The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1906-01-27
PRESIDENT ISSUES SOME PER.
TlNENT INSTRUCTIONS.
Orders Departments 20 Cut Down
their Annual Reporfs-Commjt,ee
70 See that Unnecessary riatier Is
Excluded, Copy Beino Edited Before
instead Of After Printing.

m.
prove the form Of the annual reports
and other department documents. the
president has issued the following in
structions, applicable to all executive
departments:
There shall be appointed by the
head of each of the executive depart-
ments an advisory committee oil the
subject OF printing and publication.
The chairman shall be an assistant
secretary, or other qualified official,
and at least one member Of the COM
mittee shall have had practical expe-
rience in editing and printing.
1t shall be the duty of such COM
mittee under direction of the head of
the department to see that unnecessa-
ry matter shall be excluded from such
reports and bulletins; that copy is
carefully edited before and not after
going into the printing office; to do
away with the publication of unneces-
sary tables; to require that statistical
matter may be published in con-
densed and Ineligible forms; to pre-
pare the frequent revision of mailing
lists; to prevent duplication of print
ing by different bureaus; to exclude
unnecessary illustrations from depart
ment documents, and to prevent the
printing of the maximum edition al
lowed by law when smaller edition
will suffice; to recommend to the head
of the department for inclusion in the
recommendations contained in his an
nual report needed changes in the stat
utes governing department. publica-
tions."
To dovern Annual Reports.
The president has directed that the
following general principles shall here
after govern the form of annual re-
ports of the various bureaus and
Offices of the departments:
s'First-Annual reports shall be
confined to concise accounts of work
done and expenditures incurred dur
inng the period covered, with recon-
relating to the future, in
Guiding plans for work to be under
taken.
Second Contributions to knowl-
edge in the form of scientific treatises
shall not be included in annual re-
ports.
"Third-Illustrations in annual re-
ports shall be excluded except: (A)
reports and diagrams Indispensable to
the text; OBJ views of monuments or
important structures begun or erected;
co. views showing conditions in out
lying possessions Of the United States
and relating to work done or recon-
made.
s'Fourth-Inserted material, writ
ten or compiled by persons not con-
nected with the reporting Office, and
biographical and eulogistic matter re-
lating to the past or present shall be
excluded.
win Exclude f1uch t1after.
''Fifth-Reports of officers who do
not report directly to the head of an
executive department shall not be
printed in the annual report of de-
partment, but where necessary shall
be summarized in the reports of the
officials to whom such officers do re-
port.
ssSixth-Tables shall be inserted
only when verbal summaries and
statements of totals are inadequate
and complete texts of law and court
decisions shall. except in cases of great
importance, be excluded.
ssSeventh-Detailed descriptions and
lists of methods, processes, purchases,
bids, reflections, installations, repairs,
specifications and personnel employed
shall be OMITTED except when required
by their unusual Importance or by
statute"
The president also announced that
he will appoint general commission
on bookmaking, advisory to ALL the
departments, to consist of the libra
rian of congress, as chairman, the
public printer, q representative OF the
department doing the largest amount
of printing and two printers not IN
the public service, of large experience
in making up books, who are to serve
without compensation other than their
travelling expenses. This committee
is to be appointed to promote the
economy, utility, appropriateness, dur
ability, and, so far as practicable, the
uniformity of government publica-
tions. This committee is not to deal
with contracts of publications, but
solely with their form, size, style, pa
per. type, make up and binding.
This action of the president is the
result Of report to him on public
printing by the Keep committee,
which has been investigating the sub
iect by his direction.
Among the administrative changes
in the printing Office recommended by
the committees are the following:
The installation Of . cost-keeplng
system in the government printing
office. and the employing Of expert as
sistance in installing such system !;
the keeping Of efficiency records q
the work Of employees, and the use OF
snch records to weed out incompetent
persons. The public printers atten-
tion has been called to the statement
81 the committee that the number Of
snpervisory and unskilled employees
= nroportion to the skilled ones has
I.,..,alv Increased in recent years, and