Evening star., 1943-03-28
Shifts Release
Office Space
For 16,1OO
Figures Cited
In Annual Report
OF u. s. Archivisf

reueIdl war agencies IN CROWDED
Washington have acquired much
needed space and Government ad-
ministrators faced with urgent war
time problems have benefited from
the experience of similar admin
istrators in 1917 and 1918, as a re-
suit of the activities of the Ma
tional Archives during the last fls-
cal year, Scion J. Buck, archivist
of the United States, told Congress
in his annual report made public
today.
DR.. Buck pointed out that the
National Archives received into its
custody during the year from other
Government agencies, chiefly from
the War and Navy Departments,
$4,000 cubic feet of non-current
records, all of which have perma-
nent value and historical interest.
The transfer of these records re-
leased enough space to provide Of
fees for 2,100 persons, nearly all of
them in Washington. These rec
ords increased the holdings of the
National Archives by nearly so per
cent and brought the total quantity
of records in its custody to almost
a half million cubic feet.
The National Archives now has
the custody of approximately 80 per
cent of all Federal records in the
District of Columbia that are more
than so years old, exclusive of those
of the General Accounting Office,
DR.. Buck reported. More than 90
per cent of such records of the Sen
ate, the State, War, Justice and
Labor Departments and the Vet
erans' Administration. and between
10 and 80 per cent of such records
of the Navy and Interior Depart
ments and the Civil Service Com
mission have been received
Additional space for Government
agencies was also provided by the
disposal of non-current records that
had ceased to have any value for
the Government. Records believed
to be in this class are appraised by
the National Archives. and if found
to be useless, are reported to Con-
greSs, which authorizes their dis
posal. About million cubic feet of
records were thus eliminated during
1912, thereby releasing enough space
to provide Offices for $4,000 persons,
5000 of them in Washington.
Government agencies called on
the National Archives for informa-
ton from records, for copies of rec
ords. or for the loan of records on
1873, 900 occasions, and 105 900 of
these requests for assistance were
routine in nature, such as requests
for the service records of men seek
ing to re-enlist in the Navy after
Pearl Harbor. but in a gratifying
number of cases, the archivist said,
services of signal nature to the
war effort were provided both to
Government agencies and to private
individuals. About $4,000 services
were rendered to non Government
institutions and private citizens.
Some of the most important
services rendered during the year."
DR.. Buck reported. were to the
Board of Economic Warfare and
the War and Navy Departments,
which frequently called upon the
National Archives for records or
information in records pertinent to
some aspect of their work of plan
ming and directing the conduct of
war. They wanted maps and photo
graphs to help guide bombers to
harbor installations, electric power
developments, railway and highway
bridges and industrial facilities of
the enemies. They wanted infor-
nation about inland waterways,
natural resources. weather condi-
tlons, transportation. communica-
ton, camouf1age, life-saving devices
and indeed about everything from
75-mm. guns to the use of honey as
an anti-freeze."
Federal records are accumula ting
at rate approaching a million
cubic feet year. the archivist re-
ported, and all of them will ulti-
mately be reported to the National
Archives for disposal or be offered
to it for permanent preservation.
The National Archives therefore
endeavored during 1912 to forestall
its own future problems insofar as
possible by aiding Government
agencies, particularly those brought
into being by the war, in coping
currently with their records prob
lens.
A number of important agencies
of the Government have taken
steps toward solving their own rec
ords administration problems and
at the same time effecting admin
istrative economies by appointing