functions in collaboration with our Accounting, Purchasing, Production, and the other

three planning divisions.

COMMERCIAL PROCUREMENT OF PRINTING

The Public Printer is authorized (sec. 111a, title 44, U. S. C.) to pro- duce, under contract made by him, with the approval of the Joint Committee on Printing, such printing, binding, and blankbook work as he

is not equipped or able to do at the Government Printing OjSice.

The policy adopted during the war is being continued : If the Government Printing Office cannot produce any job as well, as expeditiously,

and as economically as it can be procured from commercial sources, production in the Government Printing Office plant represents an unjustifiable waste of the taxpayers' money. Such a job should not be

undertaken in the plant; the Government interests can be best served

by buying it outside. Enforcement of this policy explains the continued

relatively large operation of the Division of Commercial Planning. A

considerable proportion of the requisitions routed for commercial procurement is for specialties manufactured on custom-built equipment;

color work, for which the Office has limited facilities; or book and job

work required to be delivered promptly to points or areas outside the

District of Columbia, where large commercial printing firm_s are available. The income-tax forms provide a pertinent example of the last- named class, where the saving of time and transportation charges far

outweighs the cost of processing the orders through the Commercial

Planning and Purchasing Divisions.

This policy was formulated in discussions with the Navy Department in 1943, when its publication officials sought blanket waivers for

commercial procurement, although it had been expressed in a more

general way many times before. The relative economy and efficiency

of commercial procurement as opposed to Government Printing Office

production are actually the criteria by which the plan for every job

is considered.

The Public Printer's Administrative Order 14, creating the planning

organization substantially as it now exists, provides in part:

* * * the Requisition Section, in collaboration with the Director of Commercial Planning, the Director of Plant Planning, the Director of Typography and

120


Design, and the Production Manager, or their representatives, will review all requisitions from departments for delivery of proof or the finished product and

will make a determination of the work to be produced within the Office, procured

under contract, or released on waiver. This review shall be performed on each

requisition within 48 hours from the time of receipt of the requisition in the Government Printing Office. A written statement shall be made recording the decision. The Public Printer frequently has pledged a continuance of this

policy to the employees of the Office, to commercial suppliers, and to customer agencies of the Office. This pattern of control tends to satisfy

the ordering agencies, keeps down commercial criticism of Governmen"*:

in business, and assures the most favorable service to the Government.

The fiscal year just passed has been one of considerable readjustment, caused by reductions ui force of approximately 37K percent and

the expected postwar shrinkage in the kinds of Government printing

and binding handled by this Division during the war years. On June

30, 1945, there were 213 employees, including those in the warehouses,

engaged in work now handled by this Division. On June 30, 1946, it had 104 employees. At the end of the fiscal year 1947 the Division had

68 employees, whose assignments by units and position titles are given

in chart V.

Because of fiuctuations in work and need for assistance by other

divisions of this Office, as well as other Government agencies, many

employees were detailed out of the Division during the year. The re- duced force will probably prevent our continuance of this practice to so large an extent in the future.

Details of aU employees totaled 16,624 hours, equivalent to 2,078

8-hour workdays.

Our entry into the field of contracting for anap-out and other specialty forms has accounted for approximately 2^5 percent of the work

handled. Many printing programs have been discontinued, and all have

been reduced in volume except the War xlssets printing program, which

continues to be very large.

The reduction in the volume of program work was due principally

to a gradual conversion throughout the year to bidding on all operations, or grouped operations, of jobs, rather than placing individual

orders for each component part of a job. For instance, when we had

our warehouses in key printing centers, separate orders were regularly

placed for photoengraving, typesetting, electrotyping, presswork, and

binding. We have been grouping all these into one bid, or, in some

instances, combining photoengraving, typesetting, and electrotyping.

The number of individual orders placed in the fiscal year 1946 was

9,550; in the fiscal year 1947 it had dropped to 7,622.

Curtailed use of our standard-rate-contract method of operation

has required more time in preparing proper specifications for bidding.

121
We have had to readjust our organization accordingly. The very diffi- cult problem of developing specifications and procedures for the bidding

of composition, photoengraving, and electrotyping has been satisfactorily met. Our multiple-award contracts for snap-out forms are also

working well. While our personnel was reduced approximately 37}^ percent during

the year, the monetary outlay for work handled declined only about 10

percent. The Accounts Division reports $12,906,982.98 paid to contractors in the fiscal year, against $13,940,131.12 in the previous year and

$27,400,941.53 in 1945. These figures do not include cost of paper and

other materials and supplies furnished to contractors, which in this

fiscal year totaled $2,831,095.

The break-down of orders, by general classification, for the fiscal year

1947, not including memorandum orders, is as follows:

Printing and binding 5, 597

Composition 557

Composition, plates, and printing 12 Composition and photoengraving 94

Composition and plates 35

Composition, printing, and binding 22

Composition, photoengraving, and plates 6 Hold type forms 274

Plates, photoengraving, and printing 17

Plates, printing, and binding 13

Plates 250

Photoengraving 162

Special packaging and mailing 13

Specialties not included elsewhere 11 Change (supplemental) orders 559

Total 7,622

SAVINGS ACCOMPLISHED

One of the primary purposes of planning is to devise a plan for production which will result in a lower cost for each job. As a result of

proper planning, including comparisons of estimated costs for several

methods of production, savings are made daily, on a great majority of

jobs, as a matter of routine. This and the other planning divisions are

at all times on the alert for better and cheaper methods.

To report all savings through planning, it would be necessary to record the detailed studies given to the thousands of jobs that we

handle each year. In m.any instances the savings effected for an individual job are small. Large jobs lend themselves to big savings. The

problems and the applications of planning vary with almost every job,

and it is not practicable to list in detail all the savings that have

resulted from planning by this Division; a random sampling will suffice: 122
Bond sales pamphlet.—Our work on this pamphlet for the Treasury

Department shows the benefit of using specialty equipment not available in the Government Printing Office because of limited demand, as well as the value of employing technical planners familiar with commercial methods.

By utilizing the rotogravure process, which affords fast and economical production of certain kinds of jobs, these pamphlets were obtained

for $25,226.98 less than Government Printing Office plant cost would

have been. A slight change in the page size was made to fit roto- gravure equipment common to all the larger and principal rotogravure

firms. A vacuum news stock could be used by rotograviu-e and still retain excellent reproduction of the halftones, whereas more expensive

paper would have been necessary for the letterpress or offset processes

of production.

This requisition called for 10,000,000 copies of a 16-page pamphlet,

3% by 9 inches. Eight of the pages were to be printed in two colors. After the Division of Plant Planning estimated the cost of producing

the pamphlet by six different methods in our plant, on various papers

suitable for the job and by the processes available, the task was then

presented to Commercial Planning, in order to determine whether the

job could be procured more economically from commercial sources.

It was obvious to this Division that the pamphlet was a natural"

for rotogravure, provided that certain necessary changes would be

permitted by the ordering Department.

We proposed two changes which would in no way affect the useful- ness of the pamphlets: (1) Reduce the page size to 3% by 7% inches

to fit big rotogravure equipment of all principal plants, so that a maximum number of copies could be obtained from standard-width

paper and regular delivery sizes; and (2) use vacuum news stock,

which would permit excellent halftone reproduction without impairing the advertising value of the pamphlet. Since paste would not per- mit the booklet to open flat, a wire-stitched product was necessary;

otherwise, even greater economies would have resulted.

The bill to the Department for the job, as produced under Commercial Planning Division specifications, was $61,232.54, against

$86,459 for the cheapest method of production on equipment available

in the Government Printing Office, or a saving of $25,226.46.

Bound snap-out job. —This Veterans' Administration job called for 5,000,000 sets of a 4-part carbon-interleaved snap-out form, to be

bound into books of 25 sets each. The requested delivery date was too

close for so large a job, but the Administration asked us to proceed on the basis of original specifications and schedule. The time that

123
would be required for binding the forms into books was considerable,

and we felt that a premium price would be asked for the job. Of the

11 largest firms in the country who manufacture such work and who

were asked to bid, only one company quoted a price—$15 per 1,000

sets, or a total of $75,000.

We considered this price excessive and asked the Veterans' Administration to reconsider specifications and schedule to provide: (1)

Acceptance of books of 50 sets each, instead of 25, thereby substantially reducing binding costs; and (2) allowance of additional time for

delivery.

The Administration accepted our suggestions, and we again advertised the job. This time five bids were received. The low bidder's

price was $6.12 per 1,000 sets, or a saving of $8.88 from the earlier

bid.

The job cost $44,400 less than the original price, and the saving

will be duplicated on reprint orders in the future.

Change in construction.—A State Department requisition called for

two jobs containing a hand-inserted ''hecto" or spirit-duplicator car- bon which was narrower than the printed sheets. The sheet of carbon

could be eliminated by processing the carbon on the back of one

of the regular printed sheets. In the past, the Office had usually issued

waivers for this kind of job. When the two requisitions were first presented to Commercial Planning in 1946, the Division recognized

that as specified it was necessarily a hand-gathered article, whereas an equally good machine-made product was available for less money.

The Department was asked to accept either construction, whichever

could be obtained for less money. It refused to consider the suggested

change.

When the job came in again, in March 1947, we again asked the

Department to consider the matter. Its representative informed us

that an official had once soiled his shirt in using the kind of form we

were proposing, and the bureau concerned, therefore, was insisting on

the construction they had ordered. Such an accident could happen

in using the carbon in any form of construction. We submitted an

estimate to show the possible saving. Our proposal was finally accepted.

This not only permitted the use of a form that we had found to be

satisfactory but opened the field of competition to producers of both

kinds of finished product.

The lowest bid as originally ordered in 1946 was $5,390.83; but,

with the changed construction, it was bought for $4,897, at a saving

of $493.83. The Department has expressed no dissatisfaction with the

forms.

124
Recruiting booklet.—The War Department ordered 250,000 copies of

a 44-page booklet (40 pages, plus 4 cover pages), size lOK by 8^4 inches, with 4-color-process illustrations on 43 of the 44 pages.

Prior to this order, the printing and binding requirements of the

War and Navy Departments for recruiting programs had not been

obtained from or through this Office. However, the Chief of the War

Department's Publishing Section was successful in routing this job

to us after it had been determined that our cost would be less than if the advertising agency were allowed to procure the printing. According

to information furnished to us, the advertising agency's quotation was

$12,000 higher than the successful contractor's bid. It is beheved that part of the savings can be attributed to precise

specifications setting forth exactly what art was to be furnished and

the careful description of the work to be performed.

We required that art be furnished in complete form, ready for

camera, rather than in hundreds of separate pieces. These separate

pieces had to be assembled by the engraver into illustrations for the

44 pages and consisted of separate art for (1) full-color backgrounds,

(2) color copy, (3) color transparencies, (4) color prints, and (5) line art in color, all to be assembled, inserted, double printed, or otherwise

superimposed and combined into background copy for single illus- trations. Having artists assemble these various elements into completed illustrations is much cheaper than leaving it for the engraver to perform this work. Some of the operations originally requested seemed

mechanically impractical; all of them were very expensive and also constituted a hazard as to the acceptability of the finished product.

Oiu- method of processing also removed the danger of misunderstandings with the engraver and furnished him a complete picture of exactly

what was expected.

The successful bidder for this job suggested that the pages be

shortened by one-quarter inch (from 10}^ by 8}^ inches to 10^ by 8K

inches) , which would permit binding 2-up by his bindery, at a saving

of $3,000 to the Government. The War Department readily accepted

this change, and the specifications were so amended.

To assure fairness to any interested firm, the War Department made

available the names of companies who had submitted bids to the advertising agency, and they were invited by this Office to bid.

Minute-Man poster.—This billboard poster for the Bonds Division

of the Treasury Department required a four-color-process reproduction of the Minute Man, so located on the art that the four colors

would have to be printed on four of the press sheets of the poster.

We suggested to the Department that the Minute Man could be

125
moved slightly, so that he would fall on two full sheets instead of four. We thus saved eight press plates, eight make-readies, and eight press

runs. The savings were as follows

8 plates, 44 by 64 inches (hand-drawn color separations), at $50 each__ $400. 00

8 make-readies for color process, at $30 each 240. 00

8 press runs, 3,400 impressions each, or 27,200 impressions in all, at $6 per

1,000 - 163.20

Total 803. 20

It took an hour or so to make an accurate lay-out for the 24-sheet

poster by using the 10- and 12-press-sheet plans for poster production.

This case again illustrates the value of planning by skilled technicians. Otherwise, the opportunity for saving would not have been

recognized.

Streetcar advertising cards.—As originally planned by the Treasury

Department, this job required four-color-process film separations in

three different sizes: 21 by 11, 28 by 11, and 28 by 16 inches. Only 700

cards of the 28- by 16-inch size were needed. We showed the Department that making color separations and special press plates for this

size would cost about $660, or close to a dollar a card, and we suggested

that they use instead the 28- by 11-inch image centered on the 28- by

16-inch card. Treasury accepted this proposal, and we were able to produce the 28- by 16-inch cards at practically no cost in the following manner

The press sheet and the cardboard stock that were available accom- modated six 28- by 11-inch cards, two 28's out of the 57-inch

dimensions, and three ll's out of the 34-inch dimension. It was

practical to impose one 21- by 11-inch and five 28- by 11-inch cards on the sheet, as the quantities requested were roughly in that ratio,

and one set of press plates with their make-readies was eliminated.

Before running the last 700 sheets, the two outside 28-inch cards were

deleted from the press plates, thus leaving the center 28-inch card

with ample white margin top and bottom to make the required 16-inch

depth.

Stock which would have been wasted in running the combination

plate was utilized. Therefore, the only cost involved was the time used

in stopping the press to delete the work from the plates, about $36.

The estimated net saving to the Government was $624.

Pipe-line map.-—This Federal Power Commission gas-pipe-line map,

size 55 by 43 inches, had to be lithographed in 13 colors. We recom- mended eliminating the water blue as a separate run by making it a Hght halftone screen of the drainage blue-—the method used by the

126
Coast and Geodetic Survey in preparing aeronautical charts. This

suggestion was not accepted. However, we were successful in persuading the Commission to eliminate a full-color press proof, which would

have cost about $390. Instead of a color proof, we suggested a blue-line

print made from each of the eight press-plate negatives. These prints were checked for accuracy against the guides for color separation

furnished by the Commission; the other five colors were prepared so that they could be photographed as they were and would not require

proofs of any kind. The net savings to the Government follow:

Cost of proofing in 13 colors $390

Cost of 8 blue-line prints 32

Total 358

The Federal Power Commission indicated to us that this map would

probably be ordered again within a year and certainly at some later date. They further indicated that the maps would be changed when

reprinted, owing to additions of new pipe lines, etc. When the map is revised and reprinted, we will be able to save the Government about

$3,000 in printing cost alone.

We devised a plan to save considerable money both on reprinting

and in preparing copy for the reprints. It might be said here that the

map hthographer had not heard of such a scheme before and asked

us to advise him where the Vinylite sheets essential to the plan could

be obtained. We were able to give him several sources. The plan is explained in this extract from our letter to the

Commission

Upon completion of. the production of the map, the contractor is to supply this

OflSce with a black-line photographic print of each color on translucent white

Vinylite, made from the press-plate negatives. These dimensionally stable plastic sheets will be receptive to ink, opaque, and light-sensitive emulsions. Thus, they

will serve as color-separated master drawings, which at little cost can be brought

up to date for printing future editions. As such, they represent a potential saving

of $3,000 in lithographic production costs alone, plus an unknown but certainly substantial sum which would have to be expended by you for the preparation of a complete new set of drawings.

Please request your drafting section to make a record regarding the availability

of this material and advise this Office as to whether you wish us to store it or turn

it over to you. Inasmuch as the Vinylite costs about $5 a sheet, a further economy can be

realized by using the other side of the sheet when it is no longer needed for the

gas-pipe-line series. Another poster.—The Labor Department requested 100,000 each of a 4-color-process poster in 2 sizes. We suggested reducing the quantity

of the larger poster and increasing the quantity of the smaller one, 127
in order to work out a combination press sheet containing 3 large and

4 small posters, which would yield a total of 200,000 posters.

The Department accepted our recommendation. By eliminating one

set of four-color press plates and their make-readies and reducing the

number of impressions by ordering fewer large posters, we saved the

Government approximately $392.

Income-tax withholding receipts. —The Office of Price Administration

requisition requested 37,025 five-part sets of continuous snap-out-style

forms, with a sewed stub and a detached size of 8 by 3% inches.

Delivery of the job was required within 6 weeks.

As the total quantity was broken down into small lots for overprinting, it was determined that production as a continuous-strip

product would result in an unnecessarily high cost. We suggested that

the Office of Price Administration accept a slight variation in the

detached size to allow a wider field for procurement and also consider

the use of snap-outs in strips 4-on to allow flat-bed companies to bid.

Both of these suggestions were accepted, and the job was put out on bid allowing either type of construction.

Bids were received for both types of forms, but the lowest bidder

for the continuous-strip product took exception to the 6 weeks' delivery

schedule, insisting on 10 weeks after return of O. K.'d proofs.

The lowest bids received for the two products were as follows:

Continuous-strip product, per 1,000 sets, at $23.37 $865. 17

Snap-out-style product, per 1,000 sets, at $14.91 552. 04

Total saved per 1,000 sets, at $8.46 313. 13 Technical advice to Budget Bureau.—The Division assisted in the

standardization and group ordering of Standard Form No. 50, Civil

Service Commission, Notification of Personnel Action, used by all agencies.

Credit for saving a large amount in the production of this form

belongs to the Bureau of the Budget, which had undertaken to standardize this form and its use. To this end, conferences were held with

representatives of a number of large governmental agencies. The

Budget Bureau asked us to make available a technical representative

to advise the group as to the design of the form, its format, its construction, including the relative utility and cost of various types, etc. Representatives from War, Navy, Federal Security, Federal Works,

Agriculture, Veterans' Administration, General Accounting Office,

Civil Service Commission, Government Printing Office, and others

attended the conferences.

128
Plans for standardizing the form were developed, the only variation

between agencies being in the number of parts (copies) constituting

sets that might be required.

At our suggestion, arrangements were made for grouping orders

from many agencies, to take advantage of ordering in large quantities.

Two group orders have since been placed, and the benefits which

resulted in this fiscal year are reported here:

On the first order, 37 requisitions were combined for a total quantity

of 2,233,200 sets of 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, and 9-part, 8- by lOK-inch, snap-outstyle forms, at a total price of $71,767.43. The prearranged system

for printing these forms enabled departments ordering small quantities

to benefit by eliminating a base charge of $62.55 which would have

been applicable on each requisition had they been ordered separately

and at various times. This method of grouping produced a saving of

$2,251.80 to the Government.

Similarly, Standard Form No. 50 was again ordered. This time 32

requisitions were combined for a total quantity of 805,050 sets of 5-,

6-, 7-, 8-, and 9-part, 8- by lO^-inch, snap-out-style forms, at a total

price of $18,344.29. The following savings were effected by grouping

and eliminating a base charge for each requisition:

14 5-part forms, at $122.36 $1, 713. 04

10 6-part forms, at $141.60 1, 416. 00

2 7-part forms, at $164 328. 00

3 8-part forms, at $180.32 540. 96

2 9-part forms, at $199.64 399. 28

Total 4, 397. 28 Quantity discount 1, 012. 65 Grand total 5, 409. 93 The savings on the two grouped orders totaled $7,661.73.

Composition on catalog.—The manuscript of this War Department

catalog consisted of 335 pages of tabular matter plus 240 pages of

index, in which a column was to be left blank for page references to be supplied when the body of the catalog would be made up into pages.

If the copy for the index were sent to the printer and set in type, the

page references would have to be marked on the type proofs and their

insertion at a later date would be charged as author's alterations on a time basis. We withheld the manuscript for the index from the printer

and submitted it to the War Department with the page proof of the

text matter. The page references were then inserted on the original

manuscript and run as original type composition at no extra cost. The monetary saving effected by handling the production in this

129
manner is $998.40. This saving will be repeated on subsequent similar

orders.

Specifications changed.—The requisition as received from the War

Department called for printing by letterpress on coated paper. As

there were 452 illustrations, approximately half of which were intricate

and expensive combination silhouette halftones, the Department was

requested to change the requisition to production by offset. The

difference in cost between photoengravings and offset negatives was $4,788.28.

All Hands.—Until recently the Navy Department had always

insisted that its monthly magazine. All Hands, be produced by the

letterpress process. Several months ago the Department advised us that a contemplated

curtailment of printing funds would endanger the continuation of All

Hands as an official Navy personnel publication during the next

fiscal year. We offered a number of suggestions for revision of format, which

would have materially reduced the cost of the publication. The Department was reluctant to accept any radical changes. We poin1?ed out

that, because of the large number of engravings in each issue, consideration should be given to printing by offset. An investigation showed

that a satisfactory offset publication could be produced at a saving of approximately $2,500 an issue. The Department finally agreed to offset production and to a change in trim size to permit the use of a standardsize paper stock. These changes are expected to save the Government

$30,000 a year. WAR ASSETS PRINTING

Just before the beginning of this fiscal year, the War Assets Administration representatives concerned with printing asked that we take

ov^er, so far as practicable, the contracting for that portion of their

printing which is procured from commercial firms, particularly catalogs, special listings, and the forms which are not standardized. Copy

originates in their regional offices and is ordered for delivery on very

short schedules, usually 3 to 10 days.

Competitive bids taken by their personnel m the field were approximately twice as high as Government Printing Ofiice charges. Managers

of our field offices, transferred to the Government Printing Ofiice on

July 1, 1946, had no better success when they undertook the procurement of the work. Neither group had experience in printing procurement.

130
We proposed to set up our standard-rate-contract plan of operation.

Under this plan the rates that shall be paid for work are predetermined.

For instance, a stipulated allowance for offset negatives, plates, press make-ready, press rimning, binding, etc., according to size, is established, and the printer agrees that, for any work which he accepts, he

will receive payment according to these established prices.

Since it is not known in advance what will be offered, when it will be

offered, nor on what schedule, the contractor is permitted the privilege

of refusing any job on which he cannot meet the schedule.

Once these contracts are estabhshed and a formal order is placed,

the War Assets field representative merely calls the firm by telephone

and gives the necessary information relative to the job they wish to

place, such as the number of copies and pages and the schedule for delivery. When one of the printers indicates his willingness to accept

the job, the War Assets representative fills out a memorandum order

and supplemental specifications form, sending the original memorandum order to the printer with the manuscript for the job and mailing copies of the order to us and to the War Assets Administration

ofl&ce in Washington. We sell paper to War Assets, which they furnish

to the printer, in accordance with paper-spoilage allowances developed

by us and included in the contracts. The War Assets Administration

accounts for the paper.

We audit the contractor's billings and assist War Assets personnel

and the contractors in the various areas in interpreting the contracts,

procedures, and operations as problems arise. We check constantly to prevent misunderstandings, irregularities, misapphcation of the

contracts, etc. Recently, difficulty developed in Kansas City. Four bidders were

sharing all the contract printing placed by our field office at progressively increasing rates. The War Assets Administration asked the

Office to investigate. Representatives of this Office and War Assets went to Kansas City and found printers who would accept the work

under standard-rate contracts. Furthermore, we found that our plant in Kansas City could do

practically all the War Assets work there, provided jobs were given

to it daily instead of in groups, usually at the end of the week. The

new scheduling was arranged by the War Assets representative, and

since that date few orders have been given to commercial printers,

although adequate sources were available.

Examination revealed the following basic reasons for the high bid

prices in that city:

1. Offering great masses of work for production over week ends—26

jobs were awarded to 3 firms on a single day, January 2.131
2. Inadequate specifications.

3. Firms being invited to bid had been restricted to four, none of

these being the larger firms of the city.

4. Contractors were required to furnish paper, an extremely scarce commodity.

5. Personnel who issued the bids and made the awards could not

properly appraise the value of a printed job, or were making

appraisals on the basis of letter-shop prices.

