^'1 cs
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
tos
^GEl^- CAli^°«**^
Useful Reference Series No. 20
Guide to the Use
of United States Government
Publications
Guide to the Use
of
United States
Government Publications
BY
Edith E. Clarke
Chief of Cataloging, Office of Superintendent of Documents,
1896-1898; Compiler of the Monthly Catalogs, of the
Document Catalog, Volumes 1-2, and of the
Document Index, Volume I
THE BOSTON BOOK CO.
BOSTON
1918
Copyright by
The Boston Book Company
1918
Published May, 1918
VAIL-BALLOU COMPANY
122 3
Foreword
It gives me pleasure to express here my indebtedness
for help received from my friends of the Documents Of-
fice: Mr. A. P. Tisdel, assistant superintendent of docu-
ments; Miss H. C. Silliman, chief of cataloging; and
Miss M. A. Hartwell, who compiled the Checklist; and
from Mr, George H. Carter, clerk of the Joint Committee
on Printing. Also from the efficient staff and adminis-
tration of Cornell University library; without the aid of
its intelligent cataloging and management especially of
this troublesome class of publications this book could not
have been written.
E. E. c.
Auburn, N. Y.
5^^Ho
Introduction
The original framework of this "Guide" was a course
of instruction on the subject successfully worked out in a
library training school with a two-years' schedule. This
framework shows itself in certain didactically set forth
instructions like the eight designations,^ and the data to
be gathered from the Congressional Record concerning
the passage of a bill.- But upon and about this has been
hung a wide discussion of the methods of publication and
distribution of the national publications. That this dis-
cussion is timely is seen in the fact that a bill, framed
after exhaustive study of the subject by the Printing In-
vestigation Commission of 1905-11, and first introduced
by it in the 60th Congress, and reported on in February,
1909, has been pending before every successive Congress
since, and it has been hoped, during each succeeding Con-
gress, that it might become law. This, when it becomes a
statute, will supersede the law under which we have been
working for twenty years, and will gather up and codify
all the reforms and amendments made during that period,
with some much needed new ones. In some details this
bill may be altered before it becomes law, but it is be-
lieved that, having been so long incubating, its main fea-
tures will be enacted in the form described in this work,
as they bring measures of reform up to the point that
it is possible to carry them in the present stage of senti-
ment on the subject.
But the work is not intended only as a manual for in-
struction in library training schools ; nor for depository
libraries only. It has the needs of depositories, chiefly
of those which are public libraries, largely in view, of
1 See p. 124.
2 See p. 130.
8 Introduction
those which are college libraries somewhat. But the
needs of the state libraries and the largest libraries which
maintain document departments it regards not a whit. It
will be seen that in different sections the work addresses
itself to very different classes of readers: — now to the
immature student of library science ; now to the untrained
librarian of the very small library ; again to the chief of
a depository public library ; and at another time to any
one interested and influential in directing the policies of
the Government regarding the public printing. Also,
the writer would be very glad could she enrol among
those whom the book can help the growing number of
students and teachers who use the national publications.
But the technicalities which fit it for the readers whom it
is first of all hoped to help, the workers who care for the
documents in the libraries, may repel the workers who
only study the documents.
This variety of appeal creates a lack of homogeneity
which wall not be regretted if each of these classes of
readers finds help. While there is some repetition in the
book, this has been thought excusable in a work that will
be taken up for reference in sections, as the user seeks
help on some special topic, and which will probably not
find many who will read it through at a single sitting.
The excess of detail in certain sections can be skipped by
those to w^hom it is unwelcome.
It is a popular notion that government publications are
a class apart from every other kind of literature, to be
placed all together in a group by themselves in a library ;
that special codes of cataloging rules, and separate classi-
fication systems, and dift'erent library practice generally
must be devised for them ; and that they can be under-
stood only by specialists. In the making of this little
work this notion is regarded as an error that is to be
counteracted by the spread of clear, accurate, and full in-
formation concerning them. The keynote according to
which it is written is that government publications should
be given the same footing and treatment as any other
Introduction 9
works; and that their pubHshing should be conducted
on the same principles and methods as publishing busi-
ness in private hands. It has been the aim to state the
facts concerning them, to explain things misunderstood,
to persuade convictions founded on lack of full knowl-
edge to a change of view, and to provide a laboratory
manual for all who use United States government pub-
lications inside libraries and out.
The terms, United States public documents, and United
States government publications, are used interchangeably
throughout the work to vary the monotony. But gov-
ernment publications is the preferred term for several
reasons. One is that, among archivists, the term, docu-
ments, has the meaning of " pen-created '' papers, not of
printed literature.^ Another is that in its non-special,
general sense the word document is usually applied to
material in literary form teaching (docens) the facts; it
means source material, usually in history, economics,
politics, law, and the like. But the scientific, technologi-
cal, and descriptive material which makes such a large
share of the national publications, the regulations, service
manuals and handbooks, the current information in Com-
merce Reports and their like, the bibliographies and in-
dexes, etc., are anything but documents in that sense.
Still another reason is that Documents is the title of
one of the two series which the Senate and House each
publish. This use of the same word to denote all of the
publications of the United States government, and two
particular series of them, creates confusion in discussion,
whereas exactly defined terms are greatly needed. To
ensure distinctiveness here, whenever the Senate or
House series is meant, the word Documents is given an
initial capital, as is done with the Reports and Journals
also.
