The evening times., 1899-01-11
GOVERNMENT BOOKS
NOT given AWAY
Facts Concerning Their Publ.
cation and Distribution.
Purpose and Work of the Superin.
tendent Of Public Documents.
Congress and the Departments
Can BE Obtained.
The general misunderstanding which ex-

The general misunderstanding which ex-
lists in Washington and, apparently
throughout the United States, of the func-
tions of the officer known as the superin-
tendent of p. lie documents makes 1t time
ly to here grve something of the workings
of the document concern and its duties to
the Government and the people.
There is an impression abroad that }
emphasized every day by lettei5 received
by the superintendent that Government
publications are free to the world-that
they are to be had for the asking. without
money or without price. This is an erro-
neouS notion.
The Office of superintendent Of public
documents was created by the act of Con-
gress of January IL, 1895. The first su-
perintendent was f. A. Crandall, of Buff
falo. The present superintendent is Mr..
Louis Cass Farrell. Mr. Farrell is Chi
cago man. He was appointed after a COM
petitive examination laid down by the
Civil Service Commission. He began his
duties in November, 1897 He receives a
salary of $4,000 year
The Office and storage rooms of the
| perintendent are on the fifth floor of the
! immense building on G Street, between
/
recently occupied by the City Postoffice.
| Mr.. Farrell has thirty men and ten women
| forty people in all-helping him in his
| work
| In the storage rooms there are more than
| half million copies of publications rang
| ing in size from an octave sheet to volumes
of 1000 and more pages. Connected with
| the department is a library containing
more than $4,000 documents OF various
| kinds, the largest of its kind in the world.
| Among these is a set of d, N'nents begin
! ming with the publications authorized by
| the Fifteenth Congress and running down
to the present time. This collection en-
| braces many publications OF rare historical
! interest that are now out of print and
that could not be obtained fo- owe nor
| money.
But to return to the method of distri-
| button. the superintendent receives an
| average of IT'S letters day asking for
documents The answering Of these COM
munications is a big job in itself. The
| superintendent has no power to -upply
| documents to individuals except such
publications as are authorized by Congress
! to be distributed TO persons designated by
Senators, Representatives or Delegates.
! The only document of that character now
being distributed are the compilation en-
| titled Messages and Papers OF Presidents,
| 1889 to 1897" and the official register. or
Blue Book" He Is authorized to dis
tribute any and all kinds of publications
to certain classes of libraries. He is au-
thoriZed TO sell at the actual cost of print
ing and binding any public document in
his charge the distribution OF which is not
otherwise provided for" but only one
copy is permitted to be sold TO the same
person"
Beng thus prohibited by law from CIV
ing documents TO the vast NUT tude of
people who ask for them. much of tle
work Of Superintendent Farrell and his
aides is made up Of giving information as
to where and how Government publica-
| tions may be obtained. TO h6lp in this
work three catalogues are published.
These books are complied by p cked .ot
of persons, eight women and two men, al
graduates of library schools, skilled IN the
work on which they are empioyed. Tae
most important CT these to the general
public is a catalogue published on the first
of each month covering AL documents is
sued by the Government during the pre-
vious month and giving information as to
price and where such documents may be
obtained.
Superintendent Farrell will ask Con-
gress for authority to supply these cata-
logues to applicants for them on the pay
ment Of a nominal sum. Their distrIbu-
tion in this way would greatly aid IN ia
| cilitating his work and give all desired
information to seekers for Government
documents. Questions regarding these
publications come from every nook and
corner of the globe. Frequently the same
mail will bring inquiries from Eng and,
France Germany, Russia, China Austria
liza, even Africa, and ether countries. 1t
was to aid in quickly and reliably answer
| ing these inquiries that the document Ii
brary was established. 1t is an unfAi.ing
| help in this connection.
Superintendent Farrell prides himself in
| the belief that his establishment is a
valuable auxiliary to the libraries of the
country. There are 475 libraries repre-
senting the various Congressional s.
tricts of the United States to which all
Government publications are sent. These
libraries contain in round numbers six
! teen million books, OF which about one
tenth are public documents. About one
half of these libraries are public and the
| other half are connected with educational
institutions. From four hundred to SIX
hundred books are sent yearly to these
libraries Beside these there are about
| 500 miscellaneous libraries that are sup
piled with Government publications.
Last year the document concern han
died more than 10000 books. About
90 900 documents were Sold which brought
in $4,000. OF these more than one-hal
!, were publications of the Agricultural De-
partment. The sale this year promises tC
be double that of the last year.
There are $4,000 sets of the publication
entitled Messages and Papers of Presi.
dents, 1889 to 1897" to be distributed ac.
. cording to the desires of members of Con.
gress. The distribution is now in hand
Each set of this work has ten volumes
including an index and appendix, making
$780, 900 volumes in all. There are 70t
. pages to the volume, each one of which
! weighs four and -a-half pounds or forty
five pounds to the set. These books art
, being sent out at the rate of 1000 vol
umes a day. All go as registered matter
c. Il o. Officials Meet.