From November 15, 1946, through January 2, 1947, 63 jobs had

been awarded to commercial firms. Figures compiled by War Assets

show that $10,592.53 had been paid to commercial bidders for catalogs

which were priced at $4,476.56 under our standard-rate contract. All

these jobs except one went to three firms. We selected 16 of them, some for each contractor, varying in number of pages and dates, for

analysis and comparison, which revealed that prices paid had exceeded

our standard-rate contract prices by an average of 134 percent.

Unsatisfactory conditions seemed to exist in several other cities where field-office managers were taking bids from commercial sources. After investigations and discussions, our Planning Manager decided

that the situation warranted the sending of representatives to some

of these cities to secure qualified signers to standard-rate contracts. Consequently Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and

Cleveland were visited by Office and War Assets representatives.

The greatest difficulties were encountered in Los Angeles, where

prices being paid to bidders were higher than those found in any other

city. We approached 20 leading firms. Most of the firms refused our

standard-rate contract, some flatly; only four signed. We now have

additional firms signed. Here are some comparative figures for Los

Angeles showing that $3,450 over our standard rates was paid for

four typical jobs:

QPO standard Commercial low

rates bidder $993 $2, 560

96 215

516 1,490

501 1,291

2, 106 5, 556 In Cleveland, War Assets work under bid had been awarded at unreasonably high prices. Sufficient sources were obtained there to take the work at standard rates. According to War Assets, approximately $30,000 in printing was being purchased monthly by bid in

Cleveland. At this rate, about $150,000 per year would be saved in that city alone through standard-rate operation. We found that in 1 month, February 1946, $76,000 worth of work had been handled.

132
Comparisons and general conditions relative to prices being paid

under competitiye bidding followed the same general pattern in all cities where War Assets work has been bid.

Figures supplied by our Accounts Division indicate that the amount

of work shown below was purchased under our standard-rate-contract

program for War Assets in the fiscal year 1947:

Paid to contractors for printing and binding $1, 029, 000

Value of paper furnished and used 600, 000

Total cost 1,629,000

Since the prices obtained by bidding each job individually were

averaging at least 100 percent over standard-rate-contract prices, it is estimated that our handling of War Assets work imder this program

resulted in the saving of at least $1,400,000.

In the various cities where War Assets was operating, 640 printers were asked to accept our standard-rate contracts. Of these, 289

refused to sign, claiming the rates were so low that they could not even

recover their actual costs under the rates offered. Some frankly stated:

''We do not see why we should accept these rates when we can get the

jobs by bidding at prices twice those you are offering." The firms which

now accept the work in volume believe that higher prices are justified.

When told that the rates cannot be increased, they say that they will make out somehow and will continue to accept work.

We are now meeting War Assets needs, and its officials responsible

for these printing programs have repeatedly expressed appreciation

and satisfaction with the commercial procurement program supervised

by our Division of Commercial Planning.

SPECIALTY FORMS

In the fiscal year just past the Government Printing Office discontinued the issuance of waivers for snap-out and certain other specialty

forms, with the exception of continuous forms which are marginally

punched for use on IBM or Remington Rand mechanical accounting

machines over special feeding devices.

Our processing of snap-out orders in the fiscal year resulted in the

Government's paying at least $500,000 less than would have been paid

for this class of work had it been purchased separately by the many

departments, bureaus, and agencies.

The total cost of specialty forms was $3,536,917.10 on the 974 orders

handled by us. These figures are about 35 percent lower than we had

expected them to be. A further reduction in the orders for these forms is expected. The

133
War Assets Administration has placed large orders, and it should not

use so many in the year ahead. On the other hand, this reduced volume

may not materialize, since there is information that many agencies, in

order to control their own procurement, placed large orders in the fiscal year 1946 prior to this Ofiice's entry into procurement of this class of

work.

Old method of 'procurement.—When the Office policy of issuing waivers on carbon-interleaved snap-out forms was started, the dollar volume

for all Government agencies was probably less than $100,000 annually.

This volume skyrocketed to several millions of dollars before the war

and increased greatly during that emergency.

Because so many agencies were making separate contracts for this

work and at a wide difference in prices and because the dollar volume

had increased until this work has become an important item of Government printing, it appeared to be in the best interests of the Government to establish one contractual authority and one policy for the

Government. Representatives of the Bureau of the Budget, as a result

of meetings with us, concurred in our proposal to undertake the procurement of such specialty items.

The negotiation of contracts by the many agencies afforded the

firms interested in the work multiple opportunities to quote for that

portion of work which they desired from the Government. If one firm

quoted an extremely high price to the War Department, for example,

and a competitor quoted a little lower, then the competitor would get

the work, but the higher bidder might later obtain work from any

number of other agencies at prices very favorable to him. This did not

encourage a healthy basis of competition. Comparisons of actual quotations by the largest specialty-form printing concern revealed tre- mendous differences in prices quoted to various agencies.

Basis oj contract awards.—After a great deal of research, we developed a plan and specifications for bidding snap-out forms which would

result in a multiple-award contract. We specifically invited both large

and small firms to bid—more than 100 of them. We received 21 bids

that were in conformity with specifications, and ' 'multiple awards"

were made to all. The specifications allowed quotations on any or all items, with various kinds of construction that are in use. The contract

provided, and still provides, for the forms in more common use. In the

interest of simplicity and to insure that the greatest possible number

of firms would bid, unusual operations and features were not included

in the contract. When a job does not fit under the contract and changes

cannot be made which would make it fit, the job is bid individually.

134
When a requisition for snap-out forms is received by this Division,

the operations and units are set down and the prices of the 21 bidders

are examined. The acceptability of the bidders for each particular job

is determined in the order of lowest bidder, next lowest, etc., in se- quence through the 21 bidders.

The job is then offered to the firm with the lowest bid price. If, at that time, the low bidder cannot accept the job for delivery on the

required schedule, he is required to give us a statement in writing as to the date he could make delivery. If the requisitioning agency cannot

accept the proposed date, the job is offered to the second lowest bidder,

and on through the list until it is placed.

Performance bonds are required of all firms which are successful

bidders. The right is reserved, and frequently exercised, to place combination orders for similar forms, thereby greatly reducing preliminary

charges. The right is also reserved to place orders with different contractors for any portion of the total quantity of a job whenever such

action is considered to be in the best interests of the Government. This

frequently permits payment of a premium for quick delivery on an

urgently needed part of a job, while the greater portion of it is produced on a longer schedule by a lower bidder.

Liquidated damages of $5 a day may be assessed against a contractor who is in default of the shipping schedule agreed to at the time the

order is placed. A signed copy of the waybill or similar evidence is ac- cepted as proof of shipment.

In the event that an order is placed with other than the lowest

bidder because of the shipping-date requirement and delivery is not

accomplished within the specified time, the contractor is penalized by

an amount computed as stipulated in the contract, plus liquidated

damages already mentioned.

Discount allowances are provided in the contract for all reprints or reorders from the same contractor. Quantity and payment discounts

are also provided in the contract, as are other features advantageous

to the Government.

Many commercial firms have praised our contract with such com

ment as: ''This contract is the best one that we have seea, from the

Government's standpoint."

All papers, abstracts of bids, etc., in connection with each of these

orders are sent both to our own auditors and to the General Accounting

Ofiice. Agency cooperation essential. —When a premium price is about to be

paid for a job, we ask the agency concerned to extend the delivery

schedule or take partial shipments, with the remainder of the job to be

135
delivered later. We also frequently request the agency to make altera- tions in the size, construction, or other details of a job.

The response has been satisfactory and is constantly improving,

because agencies realize that such requests are based on a desire to save

the Government money.

The Office has circularized the agencies who order snap-out forms,

asking them to anticipate their needs, allow longer schedules for delivery, and consider carefully such changes as are proposed to them

from time to time.

Other benefits. —Besides the savings effected by the methods described, keen competition has developed between the various firms.

Commercial companies not now on contract are ''sharpening their

pencils" to quote lower prices in order to get part of the work. In this class of procurement, we now seem to be passing from a seller's to a

buyer's market. Fair and equalized charges to all agencies have also

resulted from purchasing through one source. Bidders realize that in

order to have work offered to them under this contract, they must

quote their lowest price.

With procurement of these forms centralized, there is undoubtedly

also a saving in the amount of effort and expense incurred in their

procurement.

Commercial procurement allows the Government to take advantage

of the specialized and varied equipment in many commercial plants.

Firms with large and expensive equipment take the bigger jobs, while

plants equipped for smaller jobs can produce this class of work more

cheaply.

The jobs and the equipment best suited to produce them vary

greatly. We may select certain jobs that the Office can handle in its own plant on converted equipment or on equipment that may be purchased. However, the expenditure of millions of dollars for equipment

and buildings would be required to process the full range of work.

This would not be practical nor economical, particularly in view of the fact that the volume of work fluctuates greatly. Less than half the

work ordered is without special features of construction.

While the Office is the world's largest printing establishment, the

satisfactory execution of the snap-out kind of work would have to be

segregated into a specialized production unit which would be small as compared with the facilities available in the larger specialty-form

plants. A great variety of roll stock and carbon would have to be

stored to meet various requirements. Some kinds of paper are requested

only on rare occasions, and many of these jobs have special numbering

problems.

136
DATED PERIODICALS

During the year the Division of Commercial Planning handled

64 dated periodicals and similar recurring jobs. They include 29

monthlies and 6 weeklies, the others ranging from dailies to annuals.

In size, these periodicals range from 4 to 500 pages. The largest from

the standpoint of quantity is the 12-page Naval Reservist, which calls for 1,000,000 copies monthly. The 100-page Navy Radio Production

requires only 200 copies.

The number of publications in this class of work dropped nearly

one-third, either because of the discontinuance of publications or by

reason of their being returned to our own plant. Our records indicate

that 497,220,034 printed pages were produced at a cost, including all paper that we furnished, of $1,320,901.

INCOME-TAX FORMS

Income-tax-form printing is an annual job of such a size that both

plant and commercial facilities have to be utilized. Office production

in 1946 amounted to 243,116,975 forms, which required 2,226,668

pounds of paper, with a total cost of $424,385.39.

The commercial procurement, from 73 firms, of 16 jobs, representing

410,975,350 forms, was certified at $683,702.13. The cost of paper fur- nished by us to the contractors was $416,849.10, making the total cost $1,100,551.23.

For this work 2,860,592 pounds of paper were supplied to contractors in sheets and 1,860,100 pounds in rolls, 4,720,692 pounds in all. Newsprint paper for instruction sheets was furnished by the contractors who printed these forms on rotary presses of the newspaper type.

The work was placed in accordance with plans developed in previous

years. Because of the size of the program, it was carefully supervised

and all certifications were thoroughly reviewed before they were for- warded.

POSTER AND COLOR PRINTING

Color work employing special or less frequently used processes, such

as photogelatin, silk screen, sheet-fed gravure, map printing in color,

and decalcomanias, is routed to the Poster Unit of this Division.

The nature of this work is such that the application of intelligent

planning techniques results in great savings. Hardly a job is handled on which costs are not reduced because of the special knowledge and

information that has been assembled and applied.

137
TABULATING-CARD PROCUREMENT

The Division processed 2,815 orders for 1,746,638,000 tabulating

cards, at a total charge of $1,200,000. Several years ago, in order to control the price of tabulating cards, the Office installed equipment

and undertook production. By this action it forced down the commercial price paid by the Government from $1.10 to 65 cents a thousand,

the price paid during the year under report. We paid this price for most of the cards ordered—those printed on standard-weight manila

paper. The mentioned price reduction was obtained gradually. Having

accomplished its purpose, use of the equipment was discontinued.

The item is a specialty that does not fit into the work of a general

printing plant.

Quotations for the fiscal year 1948 have gone up to 90 cents, or an

increase of almost 38}^ percent.

PROGRAM PRINTING

< 'Program printing," as the term is used in this Office, applies to regularly repetitive classes of work for which continuous sources of

supply have been established under standard-rate contracts. Department program orders, similar but by no means identical, are received

from the same groups in the ordering agency, are completely processed

by one unit in this Division, and are produced according to standard

predetermined specifications by one or more contracts set up specifically for the purpose.

An open, or master, requisition covers subprint orders, usually on a monthly basis. The program often provides that the agency send copy

and print order direct to our contractor. We receive a duplicate of the

print order, which enables us to control the specifications, the selection

of contractors, the schedules, and the price to be paid.

Some of the programs handled during the year and the amount of

printing involved are as follows

Program Number of Number of Number of orders copies leaves 1 War Department accelerated pamphlets . 7, 046 42, 365, 172 161 278, 198 Navy Department technical-data manuals.-- 229 392, 299 5, 604, 726 War Department ASF catalog and pamphlets 217 4, 043, 890 69, 915, 812 War Department manuals. _ . . 172 1, 526, 170 73, 885, 584 War Department guide specifications ..- 61 152, 500 1, 412, 500 Veterans' Administration manuals--. . . 13 351, 050 10, 639, 000 Army-Navy specifications. .-. -_- . 535 3, 287, 573 15, 538, 431 Navy Department technical notes and orders. ... - 117 2, 144, 350 4, 995, 750 Commerce Department Reference Service pamphlets 577 1, 805, 653 4, 964, 440 Veterans' Administration mortgage notes .- 93 3, 320, 000 10, 065, 000 Total 9,060 59, 388, 657 358, 299, 441

1 Printed face and back. 138
Other less extensive programs, for which statistics are not given,

include the War Department engineers' manuals and guide specifications; Air Forces pilot handbooks; Army-Navy aero drawings; the

War Department lubrication orders; and form programs for the War

Department, Federal Public Housing Administration, the Veterans'

Administration, and for the various emergency agencies. The largest

of the current programs is the War Assets Administration catalog

printing, which is discussed at length elsewhere in this report. (See

p. 130.)

TESTIMONIAL

The conscientious, painstaking, and competent work of the Commercial Planning Division, with the cooperation of our Accounting and

Purchasing Divisions, led the New York Employing Printers Association to present the following testimonial to the Public Printer:

Whereas the demand for printing necessary to the prosecution of the war

requires the use of the facihties of the Government Printing Office and those of the commercial printing industry, all of which have been most efficiently coordinated

under the direction of the Public Printer; and

Whereas, in his solution of the problem of em-ploying the equipment and services

of the commercial printing industry in conjunction with those of the Government

Printing Office, thus synchronizing the productive capacity of the Nation, he has

established a system of impartial treatment to all; and

Whereas, while he is not unmindful of the dignity of his high office and its major

responsibilities, he has retained with cordial friendliness "the common touch" and

a personal pride in having been a competent and respected member of the rank

and file of craftsmen: Therefore be it Resolved, That the graphic-arts industry of Greater New York and vicinity, as represented by more than 1,000 persons assembled February 16,' 1943, in the Hotel Biltmore, New York, extends cordial greetings to the Honorable Augustus

E. Giegengack, Public Printer of the United States, and records its gratitude for

his distinguished service to the industr}^ and for the substantial contribution he is making to the national war effort through the efficient use of the skilled personnel

and the modern equipment of the graphic arts, both in the Government Printing

Office at Washington and in the commercial plants of the Nation.

In accepting the testimonial, the Public Printer closed his acknowledgment with the observation

I regard my name on this testimonial as incidental. I am proud to receive this beautiful scroll in the name of the Government Printing Office employees, who

have toiled long, dihgently, and faithfully, often beyond the normal requirements

of their positions, to make possible whatever we have accomplished. Their share

in this honor is greater than mine.

WHY A DIVISION OF COMMERCIAL PLANNING

The Public Printer established this Division to save money. It permits the Government to benefit by economies that can be effected

139
through production in the Government Printing Ofiice, commercial

sources, or a combination of the two, whichever is more advantageous.

As defense plans were developed just prior to the war, the purchase

of a small volume of work was initiated to reheve the Office plant

which was strugghng to meet the demands for more printing on controlled and faster schedules. Then the Treasury Department began

an intensive campaign to promote sales of the new Defense Savings

bonds and stamps. Since the Department officials felt that their handling of the Baby Bond sales campaigns of previous years had not

been economical and to the advantage of the Government, it asked

the Public Printer to take over the printing of this new and larger

program. The work consisted principally of large runs of sales folders

which could be fitted best into production facilities in specialized

commercial plants; large runs of full-color posters, and other full- color jobs which the Government Printing Office was not equipped to produce economically. Consequently, commercial purchases expanded.

Then the war came. Departments requested appropriations to establish large printing plants. The Public Printer recommended

against many of these requests, and they were denied by Congress.

He believed that huge expenditures for new equipment and plants were unnecessary and that the increased printing needs of the Government attributable to the war could be obtained from equipment available and idle in commercial establishments.

By obtaining from existing commercial plants the additional services and production needed, certain advantages would accrue:

1. Expenditures by the Government for equipment and buildings

would be unnecessary.

2. Production and services were needed immediately. Commercia

plants were already in existence and had a large percentage of idle

time, owing to the curtailment of advertising and other printing.

3. Months, perhaps years, would be required to establish the new

Government plants, or to enlarge existing ones.

4. Purchase of needed surplus printing and binding from commercial plants would prevent the diversion of vitally needed manpower,

machine-tool time, and use of critically needed materials, such as steel,

aluminum, copper, and a nearly endless list of necessary auxiliary

equipment, essential to the building and operation of a new plant.

5. During the early days of the war, commercial plants throughout

the country were ready, willing, and anxious to produce the work at

fair prices, in order to contribute to the war effort and to maintain

their establishments.

In order to purchase the work efficiently, it was necessary to provide

exact specifications, accurate estimates of the commercial value of the

140
work, close scrutiny and appraisal of bids received, and means for insuring delivery on schedule in accordance with contract requirements. All this, of course, had to be based on a complete understanding

of production methods.

To insure economical handling, it is essential that printing be

planned by technicians who have an understanding of the various

processes and methods of production, of what is practical and possible,

and how each job or operation can be most cheaply produced and

obtained. It is also necessary to determine which firms can do the work

most economicaUy, and to see that they are invited to bid.

By no means the least contribution of experienced and trained technicians is their ability to suggest to the ordering agencies changes which

will afford less costly production in accordance with schedule requirements. Our experience has thoroughly demonstrated that the specialized knowledge of the group of technicians assembled in this Division permits definite constructive job planning by them, w^hich results

in less expense to the Government than would be possible under any

other method.

In addition, our procurement affords the savings resulting from the

composite expert technical knowledge of the whole Ofiice. This Division

frequently seeks, receives, and profits from the knowledge, experience,

and skill to be found in our production divisions, the three other

planning divisions, and in the Division of Tests and Technical Control.

The cost accountants and computers in our Accounting Division

carefully review this Division's work as well as the contractor's bifiings,

and frequently contribute helpful suggestions. Auditing by personnel

with specialized training saves the Government large smns of money.

The commercial-printing industry has been slower in adopting engineering methods of planning than most major industries, partly

because of the belief that every job is tailor-made and has its own

individual problem. The premise that each job has problems peculiar

to it alone is correct, but proper planning can be applied to these

problems to tremendous advantage. ]Many commercial-printing firms

have studied our operations and adapted them to their own needs. At

least one large firm is known to be setting up a division almost identical

with ours for the purchase of printing which it is not equipped to do

or which is surplus to its facilities. WHY SEPARATE COMMERCIAL AND PLANT

PLANNING DIVISIONS

The problems that are presented, the techniques of handling, and

the methods of drawing specifications which become parts of contracts,

141
etc., differ so greatly that plant operation and commercial procurement

cannot be advantageously combined. Both phases are so large that

each requires a sizable organization and specialized handling. Information and personnel are freely exchanged between the two so that no

advantage is lost. Combination of the two would result in no fewer

employees.

When it is considered that our Commercial Planning Division

processed $12,906,982.98 worth of work in this fiscal year, it should be

at once apparent that a specialized organization is required if the work

is to be handled efficiently and economically.

WHY CONTINUE COMMERCIAL PLANNING DIVISION

The Commercial Planning Division operates in many fields in which

the Government Printing Office plant either does not operate at all or operates in a very limited way. Examples are color-process engraving,

printing, and lithographing, snap-out, continuous, fanfold, spiritduplicator, and salesbook production, and other specialty forms and

combinations of these; photogelatin process work; rotogravure and

sheet-fed gravure; silk-screen printing; decalcomanias and transparencies; roll labels; mounting and die-cutting; billboard posters; intricate

map production; tabulating-machine cards; printing of newspapers or work adapted to newspaper presses; production of magazines on rotary

high-speed specialized equipment; and composition in Chinese and

similar foreign languages.

COMMERCIAL PLANNING DIVISION AS STABILIZER

FOR GPO PLANT

On several occasions during the year, when plant work loads dropped

below expectations, the Division has returned to the plant large quantities of work that had been scheduled for outside production. It also furnished the planning personnel to get the work through the Plant

Planning Division more quickly. Likewise on several occasions, when

our plant was overloaded with work, the Division has acted as a safety

valve by relieving it of large volumes of printing.

Many times during the year our bindery has had equipment open for

work that the plant could not print. Printed flat sheets were delivered

from our contractors to fill the gap. Likewise, we have bought composition and plates or negatives to allow production of the remainder of the

printing and binding in our plant when Office facilities might otherwise

have been partly idle. Adjustment of the volume of work through commercial procurement reduces plant costs by leveling production loads.

142
DIVISION OF TYPOGRAPHY AND DESIGN

This Division is charged with responsibility for the format, design,

art work, type faces, materials, and binding style of all publications. It prepares and retouches photoengraving copy, orders photoengravings, passes on acceptability of all new pubhcation copy, prepares offset copy for reproduction, and operates the Photographic Section. This

work is accomphshed in collaboration with the production and the

other planning divisions and through consultation with the ordering

agencies.

Functioning in a field which was relatively new to the Office when

the emergency period began, it has not had the time, the facihties, or the personnel to modernize and improve all long-established Government pubhcations. But every year more of them are receiving typographical treatment. The original purpose in establishing a Lay-out

Section was to develop and expand it solely as a typographical-design

group large enough to take care of ail pubhcations that needed typographical direction.

The war made it necessary to compromise with objectives, procedures, and organization plans. First of all, the personnel, so laboriously

trained or recruited, began to drift to better-paying jobs either in the

Government or in industry. The mihtary service took a few more. These losses were partly compensated by the estabhshment of design

gi^oups in some of the ordering agencies. Nevertheless, the present staff of typographers is and has been inadequate for several years. Again,

production problems, particularly the huge expansion in the volume of

offset hthography, threw new and unanticipated duties on the Division.

It became necessary to employ a small group of artists for casual art work, as ordering agencies went into color printing on a scale unprecedented in the Government. We were given responsibility for acceptabihty of art work and the necessity for the use of color. Copy for cormnercially procured pubhcations came to us for preparation. The

foUo^ving indicates the nature and extent of the work performed:

Jobs processed by the Divisiou during the fiscal year totaled 15,280,

includiQg 7,366 orders on which copy was prepared for commercial

contractors who produce regulations, orders, and forms required by

emergency agencies. The figures given include 5,730 jobs handled

by our Photographic Section and all publications on which actual

operations were performed, but do not include those jobs on which

we merely gave advice and guidance to departments and other divisions of the Office. They do not include jobs reviewed before, after,

and during printing for approval of quality. Chargeable operations

performed within the Division amounted to $111,897.65.

143
At the end of the fiscal year there were 46 employees on the rolls, exclusive of 3 on detail from the Composing Division. The personnel

chart shows the sections and number of employees in each by title. (See chart VI.)

In modern manufacturing practice, production and design go hand

in hand. This applies to printing as well as to other products, and

Government printing should be no exception. The only difference

between the output of the Government Printing Office and that of

commercial printers is that most Government printing does not have

to do a selling job. Certain branches of the Government try very hard

to sell their ideas and services so the Nation as a whole will benefit.

Examples of this kind of printing are the publications of the Victory

Bond Division of the Treasury Department; of the Recruiting Divisions of the Army and Navy, since military service by conscription is no longer required ; of the Public Health Service, printing programs for

the control of disease or the improvement of the health of the Nation;

of the Department of Agriculture's campaigns for forest-fire prevention

and soil conservation; or any other literature aimed at conservation

of our natural resources. The Division of Typography and Design assists in all phases of

planning operations that fall outside of jacket writing and estimating.

