Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-20
WASTE IN PRINTING.
Superintendent Ferren Says
It is Due to Duplication.
.SHEEPSKIN BINDINGS
CANVAS SAID TO BE BETTER AND
CHEAPER.
How the Public Librarian Regards the
Output of the Government
Printing Office.

In the matter of waste in public printing
i there probably Is no man better qualified to
speak than the superintendent of docu-
ments, Mr.. L. c. Terrell, through whose de-
partment passes copy Of each document
printed. and who is in touch with the IL
braries all over the country that handle the
| output of the government printing Office.
In speaking to a Star reporter Mr.. Terrell
said:
THE trouble with the public printing
service is very largely in the duplication OF
work, and not in the matter actually print
ed. The work could be done and done bet
ter than it is If the duplication were elm
| mated and good many reforms instituted.
Take the annual report of the general COM
handing the arIhy. That is printed three
| times. In one form it is designated on the
back: Annual report of the lieutenant gen.
eral commanding the army. In seven parts.
part 1. ETC. Then 1t comes out in the an
nual report of the War Department, where
the title reads: Report of the War Depart
ment volume /, 1900 Part 3. lieutenant
general commanding the army Then It
| comes out as House document and reads:
House document. volume 4, No. 2. Reports
Of War Department. 1900, lieutenant gen.
eral part l. miscellaneous Fffty-sixth Con-
gress, second session. 19OO-19O1
Now even an expert would be puzzled
to know that they were all identically the
same book, printed from the same plates,
with no change but the cover and title
pages.
Duplicate Distribution.
II know of no field of government activi-
ties where duplication of work is carried
on to a greater extent than in the dis
tribution of public documents. About thir
ty-ive offices in Washingtons distribute
their own publications free to libraries and
| individuals The greater number of such
publications are distributed free to individ-
uals and libraries by each senator, repre-
sentative and delegate in Congress, and free
to libraries by this office So that the work
is not only duplicated but the distribution
also by each of these independent agencies
1.-THE extent of duplication to libraries can
be more accurately estimated than the du-
plication to individuals from the fact that
libraries usually preserve all documents
sent them and have been returning dupli-
Gates for redistribution during the past
twenty-five years. Since the establishment
of this Office in 1895 10000 duplicate docu-
ments have been returned to it by libraries
which received them in duplicate AppIica-
tons have been made for the return of
several hundred thousand additional vol
umes, but they were declined owing to
lack of storage facilities.
That the duplication to individuals has
been equally large is unQuestionable; doubt
less 1t is much larger. 1 have statistics of
the distribution of two sets of documents
the tenth census reports and the messages
and papers of the Presidents-where dupIi-
cation between members of Congress was
prevented to the extent of So, 600 volumes
The entire distribution of the former was
made by the Department of the Interior
and this office had control of the distribu-
ton of the latter. :