Evening star., 1927-04-28
Specifications Not Complied
With, Cost High, Efficiency
Office Charges.
CANCELLATION URGED
OF ALL PRESFIT WORK
Transfer to Federal Government
Plant and Specific Appropriation
fer 1929 Recommended.

Charging that contractors for
printing for the District government
had failed to comply with the Dis
trict's specifications and its orders FOR
work, the Bureau of Efficiency today
recommended to the commissioners
that all existing contracts for printing
be Cancelled Immediately and that ar
rangements be made to have all
printing and binding done at the
Government Printing Office.
The bureau pointed out that 1t had
the Bureau of Standards test samples
of 33 printing items which were fair
ly representative of the printing re.
duirements of the District. and that
only in a few instances was it found
that the materials furnished by the
contractors complied with contract
specifications as to weight, bursting
strength and composition.
The recommendations were con-
tanned in a report submitted to Com
missioner Proctor l.. Dougherty by
Herbert d. Brown, chief of the Bu-
reau of Efficiency. 1t was based on
the results of an investigation of the
Districts printing requirements by
the bureaus experts.
Four Recommendation Made.
Four recommendations were con-
tanned in the report, as follows:
/. That all printing and binding az
the District be done by the GcvSI-Ss'
ment Printing Ofiisf-
2. That a practical printer, compe-
tent to prepare and edit all copy and
standardize all blank form work be
appointed by the Commissioners to
handle all matters pertaining to print
ing for the District.
8. That for the fiscal year 1929 a
separate item TO cover all eXpendi-
lures for printing and binding for
the Government of the District be
set out as a special item in-.the 1929
appropriation bill.
4. That the existing annual run
ming contracts for printing for the
District government be Immediately
Cancelled.
Charges Called Too High.
These -four recommendations,
the report declared. "are predicted
upon the fact that the District gov.
ernment has been paying more for
it's work than it would have been
charged had the work been done at
the Government Printing Office and
that the contractors for printing for
the government of the District for
Columbia have failed to comply with
the Districts specifications and its
orders for work"
The report also explained that II
the Commissioners adopt these recon-
mendations the Bureau of Efficiency
would direct DIR. George G. Havenner,
one of its experts, to assist i'm perfect.
N rafl1 &c y
ment Printing Office for handling the
Districts printing and binding.
Commissioner Dougherty referred
the report to Auditor Daniel ]. Dono-
van and Purchasing officer NJ G.
Hargroye for consideration and report.
Total Annual Cost $75.OGO.
The report follows:
'All printing and binding for the
Government of the District of Column
bia. with a few exceptions, is procured
through the purchasing office of the
District under annual running con-
tracts. The annual reports of the
Commissioners f the District or
Columbia and of the Health Depart
ment. are, however, printed at the
Government Printing Office. Some
times other reports pertaining to the
work of the District Government are
also printed at the Government Print
ing Office.
Printed matter for the Govern.
ment of the District of Columbia
embraces bulletins, reports, regula
tions and a great variety of blank
forms. The total annual cost OF
printing and binding for the District
Government is about $4,000, for
which items of appropriation are
scattered throughout the District OF
Columbia appropriation act. The ques
tion naturally arises why all printing
and binding for the Government of the
District of Columbia is not done at the
Government Printing Office.
The subcommittee Of the House
committee on appropriations in con-
sidering the second deficiency bill last
Winter raised this question. The au-
ditor at that time stated that it was
his belief that the Bureau of Efficiency
would investigate this matter. This
has been done as a part of the bu-
reau's study of the purchasing organ
ization and system of the District
government.
Make Four Recommendations
''As a result of this st0dy We sub
NIT the following four recommend
stions, together with supporting red
sons therefor:
IL. That all printing and binding
for the government of the District of
Columbia he done at the Government
Printing Office. For the purpose of
determining comparative costs on
certain specific jobs as between con
tracts for printing for the District of
Columbia and the Government Print
ing Office a request was made of the
purchasing officer of the District to
furnish us with q number Of printed
forms. bulletins, etc. that had been
printed under contract. Upon receipt
of these samples from the purchasing
officer q selection was made at ran
dom of some so items that appeared
to be representative OF the various
kinds of printing that had been done
for the District of Columbia during
the past two years.
''This group of items was submitted
to the printing experts of the Office
of information of the Department OF
Agriculture for an estimate of the
probable cost of each item If the work
had been done at the Government
Printing Office.
1.-THE Department of Agriculture
based it's estimate upon the same kind
OF paper that was actually used by
the contractor for each item rather
than upon what the specifications OF
the District government called for.
After securing the estimates from the
Department of Agriculture. the pur.
chasing officer of the District furnish
ed us with the actual prices paid for
each item together with n description