It is engaged in three important production operations which are not

actually a part of design but which can be done better under the supervision of persons who have training and experience in design problems.

They are: (1) Preparation of offset copy and the ordering of all negatives for offset printing; (2) retouching and correcting of photographs

and line copy; and (3) sizing and ordering of all photoengraving for

letterpress printing, as well as the associated operation of indicating on the copy where the illustrations are to appear. Design is applied

to these operations in a practical manner. In many instances lower

cost results from use of good design principles to eliminate or to replan

poorly organized copy.

We have been instrumental in improving the physical appearance

of Government printing to the extent that it is comparable to that

produced commercially.

Improvements in the opacity and color of paper stock, the standardization of colors for cover papers in cooperation with the Division of Tests and Technical Control, and better standards in other materials

and methods of production have been effected through cooperative

efforts with several other divisions.

We originated the Letterpress and Offset Printing Standards and

completed them in collaboration with the other planning divisions,

making it possible for the Government Printing Office to show ordering

144


agencies how uniform pamphlets and booklets can be produced from

standard sheet sizes of paper.

We were responsible for establishing the typographic standardization of War Department training manuals for World War II at a time

when the production burden was being intensified by many requests

for unusual display effects. We presented to the Adjutant General's

Office recommendations for typography and format standardization

which were adopted and used throughout the entire war. To make the

operation of this plan more practicable, a booklet entitled "Style Pages" was printed and distributed as a guide in this work.

Our typographers have striven toward developing economies of manufacture through careful design planning by the elimination of mixed

type faces to avoid needless assembly operations in the Composing

Division. Many hours of production have been saved by this procedure.

Kesponsibility for determining the necessity for the use of color in

Government printing is vested in this Division. Color merely for the

sake of ornamentation is not permitted. The end use of the publication

or its functional requirements determines when the no-color restriction

is to be applied.

Many Division operations for which time is not charged are of direct benefit to the Office and to the departments because of the

preparation of specffications that fit into the production requirements,

thereby speeding up manufacturing processes and providing a greater

return for the expenditure of Federal funds.

How do design improvements reduce cost or actually benefit the

Government? This can be answered best by examples.

One of the most outstanding is the redesigned format of the Congressional Record. The estimated saving for 1 year, through the change

from 7K-point on a 9-point body, 2 columns to the page, to 7K-point on an 8}^-point body, 3 columns, was $123,750. The comparative

tabular analysis submitted by the Public Printer to the Joint Committee on Printing, at the time he asked that committee's approval of

the new format, is reproduced here for greater completeness of this

presentation. It is as follows

Item Old format New format Composition..

.

. . $302, 873. 00

27, 950. 00

59, 626. 00

140, 000. 00

95, 000. 00

103, 742. 56

$249, 475.45

23, 206. 89

49, 600. 47

117, 242. 00

79, 378. 50

86, 736. 65

Imposition and make-up .....

Platemaking

Presswork Binding ......

Paper stock Total 729, 191. 56 605, 441. 56 Saving 123, 750. 00 Percent . ... . _ 16. 97 145
The actual reduction in the cost of the Congressional Record for the

first year after redesigning exceeded our estimate considerably. It was

$150,000, as shown by charges for the work. Many Members of Congress may not know that the application of good typography also

reduced the cost of speech reprints from the Congressional Record by

45 percent.

Another example is a new design for the forms used by the census enumerators. The Census Bureau of the Commerce Department originally requested three or four colors for these forms, but by design

planning we were able to make the forms more effective and print

them in one color. Our new design helped in eliminating some of the more than a million errors which normally creep into these records

during the enumerating process. A more recent example of saving by design planning is a publication

for the National Gallery of Art. The Gallery wanted 150,000 reprints

of a 20-page booklet to be passed out to visitors. The estimated cost of

the originally planned booklet was about $5,000, which was more than

their budget permitted. By design planning, it was possible to reduce

the publication to 16 pages, thereby cutting the cost about $1,400

without detracting from the appearance of the printed job.

The Federal Security Agency wanted a silk-screen counter display

requiring 13 colors. By preparing new art work, we reduced the number

of colors to 6, adding to the effectiveness of the design and reducing

the cost by $1,500.

Our constant objective is to reduce the cost of printing to the Government and to improve its effectiveness by printing it in such a way

that its appearance is more inviting and the information it contains can be quickly and more easily understood.

No clearer evidence of the benefits of good typography can be found

than in the following memo from our Superintendent of Documents to the Director of Typography and Design:

In closing our books for the fiscal year 1947, we have found that the sales function of this Division has enjoyed the most successful year in its history. For the

first time in 52 years this Office will return to the Treasury an amount greater

than its entire appropriation, which includes many nonrevenue functions. We believe that a substantial portion of the credit for the tremendous increase

in our sales business in the last 2 years belongs to the Division of Typography and

Design. The assistance which you have rendered in modernizing our sales circulars and placing them on a basis comparable to the best commercial practice has been

undoubtedly a substantial factor in the increased volume of business. Your assist- ance in planning and designing sales catalogs covering slow-selling publications has been of material assistance in turning publications into revenue for the Government. Examination of the work of the Government Printing Office during

146
the past 12 years will show quite clearly that Government printing

has improved. No criticism of the typography and design of Government printing has appeared in the trade magazines since a Director of

Typography and Design was appointed to assist in planning operations.

One has only to examine the Yearbook of Agriculture for 1935 and

compare it with those printed since that time to realize what the

Division of Typography and Design has done to improve Government

printing.

OFFSET-COPY PREPARATION

Work of the Offset Copy Preparation Section now represents a major

part of the Division's operation. In 1935 there were only six presses in

the Offset Press Section of our Main Press Division. Since then offset lithography has increased manyfold, owing primarily to the influence

of war printing. However, the growth of offset printing was a coming

development that could not be held back. In the commercial-printing

industry it has grown tremendously, and expansion in this Office has

kept pace with it. Prior to the establishment of the position of Director

of Typography and Design, preparation of offset copy by the Office

and by ordering agencies was haphazard. Offset copy not properly sized

and organized was a problem for production men in the commercial

field as well as in this Office. It interfered with production, slowed it down, and was largely responsible for the poor reputation offset printing bore until steps were taken to correct the situation.

At the end of the fiscal year we had 19 employees on 3 shifts preparing offset copy for production on 15 large, modern, high-speed presses. Offset copy must be sized, organized, folioed, laid out, and prepared

for the camera. In addition, preparation is done for hundreds of jobs

that are purchased commercially. The production of 9,397,984 negatives by 26 employees of the offset-negative room of our Platemaking

Division in 1947 compared with 2,259,752 negatives by 9 employees in

1939 shows how this work has grown.

Each year the volume of work to be processed in this Section in- creases. The war gave it an added impetus and it continues to expand.

It is clearly evident that the work can be expected to grow and the

personnel of this Section to increase in proportion to the demands made

by the increased use of offset printing.

During the fiscal year, 4,796 offset jobs were processed. Work pre- pared for purchase through commercial offset facilities about doubled

that of the previous year; work prepared for printing in the Government Printing Office increased slightly more than 10 percent.

With the reduction or ehmination of the graphic units previously

operated by many departments and agencies, they do not have the

147
personnel or facilities to prepare copy as well as it should be done, and

the burden of organizing and preparing it has fallen on us. One series

of publications consisting of approximately 120 jobs, including in all 14,000 pages of manuscript and over 1,000 folded maps and diagrams,

showed no continuity of pages, nor any uniformity of sizing of illus- trations and drawings. The task of arranging this material for production so that it could be printed without errors and without delay

required an unusual amount of work. Had the copy been used without

careful preparation and editing, the number of folded inserts on these

jobs would probably have been double the actual number printed and

would have cost many extra hundreds of dollars to produce. Seventy

percent of the pasters were eliminated in some of these jobs. In spite

of all the problems involved, the entire series was completely prepared

and edited in 26 days.

The largest single job processed by this Section diu-ing the fiscal year was the offset printing portion of the Pearl Harbor hearings.

There were approximately 6,500 pieces of exhibit material, which had

to be carefully coordinated to reduce the number of tip-ins and folders. This material when completed made 5,780 printed pages besides 573

tip-ins or pasters which could not be reduced to page size. Through a work-simplification proposal, all offset copy now remains

in this Section and does not follow the work jacket during estimating

and jacket writing. The necessary basic information is put on a work

sheet which is used as a guide by the Division of Plant Planning. In

addition to preventing damage to the copy, this method of processing

simplifies and expedites the estimating procedure.

Additional duties of this Section are specifying of paper negatives

for offset printing and indicating which jobs require Ozalid or blueprint proofs for proofreading and revising purposes. The Section's

second shift prepares copy for reproduction proofs for combined quantity units in imposition of forms and pamphlets to be produced by four

local contractors engaged in overnight offset service. The following

table shows the volume of overnight work for the fiscal year 1947:

Number Orders received, including Jackets 7, 366

Total plates 4, 940

Daily average plates 19 Total sheets (35 by 45) 20, 722, 995

Daily average sheets '. 81,266

Total impressions 34, 168, 095

Daily average impressions 133, 995

Total finished copies 241, 109, 175 Daily average copies 945, 525

Total pages processed 44, 010

148
Two employees on shift 3 supplement the operations of shift 2 if the

work carries over into the early morning hours. They also complete

work from shift 1. TYPOGRAPHY SECTION

This Section now has only four employees doing typography, layout, and design exclusively, the other employees being engaged in the

preparation of illustration and manuscript copy, assisting with production details, preparing specifications, and production follow-up.

As part of its normal duties this Section has completed special jobs

for the White House, the State Department, and the United States

Bureau of the Mint. It also has designed treaties and treaty cases for

the State Department.

Present Government printing problems require every possible design

and typographic assistance that can be supplied. Printing today, no

matter in how simple a form it is prepared, has considerable competition from magazines and daily newspapers. If Government printing

is not produced in an interesting, easy-to-read manner, then the millions of doUars spent on research by Agriculture, Labor, and Commerce among others, are wasted. It is not enough merely to compile

material into a report. It must be prepared so that the report will

provide the facts in a simple, direct, and readable form.

CREATION OF NEW ART WORK LIMITED

In the Art and Illustration Section, only three of the nine employees

are employed in creative art work. The others are engaged in sizing

illustrations, writing of engraving orders, flagging copy for positioning

of illustrations, and retouching photographs and line illustrations. Two recent jobs, one a map of the Central VaUey project for the

Interior Department and another for Congress, are typical.

The Interior job was a drawing of a map 6 by 10 feet in size, in four

colors. It was impractical to reproduce it from the original submitted. By redrawing it in a manner and in a size suitable for reproduction, it was possible to save more than $500 in reproduction costs and

deliver the job in the very short time necessary to meet the Department's needs.

The House Committee on the District of Columbia requested reproductions of a District of Columbia Organization Chart, 14 by 20 feet in

size, which was hanging on the waU of the committee room in the

House Office Buildmg. The Photographic Section photographed the

original copy on the wall and furnished prints to the Art and Illustra- 149
tion Section for redrawing it so that the chart couJd be reproduced in a convenient size for binding as part of a House document.

PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTION

The Photographic Section produced 81,552 pieces of work. A print

washer, print dryer, print straightener, print press, and a condenserstyle enlarger for line copy were secured from war surplus material. A

new Ozalid machine has been in operation since late last year and has

been helpful in expediting the reproduction requirements of the Office. It is used to produce additional copies of master specification sheets

for the Commercial Planning Division and has cut the cost of reproducing this material by 60 percent while also speeding up the work.

GOOD GOVERNMENT PRINTING

One of the first new positions the Public Printer created after taking

office was that of Director of Typography and Design. In 1931, Dr.

Carl Rollins, of Yale University Press, writing in Direct Advertising

(vol. 17, No. 4), described the need in the following words:

The quality of the work put out by the Government Printing Office is always

mediocre, it is often poor, and frequently it is downright abominable * * * It is a truism that the Government should be the ideal employer of labor (as it often is), that it should be the leader and exemplar and inspiration in every line of effort into which it enters. The work of the Bureau of Standards, of the Forestry Service, of the Lighthouse Service, occur as instances where the Government

does lead. In many cases Government architecture is admirable. Why should not

its printing, which has a more persuasive influence than any other governmental

activity, also be superior? Why should the Congressional Record have a title page which is an inarticulate horror? Why should the Government bulletins be

made to look cheaper than they are? How to make the Government printing conform to the high standard existing

today in many printing offices is mostly one of willingness to tackle the problem

in an intelligent and effective way. There is no excuse whatever for the Govern- ment Printing Office to continue to turn out such oceans of sleazy work as it does, nor for it to perpetuate the horrors in "artistic printing" which signalize its recognition of the unusual ''job." Good type costs no more than poor type, though

sometimes good printing may cost a little more than the ordinary "average jobprinting office" variety. But it is more than possible that even a properly economical committee on printing might be impressed if the Government Printing Office should get one of its department reports into the Fifty Books of the Year! ^ Some

day * * * a Congressman may arise and suggest that a Director of Typography be employed by the Government Printing Office. The justification for the Division of Typography and Design, if any

were needed, can be found in many letters of commendation from order1 The Dance of Death, a Library of Congress publication printed by the Government Printing Office, was selected as one of the Fifty Books of the Year in 1947. 150
ing agencies, of which the following from the Librarian of Congress is just one example:

The Library of Congress has received a heartening response to its new pubhcation, The United States Quarterly Book List. The contribution of the Government

Printing Office to the success of this venture is large, and for that reason I want to send along to you some comments which are typical of those coming in: ''Contents and outer appearance of this first number meet fully with the highest

expectations."

"The typographic style is most satisfying."

"Good proofing throughout, good page color, good impression, good opaque

paper * * *." "Handsome format, clear print."

I should like to add that the Library of Congress is, of course, in complete accord with these opinions. The Government Printing Office has done a splendid job for

us, both in the design and in the setting up of the Book List. Our congratulations

and our thanks. While the results of the Division's work are apparent in many publications, its job is not finished. Current and future printing requirements

indicate an expansion of its activities.

151

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PUBLIC PRINTER

PART

Production

AS SHOWX on the Government Printing Office organization chart

(facing p. 101), the Production ^Manager is responsible to the Deputy

Pubhc Printer for the administration of all shifts of the Composing,

Platemaking, Presswork, and Binding Divisions, the Library of Congress Branch, the Supreme Court Unit, the Dehvery Section, and for congressional and departmental details. The 4,612 employees in the

production divisions are under the Production Manager's supervision.

He or his representative collaborates with the Planning ^Manager in determining which jobs are to be produced in the Office, procured

commercially, or waived for direct procurement by the ordering

agency. He furnishes information to the Planning Service Division on the status of every job in production and also supplies information

necessary for the establishment of schedules, production plans, and

methods. The Director of Typography and Design advises and consults with him on the acceptability of copy and the quahty of work

in production.

Purchase requests for all printing and binding machinery and

equipment are prepared under the Production Manager's direction,

with the advice and cooperation of the Planning Manager and the

Consultant on Methods and Procedures.

The Xight Production Manager, under the Production Manager, is charged with responsibihty for the direction of all congressional printing, including the Congressional Record.

The Production Manager is chairman of the Work Simplification

Board; is a member of the Employee Evaluation Board, the Executive

153
Safety Committee, and the Committee on Deferment; and also serves on special boards and committees as required and is the Public

Printer's chief consultant on all matters immediately relating to production of public printing and binding.

The Assistant Production Manager is chairman of the Housekeeping

Committee, Assistant Security Officer, and chairman of the Safety

Subcommittee; he is a member of the Executive Safety Committee

and represents the Office on the Interdepartmental Safety Council.

He is also charged with the investigation of all lost-time accidents.

. CONGRESSIONAL PRINTING

During the two extraordinarily active sessions within the fiscal year

1947, the total printing requirements of the Congress have been

extremely heavy. Production figures for the second session of the

Seventy-ninth Congress were somewhat below those of the previous

year, the Congress having been in recess for 5 months, but work

resulting from the first session of the Eightieth Congress has far

exceeded any figures previously reported. The numerous changes

brought about by the reorganization of Congress and the consequent

establishment of new committees appear to be largely responsible for

the urgency and increase in printing and binding required.

The daily Congressional Record for the second session of the

Seventy-ninth Congress required 155 issues, which totaled 16,452

paper pages, an average of 106 pages per issue. The average for the

previous session was 85; for the Eightieth Congress, the daily average was 109. Beginning March 17, 1947, a Daily Digest, averaging 6.7 pages per issue, has been printed as part of the Record. The largest

Record printed during this fiscal year was 224 pages, on July 25, 1946.

At the time of this writing, a few figures for July 1947 have become

available. Although they are beyond the time limits of the fiscal year

under report, these figures are nevertheless included here because they

round out the statement of Congressional Record requirements for the

first session of the Eightieth Congress: In the month of July, the

Record averaged 164 pages per issue; on July 24, a 224-page issue was

produced; and on July 25 and 26, a 256-page Record was required

each day.

The daily Record, like a newspaper, is produced under the stress of a deadline. Before being put in bound form, it is scanned by a small

force specially trained for that purpose. Errors, both typographical

and factual, are eliminated; speeches and other material are put in

proper sequence; corrections and changes requested by Senators and

Congressmen are made. A saving of several hundred pages is generally

154
accomplished through this procedure. Thus the Congressional Kecord

is edited by us to take its place on the shelves of libraries, law offices,

and elsewhere as a reliable factual reference source depicting our

national life as reflected in the legislative proceedings of Congress.

Bill work from January 1 to June 30 was 25 percent higher than for

the same period a year ago. Subcommittee prints of the Interior and

Agriculture Departments' appropriation bills made 581 and 460 pages,

respectively. House bill 3830 required 336 pages. Three bills, providing

for revisions of the United States Code, totaled 1,011 pages.

The size of committee calendars was more affected than any other

class of printing by the reorganization of Congress. While the number

of legislative calendars has been reduced as a result of committee consolidations, this decrease in number has been more than offset by

increases in size. Senate and House Calendars together involved the

printing of 34,692 pages, the number of pages in one calendar going

as high as 398.

Hearings during the Eightieth Congress increased in size and number, several exceeding 1,000 pages. House and Senate hearings on amending the National Labor Relations Act made six and five parts,

respectively, and a total of 6,356 pages. House and Senate appropriation hearings totaled 37,729 pages, and

a number of individual hearings exceeded 3,000 pages. The follo^ving table gives a summary of the principal items of congressional work and shows also the extent to which the volume was

concentrated in the last 6 months of the fiscal year

July 1 to Jan. 1 to Class of work Dee. 31, June 30, Total

1946 1947

Bills:Senate (introduced): Number Number Number

BiUs 114 1, 537 1, 651 Resolutions . . . .... 25 137 162 Joint resolutions-- .-- . -.. 21 140 161 Concurrent resolutions . .-. . . . 8 22 30 House (introduced):

Bills — 302 4, 050 4, 352 Resolutions.-. - . - - - . . 71 264 335 Joint resolutions. - - - 22 224 246 Concurrent resolutions . . - - - 10 54 64 Total new bills 573 6, 428 7, 001 Total bill prints 2,755 12, 583 15, 337

Bill forms to press - - . ... . -- . ... 2,386 11, 832 14, 218

Bill pages set 9, 391 52, 135 61, 526

Bill pages picked up 6, 586 23, 771 30, 357 Reports: Senate 295

299 405 700 House - - -- - --. . 753 1, 052 Documents:

Senate --- - - - - ... 33 72 105 House... --- -- ---- -- - 90 370 460 155
Night forces in the production divisions have been estabhshed primarily for congressional printing and binding. At the end of the fiscal year, employees on these shifts totaled 1,843, a net loss of 79 during

the year. In the second half of the fiscal year, the work forces in the

Composing, Presswork, and Bindery Divisions were inadequate for processing of the complete congressional-work load, which regularly

overflowed into the day shift. (See also pp. 156-157.)

COMPOSING DIVISION

For the past several years there has been a steady and progressive

decrease in the number of employees in the Composing Division

through resignations, retirements, and transfers. There was a further

drop from 1,648 to 1,595 in the 1947 fiscal year. With this net loss of

53, the Division now has 271 fewer employees than it had 5 years

ago. The reduction affects especially the skilled crafts engaged in

machine composition and proofreading. Replacements are sorely

needed, but they are not available. Fifty additional operators would

raise annual type production by nearly half a billion ems ; or, to put it another way, they would reduce necessary overtime proportionately.

WORK VOLUME UNPREDICTABLE

We were subjected, particularly during the last 6 months of the

year, to pressure that was not matched even during the war. Schedule

completion dates had to be met, but scheduled time allowances were

continually disrupted by an unpredictable volume of ''must'' publications. Our records show 2,007,853,700 ems of type set during the year, in

comparison with 2,102,483,400 set during 1946. Composition in the

Monotype Section amounted to 783,033,000 ems. These figures do not

include unmeasurable pick-up and display material. Monotype Casting

produced and issued 2,263,377 pounds of sorts, rules, dashes, and

spacing material. Total use of type metal amounted to 8,902,107

pounds. In the Hand Section 195,939 forms were imposed for printing

from type or for plating.

The Job Section imposed and locked up for press or plating a total of 179,379 forms and pages, compared with 170,769 in the previous

fiscal year. This Section had 157 employees, against 165 in 1946.

CONGRESSIONAL WORK

The weight of congressional printing has fallen hard on this Division, composition being, as a rule, the chief production factor in this

156
class of work. It cannot be put on schedule, as is the case with other

printing, but is a daily ''must." Every Monday morning in June of

this year we had an average of 6,375 folios of congressional copy on hand to be set. By the end of the workweek, there was twice as much

on hand, which could only be handled by Saturday (overtime) work.

On June 21, 1947, an overtime day, 7,500,000 ems of type for congressional printing, requiring 1,615 hours of composition time, had to be set. SUPREME COURT UNIT

Our new Supreme Court Unit in the first 9 months of its operation

required by the term of the Court completed 144 opinions, aggregating 2,463 type pages. Location of the Unit in the Supreme Court Building contributed to more frequent requests for revisions than in the

past, proofs being returned an average of 4.5 times for changes. In

all, the Unit pulled more than 250,000 proof sheets. Preliminary prints,

assembled from the 144 opinions, averaged 225 pages; and the bound

volume, a subsequent pick-up of 4 preliminary prints, contains about

970 pages.

Equipment in the Unit, consisting of two slug-casting machines, an

electric proof press, and a reproduction proof press, as well as aU

necessary supplementary equipment, was taken from the Composing

Division. A working compositor in charge, three machine operators,

and one laborer constitute the working force. (See also p. 177.)

SHORTAGE OF EQUIPMENT

The Division has been seriously handicapped by shortage of typesetting-machine parts, brought about by scarcity of materials, large

backlogs of orders, and strikes in the plants of suppliers. At the end

of the fiscal year there were 29 outstanding orders for critically needed

typesetting material—parts, matrices, and spacebands. Some of these

orders were placed more than 2)^ years ago. The fantastic increases in

the cost of such material when it is obtainable is a big factor in the

overhead of the Division.

A model C Intertype, secured from war surplus, has been installed

in the Patents Section to replace in part two machines taken from that

Section for the Supreme Court Unit.

CONFORMITY TO STANDARDS

During the past few years, the ordering agencies have had adequate

printing appropriations. Now, in order to meet requirements with the

157
funds available, they will have to become more economy-minded.

They have been repeatedly advised by this Office that one of the principal factors of cost is the waste represented by alterations made after

type is set instead of in the original copy. They also must make their

publications conform to Government Printing Office size, equipment,

and typographical standards. The Office can continue to turn out a

limited amount of de luxe printing but only at a cost in keeping with

the nature of the work.

SCHEDULE FOR EVERY JOB

Departments and agencies are securing unprecedented service from

the Office through the establishment of a schedule on every job submitted. They undoubtedly would protest vigorously if it were necessary

to revert to the pattern followed before the war, when the Division

worked on the oldest job first and avoided expensive machine changeovers until each separate class of composition was completed. The wartime tempo killed the old procedure, but it at least had the advantage

of keeping production costs at a minimum.

