Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-08-10
Paper Shortage
At Washington
BY w. s. MANN.


WASHINGTON, August 10.-The
joint committee on printing OF con-
gress has put a "crimp" into cam
paign activities of many members Of
the senate and House-all because
1t is dificult to purchase white "a
per for the use of h government
printing office. The committee has
issued an order that limits to 25,-
900 copies any sixteen page speech
which members may desire to use
during the political campaign. If
the speech desired covers fewer or
more pages than sixteen, the num-
Der that may be ordered will be
fixed in the same ratio, for instance
loo, 900 copies of a 4 page speech.
In the good old days. before the
print paper shortage, 1t was not I'M
common for an order to go into the
government printing Office for a
half million or ven a million copies
OF a speech to be used for campaign
purposes. This is all over-at least
for the time being. II a member of
congress. or one of the various cam
paign committees, desires a half
million copies of a speech made by
a senator or representative to be
used in the campaign, he, or the
committee, must get 1t printed out
side the government printing ONCE,
in a private print shop.
The only speeches which may be
reproduced by the government
printing Office are those which have
been made a part of the congress
sional record, or which have been
ordered printed as a senate or
house document. Not infrequently,
when the President or Vice-Presi-
dent of the United States has made
an important u~tterance, leave is
sought and granted to have the
speech made a part of the congress
sional record. In this way. it be-
comes possible to order thousands
# copies later from the govern
ment printing office. to use in DO
litical campaigns. But the joint
committee on printing stepped on
this practice hard.
The speeches printed at the gov
ernment printing office have to be
paid for by the members ordering
them. There is no free printing
done for them. But the printing is
done at cost, which probably re-
suits in some saving to them, and 1t
Is very convenient to have the
speeches turned out by a concern
which has made a specially of that
business for years. Until the re-
cent order of the joint committee,
there was no limit set upon the
uAliDC liza ullSHL O6 OIuGICQ.
1t may be mentioned in this con-
nection that the cost of turning out
these speeches by the thousands
has increased materially during the
last few years. In the first place,
the wages at the government print
ing Office have increased in the ag-
gregate some $4,000, 000-and that
not long ago. In the second place,
the cost of paper used in %reproduc-
ino The GnnanhaC has fnar0aGod four
or five hundred per cent. and other
materials used in the plant have
scared in price. Print paper used
to be purchased for the printing
office at two or three cents a pound
for which twelve cents is now paid.
Machine finished paper, used for
books which used to be purchased
now brings fourteen and fifteen
cents a pound.
The print paper shortage, which
appears to be a world shortage due
to a falling off in the raw mater
ials and an increase in the amount
of paper used, has affected not only
the government printing Office, how
ever. And candidates and their
supporters are likely to have a hard
time getting all the speeches print
ed may desire even outside the gov
ernment's big print shop.
The government printing Office
formerly made annual contracts for
paper. Now it has comparatively
few contracts and these were made
only for six months and the period
in September. The remain
der of the paper used in the print
ing" office is purchased today in the
open market at the best price and
in the largest quantities obtainable.
All this Is regulated by the COM
mittee on printing headed by SEN
ator Smoot of Utah, and composed
of members of the senate and
House.
Every effort is being made by the
Joint committee and the officials of
the printing Office to keep down
the demands of the federal depart
ments and of congress for printing.
Many government publications al
ready have been discontinued, or
greatly reduced in number. Mem
hers of congress are getting practic-
ally no public documents for dis
tribution. Senators and representa-
tives will be limited respectively to
three and two copies of the bound
permanent congressional record of
the last session of congress-. Such
a limitation was unheard of in the
past.
The joint committee learned that
the war department had about
100000 worth of paper on hand.
which it has been using in putting
out publications of various kinds.
The printing office Immediately
made a demand for this paper and
already has obtained some of it.