3 " Here in America we have become accustomed to considering as ' docu-
ments ' the official printed publications of state and federal authority, which
results in a confusion of terms that some day may prove vexatious." J. C.
Fitzpatrick. Notes on the care ... of manuscripts. Wash. 1913. 45 p.
19 cm. (Library of Congress.)
10 Introduction
But putting all this aside, the term government publi-
cations is better from the viewpoint of this work because
it aligns works issued by the government with works of
any other source or kind. We speak of society publica-
tions, church publications, of art, legal, educational, medi-
cal publications, not documents, and government publi-
cations range with these.
The annual reports and other serials are now supplied
to depository libraries — though unfortunately not to the
libraries that get their copies from members of Congress
— in plain title edition ; and the A. L. A. Council has ruled
to class them by subject, not as part of the Congressional
set. The Document Catalogue and the printed catalogue
cards of the Library of Congress provide the inexpert
with entries in which the cataloging rules are applied by
experts to these troublesome works. It seemed to the
writer that a simple admonition to follow these guides,
and in all other questions of methods to apply to the
various kinds of government material the same treat-
ment given to like material non-governmental in origin,
should suffice. However, on request, the section on
" Library Practice " has been added.
Though this " Guide " hopes to help and instruct, after
all there is but one way to acquire a practical and thor-
ough understanding of the nation's publications. That is
to handle and use and work with them, to acquaint one-
self with them individually and en masse, to know their
bibliographical conditions and their subject contents.
As the governmental organization is constantly under-
going minor changes, nothing written about it and its
publications can be exactly true in every detail even on
the day of its publication. Every such work goes rapidly
out of date. But it is thought that the bill here ex-
pounded is a crystallization of reforms so extensive that
when passed, it will stand without much modification for
another decade or score of years.
As has been said in the text, all criticisms and sugges-
tions of betterments in the public printing, including some
Introduction ii
beyond what the pending bill provides, are drawn from
the published reports and hearings on the subject, hav-
ing been made by authorized investigating bodies, or by
individuals summoned before them to give testimony and
expert advice.
A good deal in the right direction as to edition (num-
ber of copies) regulation has been put in practice, espe-
cially lately since the Printing Investigation Commission
closed its work, by the Joint Committee on Printing
through its efficient clerk, Mr. G. H. Carter. But, on the
other hand, the present tendency seems to be to encour-
age and enlarge Congressional free distribution, a retro-
gression from the stand of the commission and of lead-
ers in Congress and experts of a decade back. If the
writer reads the records right, the stand of these men
was that of this little book, against Congressional free
distribution. Also, a steady increase in supervision and
control over the Government Printing Office and over the
publications by the Joint Committee on Printing is
evident.
It may well be, as the Government Printing Office
speeds up with more highly technical workers and ma-
chinery, and the publications diversify and increase, that
the supervision and administration of it all must become
closer and more exact than in the past. But the perma-
nence indispensable for efficiency can never be found
in a committee of Congress. Although all may go well
while, for a time, one set of men remains in Washington,
yet uncertainty and retrogression wait upon supervision
by a politically shifting body and its officials. To work
for laws that will secure a permanent non-political ad-
ministration of the public printing, equally efficient and
practical with the best private publishing, is one mission
of this little book which, surely, every patriotic reader
will wish to second.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Foreword 5
Introduction 7
I. GENERAL
Scope and Value ^7
Definition and Identification . 20
Authority for Printing 22
Government Printing Office 24
Before 1895 • Abuses and Reform 30
Documents Office 34
Catalogs and Bibliographies 38
Depository Libraries 43
Edition and Demand : " Usual Number : " " Up Number : "
" Reserve " 48
Distribution 52
Why Bewildering : Bad Publishing Methods 63
Since 1895 : The Future 97
Government Organization and Terminology 108
Things to Be Noticed 115
II. LEGISLATIVE PUBLICATIONS
General 119
The Serially Numbered Set 122
Journals 125
Congressional Record 126
Bills and Resolutions: Laws 133
Reports of Committees 140
Documents I44
III. EXECUTIVE PUBLICATIONS
General I49
Publishing Bodies of the United States Government
Classed by Their Specialties According to the Deci-
mal Classification 154
14 Contents
IV. LIBRARY PRACTICE p^^g
Information and Selection igi
General Practice 196
Check Record of Serials 199
Cataloging (Excluding Subject Cataloging) :
1. House and Senate Four Series 204
2. Corporate and Other Non-subject Entries .... 210
3. Serials 216
4. Printed Catalog Cards : Periodical Indexes . . . 224
5. Library of Congress and Document Catalog Diver-
gences 225
Pamphlets 230
Maps 232
Classification 235
V. BIBLIOGRAPHY
General Bibliography :
Popular Articles 1
Archives J- 243
Aids as to Publishing Bodies J
Aids as to the Publications 244
Government Printing Office"!