UNUSUAL JOBS

The following items are not intended as a complete list of unusual

jobs. They are cited merely to show the pressure put on some work and

the action necessary to meet special demands. We are constantly being

called upon to put through unusual requests—some amounting to only

a few man-hours' effort and others running into the thousands.

On June 11, 1946, the President signed Public Law No. 404, which

required that special articles, describing the functions of each agency

of the Government, be made available to the public through printing

in an issue of the Federal Register 90 days later, which was September

11. The Office divided the daily Register for that date into two parts

part I to contain the regular daily material and part II to include the

remainder of the issue. Combined, they made 1,094 pages—128 pages

in part I and 966 pages in part II, produced in 9 working days, including 5,470,000 ems of composition, and a proportionately heavy amount

of presswork, binding, and mailing. During these 9 days the daily

Register totaled 560 pages of composition—an average of more than 60

pages a day over and above the special issue. Several times throughout the year the Office was called upon to perform unusual service on work for the Justice Department. An

outstanding instance was the brief for the Supreme Coiu-t filed Monday, January 13, 1947. The first 113 folios of copy were received late 158
on Wednesday, January 8, page proofs to be ready at 9 a. m. on the

following day. The last six pages of manuscript were received at 8 a. m.,

just 1 hour before the dead line for page proofs. They were immediately put in type, proofread, and the job made up. Twenty sets of proofs of the 124 pages were deUvered to the Department at 11 :15 a. m. At 4:15 p. m. on Friday, January 10, they were returned to us with

heavy alterations. About 50 employees were put on overtime to meet

the Department's request: Revised page proofs by 6:30 p. m.; stone

proofs by midnight; and 800 printed copies bound and ready for 8 a. m.

delivery. The job when printed, consisted of a cover, title, 6 preliminary

and 107 text pages. The 1946 Report of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, was

printed from 6,066 folios of copy, which made 2,824 pages, bound in

2 volumes. The first pages of copy arrived November 19, 1946, and the

last foho came in June 9, 1947. Proof of the beginning pages went out

December 9, 1946, and the remaining proofs by June 24, 1947. The

complete proofs were released by the Department July 1, 1947, approximately 7% months from beginning the type composition. Thousands of man-hours were required to advance the production of this tabularand-text annual report during the peak period of congressional-printing

demands.

Copy of Interior Department hearings started in on February 17

and by April we received 4,252 folios. The day after receipt of the

first copy, proof was sent out on 136 pages. This continued, and at

2- and 3-day intervals 11 sets of page proofs were forwarded until

April 9, when 1,647 pages—the text part of this volume—were all in

the hands of the committee. Final page proofs were returned April

9—-late in the day—for press. The first of the copy of part 2 was received March 25 and the first proofs were delivered to the committee the next day. The last of the

text came in April 4. The final proofs of the pages were forwarded

April 8, and returned for press with the index copy and 22 offset pasters, April 10. This part made 32 press forms.

First copy of part 3 reached us March 25 and last of text April 10. The index to this part, consisting of 299 folios, was received April 14

and, as proof was waived, the job went to press on the night of April

14. It made 95 press forms. (See also p. 172.)

On January 2, after 4 in the afternoon, the Division received

returned galley proofs and additional insert copy of the testimony

before the Special Committee To Investigate National Defense, with an urgent request for 500 bound copies the next day. This was an

unusually heavy as'signment to throw in on the night force, particularly in view of the other work on hand the night before Congress was

159
to convene. Forty-four forms, consisting of 698 pages, had to be locked

up and sent through the presses. The fact that bound copies were ready

at 8 a. m. shows once more some of our unusual performance on

requests for overnight and almost instant service.

Copy for Merchant Vessels of the United States consisted of

58,888 folios, mostly index cards, making 824 pages, llji by 9 inches,

mostly tabular. Submission of copy covered a 10-month period.

Statutes at Large is a heavy publication, each volume being in two

huge parts bound separately, trimmed pages 7% by 11% inches. Volume

60, part 1, consisted of 1,328 pages. Copy arrived for these volumes

over an entire year—some of it for new volumes even before the old

volumes have been completed. Volume 60, part 1, was processed on the

following schedule: Copy to the Government Printing Office started

April 8, 1946; completed April 18, 1947. Page proof to Department

started April 30, 1946; completed May 18, 1947. Plate proofs to Department started May 1, 1947; completed July 11, 1947. At the time

of this writing, volume 60, part 2, is being processed in advanced

stages at the same time as copy for volume 61, part 1, is coming into

the Office, and the production chain starts all over. The first Budget copy was received in the Office November 19, 1946.

Up to December 12 only 2,511 folios had been received, but from

December 12 to 22 an average of 1,167 folios per day was received.

The last copy of the 13,452 folios reached us January 3, 1947. More

than 80 percent of the type composition was done between December

12 and January 2. On December 30 to 31 we released for printing 1,350

pages, and the final 278 pages were printed on the night of January 4. Delivery was made on January 7. The printed Budget made 1,628 pages, 314 more than the 1,314-

page Budget for 1943, the largest on record up to this year, and 652

pages more than the 976-page Budget of last year. All programs were

included in one print of the Budget for 1948, the estimates of appropriation printed in the war agencies supplements for 1944 to 1947 and

the corporations' supplement for 1947 having been incorporated.

PATENT OFFICE PRINTING

All Patent Office printing, except reprints (see p. 188), is produced in our self-sufficient Patents Section—^typesetting, proofreading, imposition, and lock-up. Presswork for the text pages of the Official Gazette

and the two annual indexes are done in our regular pressrooms.

During the year our Patents Section imposed and printed 11,177 forms

(8 pages each) of specifications.

In 1937 emphasis on the necessity for utmost economy brought about

160
a reorganization of production and procedure. The Public Printer^s

Annual Report for 1938 explains in detail the circumstances leading

to the reorganization. Since that time production has conformed to requirements in every respect, there have been no criticisms of charges

for work performed and no further proposals to change to allegedly

cheaper but less satisfactory methods of processing.

Patent work, decreasing progressively through the war years, experienced a further decline in the fiscal year 1947, although there was a shght uptrend in the final 2 months of the year. Issues of patents, trade

marks, designs, plant patents, and reissues for the year totaled only

31,022, compared with 34,268 in 1946, 37,648 in 1945, and 37,336 in

1944. The figure for 1939 is 58,073.

There were 124 employees in the Section as of June 30, 1947, compared with 130 and 136, respectively, in the fiscal years 1946 and 1944.

These figures may also be compared with a prewar roll of 195. The

work of the Section has been stabilized by assigning to it other jobs

suitable for it, such as the very large Supplement to the Code of

Federal Regulations. There has also been some reallocation of equipment, notably to the new Supreme Court Unit.

The backlog of appHcations awaiting action at the Patent Office has

mounted to 148,028 specifications and 13,638 trade-marks, compared

with a maximum of only 40,000 items awaiting action during prewar

years. Recent advice to this Office is that more examiners are now at work, and that the number of applications allowed is steadily increasing. It is, therefore, logical to expect a sharp increase in patent work.

One of the beneficial features of the reorganization designed to promote economy by keeping in-type corrections at a minimum, is the

preparation of specification copy at the Patent Office by Government

Printing Office employees on detail to that Office. Probably 50 cases of

each weekly issue are returned by the preparers for correction of errors that have been detected prior to setting of type. This service continues

to yield benefits not only in time and money saved but also in better

quality of the product and in good will. While changes in rules and regulations at the Patent Office have

resulted in incorporation of additional material in the Official Gazette,

the total number of pages was slightly under the figure for the previous

year—9,524 pages in the weekly issues against 10,274 in the fiscal year 1946.

In January 1947 the Gazette appeared with a newly designed cover, a new title page, and the addition of a table of contents. The March 17

issue came out with a somewhat simplified page format. These changes

make the publication more usable and attractive.

161
PLATEMAKING DIVISION

In the fiscal year 1947 platemaking production increased over 1946

by 14)^ percent, with a reduction of 6 percent in the number of production employees.

Compared with 1939, when the last annual report of the Public

Printer was printed, the increase amounts to the amazing figure of 318

percent, more than four times our prewar production. In this 8-year

period total personnel in the Division increased not 300 but only 49

percent. There were 140 employees in 1939, 222 in 1946, and 209

in 1947.

The following figures show the comparative production, in square

inches, for all printing-plate media:

Class of work 1939 1946 1947

Photoengraving- _ 828, 459 1, 092, 517 1, 119, 041 Offset negatives 2, 259, 752 7, 261, 204 9, 397, 984 Electrotypes 6, 037, 986 7, 631, 048 6, 649, 391 Stereotype plates . 4, 961, 637 9, 838, 590 8, 935, 481 Stereotype mats . . _ 982, 274 27, 359, 441 34, 213, 165 Kubber plates and stamps. . . 56, 162 86, 701 140, 196 Plastic plates . 1, 954, 569 3, 418, 562 Total 15, 126, 270 55, 224, 070 63, 873, 820

In addition to the production Hsted, 500,000 square inches of ''molds

only" were made in vinyl plastic during the year. This is equivalent to 10,000 book pages. The molds are stored for future reprint instead of the much more expensive heavy pattern plates. Through the cooperative efforts of the Platemaking and Planning Divisions in specifying

this more economical storage medium in the writing of jackets, the

Plate Vault now has 35,000 plastic molds stored for reprint.

IMPROVEMENT IN METHODS

Since 1939, introduction of many new methods and materials has

greatly changed platemaking operations and explains in large part the

spectacular increase of production.

By the improvement and simplification of methods, standards of

quahty of production also have been raised and health hazards reduced.

In photoengraving, the use of thin-base film and strip film has re- sulted in the elimination of the silver-bath and rubber-collodion coating of glass wet plates. Electric etching machines have been of great

assistance to copper etchers, and electronic Hght-exposure controls

have contributed to more accurate timing in photography.

162
Offset-negative making has been advanced in efficiency through the

installation of large overhead darkroom cameras, with vacuum copyboards and vacuum backs for holding the fihn during exposure. Offsetfilm quality is being constantly improved. The new magenta contact

screens, made of film, have been an important factor in the improvement of hafftone work which now is being printed both from glass and

film-contact-screen negatives. Advances in procedure have kept pace

with improvements in equipment and supphes.

Electrotyping methods which have been considered basic and fundamental for 100 years have been discarded within the last 3 or 4 years. The 12 major operations formerly required to make an electrotype

have now been reduced to 6. Wax is no longer used on general electro- typing in the Government Printing Office. Wax-case heating cabinets,

dry black leading, wet leading machines, building, and oxidizing have

all been eliminated except on the small number of wax-rule forms,

which cannot at this time be ruled on any other material. This ruling

operation now is carried on in a small room completely separated from

the Electrotyping Section.

The Stereotype Section has turned entirely from wet mats to the

modern dry mats in the making of plates for the Congressional Record,

Federal Register, and many other important jobs. Dry mats were not

used in the Government Printing Office prior to 1940; yet, during the war, production on this item for 1 year was over 225,000,000 square

inches for various Government departments and agencies in addition

to the amount used on Government Printing Office printing. In 1946-47

department orders for mat service were still at a high figure—over

34,000,000 square inches.

The reduction in plate thickness of curved speech-press plates from

one-half inch to our standard book-curve thickness of 0.177 inch, cut the weight from 12 to 4 pounds per plate and halved the time necessary

for casting.

PLASTIC PLATES

In 1941 the Government found it necessary to estabhsh a service to supply lightweight printing plates to combat areas and to foreign

newspapers. Plastic platemaking was then only on an experimental

basis. Through developments in this Office, the Public Printer was

able to begin immediate production. At the same time we undertook to

set up and train four contractors to help in the work and thus greatly

increased the initial facilities. Whereas 1 man and 1 molding press were adequate in 1939 for making rubber plates and stamps, peacetime

production of plastic plates in this fiscal year was 650 plates daily with

5 men and 7 presses turning out more than 3,500,000 square inches.

163
From the beginning of the plastic-platemaking program to date,

599,949 plastic plates were made in the Division and 719,585 were

procured from commercial sources. Only by following closely the developments in the platemaking field and, in fact, taking a leading part in some of the tests and experiments

which brought about the increased ratio of production, were we able to meet the tremendous demands made upon us by the war. Many

developments originating or perfected in the Platemaking Division

have been adopted as standard trade practice by commercial platemakers.

PLATE VAULT SECTION

Personnel figures for the Plate Vault have not been included in the

foregoing because these employees are not engaged in production. This

Section had 22 employees in 1939, 55 in 1946, and 59 in 1947. It may be

pointed out that this includes a number of unskilled employees who

have been trained for this work.

Until the war, the Plate Vault received, recorded, stored, and

reported only plates and original halftones and line cuts made and

used in the Government Printing Office. In 1947 the Section has grown

to cover the recording and reporting on every reprint medium used in

the plant in addition to approximately 850,000 units returned by

contractors all over the country.

The expansion of duties has completely filled the original available

storage and office space and requires the use of space borrowed from

another division. During the year under report, this Section has had

the further duty of reporting all reproducibles stored by each department so that unessential matter can be killed. Tons of valuable metal

have thus been recovered.

Through cooperation with the planning divisions, and as a result

of their experience in processing requisitions, a central information

unit has been established in the plate vault which has halved the time

required for reporting reprint media on hand.

INTERDIVISIONAL COOPERATION i The planning divisions have worked closely with the Superintendent

of Platemaking in utilizing the modern production methods which

have been developed in Government Printing Office platemaking and

thus insured the utmost economy in the use of plates in the Office

and on commercially procured work. Through interdivisional conferences, rigid specifications have been developed for commercially

procured plate material. Substantial economies to the Government

164
have resulted from the Planning and Accounting Divisions' careful

scrutiny of cost charges, with platemaking officials serving in a consulting capacity when technical questions have arisen in connection

with billing. Cooperation by the Division of Tests and Technical

Control has consistently improved the efficiency of our depositing and

other chemical solutions. The teamwork shown by associate production officials in working together to meet the problems of the programs

laid out by the Production Manager has been an equally important

factor in the success of this Division's work during the year. PRESSWORK DIVISION

The Presswork Division is extremely sensitive to the slightest change

or variation in the nature of public printing, in the supplies and materials available for it, in the quantities required, in the quality expected,

and in the method of production used.

Like all other production divisions, our pressrooms have been

affected most by the volume of work required to be done on critically

short schedules. After that, the paper situation has been our greatest

headache. Not only has it been necessary to use many substitutes not

best suited to our equipment or for the job to be done but we have also had to contend with stock not properly seasoned, having a poor

printing surface, or generally in bad condition.

There has been a constantly increasing demand in the ordering

agencies for better classes of work, more illustrations, more halftones,

and more color. All this calls for greater care in the Presswork Division

and is reflected by the proportionate increase in make-ready time in

the past several years. WORK LOAD AND PERSONNEL

There has been no great change in the Division's total work load

because of the Office's ability to keep it stable by adjusting the commercial-procurement program, and the proportion of preparatory

(make-ready) work has decreased as the quantities of publications on

order have gone down. Press group assignments also change with re- duced quantities, and the fastest presses in the Office have been idle part of the time during the year because they are not adapted to economical production of short runs.

Finally, the Office has two principal methods of production—^letter- press and offset. Whichever is selected, the press equipment available

is immediately Hmited by the choice.

165
Production figures for the Offset Press and Card and Money Order

Press Sections were well above those of the previous year. The number of impressions in the Main Press Section on all presses, except roll-fed rotary, remained close to the previous year's production.

Total impressions in all press sections amounted to 901,350,293

against 988,101,372 in 1946. Forms put to press totaled 146,197, in- cluding offset plates.

The Presswork Division operated 190 presses on 3 shifts, with a full complement of employees on the day shift; a somewhat smaller third

shift; and a skeleton intermediate force, whose principal function was

to finish critical jobs and advance the work on congressional printing.

A small night force is on duty in the Card and Money Order Press

Section. There was a 3)^-percent reduction during the year in the number of employees in four sections and on all shifts of the Division.

The total of 1,135 on June 30, 1947, was made up of 23 supervisors,

starting with the rank of assistant foreman, 475 pressmen, 19 press

assistants, 428 presswork operatives and skilled laborers, 22 press feeders, 18 revisers, 25 clerks and messengers, and 125 employees doing

other classes of work.

Like other divisions, the pressrooms have had to produce during the

year a terrific volume of rush work for Congress, and frequently re- adjustment of work assignments, with consequent lifting of forms, in- terruptions to runs, and loss of production time, has been necessary.

Nearly all overtime has resulted from congressional printing.

Records show that approximately 2,500 more bill forms were printed

toward the end of this fiscal year for the first session of the Eightieth

Congress than for a like period of the Seventy-ninth Congress. Continued ordering of bills in such quantities will require a number of

additional small presses to avoid delays in other work. The Public

Printer's modernization committee is studying this matter.

The amount of work assigned to the Record presses has resulted in

practically continuous, around-the-clock operation. There was a

decrease in the size of the Federal Register. The Airman's Guide,

consisting of 192 pages per issue, is being produced biweekly on the

Record presses. OFFSET PRESS SECTION

Work of the Offset Press Section continues to show a progressive

increase, despite discontinuance of tabulating-card manufacture. Production has been facilitated by installations of improved dampening

and form rollers. Their use greatly increases the life of the offset plates,

166
100,000 impressions or more from 1 plate having been made in some

instances. A better grade of negatives, both for illustrations and type,

has brought about a decided improvement in the quality of work.

Large economies are achieved by the use of paper negatives on certain

classes of publications.

A Webendorfer Perfecting press, printing from an 8}^-inch roll, has

been acquired from surplus. It is too small to be suitable for a large

volume of work and has been operated on an experimental basis. No other new offset-press equipment has been added during the

year, but study is being made of departmental requirements to determine whether acquisition of more presses would be justified.

Figures of production by the offset method for this and the immediately preceding fiscal years are given in the following table:

Class of work 1945-46 1946-47 Increase

Jackets processed 3, 527 3, 961 434 Forms put to press 13, 537 16, 293 2,756 Impressions . 90, 284, 039 95, 611, 061 5, 327, 022 Negatives received - - - 114, 156 151, 405 37, 249 CARD AND MONEY ORDER PRESS SECTION

Postal-card production in the Card and Money Order Press Section

amounted to 2,865,285,000. Money-order forms of all kinds amounted

to 291,091,150. This represents a considerable increase in both classes of work over the previous fiscal year. The difficulty of securing stock

and supplies has frequently slowed down production in both units.

This applies particularly to money-order safety paper.

During the year the Post Office Department ordered 30,000,000 air- mail letters, subsequently reducing the quantity to 15,000,000. These

forms were run on one of the money-order presses, the Maintenance

Division having installed a gumming attachment and drying unit. Experience gained in the manufacture of V-mail letters enabled us to handle the new forms efficiently and expeditiously.

Through a work-simplification proposal, the printing of reply postal

cards is being accomplished at an approximate saving of $1,900

annually.

JOB PRESS SECTION

There has been a shght falling off of production in the Job Press Section as a result of reduced orders for this class of work. Some publications have been shifted from the Main Press Section to keep the

equipment in operation during slack periods.

167
A work-simplification proposal has increased the production of embossing work by 25 percent and reduced its cost by an even greater

percentage. All blank embossing is now done on automatic-feed platen

presses instead of the heavier hand-fed machines.

OLD PRESSES

The most serious problem of the Division is the large percentage of

idle time on roll-fed rotary presses. This particular group of presses

is among the oldest in the Office. One was installed in 1897, two in

1905, one in 1911, and one in 1923. The over-all reduction in the

press-impressions total is almost wholly attributable to increased

standing time for this group. Several units have not had more than

50-percent production during the year. One of the group, a four-unit

Kidder press, is being redesigned for the manufacture of snap-out

forms. The magazine rotaries, kept busy during the war on long-run

pamphlets not requiring high-class illustrations, are unsuitable for

economical production of the smaller orders now being received.

Many tests and experiments with drying apparatus have been made

by the Maintenance Division to facilitate use of the magazine rotaries

for high-class illustration work. Our Division of Tests and Technical

Control has tried to work out quick-drying-ink formulas. Unfortunately these presses can do only the class of work for which they were

designed—larger numbers of pamphlets, printed both sides simultaneously, without heavy halftone illustrations, folded and stitched or pasted during the run. Modern magazine presses are of such totally

different design that it would probably be cheaper to scrap our machines and buy new ones than to attempt to fit them for other classes of work. The job rotaries, in addition to their age, are not suited for current production. Our committee on modernization is now considering which units of this press group should be condemned and sold.

BINDING DIVISION

In a mixed bindery as large as that of the Government Printing

Office it is necessary to perform literally thousands of different operations and combinations of operations. While a large percentage of work has been standardized and is more or less routine, there will always remain an even larger percentage of jobs which must be

handled on the basis of their individual requirements. For jobs of this class it is nearly always necessary to organize special working crews and exercise the utmost ingenuity in establishing the most suitable

168
method for doing the work. These jobs need constant vigilance,

thorough planning, and complete cooperation of every employee and

supervisor in the bindery and in other divisions processing them.

Otherwise delays occur, costs mount, and an unsatisfactory job results. The bindery is the last division to receive every publication that is produced by the Office. It therefore has the responsibility of trying to make up any time that may have been lost elsewhere in production.

It has that final dead line to meet. It can never look to another

division to help pick up its failures. It gets all the frantic caUs to expedite deUvery as dead lines approach. Many large publications

practically roU off assembly lines until they are trucked into the

bindery for some of the necessarily slow and laborious operations

involved in bookmaking.

MACHINES AND PERSONNEL

We operate approximately 250 heavy binding machines performing

about 25 major classes of work, far more than there are in any other

production division. We have 1,447 employees, compared with 1,351

in 1939, 2,097 in 1943, and 1,587 at the end of the fiscal year 1946.

The great diversity of operations to be performed caUs for extraordinary versatility on the part of oiu" employees. Although versatility is a part of their training and background, a conscious effort is made at aU times to attain even greater utilization of available skills by the

interchange of employees between sections.

METHODS AND WORK LOAD

We rarely fail to deliver on schedule. Almost without exception, we

release the many periodicals on the specified completion dates. We

have developed methods that have been adopted by the commercial

industry, and we watch closely for new commercial methods that can

be applied to the Government's printing. We expect to profit by the

research being carried on jointly with Printing Industry of America,

Inc., and that organization has shown much interest in many of our methods.

During the past fiscal year, the greatest strain on the Binding Division has resulted from the extremely heavy volume of congressional

work. The most important function of the night shifts during sessions

of Congress is the handling of congressional printing, and they ordinarily complete all binding operations on it by 9 a. m. In the session

that began January 3, 1947, the requirements for binding various bills, resolutions, hearings, calendars, reports, and other documents were so 169
heavy that the day shift regularly had to pick up the overflow, which

often kept that shift busy until noon and sometimes until 3 o'clock

in the afternoon.

The reduction by the departments, notably War and Navy, in the

number of copies ordered on many publications as compared with

wartime requirements has somewhat reduced work loads in the bindery

while requiring no less production in divisions engaged in earlier phases

of the work. Through close coordination with the planning divisions,

it has been possible to stabilize production by returning flat sheets to the Office bindery when commercial procurement has been necessary on composition, platemaking, and presswork.

This has required laying out the work for the commercial printer in

such a manner that it could later be most economically processed in

the Government Printing Office bindery. The Division of Plant Planning has been cooperative in considering the bindery's problems when

preparing plans for work in other production divisions. Closer attention is being given to this aspect of planning, and it is believed that

studies now being made by planning and production divisions will

make possible even more closely detailed advance instructions for production in order to obtain maximum utilization of equipment. The

most serious objection is the difliculty of relating work loads to the

limited availability of certain types of equipment. For example, it is impossible to assign all work to 2 of the 38 folders just because they

are most efficient on a large percentage of our work. Obviously, they

represent a small percentage of folding equipment. The other folders

must be used, too. The time and cost records, supplied by our Accounts

Division, are invaluable in helping to maintain control of production.

MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENTS

All our operating equipment has been kept in an excellent state of

repair by the Maintenance Division, and its preventive-maintenance

program has reduced '^down" time to a minimum. During the year

several obsolete pieces of equipment were disposed of and recommendations made for disposal of several others. A gathering-and-stitching

machine, a stripping machine, and a perforator have been received

from surplus. Orders have been placed for certain vitally needed

equipment, but receipt is slow.

Work-simplification proposals have been submitted by employees

and supervisors to improve several pieces of equipment by alterations

and additional parts. Some have been adopted, to the distinct benefit

of the Ofl&ce. One proposal covered the manufacture of an entire

machine for weatherproofing. It is performing satisfactorily at speeds

170
far in excess of hand production. Improvements in equipment and

methods are regularly and frequently ordered by officials of the bindery

and by higher level administrators. A strip-gumming machine, manufactured by the Office in the 1946 fiscal year, turned out 4,250,000

forms at speeds in excess of 9,500 hourly. Production is being further

improved by the use of a jogging table at the delivery end. The stripgumming machine is well adapted to the manufacture of mailing

wrappers which can be used as a substitute for envelopes. Ordering

departments have been advised of its availability.

Gathering racks, installed upon the recommendation of our Consultant on Methods and Procedures, have greatly speeded up this class of work.

PAPER AND BLANKBOOKS

The Binding Division processed all the paper used in the Office for public printing and binding. Enough examples of typical jobs out of the

tens of thousands handled will be described to illustrate the nature of our work—the contributions which the bindery makes to the production of public printing and binding.

We produced 1,500,000 cased books, 2,500,000 paper-covered books,

and a large volume of miscellaneous work. On two shifts, we cut and

packed 264,000,000 full-size blark sheets and 171,000,000 printed

sheets. We applied improved methods to the manufacture of 2,508,000

stenographer's notebooks. We processed and delivered 20,000,000

copies of congressional prints produced on our speech presses. We

kept up at all times with production of the Congressional Record, and

home delivery to Members of Congress was made without a single

complaint.

A FEW OUTSTANDING PUBLICATIONS

The largest bound job received during the year was the Yearbook of

Agriculture. The edition totaled 242,384 copies, of which all but 500 were full-bound in black fabrikoid. The completed book is exceptionally

rich looking, thanks to the ingenuity used in the Division of Typography and Design to dress up the black book cloth, which was the only

material available in the needed quantity. This publication contains

944 pages. The gathering exceeded the capacity of any machine available and had to be done in two parts, which were later assembled to complete the volume. Each volume is 2% inches thick and weighs 3.64

pounds. The entire issue weighs in excess of 440 tons. Another bulky publication was Sig 5: Army Service Forces Catalog,

in four volumes, containing, respectively, 742, 996, 1,494, and

1,720 pages. The imusual bulk of this catalog presented its principal

171
problem in the space its material occupied while the books were in

process of manufactm-e. In the delivery of the total of 59,755 copies to 21 points, 6,388 cartons were required. Plans for this v^olume called

for Perfect-binder style. Volume 3 exceeded the capacity of the Perfect

binder, and it was necessary to do the work by hand. The Division of

Tests and Technical Control prov^ided in\raluable assistance by developing a poly vinyl-acetate emulsion to take the place of the glue ordinarily used on the Perfect binder. This substitution resulted in an improved binding. Tests are being carried on to determine whether this

machine can be altered to permit regular use of the emulsion.

Still another job that required careful planning and close coordination was the terminal-leave application, printed for the War Department. These forms were required to be delivered immediately after

the President approved the bill for payment of terminal leave to enlisted men. As an indication of the burden placed on our bindery, it may be pointed out that sheets, of different sizes, from 23 different presses, came to the bindery, almost simultaneously, for folding and

cutting. Some were 4-up, some were 8-up on a sheet; some had been

folded and others were delivered flat; some had money-order-application forms printed in the waste. The job was put through all shifts of

the bindery for folding, cutting, and packaging. The complete delivery was made in 7,274 cartons and 7,982 wrapped-and-tied packages. The

quantities to be mailed were delivered on skids to om* Documents

Division to be sent by it to every post office in the United States. Earliest shipments mailed, both from Binding and Documents Divisions, were sent to farthest points first. The manufacture of wing binders, usually made by hand, was

turned into a machine job several years ago by alterations and additions to a stripping machine. An order for binders for 28,500 Mortgagee's Handbooks looked hke a hand job because the loose-leaf book was too thick to permit the wings to be made on the converted stripper,

but further alterations on the stripping machine solved the problem

and resulted in a big saving.

The Pearl Harbor hearings, consisting of 39 volumes and requiring

7,770 copies of each, offered many problems. Part 38 contained 302

pasters requiring intricate folding and special sewing. It was necessary

to use half a miUion stubs to build up the backs of the books to allow

for the bulk of the pasters which did not extend into the binding edge.

A description of the operations necessary in the production of the

Interior Department appropriation hearings is suppUed here as an

example of the problems presented by almost any large bindery job.

Part 1 made 1,664 pages, or 105 signatures. (A signature is one or more large sheets folded down to book size.) The required signatures

172
exceeded the capacity of the gathering machine and each volume had

to be gathered in two sections and then assembled for sewing. Press

sheets did not reach the bindery until April 10, but folding began

immediately and the first delivery of part 1 was made 4 days after the . receipt of press sheets. Part 2 had 570 pages and 22 pasters tipped in at 11 different places

in the volume. The most experienced girls in the bindery were assigned

to this work. The first delivery on part 2 was made on April 15. Part 3 consisted of 1,524 pages and 132 pasters. The tremendous

number of text pages and the tipping in of the pasters called for well- organized crews and careful synchronization of operations. ^ A volume of this kind is produced in the following manner : Imperfect

or spoiled signatures from other publications are gathered and sewed

into the book wherever pasters are to be tipped in. These signatures are perforated near the folded edge and are removed by tearing out after sewing. They permit machine gathering to be done in the usual manner

and after removal leave a stub to provide space for the folded paster.

Part 3 was gathered in three sections of 27 signatures each. It made a book over 4 inches thick. The total quantity of copies required 396,000

signatures. Hand covering was necessary because the publication

exceeded the capacity of covering machines.

Two flat-bed cutting machines had to be padded and built up for trimming of this volume because of the uneven thickness resulting

from the tipped-in pasters.

In organizing work crews, it was necessary to detail the most skilled operatives from several sources, the Book, Blank, and Money Order

Sections. The working crew as finally established in the Pamphlet

Section numbered 38 girls.

The 132 pasters were inserted at 42 places in the volume; 10 additional girls in another section were assigned to removing the imperfect

or dummy signatures. Production continued through all shifts, with

the result that 50 advance copies were completed on April 18. Two

hundred copies had been requested for delivery on April 19; we had

369 copies ready, and the entire order of 1,000 copies was delivered on

April 23. The hearings—the 3 parts aggregating a total of 3,758 pages

and 154 pasters to a set—was processed in 13 days, during one of the

peak periods resulting from our congressional work load. (See

also p. 159.)

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS BRANCH

The Library of Congress Branch of the Government Printing Office

consists of two sections, one for the setting and printing of catalog

173
cards, the other for what might be called maintenance binding. Several

times in the past, efforts have been made to secure a part of the

Branch's work—both composition and binding—under contract from

commercial firms. These efforts were entirely without success. During the year, in spite of several changes in the Library's ordering

and the addition of new classes of work which might have been

expected to reduce the quantity output, there were substantial production increases over the previous year.

The Composing Section had 51 employees as of June 30, 1947, consisting of 16 linotype operators qualified to set type in many languages,

10 foreign-language proofreaders, and 5 pressmen. The remaining part

of the staff consists of supervisors, compositors, imposers, makers-up,

miscellaneous composing and presswork operatives, a laborer, and a

clerk. There were two retirements and eight transfers to the rolls, making a net increase of six employees, including three additional

proofreaders. This was the result of a request from the Library to ''double-read" all classes of catalog cards. This procedure has proved

very satisfactory to the Library. By abolishing its Proof Section more

than $5,000 a year, over the cost of the additional reading, is saved.

Although the Section combines every possible operation in the printing of catalog cards, every title and every overprint nmst be handled

in some respects as a separate job. Thus, when 1,191 job forms are added to the card orders, the total number of jobs produced during

the year is in excess of 400,000, with an average of only 135 copies each.

Subject-heading cards are overprinted in quantities as low as 3; but

even with all this great variety of titles and subjects, total card production for the year was 44,124,000. There was a 10-percent increase

in the number of titles and subject headings as compared with the

previous year, and 462,000 more cards were produced. The following

table gives comparative figures for this and the immediately preceding

fiscal years:

COMPOSING SECTION

Class of work 1946 1947 Chargeable impressions Actual impressions Chargeable forms sent to press Actual forms sent to press Subject-heading lines sent to press. Subject headings printed

Call numbers printed Guide cards printed Number of jackets written Number of jackets closed out

59, 621, 833

5, 528, 686

1, 197, 627

10, 100 877

808

10, 694

8, 242

178, 894

644, 422

57, 158, 385

9, 039, 224

1, 008, 107 2,525

698

715

13, 605

11, 254

206, 189

732, 278

174
During the year the minmium quantity on some classes of catalog

cards was reduced, which cut down the production figures but re- quired practically the same amount of work. The quantity of cross- reference cards has been reduced from 150 to 35 copies and on some

regular catalog-card forms from 200 to 100. These reductions are only slightly reflected in the work load of the Section because of the

very small press runs. None of the typesetting, reading, imposing,

and other preparatory work are eliminated. The Section also received new classes of work which added very little to production figures but

increased by 38 percent the number of forms locked up and printed.

The most important new job was the printing of titles to be in- cluded in the Cumulative Catalog. Nine sets of cards were required.

The catalog was first projected several years ago, when it was contemplated that each volume be set in type for a monthly listing, the type

to be stored and reassembled with added entries for the quarterly

issue. The undertaking was so tremendous and so expensive that the

first plans could not be carried out, but in the meantime the Planning

Divisions in the Government Printing Office explored other methods

of doing the work. The Library had objected to the unsightly and

space-wasting make-up that would result from use of cards in photolithography.

Finally a card-alining device was constructed, which has solved

the problem. The cards are laid out in columns on a master card,

proportionally spaced, stripped into place, and reduced to page size by photography for lithographic reproduction. They are then removed

from the master card and returned to Library files for use in future

catalogs. The Library is entirely satisfied with the results and is using

the same method for cumulative listings of copyrights.

This work requires that the Composing Section print nine additional copies of the catalog cards and four copies of the copyright

entries. However, in order to make the cards, as originally printed,

suitable for inclusion in the catalog, it is necessary to remove each

form from the press, take out descriptive material, respace it so that

only the title and reference marks remain at the top, then lock up the

forms again and return to press for the necessary number of copies.

The floor work is out of all proportion to the short press run, but the

saving in over-aU cost of the cumulative listings more than justifles

the extra labor. The added-entry cross-reference cards are another new class of work

handled this year. These cards require composition, proofreading,

make-up, imposing (40-up), and printing of 9 copies.

A new (Army surplus) press has been obtained. It is at present at the Government Printing Office machine shop, having a foot-operated

175
gear shift installed. This is a specially equipped press similar to the one now used for handling from one to three linotype lines for overprinting

catalog-card subject headings. The printed quantities on these cards

are very small, averaging four copies. A quick-change locking device

for inserting and releasing linotype slugs eliminates the necessity of

lifting the form for each change. This additional press will take care of the big increase in overprinting and eliminate overtime in the future on this class of work.

The Printing Unit has the mats for accented letters and diacritical

marks needed for many foreign languages.

Not only does it set the more common languages daily but the less familiar, such as Icelandic, some of the American Indian, or the tricky

New Turkish, also appear; as well as the obsolete languages, such as Old German and Latin incunabula. The latter require dozens of special

characters, some of which have had to be made especially for the

Library's use. The Library sends hundreds of catalog titles at a time to be set in non-Latin characters —Greek, Hebrew, Gaelic or ''Russian," which

term is used here to include Bulgarian, Serbian, and other Cyrillic

languages besides Russian itself. Greek and Russian are machine set, and on these machines English can be set in the same line with the

non-Latin characters. While a few print shops specialize and do

considerable work in one or a few of these languages, probably no

other in the world does such a quantity of work in such a variety of languages.

BINDERY SECTION

The Library of Congress and the Government Printing Office have

cooperated to reduce the cost of all the Library's bindery work, with

the aim of securing production of the largest possible number of volumes out of the funds appropriated for the purpose.

Both organizations have surveyed the possibility of partly accomplishing this aim through commercial contracts, but the difficulty of securing bids resulted in the abandonment of this approach and,

instead, efforts were concentrated on cutting Government Printing

Office charges. After thorough study of the problem from many angles,

we set up specifications for four classes or grades of work where there

had formerly been only one and recommended their adoption. The

Library accepted the plan. It is now easily possible for the Library to

designate, by a simple checking procedure, first-class work when it is required, or to indicate that the nature of the material to be bound or repaired justifies only casual mending and less expensive material.

Under the new plan the amount of production has been greatly in- 176
creased and the cost comes nearer meeting the Library's conception of

what it should pay. The Library and the Office are continuing to explore every avenue that may lead to further economies. The most

recent effort along this line was a joint survey of commercial methods

of library binding.

The Section does every kind of bindery work required by the

Library. Because almost every volume varies in size, thickness, kind

of covering, or other characteristics, mass production methods cannot

easily be applied, and each job is usually done by one workman.

During the year, the Library Branch bindery completed the binding of 65,238 volumes. This represents an increase of 15 percent over

the fiscal year 1946. This comparison holds true all the way down the

line, the most noticeable increase being in the repair and restoration

of 77,357 manuscripts. The output in this Section was more than

doubled, owing largely to the use of the laminating machine which was

purchased by the Office for the Library Branch. One of the most

recent jobs completed in the Manuscript Unit was the restoration of

Abraham Lincoln's collection of letters and papers, which were opened

to public inspection after having been in the possession of the Library

since 1923. When bound, the collection made 194 volumes. There was

a rigid dead line to meet on this project, and the Library was grateful

when the job was accomplished without delay.

Another job worthy of mention is the binding of the court records

of the trials of the Japanese war criminals, presented to the Library

of Congress by the United States Army. This was a difficult binding

job because of the many sizes and the quality and condition of the

paper.

Early in the year the Section was commissioned to make a special

mat and background for a copy of the Magna Carta, sent to the

Library of Congress by the trustees of the British Museum for special

exhibit here. Since no piece of leather was big enough for the purpose,

it was necessary to cut up several strips and join the edges; the work

also required difficult and exacting hand-tooling operations, in which

27 distinct tools had to be used.

The Section renovated or repaired 14,570 volumes for the rare-book

room, handled 27,165 items for the Division of Prints and Photographs,

and mounted or reconditioned 46,034 maps and atlases.

SUPREME COURT UNIT

Early in August 1946, officials of the Supreme Court of the United

States sought the assistance of the Pubhc Printer in the printing of the

177
advance opinions of the Court. For many years all advance opinions

had been handled by Pearson's, a commercial printing firm. The

Pearson shop had been closed at the end of the 1945-46 term of the

Court and all equipment sold. Pearson's had handled no business but

the Court's, and it had thus been able to provide a degree of security

impossible in a shop producing a diversity of commercial printing; and,

of course, Pearson's few employees had developed a knowledge of the

Court's work and an efficiency in meeting its needs which could not

easily be duplicated.

After Court officials had canvassed the local commercial houses

without success, they turned to this Office for advice. The Public

Printer held a number of meetings with planning, accounting, and

production officials. The proprietor of Pearson's gave valuable information on the methods followed, the peculiarities of the work, and the

rigid requirements of the Court. The conferences considered commercial production, printing in the Government Printing Office

central plant, and establishment of a unit in the Supreme Court

Building. The last proposal finally was deemed the most practical, and

a detailed plan of operation was submitted to the Court on August 20,

1946, for approval. It was accepted by the Chief Justice of the United

States on September 10. The Court assigned well-guarded space in the

basement of the Supreme Court Building, equipment was moved in,

personnel selected, and the Unit was ready for operation prior to con- vening of the Court early in October.

There are three phases of Court-opinion printing. The advance

opinions are set in type as they are written, edited, and corrected by the

Justices. They are highly confidential until delivered by the Court.

After they are released to the press, security is no longer necessary.

The next step is the gathering of a number of opinions into preliminary

prints. Finally, the bound report is produced, of which there is an

average of 2}^ volumes for each session of Court. Preliminary prints

and bound volumes have always been produced in our central plant.

Since we were now to handle all three classes of work, the Public

Printer felt that a greater degree of coordination would result in

economies and added efficiency,

Pearson's had always set the opinions in a smaller type and a wider measure than the Government Printing Office used for the preliminary

prints and bound reports. By establishing the same format and type

size for all three publications, about 90 percent of the advanceopinion type could be picked up for the preliminary prints. The savings

thus made would be partly counterbalanced by the fact that the larger

type and narrower measure would make approximately 30 percent more pages of advance opinions and thereby increase their cost in

178
proportion. The larger type, however, is more readable. Then, too, reuse of the original type means the elimination of errors that might

otherwise result from resetting.

Other objections to the pick-up had to be overcome through planning. In order to use the advance-opinion type on the preliminary

prints and bound reports, it would also be necessary to resort to offset lithography to maintain uniformity of type legibility. However, the

Court representatives felt that the cost of reproduction proofs, negatives, and offset plates could be justified by the advantages to be

gained in readability and accuracy.

Security requirements called for careful selection of employees to be

detailed to the Supreme Court Unit and assignment of the absolute

minimum number necessary for the performance of the work.

The Coiu-t convenes early in October and recesses in June. In the 3 or 4 months between terms of Court the preliminary prints and bound

reports are handled. During the sitting of the Court, this material is used as filler if advance-opinion work lags.

In the preliminary discussions it was estimated, based on information from Pearson's, that about 12 hours' overtime per employee per

week would be required during the term of the Court. The opinions

average from 4 to 5 revises each, and 13 to 15 proofs of each revision,

collated into sets, are required. On the last revisions, always received on Saturday afternoon, from 2 to 7 p. m., about 90 proofs are ordered

for delivery Monday morning. This causes most of the overtime,

especially when 10 to 15 of these revised opinions are scheduled for simultaneous release. Under present arrangements the type never leaves the Supreme

Court Unit. When the advance opinions are ready to print, reproduction proofs are puUed from the type and sent to the Government

Printing Office for making negatives and printing approximately 2,000

copies by offset. When the preliminary prints are ready for publication

and press, and again when O. K. to print is given for the bound reports,

reproduction proofs are taken and sent to our central plant for printing

by offset. Under this arrangement there is not even a remote chance

for error between the finally approved reproduction proofs and

delivery of finished work.

The new Unit has completed its first term of advance-opinion work.

Its success is manifest from the paragraph here quoted from a letter written by the Court Reporter on June 7, 1947:

I also wish to take this occasion to thank you and your associates again for the very fine cooperation you are giving us, and especially for assigning to the Supreme

Court Unit such excellent men as the Chief of the Unit and the members of his

staff. I think they are doing a grand job.

179
Production for the Unit is covered in the section on the work of the

Composing Division. (See p. 157.)

DELIVERY SECTION

It is the responsibihty of this Section to make dehveries of printing

and binding to Congress and the local branches of the executive

departments and agencies of the Government. We maintain 24-hour-aday service. Delivery of the Congressional Record to the homes of

Members is comparable to circulation routing of a metropolitan newspaper. We pick up *'hot" copy, load and unload 1,800-pound skids,

bring empty skids back to the Office, and attend to the carrying of

every item of merchandise used or produced in a $53,000,000-a-year

business. We do all the back-and-forth hauling incidental to the work

of so huge a manufacturing plant.

During the fiscal year, we made approximately 24,000 trips, with as many as 20 stops a trip. Om* operating units traveled a total distance of

159,800 miles. We carried an average of 170 tons a day, 50,000 tons a

year, the equivalent of 1,250 freight carloads. War-year figures were

double those given here.

All this was accomplished with 29 war-weary light and heavy trucks

and 4 passenger cars. Two of the heavy trucks have been pounding the

streets of Washington since 1918. Despite the shortage of parts, our Maintenance Division has somehow kept the fleet of vehicles in

operation and in reasonably good condition, but the need for replacements cannot be long deferred.

Many units of the truck fleet are badly worn from continuous service. Army surplus equipment has been inspected, but no vehicles of

suitable type have been found available. One new l)^-ton truck was

purchased on June 25, 1947. Eleven trucks are on order. Bidders declined to accept the old units as trade-ins. When bids were recently

opened for the sale of 11 trucks, offers averaged $128, an indication of

their age and state of wear. Of the Section's fleet, one truck is devoted solely to Superintendent

of Documents' special deliveries, the cost being charged to that division. Six trucks are assigned to and operated by chauffeur-messengers

of our Division of Planning Service for emergency deliveries and pickup of congressional and departmental work.

Three of the larger trucks are assigned to our warehouse for use in

blank-paper shipments, shipments to commercial printing contractors, and for postal-card and money-order consignments to the Post

Office Department. One is kept in continuous service between the

180
Office and our pubKc storage warehouses. The Patent Office work

requires ahnost full-time service from another. Two trucks are scheduled for frequent trips daily to the Capitol, Senate and House Office

Buildings, and the Library of Congress. During sessions of Congress,

the trucks regularly assigned to congressional delivery or pick-up are often inadequate and must be supplemented with additional equipment or extra hours of operation.

Local dehvery of the Congressional Record necessitates thirdshift operation of four hght trucks, which are kept available for starting their routes at any hour designated by the Superintendent

of our Bindery.

The second shift consists of a small force which is able to make

dehveries to some agencies and thereby relieve congestion on the

platforms. This shift also loads and unloads large trucks, thus making

the equipment ready for movement on the following day.

The turn-over of personnel during the war years has been out of all proportion to the number of employees, because drivers and helpers

usually fall into the age group subject to military service and also because every type of business had openings for men of their training

and background. This turn-over has slowed down recently but has not

yet been reduced to normal. Personnel on all shifts totals 102, with 2

vacancies.

Activities of the Section are seriously hampered by conditions exist- ing at department reception platforms and offices. Our drivers and

helpers are slowed down by being forced to unload by hand where there

are no platforms. Where platforms exist, they are of different heights

and often so congested that a truck must wait its turn. Our drivers

have to contend with steep ramps and entrances that limit load heights.

They must secure receipts for every delivery, and thus they lose valuable time in locating representatives authorized to sigli them.

181

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PUBLIC PRINTER

PART IV

Service Divisions

FIELD SERVICE DIVISION

The Field Service Division was created by Administrative Order 40,

dated July 1, 1946, and issued by the Public Printer for the purpose of prescribing the functions of the duplicating and distribution plants

transferred on that date to the Government Printing Office. The order

also created the position of Field Service Manager. This report gives

the background of the transfer of the plants, describes the acquisition

of the State Department printing plant, and provides an account of

their operation during the fiscal year 1947.

BACKGROUND OF TRANSFER

On March 19, 1946, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget trans- mitted the following letter to the Public Printer regarding the continued operation of Treasury Department duplicating and distribution

plants located in Washington, D. C, Boston, New York, Philadelphia,

Atlanta,^ Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Kansas City, Mo., Dallas,

Fort Worth, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle:

Executive Office of the President,

Bureau of the Budget,

Washington 25, D. C, March 19, 1946. My Dear Mr, Giegengack: The Bureau of the Budget has just completed a study of the management and operations of the Treasury Department, Procure- ment Division, Duplicating and Distribution Branch, and, based upon the findings,

183
has reached a decision that the operations of the duplicating plants presently con- ducted by this Branch should be placed under the supervision and direction of the Government Printing Office, effective July 1, 1946.

Briefly, the history of these plants is as follows: The National War Agencies

Appropriation Act, 1944, approved July 12, 1943 (57 Stat. 528), under the heading

"Executive Office of the President, Office for Emergency Management, Division of Central Administrative Services," made available $750,000 without fiscal year

limitation for maintenance and operation of central duplicating and photographing

services in the District of Columbia and elsewhere for the constituent agencies of the Office for Emergency Management and for the OflSce of Price Administration.

