The evening times., 1895-11-16
FLOODED WITH FRANKS
Tom JOhason's Case Is But One
of Many Others.
SECRETARY MORTON ANGRY
He Asks II Few Pointed and Pertinent
Questions Concerning he Use o the
frivilcge-Bookseile Thrive Off
the Sale of Government PubIica-
tions-Mr. Williams Statement.

! Secretary j. Sterling Morton is still
very much worked up over the fact that his
year book" is for sale in the second hand
book stores, and that a good many copies
| OF II have been mailed under the frank CT
ex-Congressman Tom L. Johnson, the mil
lionaire. of Cleveland, Ohio
When seen this morning by Times re-
porter, the Secretary SAID that this was
only another point gained for him. In sey-
eral OF his reports he has assiduously advo-
Gated that Agricultural works be sent only
to those people who were willing to pay the
actual cost of printing and the postage on
them. The Secretary said:
Il heard that these books were for sale
at Williams bookstore, No. 62l Seventh
street, and l sent my stenographer out to
purchase one. He went to the store and had
no trouble at all in getting 1t. pa ying one COL
lar for the work.
The bookseller also volunteered to
frank 1t for him If he wanted ii sent out
OF Town. There is the book just as il was
brought to me, and you can see the frank.
wow wiIc question revolves itself into
this. Did Congress intend when the frank
Ing privilege was passed to allow Just the
Congressman and Senators and their clerks
10 frank books and other Government pub
hcaiioEs. or did ii intend that every Tom,
DICK and Harry i'll the country could use IL
II they wished?
AT So A HUNDRED.
Mr.. Long Kansas whosucceedet Jerry
Simpson. told nc the other day that the
year books We're offered for sale at So per
hundred. II costs the Government $50 a
hundred to print them.
The division of publication in this de-
pdr.ment issued during the fiscal year end
ed June so. 1898. 254 publica tions. that
contained i1,o3l pages. and books, panpi-
lets and other publications aggregate more
than 4 600 goo pages. averaging more than
SEQ words to the page This Department,
IN fiscal year. under existing laws. has
gratuitously and promiscuously furnished
more than 500 pages of reading matter
to every man, woman and child in the
United States.
publications are given to everybody
who asks for them. and another thing, they
are sent dead.head. The full annual report
averages more than forty ounces In weight
per volume, and when the full quota is put
into the pustoffice for gratuitous distribu-
ton IL makes 900 tons of matter.
1.-The total weight of publications besides
the annual report issued by this Depart
ment aggregates over 200 toms, and dead
head printed matter sent from here last
year amounted tn 800 tons, and then there
were 27O tons of dead.head seed.
two or three times that the publications. from
this Department he furnished only to those
people that are actually willing to pay
the cost OF printing them, and that gratu
tous distribution be limited to educational
and benevolent institutions and public
libraries"
THE MANAGER'sS STATEMENT.
At williams bookstore the manager says
thatthere has beeDa general misunderstand-
ing about the franks Of Tom johnson. he
says that 1t is quite frequently the case that
members have no use for their quota OF
Agricultural reports and sell them to old
books stores and junk men. The manager
said that more of the publications of the
Agricultural Department find their way
into the junk shops than they DO ntosecond-
hand book stores.
ssIn some instances" said the manager
'sthe member turns his quota OF books over
to his clerk, and they in turn are sold.
have received books with the franks al
ready pasted on the wrappers, and have
always understood that it was perfectly
legitimate to use the franks, as the books
were government publications.
''Inever saw Johnsonfn my life, and would
not know him. haven't got rubber
stamp. All that 1 had was O few Of
the printed franks.
'.They were given me by the party from
whom 1 have bought books. He would
sell me the BOOKS anu tnen say mere are
a few franks you can use. Booksellers are
not to blame for buying the books. 1t is
usually clerks not members that sell them.
1 am perhaps the Oldest bookseller in the
city, and during ali my experience have
never bought a government publication from
a member of Congress or a Senator.
''Ihad only the one copy Of the year book,
the publication in question, and do not
remember exactly where it came from. I
often get old books out Of junk wagons
and store rooms, but as far as having
rubber stamp with Johnson's name on 1t,
why, don't think lever saw one. Theprac-
tice of disposing OF the useless government
publications prevails to a most alarming
extent in this city.
ut is the practice of members to send
q lot of their franks to the department
where the publications are issued and have
the slips pasted on the publ ications.
Sometimes there are some left over, and
they are left on the quota of books remain
ing to the Congressman, and when the
clerk sells the books, why, Of course, the
frank }6es with them"
At the Post-office Department the acting
Postmaster General refused to say anything
about the question until he had all Of the