Depository Libraries >- 245
Public Printing to 1905 J
Lists 247
Catalogs and Indexes 248
Government Bodies Described by Themselves . . . 250
Government Bodies' Lists of Their Own Publications . 251
Government Bodies' Indexes to Their Own Publications 255
Bibliography of the Printing Investigation Commission,
1905-1913, and Official Publications Since . . . 259
Bibliography of Laws 272
Depositories 276
The Librarians on the National Publications : Articles
In:
Library Journal 279
American Library Association Proceedings .... 285
Public Libraries 286
Index 289
PART I
General
Scope and Value
The publications of a government are the records of
that nation's existence ; they are the source material of
its history. Xo nation has ever advanced far in perma-
nency and civilization but it has striven to leave a memo-
rial of itself in arch or monument, in wall inscriptions, in
clay tablets, or in some other medium for handing its
records down to posterity. While the world was in the
primitive stage, that is, while each people or each tribe
was necessarily at war with every other, and, as it in-
creased in numbers or power, moved on to larger terri-
tory by the conquest of its weaker neighbors ; while gov-
ernment was the might of the strongest to rule and his
will was law ; so long history was but the annals of
bloody strife for power and of the exploits of this or that
leader or dynasty. Later, as nations have settled down
within fixed territorial limits, and their ways of govern-
ing themselves have crystallized into political systems and
legal forms, civilization, taking root in these more stable
conditions, has blossomed forth and borne fruit in many-
sided activities. To each individual has been given a
chance to bring his contribution, according to his gifts
and capacity, to the material and spiritual life of his gen-
eration. Arts, science, literature, commerce, industry,
invention, discovery, have made way for themselves and
flourish. History has become the record of progress and
achievement in these things, rather than of exploits of
arms, of wars and revolutions.
Gradually, as reason has supplanted force as the basis
of government, and the will of the majority as ex-
pressed by party contest and the ballot box instead of
by strife of arms has come to rule, each citizen sharing in
17
i8 Scope and Value
the government and having his say as to its management,
more and more there have been entrusted to the govern-
ment, as a sort of cooperative agency, such matters as
are of general pubhc interest and can best be done by
one for all. Education, sanitation, intercommunication,
the opening up of the country's resources, fostering its
industries, encouraging the development of all the
thought and effort and production that promise benefit,
policing and protection within and without, together with
the financing and administering these vast concerns, and
the care of state properties — all these are now being car-
ried on by the state for the individual. The functions of
government are growing every day more numerous,
more diversified, and are more intimately directing the
citizen's daily life. As this goes on, the nation's publica-
tions become more and more the original records of the
national life.
Government publications serve — the majority of them
— as administrative records by means of which the thou-
sands of government officials are kept informed and in
touch and at work in cooperation; the projects of to-
day are thus correlated with the work of tomorrow.
They enable every citizen to know, and well informed
to use his knowledge to share intelligently in the manage-
ment of the public business. They tell what has been
done and what is required or planned to be done ; what
undertakings are on foot ; what measures are being
taken. They record the laws that have been made, and
tell of their interpretation and enforcement. In so far
as government is made the agency for carrying on the
affairs of the people, in so far the publications of the
government are the first hand source material about their
affairs. Not only for use by officials but for use by the
people, these publications must be full, open, free, and
accessible.
But besides this large class of administrative publica-
tions which are the information sources and records of
government business, there is also another large class of
Scope and Value 19
which the aim is popular instruction and help. The gov-
ernment collects facts, institutes scientific researches, in-
vestigates, explores, does pioneer work, blazes out a path ;
or merely demonstrates and popularizes knowledge.
This class of publications makes known the results,
spreads the information among the people, and fosters
intelligent industry among them.
As to the subjects with which works published by the
United States concern themselves, it will be seen, as one
becomes familiar with them, that they furnish no mate-
rial on belles lettres, philosophy, or religion — except in
statistics of religious organizations ; only an infinitesimal
amount on the fine arts ; on linguistics a little more ; that
they contain a good deal on science, and on history, geog-
raphy, and anthropology; that they are richest in the
fields of industry and technology, and of political and
social science, including education, commerce, finance,
statistics, law, practical government; on philanthropy,
crime, punishment, and reform; and like subjects. All
this is of course with reference to needs, conditions, and
facts in the United States, but includes much of universal
interest, and much which goes beyond our national
boundaries.
II
Definition and Identification
A United States government publication is one that is
" printed at government expense or published or dis-
tributed by authority of Congress." ^ There are a few
cases of works prepared by either a government body or
official, or by a private body or individual, and printed
outside of the Government Printing Office, but in whose
publication the United States is an interested party,
either buying a part or the whole of the edition, or other-
wise sharing in the expense ; and these have equal right
to be called government publications. Instances are the
United States Postal Guide, and the United States Su-
preme Court Reports.
The author, if a person, is usually, but not necessarily,
some one in the employ of the United States. But it is
frequently the case that a document is made up in an
office and includes contributions from many sources and
by many hands, neither identified nor kept distinct, on
much the same plan as a newspaper is.
In 1861 the Government Printing Office began op-
erations. Since that date all the United States publica-
tions, except those described above and a few sporadic
cases, bear the imprint of that office, and this is the dis-
tinguishing mark to be looked for first of all when in
doubt whether a work later than i860 is a United States
publication or not. Of late years especially, government
publications are dropping the painfully plain uniformity
which used to brand them as such as far as they could be
seen, and many now are as attractive in make-up as the
issues of any private publisher, for example, the so-
1 See for fuller definition, Checklist, p. vii; also Monthly Catalog, Feb.,
1908, p. 325-328. The quoted definition is from the new printing bill.
