Evening star., 1925-10-08

years ago by the executive officer
of the Public Buildings Commission.
Lieut. Col. Clarence o. Sheriff.. and
the acting supervising architect Of
the Treasury, James A. Wetmore. the
commission stressed the erection Of
a national archives building as first
in the list Of public buildings vitally
needed.
AS one of the reasons for provid-
ing such a central depository of files
that are not in daily use, but which
must be held for future reference. is
to release valuable office space in the
scores upon scores Of buildings occu-
pied by Government activities. wheth-
er Government-owned or rented,
careful survey has been made to
determine just how much space is
taken up by these files. 1t was found
that a total Of 1,830,968 square feet
is now occupied by files at least 80
per cent of which could and should
be placed in an archives building.
To get an idea what this total of
consider that 1t is almost as much as
the gross space occupied by the De-
partment Of Commerce in 81 build
ings and the Department Of Interior
in 8 buildings. The entire gross
space occupied by the Department Of
Justice In s buildings Is l42,7o4
square feet and by the Department
of State In Q buildings is 132.302-
yet the space occupied by the files
greatly in excess of the entire space
occupied by these two great depart
ments. For example. the War De-
partment files occupy 434,667 square
feet; those of the General Accounting
Office, 331, 1874 square feet; those Of
the Department Of Interior. 316,562
square feet, and those of the Treas
ury Department, 247,108 square feet.
This surely ought to impress upon
Congress how much relief could be
given to certain departments and
which are now terribly overcrowded
simply by providing a proper deposit
tory for these accumulated files.
In the proposed archives building
should also be placed Government
papers now stored outside of the
Capital City, throughout the United
States and at our legations abroad
where they are exposed to fire and
destruction from other causes.
Proposal Widely Backed.
Many important organizations have
for years been supporting the de-
mand for an adequate archives build
ing. AS an illustration of the force
fulness of their plea, attention is call.
ed to the fact that for more than
Is years the Council Of the Amer
lean Historical Association has been
besieging Congress ''in the interests Of
security, In the interest of economy,
in the interest of system. in the in
terest of the rapid and efficient con
duct of the public business, and, not
least. in tn" interest of American his
tory" to make appropriations for pur-
chase of site and erection of Il ma
tional archives building.
Persistently has il been stressed
upon Congress by the Public Build
ings Commission, whose duty it is To
make recommendations regarding
proper housing In the interest Of
economy and efficiency. that an ar
chives building would solve a general
administrative problem by the hous-
ing Of dead or semi-active records. too
valuable or important tn he destroy
ed and yet not required by the de
partment or students for more than
occasional reference purposes. Por-
lions OF the most expensive buildings
owned or rented by the Government
are occupied for the storage of docu-
mtnts and papers, exposed TO loss by
theft and fire, and not needed for
current work-Such as examination
papers in the Civil Service Commits
sion. War and Navy records going
back into the history of the country
since its beginning. audited accounts
Of the various departments, interest
checks on the public debt, which at
times have to be referred to, but hich
are now stored in various places,
| which complexities the search; appIica-
tionS for patents and models and the
Hke-in fact, old account books, rec
| ords and archives of every branch of
| the Federal service.