The act further provided that the costs thereof, consisting of charges for personal

services, materials, equipment (including maintenance, repairs, and depreciation),

and other expenses, should be reimbursed from applicable funds of the agencies for which such services are performed.

Executive Order No. 9471, issued August 25, 1944, pursuant to provisions

relating to the Division of Central Administrative Services contained in the National War Agencies Appropriation Act, 1945, approved June 28, 1944 (Public

Law 372, 78th Cong.), directed the termination of Central Administrative Services and provided for the discontinuance or transfer of its functions to the constituent agencies of the Office for Emergency Management and other appropriate Federal

agencies, as should be administratively determined by the Director of the Bureau

of the Budget. Pursuant to this order, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget

on September 26, 1944, ordered the transfer of the duplicating services financed

from the Working Capital Fund, Division of Central Administrative Services,

Office for Emergency Management, together with the fund and all the assets and liabilities related thereto, to the Procurement Division, Treasury Department, effective at the close of business on September 30, 1944. On January 18, 1946, the Secretary of the Treasury directed a letter to me outlining plans for orderly liquidation of these plants and asked for my comments

and suggestions. Accordingly, a survey was made of the operation and management of these plants and the services rendered to Government agencies. Representatives of the Government Printing Office furnished technical advice and assist- ance in the survey. The findings of the survey definitely show a need for these

services. Therefore, I have advised the Secretary of the Treasury that effective July 1, 1946, the functions of the Duplicating and Distribution Branch, Procure- ment Division, Treasury Department, should be transferred to the Government

Printing Office. In this communication I have informed the Secretary of the Treas- ury that no other formal instrument of transfer is necessary since adequate legal

authority exists for the Government Printing Office to assume responsibility for operating these plants under 44 United States Code, pages 60 and 61.

It is my understanding that the Government Printing Oflice will continue the operation of these plants in Washington, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas, Fort Worth, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle to fulfill the duplicating and distribution requirements of the present customer agencies. It is further assumed that you

will finance the operation of these plants through the Working Capital and Congressional Printing and Binding Fund presently at your disposal. Accordingly, the present working capital fund of $750,000 for operating these plants in the Treasury Department will be returned to the Treasurer of the United States by

the Procurement Division as of June 30, 1946. In addition, all accretions to the fund during its operation by the Procurement Division will be deposited to Miscellaneous Receipts of the Treasury. The Treasury Department will liquidate

184
all accounts receivable, accounts payable, and liability, contingent, and valuation

reserves as of the termination date.

It has been indicated that the Government Printing Office will continue the operation of these plants with no interruption in service and that the present

method of reimbursement for services rendered will be continued on the present

basis, i. e., chargeable to the customer agencies under classification 07—Other

contractual services. It has been generally agreed in discussions between the staff of the Bureau and the Government Printing Office that in undertaking operation

and management of these plants you will take over all personnel at present salary

grades, equipment, supplies, and assume liability for leases and contracts presently

in force.

It is particularly important under this new operation that the Government

Printing Office fully observe agency administrative discretion as, to the necessity

for duphcating and distribution and in quantities required. The method of printing

or processing, whether in the plants or by other commercial services, is to be a determination of the Government Printing Office, subject only to assuring satis- factory and suitable end products for agency administrative requirements.

Until such time as the Government Printing Office has been able to effectuate adjustments necessary to improve the operating efficiency and economy of the

services performed, the existing prices, quality, and timeliness of the services should be continued.

I shall appreciate an early reply stating your position in regard to the transfer and the conditions set forth relating to this transfer of the plants, personnel, and

equipment, and the performance of services. I assure you of the full support and

cooperation of the Bureau of the Budget in the effective accomplishment of this transfer.Very truly yours, Harold D. Smith, Director. On March 21, 1946, the Public Printer replied to the Director of the

Bureau of the Budget, agreeing to undertake the operation of the

plants under the conditions and for the reasons therein outlined.

On May 27, 1946, the following bulletin was issued by the Bureau

of the Budget in connection with the transfer:

Executive Office of the President,

Bureau of the Budget,

Washington 25, D. C, May 27, 1946.

Bulletin No. 1945-46: 22. To the Heads of Executive Departments and Establishments.

Subject: Transfer of Duphcating and Distribution Branch of the Procurement

Division, Treasury Department, to the Government Printing Office. Effective July 1, 1946, the Government Printing Office is assuming responsibihty for the operation of facilities of the Duplicating and Distribution Branch of the Procurement Division, Treasury Department, with plants located in Boston,

New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Fort Worth,

Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Washington, D. C. As the operator of these plants, the Government Printing Office will continue

to provide duplicating and distribution service to the constituent agencies of the 185
Office for Emergency Management, the Office of Price Administration, and such

other agencies as are now served by the facilities operated by the Treasury Pro- curement Division. Additional agencies may avail themselves of these duplicating

and distribution services in the above-named localities. Before proceeding with the installation of extensive duplicating and distribution

facilities or the expansion of existing facilities, departments and establishments

with offices in the above localities should determine whether satisfactory and

timely service can be secured from these plants.

Agencies securing duplicating and distribution service from the Government

Printing Office after July 1, 1946, will be charged for work performed on the basis

of Treasury Procurement Division price lists in effect on June 30, 1946, until sub- sequent changes in methods of cost accounting or types of service rendered may

support price modifications. The Government Printing Office will continue to. bill agencies for duplicating

and distribution services on Standard Form No. 1080 (Voucher for Transfer Be- tween Appropriations and/or Funds), chargeable by the debtor agency to object

classification 07—Other contractual services. Harold D. Smith, Director. OPERATIONAL ORGANIZATION

A circular letter was transmitted to the managers of each of the

Treasury Department, Procurement Division, duplicating and distri- bution plants, on June 24, 1946. This letter referred to Budget Bulletin

1945-46: 22 and advised the plant managers as to operational procedure

to be followed after July 1, 1946, to effect integration of the field plants

with the Government Printing Ofiice. Subsequently, the plant employees were addressed by our executive officer, who made a tour of

the plants to outline their operational duties and to explain the responsibilities and authority of the Government Printing Office. An inspection of all these plants was made by our consultant on methods and procedures, our principal rate investigator, and our field service manager. It was generally observed that customer agencies were

receiving timely service and that a high morale existed in most plants.

The investigators found that many plants were located in office space

inadequate or unsatisfactory for efficient operation.

During this tour of inspection, regional and district Treasury Procurement managers who were contacted offered to assist the Government Printing Office field-office managers in order to facilitate the

orderly transfer of activity. In those cities where plants were occupying

inadequate or unsatisfactory space, the assistance of Public Buildings

Administration officials was solicited. As a result of these efforts, the

field offices in New York, Kansas City, Atlanta, and Dallas have been

relocated to attain appropriate operational space. Attempts to relocate some of the other plants are still being made.

The managers of all Government Printing Office field offices were 186
called to Washington on October 7 for a meeting to familiarize them

with operations of the Government Printing Office. They were addressed by various officials of the Office, who discussed procedure and

answered questions. Field Service Regulation No. 9, governing purchasing procedure, was issued and discussed during this meeting.

A proposed accounting manual was also discussed during the meeting. This manual has since been issued by our Comptroller to be

effective July 1, 1947. It will provide a basis for the maintenance of

uniform accounting procedure and should prov^e of great value.

A statement of operational plans and objectives to be achieved b}'' field offices, emphasizing economy of operation and timeliness of

service, was presented during this meeting. Relative costs of production

of work by offset in field offices, Government Printing Office central

office, and commercially under standard-rate agreements were dis- cussed. It was emphasized that the continuance of operation of field offices depended on their ability to produce work as promptly and

economically as might be obtained elsewhere. The last day of this

meeting was devoted to a general discussion of common problems.

A survey of commercial facilities in several field-office cities for the

production of War Assets Administration work was conducted by

representatives of the central office in February 1947. Through their

efforts interest in the acceptance of work to be produced at prices

covered by standard-rate agreements was stimulated. Printers in

Los Angeles displayed less interest in the acceptance of such standardrate-agreement work than in any other city surveyed. Cleveland's

available commercial facilities were found to be sufficiently extensive

to justify reduction in the size of the Cleveland field-service office by

the elimination of the night shift. The survey resulted in the diversion

of many- page, large-quantity jobs to commercial sources. A siu-vey of available facilities and needed services determined that

the areas served by the Fort Worth and Dallas offices could be adequately and efficiently accommodated by a single plant at Dallas.

On July 31, 1946, the Fort Worth office was consolidated with that of

Dallas.

At the close of the fiscal year there was a total of 865 employees in

all field offices as compared with 975 on June 30, 1947. A Patent

Reprint Section, requiring 80 employees, was established in the Washington field-service office in September 1946. The number of employees

in this field office on July 1, 1946, was 304 as against 319 on June 30,

1947, including the Patent Reprint Section. Reduction-in-force pro- cedure now being applied is expected to decrease the staff to approximately 240. There have been slight personnel reductions in other

plants where the volume has declined.

187
PATENT REPRINT PROGRAM

Late in 1945 the Commissioner of Patents placed before- the Government Printing Office his problem of reprinting a large number of patents. The commercial firm which held the contract for reprinting

patents had accumulated such a backlog of work that approximately

3 months were required to obtain reprints. This contractor was unwilling to enlarge his facilities so as to increase daily capacity above 1,200

pages unless a 4- or 5-year contract could be assured. Such assurance

could not be given by the Patent Office. The Government Printing Office obtained bids from commercial

plants for the performance of this work. New York prices ranged from

$1.55 to $2.22 and Washington prices from $1.47 to $1.53 a page for

printing 50 copies. These prices were determined to be excessive, so we

decided to accomplish this work with the facilities of the Government

Printing Office. After careful consideration of production methods, it was decided to utilize part of the capacity of the Washington field- service office. After the Patent Reprint Section had been in production for 3 months, the Patent Office reported that for the first time in several

years the public could be supplied copies of patents without delay.

The production of this unit has steadily increased and a maximum of

2,634 pages per day was attained on May 15, 1947.

The present charge is approximately 90 cents per page. More than

238,000 pages have been reprinted by this unit since operation began

in September 1946.

SURPLUS EQUIPMENT ACQUIRED

In accordance with the United States Code (title 44, sec. 59), Government departments and agencies having possession of printing and

binding equipment and supplies surplus to their needs are required to

offer such equipment and materials to the Public Printer before dis- posing of them. In this manner much needed equipment has been

acquired for use in our field offices, resulting in minimum procurement

of new equipment. Among the items acquired from surplus were 6 Webendorfer offset rotary presses, each capable of producing per hour

15,000 sheets, by 11 inches, printed both sides. Offset presses, size 17 by 22 inches, are needed for some plants, but acquisition of new

equipment has been deferred until the results of the survey of departmental printing and duplicating activity have been fully considered.

A large quantity of new printing equipment originally procured for use

overseas by the Office of War Information was discovered in a San

188
Francisco warehouse. Many items of this equipment are now in use

in the Government Printing Office at Washington and ui its field

offices. Reductions in production costs have resulted in part from the productive capacity of the six Webendorfer presses just mentioned. Price

schedules have been revised to bring charges in line with costs. THE YEAR'S PRODUCTION

During the fiscal year our field offices completed 84,764 jobs consisting of reproduction, photographic, and distribution services for more

than 50 Government departments and agencies.

A job of outstanding importance was accomplished for the Veterans' Administration. It required, on short notice, approximately 1,750,000

copies of an insurance-inventory form to be distributed in several

cities. Copy was received in Washington late Tuesday night and delivery of completed forms was effected in nine locations by close of business the following Friday. The Veterans' Administration field staffs were required to take this inventory over the week end. By having the forms when needed, the Administration saved valuable working

time. In Boston alone, according to the regional director, the savings

resulting from this timely service amounted to over $10,000.

The following tabulation gives the number of jobs completed by the

field offices, the agencies served, and charges rendered during the fiscal year 1947:

Office Number of agencies N amber of jobs Charges

rendered

Boston, Mass_. 21 5, 527 $333, 948. 09 New York, N. Y 22 7,619 333, 526. 73 Philadelphia, Pa 19 2,856 71, 209. 56 Washington, D. C 37 25, 688 1, 292, 402. 45 Atlanta, Ga . 21 1, 086 102, 874. 14 Cincinnati, Ohio 9 2,893 286, 188. 60 Cleveland, Ohio... ... 22 4, 316 363, 502. 08 Chicago, 111 30 6, 387 317, 590. 78 Kansas City, Mo. 20 4,075 363, 117. 29 DaUas, Tex 21 4, 645 155, 074. 48 Denver, Colo 24 4, 727 255, 299. 35

Seattle, Wash 22 5, 141 329, 082. 94 San Frannisco. Calif 22 6,048 562, 166. 82 Los Angeles, Calif Total

19 3, 756 , 522, 061. 11

84, 764 5, 288, 044. 42

The largest customer of our field offices is the War Assets Administration. The expeditious handling and mailing of its advertising cata- 189
logs, on extremely tight schedules, greatly implemented its surplusdisposal program. There were hundreds of instances in which the Administration's program would have been seriously hampered had our

field offices not been able to produce these and other jobs.

Acquisition of other than essential equipment and increased space

for most field offices has been deferred because of the temporary nature

of most work currently handled and the status of the field printing and

duplicating survey (see p. 10) which may result in elimination or consolidation of many plants when recommendations are effectuated.

The War Assets Administration has been requested to furnish an esti- mate of the volume of work required during the next 6 months. The

Government Printing Office will ascertain to what extent this production may be accomplished without sacrifice of service by commercial

contractors in those cities where field offices are located. It is planned

to adjust the size of our field offices so that they may handle a minimum of uneconomical production.

GPO-STATE DEPARTMENT SERVICE OFFICES

In November 1946 the field-service manager assisted a representative of the Bureau of the Budget in surveying a printing plant and a

duplicating plant operated by the Department of State. As a result of the survey, the Bureau of the Budget decided that the

duplicating plant should be continued in operation by the Department

of State and that more complete utilization of the equipment of the

printing plant could be obtained if operated by the Government

Printing Office. Consequently, on November 27, 1946, an agreement

for the transfer and operation was signed.

The actual transfer was made on February 1, 1947. Employees

involved in this transfer were addressed by our executive officer, who

outlined the mission and function of the Government Printing Office

and welcomed them into the organization. Adjustments in the pay of

most employees have been made so as to conform to wage levels established in the Government Printing Office for similar kinds of

work.

Mechanical maintenance and other facilities of the Government

Printing Office have greatly assisted in the efficient operation of this

plant. It, in turn, has helped in the production of many Government

Printing Office jobs.

Filler work involving personal services amounting to $10,521.04 was

produced for the Government Printing Office during the 5-month

period of operation, without reduction of the service for which the

plant was originally established. It is obvious, therefore, that more

190
complete utilization of personnel and facilities has been achieved as a

result of transfer of this activity to the Government Printing Office. Several letters of commendation have been received from State Department section chiefs in appreciation of services rendered.

DIVISION OF TESTS AND TECHNICAL CONTROL

The principal functions of the Division of Tests and Technical Control are: (1) Testing all materials and supplies purchased by this

Office for public printing and binding; (2) conducting general research

experiments to develop new methods or materials and utilization of

materials ; (3) carrying on research in connection with specific problems

encountered by the planning and production divisions; (4) manufacture of glues, adhesives, inks, printing rollers, solutions, etc.; aud (5)

remelting and standardization of metal used for type and plates. A

total personnel of 57—consisting of chemists, laboratory assistants,

clerical staff, and production employees—are engaged in the work of

the Division.

PAPER TESTING

The paper received by the Government Printing Office, including

paper stored in public warehouses and leased space, paper shipped

directly from mills to commercial printers, and paper from surplus

property, totaled 187,495,472 pounds, as compared with 90,725,830

pounds for a prewar year (1939). This is an increase of 96,769,642

pounds, or 106.8 percent.

In testing 4,497 deliveries of paper and envelopes during the year, 67 deliveries were found not to conform to specifications. The deficiencies in specified quality and the quantities involved are given in the

following tabulation

Deficient in

Number

of deliveries Pounds

Bursting strength . 7 305, 392

436, 325

6, 280

16, 250

561, 416

59,044

487, 863

225, 261

Folding endurance 17 pH value ... ..- .- 2 Thickness - - 2 Opacity 19 Not within weight tolerance 1 Unsatisfactory general appearance - 13 Unsatisfactory finish 6 Total 67 2, 097, 831

191
PAPER SPECIFICATIONS CHANGED

A number of changes in the specifications were made in our paper

schedule during the year. Watermark instructions were revised to permit substance 88, rag- content paper, to be dehvered unwatermarked. The maximum unbleached chemical wood and ground wood pulp content of offset book

paper was reduced from 25 to 10 percent. The term "machine'' in

the designation "machine-coated book," covering lots 37 to 39, inclusive, has been deleted, and the specifications were modified to obtain

paper of a quality suitable for high-speed web-press printing. This

class of paper is now designated as "coated book" instead of "machinecoated book." The stock requirement of coated book paper, lot 40, was

revised to read "free from unbleached or ground wood pulp." Ground

wood pulp is, therefore, not permitted in the base stock of this grade

of coated book paper.

The wax-test requirement for litho-coated book paper was raised

from 5A to 6A Dennison wax. The finish or smoothness requirement of

dull-coated book paper was reduced from 400 to 300 seconds.

Specifications were written for postal-card stock and included in our paper schedule for the purpose of procuring a grade of card stock suitable for printing forms other than postal cards.

A change in fiber content of the facing sheets of railroad board per- mits a maximum ground-wood-pulp content of 25 instead of 10 percent. Rolls of cardboard are now specified to be delivered on 3-inch

fiber cores. Postal-card stock also may be delivered on either 6-inch

iron or 6-inch fiber cores. The moisture-content requirement of 4

percent for this grade of paper was revised in order to permit it to be in

equilibrium with 50 percent plus or minus 5 percent relative humidity.

Specifications were written for 25-percent rag lithograph finish map

and included in our schedule for the first time.

At the request of our Field Service Manager, specifications were drawn for offset newsprint to provide our field offices with low-cost

paper satisfactory for use in printing by the offset and multilith processes. The paper thus specified was purchased and is now being used

for printing catalogs of war siu-plus materials offered for sale by the

War Assets Administration.

The introduction by the Post Office Department of the 10-cent

foreign-air-mail combined letter and envelope required the use of a

specially designed chemical wood writing paper of maximum opacity.

Under the specifications the contractor is required to print on both

sides of the sheet a visible light blue consisting of the phrase "United

States foreign air mail," the words appearing at right angles to each

192
other when viewed by transmitted hght. The phrase is separated by

a star between repetitions, and the words are staggered on successive

Hnes of printing. This design is intended to give sufficient opacity to the paper not to allow the writing to show through. The color of the

design is not permitted to interfere with the legibility of the writing.

Tests have been made on numerous samples of blotting and tissue

paper required in the process of laminating valuable documents. As a

result of these tests, we have been able to prepare suitable specifications for ordering this material.

The over-all dimensions of loaded skids were revised to require that

they shall not exceed 46 inches in width, 70 inches in length, and 60

inches in height.

The number of envelopes received during the fiscal year, including

those from surplus property, totaled 84,076,977, as compared with

65,433,571 received during the fiscal year 1939. Tests showed 1 delivery

of 35,750 envelopes to be deficient in bursting strength. - Only two changes were made during the year in envelope specifications. The stock requirement of chemical wood writing envelopes was

revised to permit unbleached chemical wood pulp not to exceed 60

percent, ground wood pulp not to exceed 25 percent, and the burstingstrength requirement of 100-percent white bond envelopes was

reduced from 85 to 72 points.

The total number of samples, including paper and envelopes, tested

by the Division during the fiscal year was 7,186. The various materials tested are as follows:

ENVELOPES

TECHNICAL CONTROL OF MATERIALS

Paper and envelopes

Textiles Bookbinding leathers Metals

Adhesive-making materials Adhesives

Ink-making materials

4, 497

486

43 876

47

103

15378

65

90

611 137

Inks

Oils and greases Gasoline

Chemicals

Miscellaneous.

Total 7, 186 193
INK AND MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS

Printing inks, including mimeograph, stamp-pad, and numberingmachine inks, in the amount of 353,966 pounds were manufactured

by the Division during the year, as well as the following miscellaneous

products:

Blue toner pounds__ 31,550

Electrotype backing fluid quarts 200

Ruling inks do 2, 444

Writing inks (all colors) do 19, 315

Check signature ink pounds- _ 1,725

Special ink solvents quarts __ 3, 080

Aluminum hydrate base pounds- _ 55 Permanent peacock-blue base do 100 Multifex white base do 212

Splicing compound do 450

Special varnish do 1, 250

Ink retarder quarts _ _ 64

Penetrating oil do 80

Stereo releasing fluid do 40 Wash for offset rollers do 600

The Division also produced or procured for, and furnished to, other

Government departments and agencies the following materials

Mimeograph ink, black pounds 94, 364

Printing ink, black and colored, including multigraph do 9, 721 Writing inks, all colors quarts-- 10, 174 Stamp-pad and numbering-machine inks pounds-- 6, 366

Check-signature inks do 2, 367

Check-endorser ink do 321 Postage-meter ink do 202

Laundry-marking ink do 58

Instrument-recording ink }^-ounce bottles-- 192 Special ink solvent quarts _ - 464

Molded glue, including stamp-canceling composition pounds-- 2, 304

Roller composition do 979

Press rollers -_do 417

Paste do 4, 890

Green padding compound do 415

Dextrin-gum solution quarts 966

Mucilage do 48

Vinylite do 25

TYPE METAL

Type metal standardized during the fiscal year totaled 12,146,275

pounds, which was 158,286 pounds, or 1.32 percent, more than the

preceding year. 194
In the correction of metals to standard formulas, the following

quantities of correction metal were used

Linotype Monotype Stereotype Electrotype

Eeturned for remelting ... Pounds

6, 448, 397 Pounds3, 058, 646 Pounds

1, 408, 308 Pounds

1,001,448 Correction metal used: Lead-antimony alloy ... . .. . _ 3, 369 90

1, 1.39 75

45 Tin-antimony alloy . . 59, 51540

23 Antimony

Tin Lead -.. ... 134, 006 4, 894 19, 195 10-percent electro... 7,085 Total 137, 375 59, 578 6, 198 26, 325 Totbl corrected metals . .. . 6, 585, 772

71. 287 Percent

2. 09

1.08

3, 118, 224

60, 280 Percent

1.91 1.93

1 1, 414, 506

15, 540 Percent

0.44

1.10

1, 027, 773

15, 229 Percent

2. 56 1.48

Dross

Increase due to correction .. Loss due to dross

1 Includes 324.080 pounds of solid-body material not standardized to stereotype formula but varying only

slightly from it.

* Not included in totals. During the year, 81,450 pounds of lead were purchased without

trade-in. In addition, 111,460 pounds of lead, 28,468 pounds of leadantimony alloy, and 43,455 pounds of tin-antimony alloy were purchased with the following scrap materials tendered in part payment:

20,727 pounds linotype dross, 24,207 pounds monotype dross, 4,242

pounds electrotype dross, 4,688 pounds stereotype dross, and 308,500

pounds unserviceable electrotype plates.

PRESS ROLLERS, BINDERY GLUES, AND

MISCELLANEOUS ADHESIVES

'Press roUers manufactured during the year required 36,978 pounds

of composition and totaled 4,434 in number, as compared with 29,198

pounds of composition required for 5,725 press rollers in 1939. Usedroller composition was salvaged and reused to the extent of 21,686

pounds. Of the number of roUers manufactured, 432 were mechanically coated upon specially prepared synthetic-rubber bases by a

process in which the base is rotated while the hot composition is being deposited upon it. For mechanically coated rollers, 1,184

pounds of process glue composition of our own manufacture was used.

Thirty-two additional roller bases, for coating by this process, were

purchased during the year. 195
The manufacture of molded glue during the year totaled 136,174

pounds as compared with 122,699 pounds in 1939. In addition, the

following bindery adhesives were manufactured for use in the Office

Pounds Cold padding compound 22, 223

Seal-Tite sealing paste 25, 301

Water-resistant sealing paste__ 7, 768

Waterproofing solution 24, 575

Dextrin gum for air-mail letters 4, 200

A grand total of 220,241 pounds of molded glue and other bindery

adhesives was manufactured.

