The Washington critic., 1889-06-05
THE PUBLIC PRINTER.

for use in the conduct OF his business
twothirds of that amount The Pub
lie Printer spends annually about two
million and quarter dollars, of W iieh
million is spent in accordance with
contracts let by the Joint Printing Com
mittcc of Congress. The balance Of
this money he draws in quarterly in
stallmcnts and he must exercise daily
supervision over his expenditures 10 ser
that he docs not exhaust the appropria-
ton given 10 him. The demands Of the
ffty-sccond week Of the year may be as
great ms those of the first and he must
be as well prepared to meet them. He
must distribute the amount of money
given to him to expcnd in such way ~
TO equalize certain differences which
Congress does not recognize. For ex-
ample, the maximum amount which he
can pny for work Of the best class in
the Printing Office is fifty cents per
thousand ems or forty cents per hour
10 printers and boOkbindcrs. The
marbleizer employed in the Printing
Office could make ten or fifteen
dollars q day in any other Office. The
Public Printer cannot expect him 10
work for forty cents an hour, and he
must take money from some other ap-
preparation TO pay him the salary which
his work Is worth. A prcssman who
understands over-laying thoroughly can
make $40, $l2, and sometimes $f5 in
lithographic establishment To obtain
the best labor on the market tho Public
Printer must cut down expenses some
where else, In order to pay the wages
required 10 obtain the men he wants.
This Is not strictly in accordance with
the law, but II is absolutely necessary,
for II the work were done In an inferior
way the Public Printer would never be
able to explain 10 Congress why h was
not of better class.
Probably the worst people the Public
Printer has 10 deal with are the scicnt-
Isis in the Departments They make
the worst copy that comes into the
printing Office they are slowest in send
Ing II In, and they take the proofs that
are sent 10 them for correction and
stow them away In their desks for
months nt time. Sometimes the proof
sheets of some scientific work will not
he sent back TO the Government Print
Ing Office for six months. During all
this time the type would remain stand
ing were IL not that q large and effective
stercotyping establishment is operated
in connection with the Office, and the
| Public Printer in despair is Obliged 10
take stereotypes and make casts OF the
pages, trusting that he will not have 10
reset and recast more than one or two
| Of them after the proofs have been re-
turned to him. II is utterly impossible
| 10 convince u man whose soul is
wrapped up in potato bugs or sorghum
| sugar or the welfare of the North
American Indian that there are
| certain principles which must gov
| ern all business and that one of
these is that certain work shall be done
within certain time. II Is source of
frequent wonder 10 those who are not
familiar with the workings of the print
ing office and Of the Department, that
the publication OF work is sometimes de-
layed for two and even three years.
They see books coming from the Public
Printing Office in 1880 with 1886
upon them and they marvel. The
delay is not due to the inef1lciency of
the Public Printer; Il Is chargeable al
most always to the men who have the
volumes in charge and TO whom the
proof sheets are sent for correction.
II Is not generally known that the
Public Printer is surrounded by spies
and blacklcgs. There is hardly an in
cumbent Of the Office who does not
learn soon after he takes charge of il
that his every action is watched, with a
view TO placing him at disadvantage.
Bidders who fail TO get important con
tracts, and who are watching for cvi-
dence against the more fortunate con
tractors or against the Public Printer In
connection with the contract giving,
obtain employment in some devious way
for persons who will report 10 them
whether or not the Public Printer is Ye-
quiring contractors TO deliver material
of the required quality. These are not
the only people, though, who have
ulterior objects in obtaining employ
ment for persons In the Public Printing
Office. Money lenders who are for
hidden entrance to the Departments
have their representatives there, dis
counting the salaries OF employees AZ
enormous rates of interest.
An evil 20 which the attention OF Con
gress has frequently been called Is the
primitive fashion of handling books ut
The Capitol. The greater proportion of
books turned out at the Public Printing
Office is sent 10 the Capitol. The
warehouse in which they are stored is
room underground, which Is reached
through manhole In the walk with
out. The manhole Is not covered; II is
exposed TO the open air. When book.
are delivered they are carried from the
delivery wagon in the arms OF one or
two men to the manhole, where they
are handed down to another man who
lowers them 10 third or fourth man,
who distributes them to their places in
the warehouse. On rainy days book.
and documents from the Public Print
ing Office are not received at the Capi-
tol. They would be spoiled in transit
from the wagon to the manhole, II is
necessary then TO pile up t~1rr books in
the warehouses Of the Public Printing
Oflice. As warehouse room there /.
very insufficient, these books frequently
fill up all the vacant space
and IL is necessary to Tehandl,
them several times in order to obtain
space for other publications. Some
times they have TO be carried TO ware
houses which are rented for storage
purposes. An estimate Of the extra
cost caused by this primitive method OF
handling books places 1t at fifteen per
cent. of the entire cost of running the
Public Printing Office, An amount
less than the expenditure in this direc'
ton in one year would provide suitable
means for unloading these books at the
Capitol in all sorts of weather
81
Public Printer Palmer is going nj
things in a very conservative way. liz
is making changes very slowly, and II