The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-07-26
GOVERNMENT RECORDS.
The Matter of Their Permanence Is n
Vital Subject.

Washington Star.
The permanence of public records Of the
government continues to be a most Vita
subject with leading government officials
who have given it consideration. George
Simmons. chief of the stationery division
o. the treasury, and the man who has
charge OF the supplies of that department,
was asked what the treasury does to secure
permanence. In discussing the subject gen
orally he said:
THE permanence of the public records
Of the United States is of the greatest inn
portance, and the chief officials of the gov
eminent are fast arriving at a realizing
sense of this fact. OF all government
records those of the Treasury Depart
ment are most important as they relate TO
the finances and receipts and expenditures
of the Nation from the beginning. Lyman
J. Gage. late secretary of the treasury,
than whom a more efficient head the de-
partment has never had regarded the mat
ter of the ink used on the treasury records
as of sufficient Importance to bring it up
for discussion before one of President Nc
Kinley's Cabinet meetings. and the ink now
used in the treasury is made after for
mula approved by Mr. Gage and the chief
consideration.
THE ink is made by well-known, rep
utable manufacturers OF ink, and before
being accepted is always tested in the
chemical laboratory of the department.
Most of the commercial inks have been
found to be lacking in the necessary in
feature of those inks is sacrificed In the
effort at excessive fluidity and cheapness.
Nut gall and iron in sufficient quantities
are essential TO legibility and permanency
in an ink. A thin ink is popular with clerks
and others who are not particularly inter-
ested in the feature of permanence, and
an ink with a heavy body, which does not
flow as freely a thin. aniline one. is apt
10 be criticised and objected to by the user,
who considers his own convenience only.
But those who are responsible for the
makeup of the public records must view
the subject from an entirely different
standpoint.
our government is yet young, but the
day is not remote when many OF our most
important records, especially those written
within the last forty or fifty years Will be
illegible 1t is a remarkable fact that many
of the older records-those dating back to
the organization OF the government-are to-
day more legible and in better state of
preservation than many of those of a later
period, which goes to prove that more at
tention was given to the matter of perma-
hence in the early days than latterly.
I'VE ought to profit by this experience, as
well as the experience in the same direction
OF other and older nations. Indeed, kings
and potentates of the old world now are
brought face to face with the problem of
how TO preserve the important written rec
ords Not long ago the Parliament of a
leading European power called for certain
Official papers relating to the operations of
its army some twenty-five years back, and
when produced they were found TO be al
most illegible. The ink had not only faded
but the paper was decomposed. So unsatis-
factory were the Vatican records found to
deemed it necessary to call conference of
noted chemists, librarians and other ex-
perts, which was held somewhere in
Switzerland, with a view of procuring
paper and ink that would stand the test of
time. a number of almost undecipherable
documents belonging to the papal archives
were submitted to the conference.
THE experience of our own government
in connection with the records growing out
of the civil war QS6l-65) furnishes an apt
lesson on this subject large amount Of
printing and rewriting many of the muster
and pay rolls of the army and navy per-
tanning to the period mentioned. Many of
those important documents were printed
on an inferior quality OF paper, and written
upon with aniline or delebe inks, so that
they became absolutely illegible.
THE use of the typewriter in modern
correspondence has, in a measure. dis
pensed with the use of copying ink There
fore, the quality of the ribbons used on
official papers becomes a matter Of great
The quality OF typewriter ribbons has
improved 10 a remarkable degree in the
past ten years. When typeWrlting machines
first came into the ink made with
glycerin base and aniline color like rub
Der stamp inks, and the impressions could
be washed off with water and faded out by
a few minutes exposure to sunlight. Now
the inks are made with a vaseline or oily
base and combination of coloring matters,
including pure carbon. so that the impress
siOns are almost as permanent as printed
good permanent copy. When made with a
good ribbon. and with clean type upon a
good machine, both the impressions and the
copies of typewritten documents are more
durable than those written with pen and
ink. All makes of ribbons used in the
Treasury Department are subjected to care
full practical and chemical tests to deter
mine permanence OF writing, durability of
ribbon and working qualities.
I'm order to insure permanency in the
| public records those officers who are re-
| sponsble for their makeup must ever be
| watchful. to prevent the introduction and
| nee Of inferior aud nhiactinr hln articles