Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-04

lectorship will be decided tomorrow, as il
is Secretary Fosters day with the Presi-
dent, and he has signified his intention to
prlng the matter to q conclusion.
1t is pretty certain that the attempt to
regulate and modify the Government print
ing will come to naught. The House has
already rejected an opportunity to dlstln-
gulsh itself in this matter, and the Senafe
takes hold of it timidly, as not knowing
where to begin or where to leave off, The
bulk of Government printing grows enorm-
ously every year, and nine-tenths of 1t Is
absolutely useless to the general public.
The tendency is to add to rather than to de-
crease the bulk.
A proposition has been made to place the
Congressional Record, that inimitable lit
erary annual. in every county OF every
State of the Union in a way that will place
1t within easy grasp of 64.00o, ,oco people,
who would rather abate one meal day than
be without this nutritious intellectual bouil-
Ion. Pdssibly this proposal may really be
shrewd movement to reduce the bulk OF
printing, as some infidel critics assert that
if the people at large could but read the
Record occasionally they ''would rise In
their might" and demand that its publica-
tion cease altogether.
One w.y to Get in Print.
1t must be admitted that if there were no
official publication of the proceedings OF
Congress there would be an enormous saw
ing, not only in the cost of printing the
Record but in the time of Congress, for not
one speech in hundred which is now im-
mortalized in this most astounding of daily
newspapers would be made were there no
such publication. It is unquestionably
true that if it were not for the faithful pub
hcation of every Congressional utterance,
which encourages the fool to step in where
statesmen fear to tread, Congress would ac-
complish more in three months than it now
can in six.
Not only is it true of the Record, but it is
also true of all departments Of Public
Printing, that the purpose for which such
printing was instituted is defeated by the
very bulk of matter put forth, to say moth
ing Of the quality, which may be said to
deteriorate in an exact ratio as the volume
increases.
Self-Importance of Consuls.
There are about 1000 consuls represent
ing the United States in foreign countries,
and each one imagines the Republic would
cease to exist if he did not send in report
on something nearly every week. Nine
tenths of these reports are either silly or
WoItHlcss, W Uobll, anu Eet tHSy lnust al pc
put into print to feed the waste baskets of
the country. The Agricultural Department.
perfect volcano in state of constant and
violent eruption of books that nobody
wants, and whose only use, for the most
part, is for rural members of Congress to
send to their constituents to remind them
that they are remembered. And SO on
through the list of publications.
1t is idle, however, to talk Of reduction.
The proposed new printing Office will be
double the capacity of this one and will
probably before many years be worked to
the last inch of space in composing, press
and folding rooms. The greatest abuse of
all is not referred to by the reformers and
critics, and that is the use of the printing
office to print speeches of members at cost,
to use as campaign documents. But this,
too, will endure unto the end.
LIGHTNER.