Evening star., 1922-04-12
COURT REPORTER.
! DEN|ESANY GRAFT
Accusations of Representa-
tive Johnson Answered in
Letter to Star.
To the Editor Of The Star:

My attention has been called to an
article in Mondays Star, quoting re-
marks made by Representative john
son of Kentucky, on the floor OF the
House, rejecting on the reporter or
the Supreme Court of the United
States. Occupying the office in ques-
ton, 1 am concerned that these state
ments should receive public correction
as far as possible, through the same
source that gave them currency.
The representative said that the re-
porter receives from the government
and his publication together a year
ly return of $4,000, leaving II 10 De
inferred that this is net income; !;
that this emolument is the combined
result of coercion practiced upon the
publishing house and OF graf
that two volumes were put ont eacn
year when one would have sumceo 10
contain all of the opinions, in oroer
to gain a payment allo"ea S,uue nS we
government when a second Voiume
is ordered by the court; that the pup
Usher has been selling to the puolc
at SO per copy and not at the $l.io
price fixed by law, and that the re-
porter has been exacting from the
publisher s2.16 2-3 per copy. and that
for this reason the publisher has
been unable to sell for s1.75.
All this, he says, was uncovered
at a recent hearing before the ap-
preparations committee simlIar'
, though less circumstantial. alega
tions appeared in a Washington ois-
patch to the Louisville-Courier
Journal. published some days oe1ore
Mr.. johnson made his revei uonS 10
the House. That dispatch gave MN
matter What the motive may pc lor
these accusations I do not know nor
IS IL material. The facts are as
follows:
Exuense of Publication.
The duties of the reporter are not
only to edit but also TO puOiish tIie
reports. These are high quality law
books of excellent paper, typosrapnS
and binding. 1t has been the prac-
tice from the beginning to secure
publication by making a CONTRACT
with a publishing house. Ine gov
ernment has never contributed 70
ward the expense OF printlns. pi'd
furnishes the reporter, partly by way
of salary. partly for office and c!eri-
cal expenses and partly In IeIuln
for 500 copies which he must denver
to the government each year WlthSut p,,t
other charge, are considerable. out
70 one who appreciates the service. re,
eponsibility and expense involHso
would think these allowances suih-
oient in themselves
Early reporters derived all OF thsu
income from the publication, anu
their successors, though allowed
salary, have depended largely on the
publication also. The reporter is en-
tltled to the copyright on the orlS Indi
matter added to the opinions. IN prac-
tice this is assigned to the puolisns;TI;;
It is assumed that both parties WIZ
make a profit from the sales, other
wise the venture would fail and pup
lication must stop. The amount al
lowed the reporter under the existing
contract was fixed by the publisher
when it asked for the contract, ano
was much less than the same mousse
lad been paying to previous report
ers. 1t was reasonable. and never
was materially reduced by the re
porter when the pinch of postwar
conditions threatened the contlnuance
of the publication. Expendltures tor
office accommodations and assistance
necessary in the reporters work have
Increased steadily from over S2.7eo in
1916 to the rate of about $500 fo1
the current year-nearly double the
by the government. Mr.. Johnson
ignores these expenses entirely.
The contract expressly makes the
reporters income under 1t independ-
ent of the number OF volumes pub
lished. During my incumbency the
work of each year has been divided
into three volumes, averaging about
73O pages each. all matter included
a reasonable and convenient size. The
statement that all should have been
compressed into one and that the sec
ond was but a device to secure the
government allowance is an obvious
error. Not since 1857 has 1t been
practicable to issue one volume per
year; not since 1881 have there been
less than three; often there have been
foAr and sometimes five. The gov
erpment makes no allowance to the
reporter for the third or subsequent
volumes.
Equally erroneous is it that s2.16 2 8
was charged the publisher on each
CODY sold. AS there were about 5000
SOLD each term, this would have made
the publisher pay the reporter over
$4,000 yearly.
Fixed Price Holds.
Every copy of the report contains
on the title page the following notice:
"The price of this volume is fixed by
statute (Sec. 226, Judicial Code, 26
Statutes at Large. 1859 at one dollar
and seventy-five cents. Cash must ac-
company the order. The purchaser
must pay the cost of delivery"
The notice and the statute have
been complied with. The price for
which the books were sold on credit.
SPECIAL NOTICES.
CLAIMS AGAINST Mr.. A j. McLACGH-
lin. lunchroom business, 456 Ia. ave. NV. pre-