Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-01-12
Shows DeplorabIe Housing
Conditions of the Department
of Justice Buildings.
OLD RESIDENCES WEAK,
RAMSHACKLE AND DANK
Library of $4,000 Volumes damned
in Room Never Intended for
Such Purposes.

crowded. unsafe, unstable, leaky, dark,
dank, unventilated fretraps are the
seven buildings which provide present
quarters for the hampered activities
of the Department of Justice is set
forth at some length and in most ex-
act detail by the Attorney General
in an earnest and sustained effort to
obtain the sympathy of Congress and
an appropriation providing for the i'm
mediate construction of new home
for the law department of the govern
ment. He has communicated his COM
plants against present conditions to
Representative Frank Clark, chairman
of the House committee on public
buildings and grounds. and to Senator
Swanson, chairman of the similar Sem
ate committee.
He points out the menace of catastrophe
by fire or by collapse of the building. He
tells of the insanitary and inefficient
work conditions. The architectural de-
fects of the structures are enumerated in
lengthy detail. And there are bugs to
eat the records. and leaky roofs to let
in water to destroy them. The costly
books of the library he would protect
from the hazard of confiagration.
Condemned by the Inspector.
The fact that the building is under the
constant supervision of the building in
spector, who has discovered a weak wall
which bulges and has forbidden increased
We ght upon the floors, is also explained.
Then the difficulty of communication be-
tween the various offices, due to the maze
of stairways and corridors, is made plain.
And there are all sorts of fault found
with the present quarters.
The buildings are seven in number"
recites Attorney General Gregory.
-Four are in group which centers on
K street, and there are three on Jack
son place. The offices in the Southern
building occupied by the Department
of Justice are modern, but the eff
cheney of the clerks assigned to work
in that building is impaired by their
offices on K street.
The seven residential buildings oc-
cupied by the department were con-
structed years ago and are not fire.
proof; and, having been designed for
residential purposes. the rooms are not
constructed SO as to be readily adapt
able for departmental work. The floors
are not Of sufficient structural strength
to Withstand the accumulation of books,
records and papers. and 1t has been
FOUND necessary to do a great deal OF
bracing. and also to scatter the weights
with due regard to the safety of en-
ployes. One of the four buildings of
the main group is on 18th street, across
an alley from the three buildings on
X street, and connected with them by
@ bridge on the second floor.
Guides Needed for Callers.
Being forced hastily to vacate the
building on Pennsylvania avenue. the
Department of Justice was compelled
to rent its present quarters as the best
then available. This was before the
construction in this city of modern Of
nee buildings. To prepare its new
home, holes were cut in the walls be-
tween the different residences. and in
ssmuch as the floor levels of the diff
ferent buildings are not the same. con-
Meeting steps had to be freely used.
The result is that the Railways of the
departments are labyrinths requiring a
guide to usher strangers about in
search of different public officials.
In the daily work of the depart
ment the law library is necessarily
an important adjunct. This library
is on the third floor of the building
1435 X street. 1t contains about $4,000
volumes, which are arranged upon
shelving placed In rooms never de-
signed for library purposes. Many of
these rooms are small hallway rooms.
The needs of the library have made
great demands upon the Office space
umes has made it necessary to do con-
siderable bracing. 1t has been neces-
sary to place the book stacks, for
want of sufficient room, SO close to-
gether that it is impossible for two
persons to pass in many of the alley
ways The rooms assigned for library
purposes are poorly lighted and ven-
tilated- Even on the brightest day
ii is impossible to read even the title
of most of the volumes, while on the
shelves. without the use of electric
lights.
Efficiency Is Impaired.
The efficiency Of the department is
unquestionably impaired by lack of
proper working conditions. 1t requires
no argument to impress upon lawyers
the degree of Generalization in legal
work resulting from typewriter
busily humping at the elbow of an at
torney trying to concentrate upon law
work: but inasmuch az the department
has to make the best of what is avail
able. II has been found administrative
~ impossible to provide all attorneys
with separate rooms for their clerical
force.
The danger of destruction by fire
of the records presents perhaps the
strongest argument why the depart
ment should be housed in a modern
freproof building. While the govern
er conditions under which to work, the
destruction of the archives and the
law library by fire would be a calam-
ity:.
THE fleroom. where the records are
kept. occupies building used until
recently as stable There are no
vaults in the department where rec
ords in use by attorneys may be placed
at night for safekeeping and protec-
ton against fire.
Records Are in Danger.
The residential buildings are old and
packed from cellar to roof with rec
ords. paper and furniture. The numer-
Gus Railways would act as hues in case
OF coniagration. Thus the menace
from fire In the Department of Justice
is greater than in any other branch of
the government.
Several years ago the department
had outgrown its present quarters, and
the congestion is perhaps more en-
phasized in the inadequate space
where the records are housed than
else where, although practically every
bureau in the department is in q badly
crowded condition. 1t is difficult. ow-
ing to the limited space, to conduct a
system of filing which is satisfactory
and efficient and susceptible of ready
reference.
The District inspector of buildings
December -, 1911, reported that the
east wall between the first and second
hoors of the stable where the files are
housed showed a perceptible bulge
and as precautionary measure and to