Two new roller-casting machines were purchased to replace machines

that had been in use for more than 40 years. One gun, containing six 4-inch- and four 4)^-inch-diameter molds, was delivered in December

1946. The other gun, still to be delivered, will have 26 molds—six 3K-inch-, twelve 2K-inch-, and eight 2-inch-diameter molds.

RESEARCH DEVELOPMENTS

Detergents Jor the Printer

Because of the many inquiries received by the Government Printing

Office relative to the removal of ink and grease from printing surfaces,

and because of the recognized fire and toxicity hazards inherent in the

extensive use of solvents for this purpose, we initiated an investigation

designed to develop new and improved ink solvents and to classify

them, together with the known solvents, for the benefit of this Office

and the printing industry in general.

The results of the investigation, supplementing and expanding

earlier reports, are reported in a technical bulletin, which has been

reviewed and approved by Printing Industry of America, Inc. The

bulletin lists and describes all commonly used ink solvents, gives formulas for the substitutes developed in the course of the experiments, and

tabulates the drying rate, solvent power, inflammability, and toxicity

of each. It has been printed for use in the Government Printing Office

and for public sale by our Superintendent of Documents. The industry

reviewers are of the opinion that the bulletin will serve to reduce fire, explosion, and toxicity hazards in printing plants throughout the

United States. Alkaline Writing Inks

A research project was initiated in 1946 to develop a permanent,

iron-base writing ink which would eliminate the recognized deficiencies of writing inks normally used where permanence is required.

196
This research was successfully concluded in the development of a

process for making ink from a deeply colored, slightly alkaline, iron

compoimd. This compound had been isolated and described by two

Kumanian chemists in 1908, but no practical and economical method

of producing it in stable solution had been devised despite tests by the

National Bureau of Standards and others. In order to protect the

Government from possible royalty claims of later researchers, action

to file a patent application has been started. Extensive and successful

experiments also were made on compatible dyes for use with the

compound, as well as on material to give the most desirable flow

characteristics.

Through this research, it has been possible for us to manufacture

5,000 gallons of a stable and almost neutral writing ink containing a high iron content for permanent-record, fountain-pen, and general

office use, which shows very good flow characteristics, freedom from

sedimentation, and tendency to crust in open wells, very slight cor- rosion on steel pens and none on desk-set pens, fast-drying rate, and

no tendency to clog fountain pens.

Printing and Drawing Inks for Cellulose Acetate Experimental work is being conducted, in cooperation with our Composing Division, for the production of proofs on cellulose acetate. Such proofs can be used in place of film positives to eliminate camera work and several other steps in preparing offset printing plates.

Difficulties have been encountered in obtaining a suitable printing ink

for use on the transparent cellulose-acetate sheets employed in this process. Several commercial inks were tried with indifferent success. One of these distributed badly on the rollers and gummed up; the

second dried in about 20 minutes and required a press wash-up every

40 minutes; the third required a press wash-up only once every 2

hours, but took 2 hours to dry when hung on a line and overnight to dry when laid flat on newsprint.

Because of these difficulties, our Superintendent of Composition

requested that we provide, if possible, a printing ink which would

accomplish the purpose more effectively.

Inasmuch as we were at the time engaged in research, at the unrelated requests of the National Bureau of Standards and the United

States Geological Survey, to develop a quick-setting printing ink and

a drawing ink for use on cellulose-acetate film or sheeting, it was decided

to combine the work on these requests because of their similarity.

Ordinary printing inks which dry on paper by a combination of penetration, oxidation, and polymerization are unsatisfactory for print197
ing on plastics. Since there is no penetration or absorption of the ink by

the plastic and since the oxidizing and polymerizing processes are rela- tively slow, characters printed on each cellulose-acetate sheet will offset on the next sheet delivered by the press. Even though a special quickdrying ink is used, the printing may be rubbed off by friction, since it lies only on the surface of the sheeting.

To make the printing '^rubproof," it was necessary to insure penetration of the ink into the cellulose acetate. Theoretically, this can be

accomplished by the use of any one of a number of solvents. However,

these solvents are either so volatile that they dry almost immediately on the press rollers and plate, as well as on the ink mill during grinding

of the pigment, or they penetrate the cellulose acetate so slowly that

they offset and smudge badly.

Through the use of a relatively new chemical compound, a printingink formula, which permits grinding on a three-roll ink mill, was

developed; and, with reasonable care, the ink can be run without

drying on the press. It adheres firmly to cellulose acetate and dries

iromediately.

The new compound also can be used with oil- or water-soluble dyes

to make a suitable drawing ink. Such an ink flows smoothly from

drawing pens and dries as quickly on cellulose acetate as ordinary

drawing ink does on paper. However, because of the low vapor

pressure of the compound, the ink will not diy or clog in the pens.

Both the National Bureau of Standards and the United States

Geological Survey have expressed complete satisfaction with the

working qualities of these inks, and the investigation is being continued to determine the suitability of this kind of ink for printing on

cellulose-acetate film.

Synthetic Varnishes jor Ofset Inks

Printing inks used in the offset process have a tendency to emulsify

or mix with the fountain solutions while printing and to hold them in a permanent suspension in the ink. This degrades the blackness of the

ink and causes it to appear gray when printed. It also increases the

length of time required for the ink to dry.

The addition of a synthetic phenolic varnish up to 20 percent of the

vehicle content produces a water-resistant ink for offset printing with

improved working qualities and with but little tendency to emulsify

with fountain solutions. Phenolic-resin varnishes from several sources

of manufacture produced inks of equal quality in this respect. At

present two phenolic varnishes of different viscosities are mixed and

employed in varying proportions for adjusting offset inks.

198
Oil oj Sassafras in Addressograph Ink

Standard formulas for blue stencil ink include natural oil of sassafras as one of the ingredients. When natural oil became unobtainable during

World War II, we investigated the use of several substitutes. The first substitute utilized was ''Sassene A/' but ink made with this oil proved

unsatisfactory. The stencils filled up with gummy substances and did

not produce clear impressions upon the paper. In studying the physical

properties of Sassene A, it was found that the oil, because of surface

tension and capillary attraction, rises upon the sides of the ink fountain and finally creeps out of the fountain, leaving the pigment behind.

This characteristic was imparted to the stencil ink in which that oil was used. Only moderate success attended our efforts; and now that

natural oil of sassafras has again become available, its use in the

manufacture of stencil ink, based upon the original formula, has been

resumed.

Chalking of Bronze-Blue Inks

On several occasions our Ink Section has been called upon to remedy the chalking and nondrying of bronze-blue ink when printed

upon coated paper. Nondrying and chalking on coated paper seldom

occurs when bronze-blue printing ink is used because the bronze-blue

pigment is itself a natural drier for printing inks.

On the rare occasions when chalking occurred, the ink did not dry on

the printed sheets when stacked; but when separate sheets were

exposed to the air, the inl^ dried readily. However, the problem of determining the cause of chalking and nondrying remained. In each

such instance, examination of the paper revealed that it was so absorbent that it tended to separate the ink vehicle from the pigment particles, leaving them upon the paper surface in an unbonded state. When increased quantities of drier were added to the ink at the press, very httle improvement in drying upon the paper occurred, although

the ink began to show signs of drying on the press during the printing

operation.

Several experimental inks were formulated in our laboratory and

tested on a proof press. It was found that the addition of 2 percent of No. 2 lithographic varnish definitely assisted the drying of the ink.

Fiu-ther study to eliminate chalking resulted in omitting wool grease

and No. 00 varnish from the ink formula. The addition of 5 percent of a synthetic phenolic varnish to the ink inhibited chalking, but picking

developed. The picking was then overcome by the addition of a small

quantity of boiled linseed oil to reduce the body.

199
Revision oj Engraved Map Plates

The periodical revision of Geological Survey maps frequently re- quires corrections which involve deletions and additions to the original

engraved copper plate.

An average original engraved map plate requires many hours of a

skilled engraver's time. The necessary corrections are customarily made

by restoring the original surface by an operation known as punching

up. It was thought that this procedure might be improved by an

electrodepositing method.

At the request of the Geological Survey, and with the cooperation of our Platemaking Division, experiments were made in electrodepositing

copper in the ''excised" or routed-out areas of a sample engraved map

plate. This involved controlling the depositing conditions to insure

proper density, hardness, thorough adhesion, and a smooth continuous

joint.

The ordinary depth of the engraved lines seldom exceeds 0.006 inch.

Therefore the areas to be replaced were routed to approximately 0.010-

inch depth. By carefully coating the area where deposition was not

wanted with electro typer's wax and by using a low-current density of

6 to 8 amperes per square foot at 1 volt in an unagitated acid copper

electrotype solution, satisfactory results were obtained in depositing

copper in these excised areas. To remove any roughness at the edges,

the deposit was examined at intervals. Deposition then was continued

until the copper was a few thousandths of an inch thicker than the

surrounding area of the engraved plate, in order to permit the engraver

to scrape and burnish the deposited areas and establish a continuous

plane with the unaltered plate surface.

The desired changes were then made by the engraver to produce a

satisfactory revised map plate. Several live plates were treated in this manner with gratifying results. Some experiments were also made to restore the entire original copper engraved plate by electrodeposition. This was accomplished, but

the method was not used on entire plates because engravers reported

that the copper-deposited reproductions did not possess the desired

hardness properties for a full-sized plate.

Magnesium jor Bookbinder^s Dies

When engraver's brass became difficult to obtain, some experiments were made by us with a magnesium sheet, known to the trade as Zomag, as a substitute in the production of bookbinder's dies. This magnesium material etched very nicely and more quickly than

200
brass. Stampings from magnesimn dies were made on ruby buckram

covers with imitation gold at the usual temperature of 275° F. The dies wore out more rapidly than brass dies but were considered to be better

than electrotypes for the job. After 6,000 stampings the magnesium

dies were unsatisfactory, whereas the condition of brass dies remained

practically unchanged.

Miscellaneous Bookbinding Adhesives

During the year a total of 40 adhesive formulas were developed or perfected in our laboratory for bookbinding and other uses. Many of these have been adopted for regular production work. Several problems also were solved for other Government agencies seeking our

assistance on adhesives.

Resinous Adhesives

Wartime restrictions in the use of animal glue for the production of blading adhesives, as well as current persisting shortages of

glue, have necessitated research into the use of resinous and plastic

substitutes.

This investigation led to the development of resinous adhesive for- mulas, employing as the principal constituent a water emulsion of polyvinyl-acetate resin. This compound, manufactured commercially

as a heavy milky-white emulsion sroiLlar in consistency to liquid glue,

exhibits excellent adhesive qualities, drying out into a hard but brittle

film. In view of its brittle nature when dry, it proved imsuitable in

its manufactured form as a substitute for the flexible-glue compounds

employed for bookbinding operations, such as gluing-off, lining-up,

gathering, covering, and padding work.

Experiments revealed that the addition of a softening agent or

plasticizer to the emulsion, in an amount equivalent to 8 percent of

the total weight of the emulsion, produced dry resinous films permanently flexible and ideally suited for padding and notebook work. It was also observed in the course of this research that the polyvinylacetate emulsion increased its viscosity or thickened slightly when

the plasticizing agent was added to it. The thick compound did not

brush on readily during padding operations, and more time was con- sumed in working with this mixture than with a thrnned-out padding

mixture.

Small amounts of water were accordingly added to the plasticized

polyvinyl-acetate emulsion in order to thin out the mixture sufficiently

201
for easy application by the bookbinder. A viscosity range between

five and seven poises was found to be best for padding work.

A number of experiments were conducted, using various chemical

plasticizers, in arriving at the present formulas, but only a few of

these were found suitable in properties and cost for use as softening

agents. The results of the tests, with proved formulas, are included

in bulletins prepared in this Division, reviewed and approved by

the research committee of Printing Industry of America, Inc., and

printed for Office use and public sale through the Superintendent of

Documents.

Other Adhesives

During the year a number of adhesives other than the resinous types were also developed or perfected for various uses throughout the Office. Problems of many kinds are continually developing in our Binding

Division in connection with requirements for manufacture of adhesives

having special properties. The research papers listed elsewhere in this

report (p. 205) include several studies and tests on adhesives.

Laminating oj Documents

Work was started this year on the development of a production-line

process for laminating documents, such as foreign patents and other

printed matter, with cellulose-acetate sheeting. This process will dif- fer from the slower laminating method now in use in our Library of

Congress Branch or at National Archives in that it is intended to make

possible the rapid and economical preservation of many manuscripts

or printed matter. Such processing would be prohibitive in cost if done by slower methods.

It consists essentially of two webs of cellulose-acetate sheeting, having an approximate thickness of 0.0015 inch, a suitable adhesive with means for applying it to the inside surfaces of the sheeting, and attachments for continuous feeding of the manuscript sheets between the

two webs and finally passing them through pressure rollers. Experimental work has been in progress on the problem of developing a suitable "cold pressure" adhesive for this operation, and some

promising results have been obtained. What is needed is an adhesive

which can be easily applied to the thin acetate sheeting, which can be

freed readily of its volatile solvents, and which contains no chemicals

that would exert any solvent power on the cellulose acetate itself. It must also be colorless and transparent when dry, and of a permanent

or stable nature to withstand severe aging tests. 202
Of the solv^ent type of adhesives, solutions of acrylic resins in aro- matic hydrocarbons have offered the most promising results, but means

for the rapid remov^al of all traces of sol^^ent from the adhesive film

have not yet been perfected.

Attempts to utilize plasticized hot-melt adhesives containing no

solvent vrill be made, coincident with further experimental work on the

solvent described.

A munber of manufacturers of laminating-machine equipment and

several producers of cellulose-acetate sheeting processed with pressuresensitive adhesive have been contacted in order to obtain comparative

costs of commercial materials and equipment, cost being the determining factor as to whether this Office will continue its developmental

work.

Samples of commercial cellulose-acetate sheeting with prepared

adhesive surfaces have been tested with fairly good results, but the

cost of this type of material has been found prohibitive for the purpose.

Correspondence has been exchanged with nine leading manufacturers of laminating-machine equipment. Eight firms stated they were unable to supply a machine to meet specifications. The other

requested further information. Investigation will be continued along

this line while exploring the feasibility of developing a machine in the

Office. Nylon Sewing Thread

During the year, research has been conducted on nylon threads to determine the relative values of nylon and cotton sewing threads for use in book-sewing and other bindery operations. Samples of the differ- ent sizes of nylon thread have been obtained from the leading manufacturers and tested in our laboratory for physical properties. These

test results will be tabulated and compared with physical-property

tests of similar cotton threads, after which performance tests v^ be

conducted to rate each sample for its working qualities on the sewing

machines. The complete report of this investigation will form part of a GPO-PIA joint research bulletin to be published in the near future.

Typewriter Ribbons

Experiments were begun in February of this year to determine the

comparative working and lasting qualities of typewriter ribbons obtained from several sources. The results of these tests indicate that the use of higher grade ribbons than are employed at present throughout

this Office would result in improved appearance of typewritten work,

longer service from the ribbons, and a reduction in cost. 203
The ribbons subjected to these tests were black record typewriter

ribbons, made from a high-grade cotton fabric testing 320 threads per

square inch, and the grade of ribbon used at present, which is made

from a cotton fabric containing 280 threads per square inch. In

conducting the performance tests, samples of ribbons to fit typewriters

of three standard makes were submitted to six divisions where con- siderable typing is done, with the request that the ribbons be placed

in constant daily use until they were no longer serviceable. The reports

of these tests concur in stating that the ribbons made from the highgrade cloth of 320 threads per square inch gave better performance

throughout their working life, produced a more uniform color of typing,

and lasted more than twice as long as the ribbons made from the

lower grade fabric.

ASSISTANCE TO OTHER AGENCIES

As in previous years, the Government Printing Office, through its Division of Tests and Technical Control, has helped many other

Government agencies in their problems relating to paper, ink, bookbinding materials, and type metals.

An illustration of the nature and character of this service may here

be given.

The War Department asked for help in analyzing inks and fountain

solutions used in developing their new duplicating process, utilizing a parchment-paper plate in place of the zinc- or aluminum-grained metal

plates usually employed in multilith printing. The aim of the investigation of these products was to develop specifications for their satis- factory purchase.

A number of commercial fountain solutions used in this process were

analyzed. A formula, only slightly different from one of the commercial

products, has been developed. It greatly lengthens the useful life of the

parchment master plates.

The search for a better duplicating ink is still on. Our ink chemist has been appointed to act as the chairman of the

Federal Specification Committee to develop Federal specifications for

lithographic duplicating materials.

CONTACT WITH PRINTING, BINDING, AND

ALLIED ORGANIZATIONS

Cooperative contacts have been continued by this Division with the

Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, American

Society for Testing Materials, American Standards Association,

204
American Newspaper Publishers' Association, Lithographic Technical

Foundation, International Association of Printing House Craftsmen,

Printing and Allied Trades Kesearch Association of Great Britain,

and the Paper Makers Association of Great Britain and Ireland.

RESEARCH PAPERS

In connection with the Government Printing Office-Printing Industry of America, Inc., research program, described on pages 37-40, our

Technical Director presented prepared manuscripts on selected subjects for consideration by the research committee. Of these, several

have been published and a number are undergoing review or revision.

Most of them are expected to be printed for use in the Office, and for

sale through our Superintendent of Documents. The list of subjects

is as foUows:

Newsprint

Type metals

News inks

Ruling inks

Bindery glues

Bookbinding pastes

Miscellaneous bookbinding adhesives

Electrotyping

Starch-fiUed book cloth

Pyroxylin-treated book cloth

Bookbinding leather

Bronze stamping leaf Sewing thread

Flax book twine

Paperboards for bookbinding

Control of warp in book covers Process of marbling papers

Detergents in the printing industry

Printer's paper troubles at the Government Printing Office

Evaluating the printing quality of paper

Paper standardization as an aid to the printer

Government Printing Office paper tests and their significance

Technical status of permanence and durability of paper

Study of methods of evaluation of kraft paper

Acidity in paper in terms of pH values

New types of paper for Government service

During the year the following articles prepared in the Division of

205
Tests and Technical Control appeared in trade publications:

Detergents for the Printer, Printing Equipment Engineer, 74,

No. 2: 15-17 (May 1947).

Alkaline Writing Inks, American Ink Maker, 25, No. 6: 29-37,

53 (June 1947).

CORRESPONDENCE

As in former years, all possible assistance has been afforded the

printing industry. We made available the results of Office experience

and furnished, when requested, helpful technical advice on industrial

printing and bookbinding problems. Formulas developed in our laboratory have been freely given to the industry.

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS DIVISION

During the fiscal year 1947, the Public Documents Division turned

in to the Treasury, as miscellaneous receipts from the sale of Government publications, an amount in excess of the entire appropriation for

the operation of the Division. This was the first time in our history that

this had been accomplished. It means that our sales function is not only

self-sustaining but is paying the cost of non-revenue-producing functions, which are: (1) The compilation and issuance of official catalogs

and indexes; (2) distribution of publications to designated depository

libraries; (3) distribution of publications for other agencies of the

Government; and (4) distribution for Members of Congress of their

quotas of such publications as farmers' bulletins, soil surveys, and the

Congressional Record.

All the functions of the Division are such that the Government

Printing Office has no control over the volume of its work. The law re- quires inclusion in the official catalogs and indexes of information concerning every publication of the Federal Government. Every order or inquiry which the mail brings must be answered. There is also a legal

requirement to prepare mailing lists and to perform mailing operations

upon the request of any department or agency. Another legal obligation is to mail copies of the various publications which are allotted to Members of Congress on a quota basis. We are further required to supply 1 copy of every Government publication, upon request, to more

than 500 libraries which are legally designated depositories for Government publications. Thus, our Public Documents Division is entirely a service agency and must be prepared to discharge with dis- patch demands for its various services.

206
SALE OF GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

The history of this Division has been one of constant growth since

its organization in 1895. The sale of Government publications occupies

the efforts of the largest proportion of personnel. Prior to 1932, each

publication sold was ''marked up" 10 percent above the cost of production, but the Economy Act of 1933 increased this "mark-up" to 50

percent and placed the sale of public documents on a revenue-producing basis. The amount turned in to the Treasury as miscellaneous

receipts from sales (or ''profits" not required to replenish stocks) has

increased yearly since that time. In the fiscal year 1947, sales reached an all-time high of $3,038,376.67. This represents an increase of 41

percent over the immediately preceding fiscal year and of 227 percent

since 1939, the date of the last printed annual report.

The increase in sales and miscellaneous receipts is shown by the

following comparative statement for the fiscal years 1939 to 1947,

inclusive:

Year Amount of sales Miscellane- ous receipts (earned) Year Amount of

sales Miscellane- ous receipts (earned)

1939 $928, 460

1, 118, 051

1, 342, 699

1, 712, 539

2, 366, 897

$431, 567

495, 223

509, 575

675, 754

865, 543

1944 $2, 099, 493

2, 180, 476

2, 156, 379

3, 038, 377

$1, 112, 407

1, 300, 483

1, 355, 087

1, 714, 399

1940 1945

1941 1946 1942 1947 - 1943

Appropriations for personnel and general expenses have not kept

pace with the increase in volume of our work load. For this reason, our

service for many years has been on a "when we can get to it" basis. For the past 2 years strenuous efforts have been made to improve

service and to simplify and modernize practices in accordance with

the patterns established by the best commercial mail-order houses.

The first major improvement in service consisted of the introduction

in 1946 of an order blank. At present about 40 percent of all cash

orders are placed on order blanks. This expedites the identification and

location of publications and speeds mailing, since each customer

addresses a label used in mailing the publications ordered. The co- operation received from the public has been most helpful.

An order blank for deposit accounts enables persons who maintain

funds on deposit to keep an accurate check on the charges against their accounts. The balance is indicated when each order is filled. Revision of the procedure for filling subscriptions placed this work

on a current basis. For more than a year each subscription has been

entered within 24 hours after receipt.

207
It is absolutely necessary in any Government activity to insure secure handling of Government funds. The Public Documents Division

is, of course, no exception, and considerable time was formerly required

in accounting for each order. Regulations required that the original

orders be kept on file for a possible audit. As a result, it was difficult to explain to customers how their orders were handled, and the task

of maintaining a file of more than a million letters was burdensome.

Late in the current fiscal year a proposal made by us to the General

Accounting Office provided for simplification of methods and allowed

the return of each customer's order blank or letter in the package with

the publications, together with any refund.

A microfilm record was proposed by us to provide the necessary

accounting security. The General Accounting Office approved this simplified procedm-e, and in March 1947 each order became a complete

transaction. When a customer now opens a package, he finds his

original order blank or letter, together with the publications available.

Notations on his blank or letter indicate publications that are not

available; and if a refund is due, it is included. The result has been

faster and better service. Single orders require only 48 hours to complete, and most requests for current publications that are placed on

order blanks are filled within 24 hours. At present, extra time is required for complicated orders for both old and new publications, but

our goal is a maximum limit of 48 hours for filling any order.

Through this new procedure, it is possible to handle more work. We

have thus been relieved of maintaining a file of a million orders and

letters, and we are no longer required to prepare about 175,000 refund

vouchers in duplicate each year. More work has been handled faster

with proportionately less personnel.

In an effort to get packages to their recipients in better condition,

experiments have been made to improve the methods of packaging.

The use of mailing cartons should make it possible to send publications

without damage to destinations anywhere in the United States. In this

connection, an innovation was tried with very satisfactory results. Customer reaction concerning the use of cartons was requested through

the use of form letters enclosed in orders mailed. The results were most

favorable, and we now have on file many complimentary letters on our

use of cartons. With such confirmation of their value, the use of cartons has been extended with greater confidence in the results. For many years we have been the only book publisher who has had

QO advance information concerning forthcoming publications. In many

instances in the past, we have of necessity placed orders for documents

about which we had little or no information. Such a system made it extremely difficult to determine the quantity to be ordered and did not

208
afford the reference staff any advance information with which to an- swer inquiries. A concerted effort has been made in this fiscal year to improve relationships with the Government agencies which originate

publications. A plan has been worked out with our Production Manager to supply us page proofs of forthcoming documents. Thus, we are enabled to review in advance the contents to determine whether or not the proper niunber of copies has been ordered for sale; catalogers

are enabled to make advance entries; price lists may be compiled in

advance of the appearance of the publication; and the number of copies ordered for depository libraries may be more carefully reviewed.

