Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-09-11
Government Reports.
fn-.at..fou .far

h.ppy authors. Ills duty u merely M
eh.aiesl. lie dos. no, read the cart
load. Of msnu.crip, ,ha, are dumped 10
the go,srnment printing Once from the
departments. lie simply sets up the
matter 10 Typ. and then binds the PRINT
ed pss,s 10 book form. ], may De si'
tracts from the KORAN o. the lah' opef.'
bu, the sovernmsn, prinisr y no. efii'eAi
lie 1. the mo., genial and indalssnt OF
publishers. and shoah be Translated 10
the Arcadia of authors.
But still. in spite Of the ,d'sn'sse
which IN. department authors have over
III. res, Of the profession. they are not
entirely happy for the reason that the
copy must be prepared Zoe the pnnsi
The government, printer. with oil his KIND
IN disposition. refuses 10 furnish mauef
and prin, |, too. For this be b" the
authority Of Law. Ia fact. the govern
men, printer. while be eau eferc.i the
CREATES, iiber.li,y 10 printing the Prodae'
ton. Of Others. IL no, .llo~ed 10 indulge.
at the go,srnmsn, expense any literary
tastes he may possess. so, no doubt,
~hils IL grie,es him 10 think that ne can
no, do more for the sovsrnmsnt aaih''''
Yet there are the cruel edie's OF the stat
ute books confronting him.
There ere some p,eali.riiie' about The
government authors which Distinguish
them from ill Others !, aPPss" 'n.,
slight preliminary training is needed TOT
the career Of successful go,efnmsn' sa'
thor. he 1. obliged 10 the fret piece TO
reconstruct his IDEAS soms~hA' In regard
to the creation Of the World aud learn
,ha, the pas, and present Of the physicist
aud moral universe were q signed .ti
especial reference to bis particular di,n.
ION. bureau. or dspsnmsn, NJ NIT
ence /. sllo-,d to anything preceding the
creation Of the branch Of the government
over which he pe.'ds' =. presumably
only ehso. existed thea. lie begins .,
the beginning aud by limiting the bsgin'
ing. he 10 able TO write sn annual report
Amer thu, getting . start he proceed.
to show boz ell things governmental
have rsvol,ed about bis division darina
the year that h.. passed, and incidental
" the fac, l. brought Oh, ,hs, grave dis.
..,sr, to the body polite have been avert
ed BY his faithful AID uhhssgins real In
the performance q his duties which hav,
weighed upon him. While the grsa,
ma. Of the people Of the country have
pursued their peaceful voos'ious without,
interruption OF though, Of fear. he has
been able from the ~s,eh.to-er Of bis
of.ice chair 10 perceive the gathering
cloud. -hich threaten ruin and TO di'psl
them. This 10 elesrl. shown In aleng,hy
eorr,,pondenee With some 'abofdina,s.
-hieh /. published in full. The author
then allow. himself 10 be diverted Zoe .
fe~ hundred pages from the report Of
the year TO show from extracts from pre-
uou, reports backed up by tables Of d.
urs., that hi. administration has been
NOR, efficient. economical and honest
than any other sine, the days Of j, fsr.on.
10 case any doubling Thomas nigh, deem
biz statements and figures Insufficient
evidence, he print. several hundred page.
Of letter, which be has received from
friend. and those holding ofiiss under
him. These letters are similar IN form
to those which may be rad upon the
cover. Of periodical literature. only. Of
course. they are longer
The thread of the narrative % each
day. lsbors and trials /. resumed only
70 suffer another interruption ~hieh
arises from the necessity felt by the su.
thor to explain briefly 10 hundred pages
or 50 bow be has been hsmpered py some
enactment ~ Congress. and how much
more smoothly the machinery Of the
government would have run II the sug
g,.,ion. made ",o your honorable body
In my last annual report bad been fol.
loved. Having reached this pOin, the
author presumably knocks of for . day
before beginning on VIA, is really the
important feature Of the report. These
are the recommendations which grace
the tail end Of every department. report.
II the author thinks ths, Congress would
be unable to enact any legislation nth.
out the light and wisdom derived from
his report, IL will be seen q, once that
be IL wise in undertaking ,hi. part Of the
work, With bis faculties refreshed by .
brief season Of rest Among some Of
the officials the ability Of the author i.
supposed to rec, sn,iiely upon III. part
Of his work. A. any rate !, 10 marked
by . different sille. The sentence. slo-
With earres,ness and are fairly sloqaen,
in their well.roundsd periods. With
what ps,hos IL l, urged ,hs, his Office be
granted an additional messenger and bow
the psge seems TO glow 80 be describes
the worn condition Of the furniture and
carpets
Having thus reached the climax, the
author proceeds to let himself down
where he can cool of. which be succeed.
In doing In three or four sentences Of q
hundred words each. more OF less. II,
then signs bis name and the ordinary
reader suppo'ing !, Is tqaivslen, to the
word "Finis,' At the end Of book,
breaches sish Of relief that the p.ns.
OF authorship are over and no lives Lost.
Bot the ordinary reader Is mistaken.
lie turns the page and is confronted by
. tabular statement, aud be finds the
neIt too OF three hundred pages filed
With similar interesting matter. Prom
these tables the eager student Of gov.
eminent Institutions may learn how many
claims were handled. how many letter.
were written. and the percentage Of the
clerks tn the letters or claims. and vic.
vera. II these tables do not farni.h al
the information needed =. to The pr.c,i.
cal operation Of the government, there
are several hundred additional pages.
containing the letter. In full. written BY
special agents, chiefs Of rooms and other
public function s,iSs desrrihi,, L. -