Evening star., 1905-10-28
STORED IN CAR BARN
Tons of Documents for Which
There is No Demand.
DISCUSSING A REMEDY
HEARING RESUMED BY THE
LANDIs COMMISSION.
Officers Of Document and Folding
Rooms at the Capitol Detail
Their Experience.
DISCUSSING A REMEDY

ate document room, was the first witness
this morning before the Lands subcommit-
tee which is investigating the general sub
ject Of the printing and distribution OF pub
lie documents, with a view to instituting
reforms.
Mr.. Smith said 1t would be a difficult mat
ter to cut down the up number Of docu-
ments-that proportion of the 1,s50 copies
of every public document Immediately dis
tributed to members OF Congress-without
detriment to the service. As far as this
work was concerned. Mr.. Smith said that
all the reforms that could be worked in
the reduction of unnecessary printing had
already been effected. Mr.. Smith said he
heartily approved of Mr.. Ricketts, sugges-
tion that the reserve be eliminated. and
that when members of Congress desired
bound copies they have their original cop
les bound, instead of calling on the reserve,
as Is the custom at the present time.
Formerly, Mr.. Smith said, the reserve cop
les were bound and sent out to members,
whether they wanted them or not. Most
of the time, Mr.. Smith said the senators
didn't want the documents and made no
bones about saying so. Under the present
system, however, the reserve is not bound
until acquisitions are sent in by members.
Surplus Documents.
Mr. Smith said that at the close of a
Congress session he always had large
surplus on naflu OF tne monthly
of commerce and finance, papers of the
geological survey, reports of the bureau OF
American republics reports of irrigation
and water supply and others. He usually
turned over such surplus copies 10 the
various government bureaus from which
they emanated.
According to Mr.. Smith the surplus of
public documents remaining on hand at the
close of each session constituted about y
per cent of the entire supply received by
him. Since he had been superintendent OF
the Senate document room the volume or
printed documents had increased about
foLrfold. He called attention to the fact
that more bills were introduced in the first
ter. days of the Fffty-seventh Congress
than were introduced during the entire
Thirty-eiehth and Thlrty-ninth Congresses.
Thousands uncalled For.
A. H. Brewer. foreman Of the Senate
folding room, who was the next witness.
testified that there were now in his charge
2O4 300 Year Books Of the Department OF
Agriculture. which had not been called for
by senators. Each senator is entitled to
1,1SS of those books each session for dis
tribution Fie hundred thousand are issued
each year by the government printing OF
fee.
Mr. Brewer presented a statement show
ing that there are In the Senate folding
room at the present time 66, 40 olumes OF
Congressional Records. 210.296 geological
survey publications, 260I9 War Department
publications, 1876 Interior Department
publica tions, 204, 300 Agricultural Depart
ment publications and 1S,221 abridgements
of messages and documents a total of 542,-
354 documents published by the government
printing office and for which there was ao-
solutely no demand
Mr. Brewer admitted that when the SEN
ate folding room became crowded senators
were sometimes asked to unload govern
ment publications on their constituents
Car Barns Filled.
Sergeant-at-Arms Ransdell of the Senate,
asked by Chairman Lands to suggest a
remedy for the evils disclosed. said that in
his opinion there was too much government
printing turned out. Unused documents.
he said. were accommodating very RAPIDLY,
necess!tating the use of an immense aban-
doned car barn a storehouse.
The building was rapidly becoming fun.
Mr. Ransdel said. What proportion OF
these unused documents might be called
dead matter he did not know
Mr.. Ransdell said he had ABSOLUTELY no
authority TO touch any documents in the
warehouse, which had been originally al
lotted to a senator and never sent out by
him. Some such authority should be dele
gated the sergeant-at-arms believed, SO
that after the lapse OF a certain number
of years the dead matter might be dis
posed of I'm some way.
Mr. Lands remarked that unless some
thing were done the only solution OF the
surplus document problem was for the gov
ernment to build a few dozen additional
warehouses,
Mr. Ransdell said in reply to questions by
Representative Perkins that more docu-
ments had been published and distributed
during the past two years than in the pre-
ceding two years. and that the reserve sup
ply had also been increasing very fast.
Chairman Lands requested Mr.. Ransdell
to send to the subcommittee a statement
of the senatorial quota of Congressional
Records. the number sent out and the
number In reserve.
A Million Undistributed Documents.
J. r. Halvorson, superintendent of the
House folding ROOM told the subcommittee
that there were in his charge about a mil
lion volumes of undistributed documents
80 per cent of them being bound This
number included about 10000 bound vol
umes CT the Congressional Record.
The most dilgent distributors of docu-
ments, Mr.. Halvorsen said. were those MEM
bers of Congress who live In close districts
Old members of Congress were largely to
blame for the piling up of undistributed
documents.
Chairman Lands called attention to the
fact that while in the Senate folding room
unbound pamphlets were allowed to accum-
ulate. in the House folding room the method
was entirely different.
. II want to compliment you. Mr.. Halvor-
sen,' said Mr.. Lands. with a smile, upon
the assiduity with which you pursue MEM
bers with your documents. / have gone
abroad and forgotten to leave my address,
but those irrigation and water supply pa
pers have followed me. A member may ny
to the furthermost parts of the earth, but
those irreststent papers Will be waiting for
him"
Mr. Haiyorsen didn't think much of sug-
gestion by Chairman Lands that the Sem
ate and House folding rooms be abolished
and the distribution of documents be carried
on from one central point
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