20
Definition and Identification 21
called " Jefferson's Bible," ^ and the publications of the
Library of Congress among others. In these cases the
Government Printing Office imprint is a helpful and en-
tirely dependable resource for purposes of identification.
This test will satisfy almost every case that is likely to
reach the ordinary reader. But the absence of this im-
print even since 1861 is not conclusive proof that the
work is not a United States publication. The intent of
the law is to require all federal printing to be done at the
Government Printing Office, but outside printing has oc-
curred.
Prior to 1861 the government printing was let out on
contract, and works published then do not have this im-
print. These early outputs of the government present
great difficulties because of their various and haphazard
titles, binding, and publishing methods. Often, the Sen-
ate and House having different printers, and there be-
ing no scrutiny, as now required by law, of the orders
to print passed independently by each house, identical
material was printed in duplicate as a Senate Document
and as a House Document. The government publishing
methods were at that time at their worst, and have been
in process of reform by degrees ever since. For these,
and for any more recent works in which neither title nor
any other part of the work give any indication of their
being government publications, recourse will have to be
made to the catalogs and bibliographies of United
States publications, especially to the great storehouse of
information for the period covered, the Checklist of
United States Public Documents, 1789-1909. 3d edition,
published 191 1. This is a bibliography which, for exact-
ness and accuracy, admirable system, and completeness,
is a model of its kind, a monument to the experts of the
Documents Office where it was compiled, and with which
no other nation in the world, so far as the writer's infor-
mation goes, can show for its government publications
anything to compare in excellence and value.
;; See Checklist, p. 877.
Ill
Authority for Printing
Nothing is printed by the government except by au-
thority of law; which means, of course, that the re-
sponsibiHty for and organization of the pubHc printing
Hes with Congress, This authority is of three kinds : ( i )
a special order to print; ^ (2) a general provision of law
according to which, year after year, a department, for in-
stance, issues certain authorized publications, its report
and other works; and (3) a blanket permit, under wliich
an official or a government body may print or reprint ac-
cording to discretion within certain limits. In this latter
form, it may be especially mentioned, authority is given
for reprinting publications of which the editions are ex-
hausted to the superintendent of documents, the Joint
Committee on Printing, and to the secretary of the Sen-
ate and the clerk of the House. The authority of the last
two extends only to bills and resolutions, laws, and Re-
ports of committees.
]\Iembers of Congress may have extra copies or re-
prints of matter from the Congressional Record or other
government publications, speeches and the like, struck off
for their personal use and distribution, at their own ex-
pense. As the cost of reprinting is slight, and under
their franks * members may send any number of copies
3 " So-ca]led orders to print public documents are generally simple, con-
current, or joint resolutions, but may be bills." — Document Catalog under
" Printing Committee."
4 See H. Report 316, 62d Congress, 2d session (1911-12), p. 24, where
the statement is made that Congress is using about 25,000,000 franked
envelops a year, at a cost of about $60,000. A cheaper grade envelop, of
manila, is provided by the new printing bill. See also Cong. Record, 64th
Congress, 1st session, H. of R.; Apr. 20, 1916; v. 53:6506, where Mr.
Barnhart says (speech on H. 8664), " During 1914 22,000,000 manila docu-
ment envelops of various sizes were furnished to representatives and sen-
ators, an average of 41,500 each." See also same, page 6512: 2,000,000
copies of a speech by a member for a special cause sent out in franked,
envelops.
22
Authority for Printing 23
free by mail, advantage is taken of this privilege to se-
cure the printing of speeches and other matter in the
Congressional Record or elsewhere in the government
publications, which they afterwards distribute among
their constituents or as campaign literature throughout
the country.
The main body of law regulating the government print-
ing and binding and distribution of United States gov-
ernment publications is the statute of January 12, 1895,
by which the Documents Office was created. This law
has been much amended, either by separate enactment
or by provisions in appropriation and other bills, so that
the law is now so scattered as to be difficult to trace. A
bill intended to gather up and unite in one statute, to take
the place of that of 1895, the whole body of law on the
subject, has been prepared by the Joint Committee on
Printing.^ It has passed both Senate and House in dif-
ferent Congresses, and has every prospect of becoming
law sooner or later. Although the final form in which
a bill will ultimately pass into law can never be predicted,
yet the main provisions may reasonably be expected to
go through without change. These will be mentioned as
there are taken up the various topics to which they re-
late.
The law forbids any government publication from be-
ing copyrighted.
5 See beyond, list of printing bills introduced, Bibliography: Printing
Investigation Commission, p. 259.
IV
Government Printing Office
The Government Printing Office is the largest pubHsh-
ing estabHshment in the world, and employs above 4,000
men and women.*' The present building, built for its use
and occupied since 1902, covers fourteen acres. The ma-
chinery in use there has cost upward of $2,420,358.90.
The cost of buildings and equipment is estimated as not
less than $5,500,000. Its annual expenditure is approxi-
mately $7,000,000. Especially during its busy season,
while Congress is in session, the plant runs night and
day. Its output of bound books alone in the fiscal year
1915/16 w^as 1,621,037.
The first and foremost demands upon this office for
printed matter are made, of course, by Congress and
the administrative offices in Washington. These are
served with a speed combined with excellence little short
of phenomenal. In the tremendous rush and pressure
for immediate book production of an incalculably vari-
able amount, it is easily seen that the delay that the
libraries occasionally sutler in receiving their supply is
not without a reason, and is sometimes unavoidable, how-
ever regrettable and inconvenient.
