Evening star., 1927-04-28
CONTRACTS FOR D. C.
PRINTING ATTACKED
IN BUREAU REPORT

Continued from First Page)
of the kind Of paper specified in the
contract and in the order. In many
cases the paper on which the forms
were printed by the contractors was
not in keeping with the contract speci-
fications and the order for the work.
After obtaining the estimates made
by the printing experts of the Depart
ment of Agriculture the same forms
were submitted to the Government
Printing Office with a request that
that office furnish this bureau with an
estimate of the cost of printing each
Of the 60 different items. The Gov
ernment printing estimates, which as
a rule are in close conformity with its
final bills. show that on the so items
there would have been a considerable
saving had the work been done at the.
Government printing Office. In ad-
dition to this the product delivered
would have been strictly In accord
ance with the specifications and with
the requisition.
''The public printer has advised US
that he would be very glad to have
government of the District sent to
the Government Printing ONCE, and
that his Office is in a position to
promptly execute this work. We
have also conferred with Mr.. Ansel
Void, printing clerk of the joint con-
gressional committee on printing, who
also agrees with us that all printing
and binding of the District of Column
bia should be done at the Govern
ment Printing Office.
Urge Editing of CoDv.
"2. That practical printer com.
petent to edit all copy should be ap.
pointed by the Commissioners of the
District of Columbia, who should
handle all matters pertaining to the
printing requirements of the govern.
ment of the District Of Columbia. At
the present time there is no one in
the employ Of the District govern.
ment who is charged with the re-
sponsibility of preparing and editing
all copy for printing before it is sent
to the printer. We strongly urge that
practical printer, competent to pre-
pare and edit copy for the printer, be
appointed by the Commissioners of
the District of Columbia. The duty
Of such an employe would be not only
to prepare and edit all copy for print
Ing, but to standardize all blank
forms and to select paper suitable for
each particular piece of work. At the
present time expensive paper is fre.
quently requisitioned for jobs of no
permanency. Also machine ruling is
often specified where slug or wax line
ruling would answer the same purpose
and be much less expensive.
I'VE believe that a printing expert
in the purchasing Office of the Dis.
trict, having control of all printing
for the District Government and the
conduct of all relations with the
Government Printing Office would
materially reduce printing costs. Such
an employee would undoubtedly save
his salary several times over each
year. Such an expert should re-
ceive a salary Of about $4,000 per
annum.
"If the printing and binding for
the Government of the District of
Columbia is sent to the Government
Printing Office we believe that the
Government Printer would detail an
expert employe to the District to
handle it's printing and binding re-
quirements until such time as the
Commissioners could secure such an
employe.
Ask Specific Appropriation.
That for the fiscal year 1929 the
separate item to cover all printing
and binding for the Government OF
the District of Columbia be set out
as a special item in the 1929 appro-
priation bill. At the present time no
specific appropriation item is set up
in the District appropriation bill for
printing and binding. Such work Is
now paid for from number or OH.
ferent appropriation items as carried
in the bill. All of these should be
consolidated into one item as Is done
for each of the major branches of the
Federal service.
Such an arrangement would mate
rally lessen bookkeeping as it would
bring costs for printing and binding
into one account.
a. That the existing annual run
ming contract for printing for the
government of the District of Colum-
bia be Immediately Cancelled. The
above recommendation for the cancel
lation of existing contracts for print
ing is made for the reason that the
contractors for printing have violated
their contracts in that they have not
complied with all of the requirements
of the contract specifications. This
is especially true in regard to the pa
per Speclneu IN the contracts anu
the orders placed under these con-
tracts with the kind of paper fur
nished
Work Not Up to Standard.
"a number of samples of printing
ordered between July and December
/, 1926, were obtained from various
offices of the District government and
from these samples 80 items fairly
representative of the printing require.
ments of the District government were
selected and sent to the United States
Bureau of Standards with the request
that the bureau test each sample
relative to weight, bursting strength
and the composition of the paper.
Each item sent to the Bureau Of
Standards was given a sample mum.
ber by this bureau and on receipt OF
these samples by the Bureau Of stand.