The Detroit times., 1914-03-23
RAYMOND w. PULLMAN.
Iymes Washington Bureau. No. TO-
Mefr0DoIif0n B0Nk Building.

Ma II AOND W. lOAAAAN
Times Washington Bureau. No. 7oA
Mstrop0Iitow Bomk Building.
| WASHINGTON. March 2S.-Uncle
Sam Is becoming o really successful
publisher. Al 10
Uncle Sam, generally known,
Bookseller. congress has APP
propriated increas-
ingly large amounts OF money Tor
printing documents ON thousands OF
subjects for many years, but only In
recent times has the government Az
tanned much success In selling the
publications which II prints. Tne
number OF books sold and not the
number printed make for the success
of either a private or public concern.
and Il il on this business principle
that Uncle Sam, now may De rated
as q successful publisher.
There has been q tremendous IN
crease in the governments business
In selling publications during the last
10 years which can only be appreci'
ated after u careful study OF the re-
ports OF the superintendent OF docu'
ments Of the government printing Of
fee. the Official through whom all
government publications are sold Jo-
s,n H. Brinker. the present super
intendent of documents. has recently
completed statements which show
that the public's interest In govern
ment publications Is growing monthly
and that this appreciation Is being
shown In continuously increased
sales OF publications by his once.
During last year the sales OF gov
eminent documents were nearly 900
per cent more than the sales OF 1904.
Ten years ago the amount OF cash re-
ceived from sales Of government doc
uments was less than $I2,5O0. For
each year there has been q steady In
crease In the governments book bust
ness and during the fiscal year end
ing June 80, 1913, more than $lO6.OO0
was received from cash sales. Supt.
Drinkers books show that. for the
period beginning July /. 1913, and
ending March l, this year, $S9,OO0
worth Of documents were sold. against
$4,000 worth for the same period q
year previous. II the sales continue
for the remainder OF the fiscal year
as heavy as they have been for the
first eight months. the government
will have sold more than $133,kOO
worth Of documents before July !
next which will be more than Is per
cent increase over last years sales.
and more than eleven times the
amount Of cash sales recorded for the
same period 10 years ago.
During the eight months beginning
July /, 1913. and ending March 1,
1914. $500 letters were received In
closing cash for one or more docu-
ments. an increase Of 43 per cent
over the returns for the same period
the previous year. when only 62,600
letters were received. There was
also q Il per cent increase In ordi-
nary once correspondence.
With the increase of sales Of gov
eminent documents there has been
an increase Of all kinds OF business
In the superintendent of documents
once Besides sending out all Of the
publications sold by the government
for cash, the ONCE Of the superinten.
dent Of documents. under the present
law, also has the mailing of publica.
tons distributed by the various de-
partments. During the five months
from October to February, inclusive.
nearly 100000 such publications
were put into the mails, against less
than 100000 for the same period
In 1913. Most publications issued
by the departments are distributed
free, and those which are sold, usl.
ally at o very small charge, must be
purchased through the superinten.
dent Of documents. and not at the
department for which the documents
are printed.
Notwithstanding the large increase
in the sales of government publica.
tons and the greatly increased
amount Of work made necessary by
the free distribution of publications
for the departments. there has been
a relatively small increase In the
force Of men at the superintendent
Of documents once, which has
charge of the work. II Uncle Sans
publishing business continues to grow.