In its sales function, the Public Documents Division is principally a

mail-order house, but a sizable over-the-counter service is provided in our bookstore located on the first floor of building 2. For the fiscal year

1947, over-the-counter sales amounted to $193,226.88, which represents a 31-percent increase over the previous fiscal year. This increase can be attributed largely to a new procedure which enables customers

to review, in the bookstore, the more popular documents. Previously,

there was no opportunity to browse, as only price lists were available

from which customers could place orders. Our earlier practice was to request each customer to call for his order approximately 4 hours after

he had placed it. Procedures have been worked out to guarantee delivery of any of the 65,000 different publications which are available

within 20 minutes after an order is placed.

Work is nearing completion on a larger bookstore in a much more

satisfactory location, in building 1 . In this new store, it will be possible

to display approximately 2,000 publications for customers to review

before they make a selection. In addition, the new location will speed

delivery. A 10-minute service is planned for all orders.

We have continued our efforts to sell accumulated stocks of slowmoving publications. This program turns into profits pubhcations

which would otherwise have to be disposed of as waste paper and makes

available storage space badly needed for new publications. Experiments with advance announcements of forthcoming publications have

been expanded, with gratifying results. This innovation of using

advance announcements was started in 1946, and an enlarged program

is now planned, in view of the outstanding success of the system.

Public documents are no longer mere dry, statistical tomes. They

touch human living and American business at every hand. The Division of Typography and Design is continually working to make them

more attractive and readable. Several popular publications have

established sales records which entitle them to places in the Nation's

lists of best sellers. To date, there have been sold 3,907,329 copies of Infant Care, a 209
publication of the Children's Bureau which sells at 15 cents a copy;

2,265,038 copies of Prenatal Care, published for the same Bureau, at

5 cents a copy; 276,862 copies of Description of United States Postage

Stamps, at 45 cents each; 339,974 copies of Furniture—Its Selection

and Use, at 10 cents a copy; and 251,683 copies of a publication

entitled "You Can Make It—Practical Uses of Second-hand Boxes

and Odd Pieces of Lumber,'' at 15 cents a copy. Sales of Aunt Sammy's

Kadio Recipes have exceeded 79,795, at 30 cents each. Pilots' Power

Plant Manual, Civil Aeronautics Bulletin No. 28, sells for $1.25 a copy and has passed the 400,000 mark. Care and Repair of the House

has exceeded 117,333 copies, at 20 cents each. Light Frame House

Construction has passed 57,552 copies, at 45 cents each. More than

130,700 copies of Basic Photography, at 65 cents each, have been sold;

and the sales of Veterans' Administration Pamphlet No. 44, entitled ''Veterans' Benefits," have reached more than 43,400 copies, at 15 cents each.

A comparison of activities in the Public Documents Division for the

fiscal years 1939, 1946, and 1947 shows a consistent increase for all operations, except the receipt and distribution of free publications:

Activity 1939 1946 1947 Number of sales orders 773, 464

321, 292

79, 371, 182

75, 249, 194

12, 748, 804

3, 020, 419

103, 839, 696

96, 697, 013

2, 289, 611

941, 638

450, 023

90, 540, 209

95, 057, 831

33, 088,453

3, 956, 374

136, 284, 855

138, 812, 169

3, 226, 313

1, 262, 517

632, 525

86, 732, 005

91, 972, 607

36, 941, 152

4, 205, 716

156, 915, 245

149, 788, 080

7, 259, 127

Number of letters of inquiry

Publications received for departmental free distribution Publications distributed free for governmental agencies . Number of publications sold Number of publications distributed to depository libraries Total publications received Total publications distributed Total publications condemned . .

CATALOGING AND INDEXING PROGRAMS

Cataloging of public documents is another important function of the

Public Documents Division which has long been a target of condemnation by hbrarians. Since 1895 there have been two series of printed catalogs—the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications

and the Biennial Document Catalog. The first has been a descriptive

catalog, except for one session of Congress 40 years ago, when it appeared in subject form. It has been a single-entry catalog. The latter has been issued in subject form for each session of Congress and has

been a multiple-entry dictionary catalog.

The Monthly Catalog was originally intended to be a sales medium

for the Superintendent of Documents. However, its function as a library

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tool quickly overshadowed its importance as a sales medium, as todayonly one-third of the pubKcations cataloged are for sale. As early as 1904 it was recognized that there was a great amount of dupHcation in the two cataloging programs. The Document Catalog

listed all the pubHcations entered in the Monthly Catalog, plus any

pubhcations which were received over 6 months after issue and any

classified (secret, confidential, or restricted) pubhcations which were

later declassified. In 1904 a questionnaire was sent to librarians, asking,

among other things, whether or not one cataloging program would not

be superior to the two overlapping programs. Both catalogs were on a

free basis at that time, and the repHes were definitely not to cut out

anything. Again, in 1944, the question of consolidating the cataloging

programs arose, but again inertia won out against the proposed change.

The Document Catalog, by its very nature, was difficult to keep on

a current basis. Almost from the start, it was 3 years after the close of Congress before it made its appearance. As Government pubhshing

expanded, the task of issuing both the Document Catalog and the

Monthly Catalog became more burdensome. Since the Monthly Catalog covered more or less ciu-rent pubhcations, it was given preference,

and the Document Catalog fell farther behind. The First World War

threw it 9 years in arrears, and since that time all efforts to place it on

a current basis have failed. The Document Catalog was a publication of highest quality. From

the standpoint of sheer technical excellence it was far superior to any

catalog produced by any other government in the world . The labor and

cost of issuing this massive catalog reached staggering proportions in recent years. Exclusive of costs of the work done on the Monthly

Catalog, which was used as the basis for the Biennial Document

Catalog, the cost of each copy of this big book had passed the $200

mark by 1947. Practically no copies of the Biennial Catalog were

distributed on a sales basis, and only 800 persons requested a free copy.

For some years one group of librarians has been insisting that the

Biennial Document Catalog be brought up to date and another group

has been equally critical of the Monthly Catalog. Two years ago the

Monthly Catalog was frequently issued late, and there was criticism

that many of the pubHcations were 2 or 3 months old when the catalog came out. An index was added in July 1945 and, while this feature

increased the value of the catalog, it also added to the difficulty of completing each issue. A survey of the cataloging programs and consultation with out- standing specialists in the field of public documents made apparent

that neither cataloging program was satisfactory. The Document

Catalog had reached the point where it was historic in nature. The

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Monthly Catalog was being issued only with the greatest strain, was

late in reaching subscribers, and was not as inclusive as it should be. Since the close of the war, thousands of publications which were

formerly restricted or confidential have been reclassified. These publications began to accumulate, as they awaited their turn to appear in

the Biennial Document Catalog in the next 7 or 8 years. Since the

documents were not included in the Monthly Catalog, librarians and

scholars would have no knowledge of their existence until the Document Catalog made its appearance.

In view of all these problems, the decision was made that the Superintendent of Documents could best discharge his responsibilities to

librarians and those who pay the cost of these programs by concentrating on only one all-inclusive cataloging program.

It was realized that the discontinuance of the Document Catalog

would be criticized by many persons. When the Depository Invoice was discontinued, several years ago, the Office was flooded with

letters from librarians who insisted that they could not carry on without it. Today there is no one who would argue that the discontinu- ance of the Depository Invoice was not a progressive step. It is believed that this will be repeated in the case of the cataloging

program. A fast and inclusive cataloging service which will render

the maximum service for each dollar spent is now planned.

A beginning toward more efficient cataloging has been made by

speeding up the issuance of our Monthly Catalog. Subscribers received

the April and May issues only about a week apart. For the first time

in anyone's memory, the Monthly Catalog has appeared in the

month following the receipt of the publications cataloged.

In the April issue of the Monthly Catalog we carried an announce- ment that many publications are being received in page-proof form.

This enables catalogers to complete many preliminary cataloging

operations in advance of the appearance of the publication. A new

department, called Previews, has been instituted in the catalog. For

the first time readers are given advance information of some forthcoming publications, and orders are scheduled for the delivery of the

publications when they come off the press. Work is now in progress on supplements to the Monthly Catalog,

which will cover 2-year periods beginning with the Seventy-sixth

Congress. These supplements will include all publications which were

not included in the Monthly Catalogs because they were received

late or were secret, restricted, or confidential. The first supplement

will be ready in the fall of 1947. When this program is completed,

librarians will have a catalog entry for every publication which has

been received by the Superintendent of Documents.

212
Listing all publications in the Monthly Catalog and supplements

will furnish the needed information to librarians who use our classifi- cation system. This was not the case when listings appeared only in

the Document Catalog.

The chairman of the American Library Association committee on pubhc documents has agreed to spend a month of his vacation this

summer in making a survey of all cataloging and classifying operations

in our Public Documents Division. Some of the most constructive

changes in the programs in the past have resulted from suggestions

made by him.

DEPOSITORY DISTRIBUTION

The Superintendent of Documents is required by law to furnish, free of charge, one copy of each Government publication requested by

libraries which are designated as depositories for Federal documents.

At present 558 hbraries have been designated and, of these, 125 receive

1 copy of all pubHcations. Many libraries have regarded the depository

system merely as an opportunity to obtain free publications. Criticisms

have reached Members of Congress that depositories are not being

maintained as public libraries, as the law provides, and that documents

are stored in basements or are lost or destroyed instead of being made

available for general pubUc reference. Many thousands of dollars are expended each year to provide depository copies of Federal documents.

It is only sound business for the Government to insure that these funds

are not wasted.

The limitation on travel funds for this Division has largely nullified any comprehensive program of regular and thorough inspection of the

condition of depository libraries. The Division has only $200 available

for the next fiscal year for inspection purposes, but plans have been

made to conduct an investigation program and also to mail a questionnaire to each depository to obtain facts concerning the handling of

documents. A more comprehensive project can be based on information

thus obtained.

It is recommended that the Congress appropriate sufficient funds

for the fiscal year 1949 to enable this Division to inspect depositories on a regular and thorough basis. The law provides that no pubhcation be sent to a depository unless

it has been specifically requested. To accomplish this, we issue a

classified list which allows the libraries to make selections by classes. The latest issue of this list is now more than 5 years old and is out of date, since many new Government agencies have been created. The

classified fist has been completely revised and will be issued again

213
early in the next fiscal year. Supplying publications to depository

libraries is one of the principal items in the ''General expense" appropriation for the Division. The number of copies of publications supplied

to depositories is increasing, and the unit cost of each item supplied

has, of course, reflected rising costs of paper and labor.

Since we will have exactly the same funds to supply publications

during the fiscal year 1948 as we had in 1947, it will be a real problem

to meet legal requirements as to depositories and still stay within the

funds available.

DISTRIBUTION FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

The Public Documents Division distributes for Members of Congress such publications as farmers' bulletins, soil surveys, publications

of the Children's Bureau, and the Congressional Record. Quotas of these publications are made available to Members of Congress in the

various appropriation acts. Usually this distribution is heaviest during an election year, but distribution diu-ing the fiscal year 1947 was

unusually large, approximating the volume of an election year. We also act as an agent for Government departments and independent establishments in preparing and maintaining mailing lists and in

addressing and mailing publications distributed by them. This distri- bution totaled 91,972,607 copies in 1947, which represents a decrease of

approximately 3 percent over 1946. This decrease can be attributed

largely to our program of urging Government agencies to promote the

sale of their publications and to limit free distribution. It has been our opinion for many years that free distribution should

be limited and sales pushed. Some publications, of course, would not

fit into such a program. Good examples are the Postal Bulletin, savingsbond promotional literature, social-secmity posters, etc. However,

many departments distributed, on a free basis, publications which are

for sale at the Public Documents Division. A large-scale free distribution greatly nullifies our sales efforts. We believe that the departments

can best utilize their printing and binding appropriations by limiting

their official distributions, and thereby using their funds to print more

publications in smaller quantities. When a person pays a nominal fee for a publication rather than receiving it gratis, there is greater likeli- hood that he will read it. The Department of Commerce and the Office

of Education are two agencies which have adopted the policy of promoting sales and discontinuing widespread free distribution. We are continuing our efforts to convince other agencies of the desirability of

such a course. 214
PLANS FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR

The following projects have been scheduled for the coming fiscal year:

1. Continuation and intensification of the program to modernize

distribution methods. Strides have been made in increasing the effi- ciency and speed with which various functions are accompHshed, but

considerable room for improvement exists.

2. Survey of cataloging and indexing functions by a representative

of the American Library Association is scheduled for the first month in

the fiscal year 1948. We expect this survey to result in modernizing our

cataloging and indexing functions and in the discontinuance of any

effort which may be unnecessary in terms of the ultimate use of the

printed catalogs and indexes.

3. Early in the next fiscal year our book store will be moved to a more convenient and more suitable location just inside the main

entrance to building 1, on North Capitol at G Street. A large, bright room is now being renovated and equipped. Space will be available for

the display of more publications, and service will be much faster than

in the present location. An increase in over-the-counter sales is expected.

4. Substitution of labor-saving machinery for hand operations is a continuing function. A study will be made of the feasibility of installing a conveyor system to provide faster and more efficient delivery of

publications from storage areas to wrapping and mailing points. This

installation will, of course, be contingent upon obtaining necessary

funds.

MAINTENANCE DIVISION

Responsibility for upkeep and repair of all buildings and all equipment operated by the Government Printing Office is vested in its Maintenance Division. A total of 405 employees were engaged in this work on Jime 30, 1947, as compared with 410 at the end of the previous

fiscal year. In 1939 the Division had 296 employees, and the present

total of personnel represents a 37-percent increase during the 8-year

period.

In the meantime, occupation of new buildings in 1940 increased the

gross flooT- area to 31)4 acres, or approximately 49 percent. The acquisition in 1946 of the field offices has added still further to maintenance

and engineering work. Forty of the additional employees are elevator,

conveyor, and crane operators and 24 have been added to the powerplant force to handle air-conditioning, ventilating, pumping, and electrical switching installations.

215
Cleaning of lighting fixtures has been transferred from the Sanitary

to the Electrical Section, and two machinists are permanently detailed

to the Monotype Casting Section.

Over an 8-year period, maintenance work on production equipment

has increased, and the difiiculties in securing parts during the war

years continue into the present. This problem has been aggravated

by around-the-clock operation of equipment. The Division has devoted

considerable time and effort to research and development leading to the building of special machines and the rebuilding or redesigning of

existing machines in many production sections for special jobs. Outstanding examples are the conversion of a money-order press for

printing and gumming of air-mail letters and the work being done to rebuild the Kidder press for production of snap-out forms.

Experiments also have been carried on with black-light lamps for

plate burning, film and plate dryers, ink mixers, infrared drying units,

and other innovations.

The creation of a Dispatching Unit during the year has greatly

facihtated and expedited action on requests for service throughout the

plant and in field offices located in the District of Columbia.

MODERNIZATION

Shortages of materials, manpower, and machinery during the war

years have prevented modernization of plant and equipment. For the

most part only normal replacements have been possible when absolutely necessary for dependable service, but some improvements have

been made. Among the most important are

Replacement of seven obsolete direct-current elevators in building

No. 1 with new high-speed, larger-capacity, overhead-traction-type

elevators.

Change from 25- to 60-cycle electric service and rewiring of buildings

.1 and 2 for alternating current to remove hazards and increase effi- ciency and economy of operation.

Improvement of the fire-alarm and guard systems.

Installation of two new water-cooling compressors.

Installation of two new high-pressure air compressors.

Installation of a new incinerator and Rotoclone, capable of burning

a thousand pounds of waste per hour without spreading flue gas or

fly ash.

Modernization and improvement of pump facihties. Modernization of lighting in the administrative offices. Installation of a metalizing gun and auxiliary equipment in our machine shop for building up worn shafts and parts.

216
Modernization of fire-protection equipment lq hazardous areas. Installation of acoustical material to reduce noise level in work

areas. Considerable experimental work has been done to provide adequate

HghtiQg of the proper quahty for various visual tasks. The Division

also is experimentiag with the functional use of colors to reheve eyestrain, reduce glare, distinguish hazards, and improve working en- vironments. The American Standards Association color code has been

adopted.

Additional improvements will be made as materials now on order

are received.

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

The Division does not wait for a machine to break down before it is repaired. By regular inspections of all equipment and the use of a

history file based on the nature and frequency of repairs, maintenance

requirements are dealt with in advance and major break-downs are avoided. This preventive-maintenance program has been extended even to replacement of light bulbs when they have reached their

rated fife expectancy. This method not only reduces light maintenance

costs but also eliminates interruptions to production in workrooms.

That this preventive-maintenance program is showing results is evidenced by our having been able to absorb $25,000 worth of work in our field offices as well as other additional activities, without increasing

personnel.

As provided by law (U. S. C, title 31, sec. 686), the Division, in

addition to assisting other Government department? and agencies with

emergency maintenance repairs, has built the following for use in con- nection with pubHc printing: 602 wooden suitcases for Social Security

Administration; 15 glass display cases and 64 open display racks for

Commerce Department; and 1,150 wooden boxes for Library of

Congress.

IMPROVED METHOD FOR EQUIPMENT LAY-OUTS

The secret of low-cost production is a good lay-out. Three-dimensional models of equipment and machinery have been made to scale in our carpenter shop from scrap wood. Extreme dimensions are accurate, but construction details are omitted. Whenever a proposal is offered for arrangement of new or present equipment in accordance

with the sequence of operations, the models can be set up on a floor and photographed from any elevation to show aisle space, clearances^

and relationship to other equipment.

217
This method saves much time in the drafting room and enables nontechnical persons to visualize at once the appearance and efficiency

of a workroom under any and all proposed arrangements. When flow

charts can be superimposed on the photographs, the advantages of

comparative lay-outs are evident at a glance.

218
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PUBLIC PRINTER

During the war years and since the ending of hostihties greater

emphasis has been placed by the Government Printing Office on the

development of a service which will give the Government better printing more expeditiously and economically than could be obtained froiji

any other source. It is our intention to exert every effort toward continued improvement of this service. With this thought in mind, many

objectives have been added to our program for administrative development during the fiscal year 1948. A few of the more important are sunamarized here.

The Office will take definite steps to modernize and improve its mechanical equipment. For this purpose, a committee, consisting of

representatives of our Comptroller, Planning Manager, Production

Manager, and Mechanical Superintendent, under the chairmanship of

the Consultant on Methods and Procedures, will carefully review our mechanical equipment. A large amount of material is already on hand

for the use of this committee. It wiU also assemble information concerning products, processes, machinery, and equipment, which will be

considered as the program develops.

PART

Forecast

and Con

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

MODERNIZATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF

MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT

219
RAISING OFFSET LITHOGRAPHY TO DIVISIONAL LEVEL

Since its inception in the Government Printing Office, lithographic

printing has been under the divided control and responsibility of the

Divisions of Typography and Design, Platemaking, and Presswork.

This spreading of supervisory responsibility has been a matter of real concern to the Production Manager and other officials, as it has long

been recognized that diffusion of authority seldom attains the degree

of accomplishment which can be achieved when all activities are coor- dinated under one head. The entire situation will be thoroughly stvidied

with a view of establishing a production division for lithographic

printing.

BETTER COORDINATION OF PLANT AND FIELD

OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES

By working with the Bureau of the Budget, we hope to obtain the

simplification or elimination of the difficulties involved in the use of

many different classes of money appropriated for ' 'printing' ' and bring

the operations of the central office and the field plants into line to meet more closely the agreements made when these plants were turned

over to the Public Printer. The basic aim is to produce on large machines that work which lends itself to economical production on such

equipment and to do on small, so-called duplicating machines only that

work which a sound production policy dictates.

REVIEW OF COST ACCOUNTING AND PRODUCTION CONTROL

A review will be made of our cost-accounting and production-control

systems to determine the adequacy and applicability of our procedures

and the possibility of simplifying them. The Printing Industry of

America, Inc., has offered to collaborate in this matter, primarily in

the interest of the entire printing industry. Current commercial practices can thus be studied and adopted whenever the Government may

benefit thereby. In connection with this review, our Scale of Prices will also be completely revised to eliminate inequities that may now exist. REVIEW OF TITLE 44 At present, title 44 of the United States Code contains parts of laws

that have become obsolete through passage of new legislation. Certain

sections naturally are not as applicable in 1947 as they were in 1895,

when many of them were adopted; other sections, though still appli220
cable, should be changed in order to assure more efficient printing and

binding procedures. In some cases it appears that actual conflict exists

between sections of title 44 and sections of other titles of the Code. In

order to make recommendations for changes which will meet existing

conditions and clear up difficulties attributable to outmoded legislation, the Office will review the printing and binding laws.

ESTABLISHMENT OF FACT-FINDING COMMITTEE

The need for a fact-finding committee and the steps taken to form it have been described at page 95. It is our aim to complete arrangements

for the establishment of this committee during the fiscal year 1948.

IMPROVED DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS

The potential value of the PubHc Documents Division as a dis- tributing medimn for many important Government programs is not

exploited as fully as it might be by making Government publications more easily available. It is the experience of the Division's book store that few visitors ever leave without making several purchases. It is beheved that a great service to the pubhc would result from the

estabhshment of regional book stores, where Government pubhcations

could be purchased or ordered. The Office is studying the feasibility

of operating such stores and expects to make appropriate recom- mendations for their estabhshment.

An inspection of depository hbraries is planned within the limitation

of funds currently available. Congress will be requested to appropriate

sufficient funds for the fiscal year 1949 to enable this Division to inspect depositories on a regular and thorough basis. ACQUISITION OF NEEDED STORAGE AND WORKING SPACE

Despite the occupation of new buildings in 1940, one of the greater

handicaps to the Office is the need for additional space for our present

volume of business. The phase of our contemplated building program

described as project B would satisfy our present most urgent need; the

other projects are of importance to our proper and efficient functioning.

We shall attempt to secure, through the Public Buildings Administration, estimates for presentation to Congress, along with appropriate

recommendation for action, leading to the fulffilment of the following:

Project A.—Demohsh the old one-story power-plant building and

erect an eight-story building, approximately 130 by 74 feet, connecting

buildings 1 and 2. This building should have at least two elevators,

221
facilities for baling waste paper, and a receiving platform for incoming

shipments of materials and supplies other than paper.

Project B.—Acquire and remove present buildings adjacent to building 4; and enlarge the warehouse—building 4—to extend along G

Street NE., from North Capitol Street, a distance of 365 feet 9 inches.

This should be a reinforced-concrete building, 87 feet 6 inches wide,

containing three stories and basement and matching the present ware- house in architecture. It should have four freight elevators and a shipping platform to accommodate the largest commercial trailer vans.

Project C.—Acquire and remove buildings a distance of 216 feet along the south side of H Street NW., from the present property line west to the alley. Erect building to contain garage and blacksmith and

paint shops. Allow space for automobile parking and material yard.

Project B.—Air condition buildings 1 and 2 and complete air conditioning of building 3. Include paper-storage areas, but omit power

plant, metal-melting section, and general storage areas. Install, if in- vestigation proves it to be practicable, air conditioning of certain other

areas having heavy heat loads, such as electrotype and stereotype

molding, monotype casting, linotype composing, carpentry, etc. Project E.-—Modernize lighting throughout the old building, with

extensive use of fluorescent fixtiu'es. CONCLUSION

The accomphshments of the Government Printing Office since the

last printed annual report in 1939, and particularly during the war and

emergency period, are a source of justifiable pride. We believe that the

experience gained in working with the commercial printing industry

and in manufactiu-ing in our own plant under trying conditions will

enable us at aU times to meet the futiu-e requirements of the Government. Improvements in processes and procedures, often developed

through sheer necessity, have now placed us in a position of having our work more nearly current than at any other time in the history of the

Office.

U. S. COVERHMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1947 66908