The head of the Government Printing Office has the
title of public printer. He is appointed by the President,
subject to ratification by the Senate. His report is made
to Congress.
In the administration of the office under Congress the
Joint Committee on Printing ^ acts as an advisory board
to that body. This committee is made up of three sen-
6 See J. D. Whelpley, The nation's print shop and its methods. Rev. of
Rev., 28: 556-563, 1903. Also W. S. Rossiter, The problem of the Federal
printing. Atlantic, 96: 331-344, 1905.
7 See, for list of functions of this committee, under eighteen heads, Cong.
Record, 63d Cong., ist sess., H. of R. ; June 26, 1913; v. 50:2213-2214.
24
Government Printing Office 25
ators and three representatives. The House members
are the printing committee of the House. The Senate
members are chosen from the eight members of the
printing committee of the Senate by the committee
itself. Appointment of the membership of the printing
committees of the two houses is made by the respective
houses. This joint committee, with its control over the
public printing, exists according to statute law dating
back as far as August 3, 1846, and it is not, like other
Congressional committees, dependent on the will of either
house. It has for years supervised the office's immense
contracts for paper.** Its supervisory duties have been
extended since 1905, when the Printing Investigation
Commission began its work. In the new printing bill it
is provided that the committee shall hold office continu-
ously, including the periods when Congress is not in ses-
sion. Under the present law, the secretary of the In-
terior is deputed to fill the place of the committee when
Congress is not sitting as to purchases of paper, machin-
ery, etc., by the Printing Office.
The recommendation has been made more than once
that the Government Printing Office be placed under the
control of one of the ten executive departments. The lat-
est recommendation to this effect was made in its report
on the public printing of January 2, 1906, by the Com-
mittee on Department Methods, known as the Keep Com-
mission, appointed by President Roosevelt to examine
the total organization of the national administration, and
Also U. S. Printing Joint Committee, Congressional printing handbook, 19 13.
By the law of Mar. 2, 1895, when there is no Joint Committee on Printing
its duties are to be performed by the committee in existence in either house.
As by the Senate rules its committees hold office till their successors are
appointed, while the House committees expire with the Congress, these
duties devolve upon the Senate i>rinting committee in the odd numbered
years between the 4th of March and the opening of the next Congress.
But see exception as to paper, etc., purchases, of the Government Print ng
Office, noted below.
8 Paper bought by the Government Printing Office for the government
printing in 191 1 cost $1,342,853; materials and other supplies, $611,573;
lithographing and engraving, $133,362. See speech by Senator Smoot,
Cong. Record, 62d Cong., 2d sess., Senate: Mar. 12-13, 1912; v. 48: 3184-
3196; 3244-3254. Also speech by Mr. Barnhart, Cong. Record, 64th Cong.,
ist sess., H. of R.; Apr. 20, 1916; v. 53:6506.
26 Government Printing Office
to suggest betterments. That leading members of Con-
gress think this recommendation is based on sound rea-
sons and that there is need of a radical change in the
management is shown by the discussion, to quote only one
such, that took place in the Senate in the 62d Congress,
2d session, March 12-13, 1912, when the new printing
bill was under consideration. It was claimed that the
Government Printing Office is an anomaly in the system
of administration at Washington, That it is an admin-
istrative bureau, on a par with the Census Bureau and
the Pension Bureau of the Interior Department, and
especially with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing of
the Treasury Department. The head of each of these
bureaus is accountable to the head of his department, the
latter in turn to the President, ensuring a double super-
vision, with full power of issuing commands and enforc-
ing them by removal, if necessary. The public printer,
on the other hand, is supervised only by a committee of
Congress, and the powers of this committee are limited
to those the statutes explicitly place in its hands. The
committee does not report statedly to Congress on its
administration, nor does that deliberative body hold a
relation of administrative control toward its standing
committees. The changing membership of a Congres-
sional committee ; its varying political complexion ; the
scattering of responsibility among its six members ; the
paramount claims upon their attention of large national
affairs and the interests of their home sections; the
chance that they may know nothing of the publishing
business ; these are patent arguments to those who claim
that a committee of a deliberate law-making body can
never satisfactorily carry the administration and respon-
sibilities of a huge publishing office like this. The Print-
ing Joint Committee would probably be represented be-
tween sessions of Congress by its clerk, in whose hands
would be lodged the powers of the six members scattered
in various parts of the United States.^
9 See, for protest of Public Printer Ford against executive control of the
Government Printing Office 27
For these reasons the Government Printing Office was
referred to, in the discussion quoted, as the " lost child "
of our national administration, an administrative bureau
astray from the executive branch of the government un-
der which it properly belongs. During the more than
half a century of its existence under Congress there has
passed no ten-year period without its expensive investi-
gation brought on by alleged waste, inefficiency, or
abuses.^" During this period there have been as many
public printers as Presidents, or more, while since 1802
there have been only eight librarians of Congress.
There would seem to be no need, and only detriment to
the service, in changing the public printer every time the
administration of the government changes, as is neces-
sary with the heads of the ten executive departments,
who are the President's advisers.
