Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-24
PRIVATE PRINTING
FOR i. S. ATTACKED
MCCarl Accused of Exceeding
Acknowledgements Group
Asked to Act.

illegal assumption of power in ordering
the printing of official tabulating cards
done elsewhere than at the Govern
nent Printing Office, Public Printer
George H. Carter has submitted the
matter to the joint congressional COM
mittce on printing for adjustment.
The Controller General has also
taken upon himself the right to de-
termine whether the Government
Printing Office is equipped to do salts
factory printing" Mr.. Carter complains,
land, if he decides otherwise. to auth
orize printing to be done elsewhere. not
withstanding the act of March /, 1919"
This would apply, he said, even to the
Congressional Record.
In view of the recent decision of
Controller General McCarl, under
which the printing of millions of tabu-
lating cards tor departmental use has
been discontinued, the Public Printer
has gone over McCarlS head in asking
the Joint committee for further def
milton of the Class of work that shall
be done or procured by him in COM
pliance with the act in question, which
ment establishments in Washington
shall be done at the Government Print
ing Office.
Puts 1t Up to Congress.
Unless and until Congress directs
him to proceed with the printing OF
tabulating cards, Mr.. Carter has in
formed the Joint committee that he has
no other alternative than to accede to
the decision of the Controller General
that this work be done under private
contract. Meanwhile, the Government
Printing Office has served notice on all
heads of executive departments and in
dependent establishments in Washing
ton that it will not be able to accept
orders for the cards The Printing Of
flee, at the time, had orders on hand
for approximately 100000 in the
course of manufacture, which will be
completed with paper stock on hand ii
the various departments so desire. +.
The trouble with Controller General
McCarl arose over an opinion sustain
ing a complaint of the Shipping Board
that the Government-made cards were
unsatisfactory and authorizing that
board, Carter charges, to procure cards
from a tabulating company without re-
gard for the law. In sustaining the
complaint of the Shipping Board, Nc
Carl is said to have claimed the abSo-
lutte right to set aside the act of March
/, 1919, on the ground that tabulating
machines are essential to the work OF
the Government. which, he asserts can
function only with the tabulating cards
supplied by the machine companies.
Either the act in question should be
compiled with by the controller gen.
eral, Mr.. Carter declared. or it should
be repealed and that Office given the
legal right to order printing done else
where than at the Government Print
ing Office. IF the controller general |
is to be conceded the power to decide |
arbitrarily what class of work shall not
be done by the Government Printing |
Office" he added, las in the case of
tabulating cards, there will be nothing |
to prevent his ordering any other
printing or binding, including even the |
Congressional Record, to be done under |
contracts awarded by him."
Meanwhile, in the case of the tabu- |
lating cards, the Public Printer charged, |
"the Government will continue at the |
mercy of the tabulating machine COM |
panies in the prices they may charge |
for their machines and printed cards,
until Congress may determine whether
the printing of the cards shall be done |
as required by existing law, or whether |
chine companies and the refusal |
of the paper manufacturer to sell his |
product to the Government shall be |
legalized and the administration of the |
Government Printing Office turned over |
TO the controller general"
The public printer has supplied the |
committee with complete statement
relating to the rental of tabulating
machines and the purchase of printed |
tabulating cards by various Government
establishments. The statement relates
to contracts which Carter charges dis |
criminate against the Government |
Printing Office, in violation of the Clay |
ton act prohibiting unfair trade agree
mentS, and ignore the act of 1919 re-
quiring all Government printing to
be done at its own plant
THE purpose of these tying con-
tracts he said, sis to compel the
Government Printing Office to stop
printing tabulating cards and to perfect |
the monopoly which the two tabulat- |
ing machine companies are seeking to
fasten on the Government"
Confronted with this situation. the
public printer filed in 1927, complaint |
with the Federal Trade Commission
against the machine companies. It |
was not until 10 months afterward, |
however, that the commission dismiss
ed the complaint without further ac-
tion," as the matter complained of did
not call for "the exercise of those
remedial powers granted by law to the
commission