Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-08-06
Preservation of Public Records.

Attention OF Congress should be called to
the urgent need of making provision for the
safe storage and preservation of the records
Of the public departments, and of Congress
itself. Thousands of clerks in Washington
are constantly engaged in preparing, exam
lining and in handling papers which, when
finally acted on, must under the laws be kept,
but of which comparatively few are ever again
consulted. Yet it is almost impossible to de-
fermine which OF these papers may after a
time be found of great Importance to save the
United States loss of money, or to vindicate
the character of public officer under unjust
suspicion, or to convict a defaulter or GRIM
inal. Under existing laws 1t is forbidden to
destroy any Of these public records, except
cancelled bonds and currency. The accumu-
1atiOn is immense, and it increases constantly.
The number of clerks in the various executive
departments is less than during the war; and
extensive and most costly additions have been
made to the public Offices yet they are prob
ably at this time more crowded than ever
before. Piles of papers take and fill all the
place and space vacated by reduction in the
number of clerks.
The burning of the Patent Office is a conse-
quence of this accumulation, and the inspec-
tiOn by board Of engineers, called after that
confagratiOn, showed that scarce a public
building in Washington is free from similar
accumulation of infiammable material, filling
up all the out of the way corners, all the dark
rooms and all the roof spaces of executive
and of legislative offices. The Capitol itself is
thus endangered.
In the Quartermaster Generals office are
many thousand, perhaps twelve or thirteen
thousand, claims for quartermaster stores
taken by the army in loyal states during the
war, with TIL testimony for and against them.
furnished BY claimants and their attorneys, or
R0l1pptpd hy the Of tbo rfo
department employed in the investigation.
They constitute very large bulk of papers.
Heretofore it has been the custom of the Quar-
termaSter General, when he has completed
the examination. under the law of 1864, of any
one OF these claims to send all the papers
often vOluminOus, to the Third Auditor
for preservation, whether proved 10 be Just
or no; but the file room of the Third
Auditor. it appears, is now so burdened that
that officer has been compelled to request the
Quartermaster General hereafter to send him
only such claims as he reports favOrably for
allowance. The others accumulate in the
building occupied by the Quartermaster Gen
eral and are so much fuel to add to the dan
gerous condition OF that office. These records
ought to be preserved; they embrace the evil
dence which defeats claims against the Treas
ury amounting to many millions, perhaps
$l6,0OO,CtO.
line proper provision Tor Safekeeping of these
and OF all records and papers not in current
use, is fire-proOf Hall of Records. 1t
need not be costly building. There is no
occasion to spend million dollars upon such
storehouse, but 1t will greatly relieve build
lngs which have already cost - or 80 million
and which are now INSTRUCTED and endan-
gered by these piles of inflammable material
The best fire-proOf material is bricks. We
think that it should cover a large space of
ground and be Of a single story, with paved
floor and fire-proOf roof, and divided by fire.
walls into spaces of moderate size, so secured
that even considerable fire would be entirely
confined to the cell in which it originated.
Such a building without cellars or upper
floors, of moderate height, thoroughly drained
and ventilated, and not heated, and therefore
not halle to be set on fire. would be dry and
safe, and not costly; and such a building
ought to be at once erected in central situa.
tiOn, convenient to the executive offices, for
all executive records. Another should be
erected near the Capitol for Congressional
records. There Is plenty of vacant ground in |
Washington, and it is not necessary to pile
story upon story. s200,OOO would provide all
that would be needed for some years.