The Washington times., 1905-10-28
Senate S Useless L;bsary

Testimony given to the Landis con-
mittee today by several employees OF he
Senate in the special inquiry into the
administration of the Government Print
ing Office. shows that TOO many public
documents are printed, and many are
| never used.
Arnzi Smith. superintendent of the
Senate document room. said he thought
that. so far as his Office was concerned,
he had reduced. as much as he safely
could. the number OF documents handled
there. He thought no further reduc-
| ton was advisable.
1 In reply TO u question from Ir.
Lands. Mr.. Smith said he thought 1t a
good plan 20 have the reserve" number
OF public documents abolished. and to
| let the up number" be relied on If
Senators desired 10 have any copies
| bound II has beer sht,<yn tf.as his
reserve. held for amy Senators who wish
documents bound. is seldom used
| every year" he said. II have sur
| plus of the summaries of commerce and
finance. These are monthly publications.
Also there is good surplus OF bulletins
OF the Geological Survey and the month
ly bulletins of the Bureau of American
Republics; also OF the papers on irriga-
ton and water supply.
| Biologists Prol1flc.
MUCK of this surplus is turned over to
the Geological Survey. because I have
no place TO store them or send them.
Some of the surplus of the consular re-
ports is given to the Department OF
Commerce and Labor.
II have also a large surplus of pro-
fessionai papers and publications Of the
Coast and Geodetic Survey"
Mr. Smith said that in the thirty years
In which he has been in the Senate docu-
ment room, the number OF dccu..,...
handled there has quadrupIed.
Blue Books Galore.
A. H. Brewer. foreman of the folding.
room OF the Senate. testified that the
number OF the yearbooks now in his
room uncalled for is 204. so. Each Sena-
tor has 1.1ss yearbooks for distribution
He said only 80. 900 Of the 1904 year
books nave been sent out lately
In the folding room. he explained
there are now unused and uncailed for
about 5000 copies OF the Congressional
Record
OF other departments 'uncaIled-for''
publications. which are at present
cluttering up the Senate folding room
he gave figures totaling 1852 Be
sides these, there are many others in
smaller numbers
L. NJ Ransdell. sergeant-at-arms of
the Senate. said the vast accumulation
| OF public documents arises from the
fact that too many are printed and
sent to the Capitol.
Knows Nothing of Committee.
Mr.. Ransdell said he thought it would
be wise provision TO authorize some
| body to dispose of accumulated docu-
| ments after certain feriod.
vide for the disposition of documents. -
| suggested Mr.. Lands
Il know nothing about that com
mittee." said the witness.
| In reply to a question from Judge
| Perkins, he said:
THE situation in a nutshell is thar
| the publication and supply of public
documents are increasing, while the de
mand for them is not growing at all"
House Has Million.
j. r. Halvorsen. superintendent of the
folding room of the House of Represen-
tatives, said there are now i'm the fold
| ing room 100000 volumes of public
documents unused and uncalled for. OF
these nine-tenths are bound. He de-
clared there always We're OO1 OaO Of
THESE documents on his hands
Speaking of the distribution of p,ib-
| lie documents. Mr.. Lands said:
Il presume the most dtligent distribu-
tcrS are congressman in ciose districts &"
Mr.. Halvorsen said this was true
Asked about the publication called
THE Diseases OF the Horse" Mr. Hal
vorsen said there is always tremendous
demand for ii.
Mr. Lands asked the witness what he
thought OF plan 20 give one man only
the right TO distribute public documents
curtailing the privilege so that reduIsi-
tions for documents could be made TO
only one place. Mr.. Lands pointed out
that this would prevent duplication OF
distribution.
Mr.. Halvorsen said he hardly thought
this practicable.