Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-12-20

besn arbitrarily restricted in the amount OF
space which they may give 70 news because oi
the paper shortage.
Today the government printing Of
nee. including the new building that
cost $4,000, ,000-has q floor space OF
thirteen acres with nearly $50 presses
24G typc-scttinS machines. by the far
largest battery Of composing machines
in the world; complete blndery
equipment and an electrotype foundry
capable of turning out 1000 electro
types each day. There are nearly l.
100000 plates stored in one vault. The
ct:,l-mclting room. where the type
set OH the machines is recast into In
gots, handles approximately twelve
tons OF metal daily. Within the build
ing printing-ink and carbon paper are
manufactured: and sixteen elevators, a
refrigeratmg plant and an emergency
hospital are installed. In the latter in
stitution nea.ly 1000 cases were treat
ed last year. Altogether the modest
plant Of fifty years ago now represents
an investment of considerably more
than SlO.000.O00.
TO thoroughly appreciate the extent
TO which Uncle Sam occupies the publi-
cation field one must think in terms of
millions-not merely millions OF dol
lars, but millions of books and pamph-
let's 1t Is almost a strain upon the
imagination to realize the existence OF
q plant which can turn out nearly g.
900. 900 books year, but after ALL
even the gigantic totals just quoted do
not adequately picture the extent oil
Federal printing. The government
printing office. merely as routine
procedure. prints and delivers 4.OOO,-
900 postal cards each day and hun
dreds OF millions OF postal money-or-
der blanks each year. the latter on
presses which print, perforate, collate
and number in one operation. With
it's virtually unlimited capacity the Of
flee can receive, set in type. proof-read,
stereotype. print, bind and deliver a
book of more than 1000 pages within
twenty-four hours
There are two methods of getting the
printed material into the hands OF the
people--free distribution and sale. The
former includes nearly 80 per cent OF
the output. In the first place each
senator and represent;. tive, as well as
each department or bureau, Is entitled
to a certain quota Of all governmental
publications. Each is allowed to re-
ceive without cost, for instance, 1850
copies OF Farmers Bulletin. or a total
requisition Of nearly 100000 for this
purpose alone.
The acceptance of the congressional
quota is not compulsory. II, therefore
the books are not used, they remain to
the credit of the senator or representa-
tive for a certain period and are then
thrown back upon the public printer
who eventually sells them for waste
paper at a cent a pound. Unfortunate
ly. this Is the fate Of literally thou
sands OF volumes
The last report Of the public printer
dated December 3, 1917. contains this
paragraph:
BY authority of the Joint Committee
on Printing, 5S5,059. obsolete publica.
tions were condemned and sold. In q
further effort to reduce this useless
surplus. an inventory covering Sl.23z
old or duplicate publications was pre-.
pared In January, 1917, and the usual
course was followed in notifying tho
,, 80 n
they wanted from this list, but nc
more than one-third of the members
took advantage Of this privilege; such
COPIES as we're selected are being for
warded, and those that remain Will be
condemned and sold as waste paper.
One reason for this deplorable situ-
alton, which is shown by this record
to have existed with incalculable loss
for more than twenty years, is that a
substantial proportion of the matter
which Is published, has no popular ap-
peal. being purely technical in its ma
ture: and another reason is that the
law arbitrarily fixes the minimum
number Of copies to be printed Of each
publication, this figure being quite gen.
erous.
With the view Of realizing some re-
turn upon the time and labor invested
in the books which the government
produces. and in the hope that perhaps
some of the otherwise discarded vol
umes might be halted on their way 10
the paper mill, congress established
the office Of the superintendent Of doc
uments, where leftover and other pub
lications could be deposited and, II
possible. sold. 1t offered most gener-
Gus terms to the would-be purchaser
asking merely enough to actually pay
for the cost Of printing and binding.
Notwithstanding this tempting in
ducement. the effort to dispose Of gov
ernmental issues at private sale has
only been partially satisfactory. In ten
years the receipts have only increased
from $4,000 to a little more than
100000. 1t Is against human nature
to pay for anything which may be had
for nothing, besides which the govern
ment prints and prints, constantly pill
ing up its stock. without providing ad-
equate means for acquainting the pub
lie with the character Of the goods Il
has provided. No publishing firm
would for an instant print and bind
hundreds Of thousands OF volumes
without providing for their distribu'
ton and sole. These fundamental bus
mess principles are entirely ignored by
the government. 1t manufactures books
without limit and then relies upon in
dividually distributed price lists as the
only method Of advertising its wares
The consequence is that during the fis'
cal year 1916 the number of copies
OF condemned publications aggregated
2,592.27S. although in 1917 this tota
had been reduced to 5S7.54S. The
amount Of waste paper sold last year
according to the report Of the public
nriptar uos nnra than o ZOO 00C