Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-26
BLAMED ON THE LAW
Excessive Printing by the
Government.
r REMEDY Is SUGGESTED
MR.. RICKETTS, HEARD BY THE
lands COMMITTEE.
Issue of Many Unbound Documents,
Which Are Never in Demand
Waste in Implications.

the Lands subcommittee which Is investi
eating the whole subject of the printing anC
distribution of public documents, with G
view to recommending reforms. Represent
air. Lands, chairman Of the subcommit
tee. and Representative Perkins of New
York were in attendance. Senator German
of Maryland was the only absentee.
Mr.. Ricketts, recommended a number OF
reforms among them the abolition of the
reserve of public documents, which, under
the present law. are held for binding, sub
ject to the requisition of senators and rep
resentatives.
Less than 80 per cent of this reserve Is
ever called for according to Mr.. Ricketts,
and at least 100000 could be saved in the
manner suggested. Duplication in the dis
tribution of documents by the superintend.
ent of documents could also be avoided, Mr.
Ricketts, thought. In the past eight years
more than $4,000 public documents had
been returned to the superintendent of doc
uments as duplicates.
Mr.. Ricketts, began his testimony before
the committee with the emphatic statement
that there was entirely too much printing
turned out by the government printing Of
fee. The abuse he said, had been growing
steadily for some time. and the remedy lay
largely in the hands of Congress. although
cooperation by the executive departments
of the government was necessary.
Laws Pronounced at Fault.
Mr.. Ricketts, believed that the laws gov
erning the printing and distribution of pub
lie documents were at fault. The law I'M
der which public printing is done at present
was passed in 1895. 1t may have been ade-
quate then, Mr. Ricketts, said. but just now
it was out of date and inadequate to cope
with present conditions. The law, he
thought, should be Immediately remodeled
and revised as the first step along the path
way of economical administration of the big
government printery.
Mr.. Ricketts, pointed out that at the pres
ent time it is necessary for the government
printing office to turn out 1850 copies OF
every document authorized for publication
by ongress. 1t doesn't make the slightest
bit of difference whether or not the docu-
ment authorized for publication by Con-
gress. 1t doesn't make the slightest bit OF
difference whether or not the document Is
of Importance or of general interest. The
fact that after 1T is published not a single
senator or representative will ever look at
it is not taken into account. The law says
$50 copies shall be printed, and that num-
Der is always turned out. The superintend-
ent of documents gets 500 of this number
and 600 are held "in reserve" subject to the
orders of members of Congress for binding
and distribution. OF this reserve all not
ordered by members of Congress within two
years are turned over to the superintendent
of documents.
Attention was called today to the fact
that the greater part of the original 500
copies turned over to the superintendent of
documents are sent out to libraries
throughout the country. 1t doesn't make
any difference whether the libraries call
for the documents. They are sent out just
the same. But that it is not the most seri-
Gus feature of the distribution proposition.
Useless Duplicates.
1t appeared today from Mr. Ricketts, tes-
timony that when at the end of two years
the reserve Is turned over to the superin-
tendent of documents that official having
no place for the mass OF documents ships
them to libraries all over the country.
In this way it is quite the usual thing for
a library to receive two and even three
sets of the same publication. Sometimes
the library sits quiet and says nothing but
in many cases the documents are returned.
Figures show this. In the past eight years
more than 100000 duplicates of public docu-
ments sent TO libraries have been returned
to the superintendent of documents
Mr.. Ricketts, called attention to the fact
that the greatest number of public d0cu-
ments ever called for by all members OF
Congress out of any one reserve supply
was 2O2. The minimum was close to the
zero mark. In reply to a question by Chair
man Lands, Mr.. Ricketts, said that less
than thirty per cent of the members OF
Congress ever make requisition on the
document reserve
In response to request from Chairman
Lands for an opinion. Mr.. Ricketts, offered
a suggestion that the document reserve be
entirely eliminated. Each member ia at
present given a copy In first instance
The acting public printer suggested that
If senator or representative desired a
bound copy of any publication he take the
one originally furnished him and send II
TO the government printing office for bind
ing. accompanied by a requistion from the
clerk of the respective body of which he is
member. This would do away with the
expensive and cumbersome reserve system
now in use.
The acting public printer said that under
the present law fifty-three copies of every
publication are furnished TO the Smithson-
ian Institution as foreign exchange" He
remarked, with a smile. that as most of
the documents in question were not appre-
ciated at home. that he didn't believe they
were entitled to a place in the popular lit
erature class abroad.
If the reserve were Immediately elm
mated Mr.. Ricketts, said that the saving
in expense Of binding alone in the Fifty
ninth Congress would amount to about
$4,000.
Valuable When Bound.
Continuing, Mr.. Ricketts, said that many
documents now go in the reserve which
should be eliminated from 1t and that of
many other documents the usual number
was printed when not at all necessary.
In this latter class he mentioned the
Monthly Summary of Commerce and FL
nance. Monthly Consular Reports Report
o. the Reclamation Service National Sol
diers Home Reports, House Manual
Monthly Bulletins of the Bureau of Amert-
caa Republics; Expenses of the Agricultural
Department. Special Report of the Bureau
of Labor. Civil Service Commission Reports.
Geological Survey Bulletins, Weather Blu
rea Reports, Professional Papers of the
Geological Survey. Gettysburg Nation
n rr,n1y
and Irrigation Papers. Year Book of the
Department OF Agriculture. Report of the
American Historical Association, Mono
graphs of the Geological Survey, Eulogies
OH Departed Senators and Representa- es.
Report of Commerce and Navigation Re-
ports of the Coast and Geodetic Survey.