The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1859-01-06
ftFt cossaes,cArgs eit
CENSORSHIP OF The PRESS REPORT or
TIE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBIC
e PRINTING 49,



appoiatee oi tins PRESIDENT publicly impugnins the con
duct and denouncng 10 Congress the ooontsy the
proeeedngs OF other officers appointed ia like manner
with himself and of course in wise responsible
him 4 his u done la the guse Of statement OF the
condition of the public printing bat the snpasintend.
eat like too willing witness In court csmaxes his
cause by the copiousnesa OF his nlonnation. TIE Chill
Astronomical Expedition, the Coast Saryey the Snth-
sonian Institution aud the Patent Office all suffer at his
hands His attack upon the latter relates the Report
on Agacuure and. he diiates very fully thereon IL
may instance in Illustration have there
fore sought the facts at proper sources aud nd
contrast strangely with his narrative He saysk go
l. THIS report transmitted to Congress on the
lith Of May 1858 but in imperfect state that leave
was granted TO Withdraw the manuscript to rcts it
until the 3lst iay of August Tor completion and arssnse-
s.' portion Of the copy Was furnished and prsased
previous TO the last men toned day aud that day a
mass Of manuscript purporting TO be the residue
received at this Office but 50 confused state that sew
erai days elapsed before il could be properly arranged
printing the consequence OF which that the report
was not fully ia type until the middle OF October =
3. "A dlneuty then respecting the eugsRvings
ordered to accompany the work which caused further
delay of several weeks and the report was not finally
prepared for the binder until the second in De-
cember.
A. Had this report been sent to this Office in mann
script properly prepared for printing bound copies
would have been delivered within thirty days there
| after.
NOW Tor the facts la our first quotation the supern-
tendent says that leave granted the Patent Once
70 withdraw the manuscript aud to retain il until the
3lst day OF August This Is true. Why II was 80 Or
dered cannot be considered by any one as legitimate
subject for the investigation Of the Superintendent
ordered tho report be presented to him on the
3lst of August He has xcd this point for U.S. But he
adds that ga portion Of the copy furnished and print
ed pfsrous to the last mentioned day. Why VIVA this
done Was IL for the convenience Of the Patcn& Office
How could 1t that office Was II not rather for
the convenience of the Superintendent and 1t his
quest, that the work OF printing might thus he fact
tated And IL So what grateful return bus Lcen made
for this seryce Has he not perverted this very cran
stance for the purpose of sustaining the extraordinary
assumptions in his report rsr&
"on that day 1.-THE slst OF August mass OF manu-
script purpotng be the residue was received at this
Office, but in confused state. &C.. How came 1t to
be in confused state Is this not answered by the
c that the Superintendent, instead Of being satisfied
with the accommodation that had enabled him 10 put in
type and stereotype than three hundred pages OF
the report leaving the paging to be arranged subsequent
~, absolutely determined upon location in the volume
for this matter, and printed the middle portion Of the
book, thus breaking up the arrangement OF thu whole
matter and causing the very confused state Of which
he complains @ GglI A&is ssMsr&s 6ff
But 1t Is said several days elapsed before it ,c copy
could be properly arranged for prinng the consequence
Of which that the report not fully In type before
the middle of October. Is it not fearful .sconse-
qucnce Of small cause that the loss Of ssevcl'
days matter how lost should cause 70 long deten
ton from the last Of August the middle Of October
put work type which the Superintendent says in
the fourth quotation above, he cond deliver III bound
copies within thirty days after the receipt OF the
uscrpt These statements marvellously vague for
official report, Perhaps they deserve other terms
such will not be applied to them in the present wri
ting. tagea asN tsstes
A difficulty then respecting the cngravngsy'
When this In the middle of October he tells
What that difficulty Why does not the Supcrin-
tendent tell Congress aad the publc what IL was Was
that three the eight pages of engravngs were
unfit to be used Were these pages not after being
jeeted TO ut the Patent Office and utter being detained
the Superintendent Office till the 24th of October
finally condemned at that office, and others permitted to
b. substituted mot at the public expenses and according
law but be paid for by the gentleman hi charge
the public printing from, his desire to hasten the work
Bat, still further this head not the Superintend
ent admonshed early the 30th Of August that it
was important that the engrayer should be skiifnl
faithful and responsible person. and that be with whom
he had barganed sub letting his contract In such
manner made failure than probablef
Was this not the !" difficulty respecting the engra
wings q. Who created this ditfcultyg Who had en-
,leavored by timely admonltion to prevent 1t We are
not informed by the Superintendent. But did not the
Superintendent pay for the rejected enBravings at the
public expense with full knowledge Of their worth
lessness &4 a3s y ass ss
There are still other questions this officer may If
he w such as whether he did not make effort to Car
nge the matter of the report and 10 adapt il to the
m poston he had occ.sionel by dividing important
article and placing portion Of it before and portion
after the pages he had caused to he pematcy printed
and this all unknown to the Patent Office Were not
these vacancies finally filed up with his sanction,
overcome the difficulty he had created and In disregard
of the direction OF Congress- In consequence Of this
rangement did he not sxtyon pages Of valuable
statistics 10 be omitted from the volume, which would
have made the precise complement called for by the
luton Of Congress- Aud it may be asked still further,
for the purpose Of pointing out the probable ani In
this case whether the Superintendent has not withheld
tho usual courtesy il not the gtfnl claim Of the Pat
ent Office at least small supply OF copies Of the
report previous to the full supplying Of all Others
titled to themf ga
That extravagant assertions respecting the cost of
illustrations desired for this report permitted APP
rear in the public prints uncontradlctsd though pro-
fessedy the authority of the Superintendent
that he declines neects to cali upon the Secretary Of
The Interior in relation to these subjects when requested
and that he has expressed his belief that Another Hepot
on Agriculture would never be printed under ts dirst
lion Of the Patent Office, are sAbeots worthy stsss q
pointed interrogaories But these and other topics nay
he dlscusse, hereafter. $500