The public printing, originally concerned almost en-
tirely with work for Congress alone, has developed till
now two-thirds to three-quarters of it is book or pam-
phlet publishing for the executive and judicial branches
of the government.^^ The Government Printing Office at
this period is a truly national publishing house. With
the introduction, since 1900, of typesetting and other com-
plicated machinery, the problems of cost of production in
relation to this expensive equipment have also become
complex. ^lore technically and specially expert workers
and a vastly more difficult administrative control are now
required in the Government Printing Office than in the
old days of all hand labor.
Government Printing Office by a Congressional committee, U. S. Senate.
Printing Committee. Hearing, 63d Cong., 2d sess., Mar. 14 & 21, 1914, p.
25 and ff.
10 " There have been since 1840 seventeen Congressional investigations in
relation to the public printing. ... In addition there have been at least
four investigations by the executive branch of the government." U. S.
Printing Investigation Commission. Report. Feb. 19, 1909. (S. Report
1044, 60th Cong., 2d sess., p. 4.)
11 ". . . The Government Printing Office does twice as much work each
year for the executive departments, independent offices, and establishments
of the government as is done for Congress." (Statement of Public Printer
Ford in Hearing, Mar. 14 & 21, 1914-) Non-Congressional publications
28 Government Printing Office
Those who compare the Government Printing Office
with similar private pubhshing and printing plants say
that placing the Government Printing Office under de-
partment control would impair its responsiveness to the
abnormally fluctuating and exacting demands of the work
for Congress. The highest efficiency, they claim, can be
secured only by putting the office under a board of di-
rectors to be named by the President, made up of repre-
sentatives of Congress and of the publishing departments,
and of technical experts, all of whom should serve for
a slight compensation. Accountability of the public
printer to such a board should be secured by powers of
investigation and of recommendation of removal. Re-
port should be required from him of such data as the di-
rectors of any manufacturing plant expect from its su-
perintendent. With estimates and appropriations put on
a business basis; with insubordination, intrigue, and " po-
litical pull " inside the office put down ; and the public
printer and all employes secured against political inter-
ference from outside ; given a competent pul)lic printer,
at an adequate salary, with permanent tenure of office for
himself and all other employes, subject to removal for
cause only, with full powers to organize the office and
bring it to its greatest efficiency — given these conditions,
and the administration of the Printing Office would be
settled on a business basis once for all, and no further
investigations be ever heard of.
The intent of the law is to secure that all the printing
of the national government shall be done at the Govern-
ment Printing Office. Exception is made, where, in ter-
ritory outside of Washington, as in the field services all
over the country, or in " non-contiguous territory " — the
insular possessions. Canal Zone, and other like localities
— convenience requires that the work be done near at
hand.
There are in Washington at present three branch
reprinted as House and Senate Dccunients are 7s7c in bulk, but only one
fifth in number ct the whc^Ie teries.
Government Printing Office 29
printing offices operated for the convenience of depart-
ments in department buildings. These are in the Library
of Congress, where the catalog cards distributed to
libraries and other library printing and the library
binding arc done ; in the Weather Bureau ; and in the
State. War, and Navy building. Others have been pro-
gressively abolished, three no longer ago than 1910. Of
these all except that in the Weather Bureau are under the
Government Printing Office.
Prior to the opening of the Government Printing Of-
fice in 1 861, while the public printing was given out on
contract, the rule was in good repute and generally fol-
lowed that work for a political party must be paid for by
lucrative public office or perquisite, or that " to the victor
belong the spoils." This pernicious spoils system held
sway in the Printing Office for many years, causing much
waste and incompetence. But in 1895 the office was put
under the civil service law. It is perhaps the largest
government employer of workmen of union grade, and
the authorities have defined it as their policy that it is to
be an open shop.
Before 1895: Abuses and Reform
The United States embarked in the book pubhshing
business with no supervisory or expert directorship in
charge. It happened, as things have a way of doing;
and. h'ke Topsy, the business " jest growed.' Tiiere was
pressure in the Printing Office itself to create as much
work and make as many places for political appointees
as possible. This delayed the use of typesetting and
other labor-saving machinery till long after the date when
every other large printing establishment had installed
them; and caused long successful opposition to the sul)-
stitution, in place of the expensive and non-durable, la-
bor-consuming, full sheep bindings, of more practical
buckram and other fabrics. As the number of publica-
tions multiplied, the bad bibliographical methods, or lack
of method, and the absence of system and supervision
caused great waste and extravagance. Documents were
ordered printed lavishly and in quantities not based on
any calculation of the numbers needed for use.^- Confu-
12 Some statistics of publications lavishly printed and distributed may be
interesting.
Of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion a statement made in
1905 IS as follows. (U. S. Printing Investigation Commission, Report, 1906,
V. 1: 124. The plates were then being destroyed.) Set consists of 128
volumes (including index) and atlas. There were printed:
Usual number (then) 1,850 sets
cost $ 218,122.27 '
For W"ar Dept. 11,000 sets
cost 1,479,447.49
Includes only
To supply each mem- ■
printing, pa-
her of the 53d, 54th,
S5th. 56th and 57th T " *"*
cost 234.251-74
- per, and bind-
ing; not cost
Congresses
$1,931,821.50
of compilation.
A partial statement (same date and reference) of the Official Records of
the Union and Confederate Navies follows. 19 volumes to date of state-
ment. (Set IS still being published; series i, v. 2T, now out.)
