Evening star., 1912-09-08
The DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS

at the document section. ITO begin with. :"
said Mr.. Donath, ''the transportation OF
the printed matter from the government
printing office to the individual depart
ments and bureaus is costly. Before De-
ing loaded on wagons for transportation
the books are wrapped in order 10 pro-
tect them from injury. this calling Tor
paper. or envelopes, and twine. besides
considerable labor Next they are de-
livered to the various offices. again call
ing for the employment of labor for sucn
temporary storage, and the Wrapp1ngs ap-
piled at the government printing once
are removed. When the department is
ready to mail the publications. they are
once more wrapped, addressed and then
transported to the post office or direct to
the Union station. So far there has been
sary hauling and many men have been
employed in the process. When 1t Is con-
sidered that the unnecessary haul is many
times the distance that need be traversed
under the new system. when the books will
be mailed from building just opposite
to the establishment where they are print
ed. and which is less than two squares
from the Union station, the difference in
tho processes can be easily seen."
The last annual report OF the superin-
tendent OF documents shows that the
number of documents received by him in
one year was 3.773.O and the number
distributed was 3.644. 600. or less than
3O.OOO short of all that came in. The range
which these figures cover is almost be-
yond the powers of description. Since the
beginning Of the American Congress and
the establishment of the various depart
ments hundreds of thousands of docu-
ments have been printed. For instance.
one Of the most important features Of the
document section Is the library. in which
Is contained practically every government
publication ever printed. and which con-
tains some 10000 volumes. ranging all
the way from the meager reports OF the
the elaborate publications Of the present
day. Another instance which shows the
scope Of the work covered by this office is
the publication known as the Check List
of the United States Public Documents"
a comprehensive catalogue of all the doc
uments issued since 1879 The volume
contains more than ]. 100 pages Here the
title of every public document Is given.
the department from which it emanated
and the number by which it can be found
among the documents themselves.
X
In carrying on such a business as this
1t is. Of course, impossible to judge the
popularity of any given
UnpODular document exactly. Some
may have such a de-
O0OuAACAIs. mand that extra edi-
tions have to be. run off the presses. and
others may cease to he called for long be-
fore the original edition has been ex-
hausted. For this reason there is con-
stantly growing pile Of documents kept
in the basement of the document section.
These represent the documents for which
there has ceased to be any call, and which
will eventually be sold merely as waste
paper. This pile varies. but In one year
there were almost 10000 documents con-
demned to drop into the obscurity of
waste paper 1t is interesting to note,
however, that when sold under these cir
cumStances the money received IS some
times more than the price asked Wnen
they are sold in their separate condltlon'
as in many cases the cost price is set so
low as to be exceeded by the amount
brought by selling the same documents
merely as waste.
Although the document section can oe
termed a hundred thousand d-dollar-a-year
mail-order concern. it nevertheless does
not defray the actual expenses OF Its own
maintenance The appropriations Ior tIe
document section for last year were, Tor
salaries. $1OO SS4, and for expenses, Sloo.-
sso or almost so58COO, more than double
that received through the sale OF docu-
ments This amount, too, Is less tnan
that appropriated for two years previous
by about $4,000. The business done DUR
as the money received was only $1O9l9.
The document section was organized III
MAY, 1895, with. as one of the omclals
says, "few assistants. much lack or IN
formation or practical experience ana ao-
sol,1tely no convenient facilities Only one
of the force had had any previous ex-
tended knowledge of public documents
Almost Immediately after its organizatlon
one Of the principal matters which con.
fronted the office was the answering OF
lines
phase Of the matter has steadily IN
creased not, however, against the Wlsnes
of the office. 1t is the intention TO de-
velop q central information agency. Whefe
or what they contain can be forWarneo
for reply Persons are being gradually
trained for this special line OF work IN
order that the really important matter
can be dug out Of the vast amount OF
material and thus supplied whenever de-
sired. Not only does this research bene-
tit Individual cases. said one official,
hut il is developing in this Office a fund
Of information which will always prove
valuable asset.
Another important feature is the con-
nection of this section with a large num-
Der Of libraries and
naeiunafed educational institu
;, tions all over the
Depositories. country Certain IL
braries throughout the United States are
designated repositories" for all govern
ment publications and annually receive
everything sent out from the govern
ment printing Office, which sometimes
reaches as high as LOCO documents in
year. Considerable time. too, Is given
to exchanging publications, thus placing
the section in the position Of a clearing
house. Many of the libraries and in
stitutions receiving the documents have
no use for some, while others are de-
sired in large numbers. Consequently by
process of general exchange, carried
on through the document section the
supply is made more nearly to equal the
demand, and greater usefulness is Sc
cured for the various publications.
Three divisions make up this office. the
administrative, photographed and edito-
rial. The former has to do with book
keeping, correspondence, filing, stock and
shipping. The photographed division
has charge Of cataloguing. compiling the
checklist and indexes, and contains the
library, while the editorial section has
to do with editorial matters pertaining
to the printing of government literature.
Nearly 200 dictated letters are sent
from the document section every day.
while the form letters sent out number
from 100 upward. The incoming mail
sometimes reaches more than 300 letters
not to mention postal cards or letters of
acknowledgment. The catalogue section
received in one year almost $4,000 docu-