The Washington times., 1937-05-27
6, P. 0. ASSAILS
DUPLICATING
*
hMACHINES
BY EARL GOODWIN

Office versus q C4GS LUZ Va ASkSHA y
mental multi" and duplicating
machines
The Government Printing OF
flee insists that the use OF these
many multi lithographing ma
chimes is a clear violation Of the
old 1895 statute, still standing,
recurring all Government printing
and binding to go to the Govern
ment Printing office.
Many Government departmental
chiefs, bureau chiefs and many
commission members declare that
the multi" work is duplicating
and is not printing; that it is
quicker. cheaper and better in GER
tain uses than printing.
Friends of the Government
Printing office, headed OF course
bv Government Printer Giege'l-
gack. declare there is no scientific
method of determining the actual
costs of the multi and duplication
work.
This is countered by bureau
chiefs who present a set OF ex-
hibits to the Joint Congressional
Committee on Printing showing a
S275. 900 alleged saving in three
offices alone; and the statement
by one Government bureau ADMIN
istrative officer that duplicating
machines are saving Uncle Sam at
least a million dollars a year.
Despite the fact that President
Roosevelt issued instructions to
all Government chiefs several
months ago to route all printing"
to the Government Printing Of
flee, there is still about as much
multi" work being done in the
various Government offices as
ever-with the possible exception
that some of the very ornate prop
uganda publications have been
discontinued.
At the time the President gave
these instructions it was conS1d-
cred that he was hitting at the
highly ornate publications Of Re
settlement Administration; but 1t
turns out that he is taking up the
cudgels for the Public Printer who
asked Congress to put all multi
lithographing and similar ma.
chimes in his establishment on the
ground that in doing so Congress
Is giving him moral support in the
enforcement Of the old printing
law.
However, the recently signed
appropriation bill for the legisla-
tive establishment, including the
Government Printing Office, did
not provide for any such sweeping
change, but did include an amend
nent requiring that in the next
submission Of Government eSti.
mates all departments and offices
should differentiate between print
ing estimates and near.printing or
multi estimates.
The Government has gone into
multilith work in a big way; one
entire WPA project at Richmond
is an establishment for multilith
work used largely by the Tariff
Commission, which has need for
bulky documents containing mil.
lions Of figures.
Government budgeteers and
Congressman looking into Govern
ment costs learn that the use of
these multi devices is what may
have caused the $50 per cent in
crease in Government mail in the
last five years.
Information before the Joint
Printing Committee of Congress
shows that the Post office would
have charged a private concern
$32, 236,000 for the stuff the Gov.
eminent mailed last year-and
this figure is the figure used in
stating Government mail has in
creased $50 per cent; whereas the
Government Printing Office in
creased its billing to the Govern
ment only so per cent in the same
time-it now being $18,000,000 as
contrasted with $13,000,000 in
1881.
Senator Hayden of Arizona, a
member of the committee, figures
that the increased postal load
means that the Government has
been putting out millions Of pages
Of multilith work which never
was included in the regular print.
Sa- aaor0vo,.; SioSae