Usual number (now) 1,345 sets cost $ 23.579.59
For Navy Dept. 11,000 sets cost 181,735 25
$205,314.84
30
Before 1895 31
sion was added to waste by reprinting a report or paper,
of which the first issue should have satisfied all demands,
in a second, a third, or even a fourth, fifth, or sixth dif-
ferent form, each with the same contents, but with differ-
ent and misleading title-pages, binder's titles, and, pos-
sibly, preliminary pages, as one of a series of volumes or
as part of a larger report.
Distribution was largely in the hands of members of
Congress, among whom the copies of each publication
were divided in quotas fixed by law. Finding their al-
lotments of documents accumulating on their hands,
members sent them out broadcast to their constituents
without inquiry as to whether they were wanted, could
be used, or had been already received. Valuable works
that cost the state thousands of dollars to prepare and
print came into the hands of people who never looked
inside them. These persons deemed them worthless and
dry-as-dust statistics, and felt only contempt for them.
They regarded them as junk and disposed of them as
such.
Of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, edited by Richardson, the
following facts may be stated. Each set consists of lo volumes, ist and 2d
editions (21,000 sets) were distributed by members of the 54th Congress
(1895-97). The 3d edition, bringing the total to 36,000 sets, was distributed
by the 55th Congress. (Documents Office, Report, 1897 '98.)
Of the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, in one volume, an
edition of 500,000 is printed annually. Cost is now 82 cents a copy. Elimi-
nation of the report of the secretary as provided in the new bill will reduce
cost to so cents. Distribution is as follows:
Senate 1 10,000 copies
House of Representatives 360,000 copies
Agriculture Dept 30,000 copies
Of the wall maps of the United States prepared by the General Land
Office, 5x7 feet, backed with muslin and mounted on rollers, the legislative
appropriation act annually provides for the following:
Senate 7,200 copies
House of Representatives 14,400 copies
For General Land Office 500 copies
For sale 1 5.000 copies
Each senator has 72 maps, and each representative has 32 maps.
Of Diseases of the Horse, one volume, there had been printed in 1905
(beginning of the 59th Congress) 96 editions, usually of 100.000 up to
250,000 copies each. Succeeding Congresses have also printed editions of
the same size.
Diseases of Cattle, also one volume, has been ordered printed in about
the same number of editions, usually of 50,000 to 100,000 copies.
32 Before 1895
These reckless and prodigal methods were flagrant and
an open scandal. Meanwhile students were seeking the
l)ublications of the government more and more, as the
country grew and the government constantly extended
its field of economic and scientific activity, and as study
of social economics and political administration became
more detailed and universal. But the people who
wanted these works either heard nothing or only vaguely
of their existence ; or were at a loss how or where to get
them ; or, when applying, found the supply exhausted by
the indiscriminate giving. To the average man the gov-
ernment body which issues a document is a riddle, and
even the title of the work is often unknown. The only
known agent to whom to apply is the member of Con-
gress, who is himself often only one step ahead of the
private citizen by virtue of being on the spot of publica-
tion.
Those who handled the government publications, the
librarians and others, saw clearly that reform was needed
not only in distributing but in publishing methods. They
saw that order and method and supervision must be set
up and that the abuse in indiscriminate free distribution
should be stopped to ensure that the people who wanted
the publications of the government should get them. Not
only this, but also they were convinced beyond contro-
versy that it was the lack of competent editorial super-
vision and of bibliographical system, of which the chief
ill result was the constant reprinting in different forms or
editions, that created confusion and complexity and was
at the bottom of the difficulties experienced by librarians
and the public in the use of these publications. A cen-
tral bureau of information and distribution was, it was
thought, needed, also reform in methods, and proper cata-
logs and indexes.
A beginning in this direction had been made by Dr.
John G. Ames, superintendent of documents under the
Interior Department, the distributing agent of govern-
ment publications under the laws of 1857-1861 then in
Before 1895 33
force. He had corresponded with Hbrarians, giving in-
formation about government pubUcations, had circu-
lated checklists of sets of reports, had made his office a
clearinghouse for return of duplicates and supply of
volumes needed, and had prepared an index to works
published by the United States between 1889 and 1893.
This was published by the government in 1894, but has
since been superseded by a later, fuller edition, also the
work of Dr. Ames.^^
13 See Checklist, p. 459, lis. 2:1m.
VI
Documents Office
The agitation for reform thus finding response in
Washington took shape in a law which was approved by
the President January 12, 1895, '^^ith the title, An Act
providing for the public printing and binding and the
distribution of public documents. On this law and its
many amendments is based the entire system according
to which the Government Printing Office, the public
printing, and the distribution of government publications
are carried on today.
By this law of 1895 the office of superintendent of
documents of the Interior Department ^* was abolished,
and there was created the office of the superintendent of
documents (or Documents Office) subordinate to the
Government Printing Office. Its functions are to have
charge of government publications for storage, sale, and
distribution, and domestic exchange (foreign exchange
being continued, as heretofore, through the Smithsonian
Institution, with the Library of Congress as intermedi-
ary) ; and to prepare certain designated catalogs and in-
dexes of them. The superintendent of documents, after
passing a civil service examination, is appointed by the
public printer, to whom he reports. According to the
provisions of the new printing bill he will be appointed
by the President.
Francis A. Crandall, an experienced newspaper editor
and publisher, was the first appointee under the new law.
