The Washington herald., 1909-02-07

L VIII be observed from the above ap-
portionment that. after being provided
for every expense on the calendar, the
appropriation stiu stands al $3.50. go 10
Congress and the departments. with the
result that every departmental and bu-
reau chief demands a dollars worth Of
printing for every dollar spent Of his al
( lotnent. but he don't get It. Not this
f year
To illustrate: During the present fiscal
7 year there wiz be nine legal holidays, 70
which must be added fourteen hzIf-holi-
days, By Executive order, making z total
Of sixteen full days. at a cost OF SI3. so
! per day. or S21s0O0 in all That expense
must be added TO something Therefore,
the printing and binding fund Is tapped
( 70 that extent
Probably there isn't a department IN
/ der the government interested In the di-
vision OF public documents Neverthe-
| less. their printing allotment is sTeate6
/ 10 the extent OF over $S4es0 for pay roll
purposes in that division this year.
I Altogether. the Public Printer Is forced
/ 70 bleed this printing and binding appro-
I priatiOn 20 the amount OF more than $50,
I 90 each year 70 pay for items which 70
+ private contractor would think Of max
I ing a customer pay for, but which the
I Government Printing Of7ce is forced 70
/ add 70 the cost OF printing because the
+ wise men OF Congress refuse TO make
+ any other provision for meeting the OBJ
/ legation.
/ The cost Of printing and binding Is 10:
I only advanced because Of the latitude
OF the lump sum appropriation, but IS
also added to by the departments them
selves IN the form OF supplying badly
I edited copy. The proofreading alone, II
that establishment. to-day equals 50 Per
cent Of the entire cost Of composition.
While the department or bureau aIlot-
nlent Is limited in dollars and cents
there is no limit TO the quantity OF print
Ing and binding that may be supplied fol
a stipulated sum. hence the Government
Printing Ofice is compelled 10 set g
value on its output IN order 70 cover al
expenditures necessary IN SIS production
To accomplish this result, fixed scale
OF charges for billing sIl finished WORK
has been put into effect. which enable:
the Office to strike q balance with Its
appropriation ST all times.
I Under this system. should any profit
/ accrue over and above the gross expenses
/ OF operation, II IS TO be disposed Of IN the
nature OF q pro rata refund 70 be made
within the fiscal year 70 departments O.
bureaus ordering work.
N order to show the effect OF the scale
nov = r-sration it must be stated that
Tor the first SID months Of the present
fiscal year the total expenses involved IL
! operating the Government Printing Once
was S2,5s1. 1876. Against this amount the
Office has billed out for that period 81 s07.-
44472, showing a net loss Of S77s, s,7o4s5
IN connection with the comparisor
given. the Government Printing Ohce
starts out on July (the first day OF the
I fiscal year. without an order COMPLETED
10 its credit, as all work performed dur
Ing June Is credited 70 the previous ap.
preparation. Therefore. the loss OF more
{ than S773o0o VIII probably be overccme
before the end Of the present fiscal wear.
Under the system In vogue IN that Office
to-day the cost of each operation neces
sary n production IL recorded t1Rde-
separate heads. For instance. during tht
first six months OF the present fiscal year
the actual money disbursed for compo-
sition, Including ell: salaries 80 wages
and materials and supplies issued 10 the
division handling that operation. was
sS15. So 10 The Office sold this product. II
accordance with its scale of prices, fol
$3.50. .1S7-72, showing q net loss OF s1s5, 20 g
The cost for producing the eIectrotyp.
and stereotype plates for the same periot