To him fell the interpretation of the law as to his own
duties, and the entire organization of his office and its
work. It was fortunate for the whole country that this
14 Continued as " clerk in charge of documents " with supervision of the
publications of the Interior Department, till office was discontinued July i,
1907.
34
Documents Office 35
initial organization came into the hands of a man so
progressive, of such broad outlook, such high and exact-
ing standards and devotion to the public interests. The
accumulations of government publications scattered in
different places in Washington and elsewhere were now
gathered under one roof. One copy of every publication
was set aside to form a library. The library thus begun
is now the most nearly complete collection of United
States publications in existence, and numbered at the
end of the fiscal year 191 5/ 16 210,224 documents and
maps. It may be said that the library, when the office
was organized, was set aside from the cataloging, so that
the office of librarian carries with it no authority over nor
supervision of the large cataloging staff".
In its inception the oftice was planned to be the repre-
sentative at Washington of libraries and the general pub-
lic, to be the medium for voicing their claims and view-
point, and for obtaining what they need. These needs
and this view-point are often not understood in ofiicial
Washington, or, it may be, are quietly thwarted behind
the scenes by some individual office-holder or clique, to
whose interests they run counter. By keeping in touch
with this ofiice and cooperating with it, libraries and the
public can make themselves heard and felt on the subject
of the national publications. Officials of the Documents
Office and of other branches of the executive service are
working under a system and laws of which they are not
expected to show up the defects or to undertake the
reform. Call for reform often must issue from the peo-
ple before the voice of the disinterested official pointing
out the need for it can get a hearing.
The Documents Office has its mechanical and business
side in its storage and distribution functions. The Gov-
ernment Printing Office, to which it is a subordinate
bureau, though its mechanical work reaches a high grade,
has only that kind of work, while the Documents Office,
in addition to its mechanical work, conducts a library,
does much reference work, and compiles catalogs and
36 Documents Office
indexes which require the highest technical and Hterary
skill.
These bibliographical functions should be kept in view
in the selection of the superintendent of documents, who
should have comprehension and appreciation of this
brancii of the work also. While librarianship and bibli-
ographical work are rated at their true value in the Li-
brary of Congress, so that Congress has provided perma-
nence of tenure there, and the present librarian is only
the eighth in succession since 1802, it is to be feared that
the work identical in kind which the Documents Office
does has not obtained recognition. The bibliographical
staff of the office, 16 in number, are submerged among
the 4,000 odd printers, binders, clerks and laborers of the
whole establishment. If. as the new printing bill pro-
vides, the President is vested with the appomtment of
the supermtendent of documents, appeal may be made to
him to prevent deterioration of bibliographical standards
by making the appointment dependent upon qualifications
such as the librarian of a large public library must have,
or even by selecting the superintendent of documents
from the ranks of the librarians themselves. Perma-
nence of tenure must be ensured to attract a good man.
Put on the level due it as cataloging and library work,
and recognized as such, this office should be removed
from the field of appointments made and unmade on
political considerations and as parties rise and fall.
The work of the Documents Office, especially of storage
and distribution, has, since its organization, steadily
grown in amount and been extended by legal enactment.
During the fiscal year 1915/16 the cash sales of the office
amounted to $185,712.01 for 5,298,380 pieces sold. The
number of letters received totaled 304,341. Since
October, 19 12, this office has done the " addressing, wrap-
ping, and mailing " of all publications sent out on depart-
mental mailing lists, and these totaled, during 191 5/ 16,
36,892,075. Its function, not mentioned in the law, as a
bureau of expert advice and information on all matters
Documents Office 37
pertaining to United States government publications and
the public printing, is not the least service rendered by it.
The office has had no small share in indicating needed
reforms, and improved methods have resulted whenever
legislation has followed the advice given by the experts
of this office.
VII
Catalogs and Bibliographies
For making the catalogs and indexes required by the
law there were brought in at the organization of the office
trained and experienced workers, and for the first time
scientific methods of cataloging as taught in the library-
schools were applied to the cataloging of a large body of
government publications. The resulting catalogs showed
a clearness and thoroughness and practical utility which
were a revelation to those who had declared that govern-
ment publications required principles and rules quite dif-
ferent from those in use for other works. They were re-
ceived with universal commendation and satisfaction by
librarians, scholars, professional and business men, in
short, by all who have occasion to use the United States
publications, and they are now being issued practically
the same in form as then begun.
This continued adherence to a system which, as has
been said, has met with a chorus of encomiums from its
thousands of users, is good for two reasons. The first is
that, while minor improvements might be made, espe-
cially in the direction of uniformity with Library of Con-
gress practice, yet a total overthrow of the present sys-
tem would almost certainly be a change for the worse
and not for the better. The second is that entries on
cards for all the Document Catalogs issued to date are
in the possession of the Documents Office, and from them
can be made up a consolidated catalog covering a long
term of years and many Congresses, if at any time de-
sired. This could not be done if the system were
changed.
The catalogs and indexes which the law requires are
three in number. First ; a " comprehensive index of pub'
lie documents," to be published at the close of each
38
Catalogs and Bibliographies - 39
session of Congress and to include all the publications of
the period. All since the early issues, however, have
been published at the close and to cover the period of a
whole Congress instead of a single session, as being less
interrupted and more convenient. Such a change is
given legal authority in the new printing bill. This, com-
monly known as the Document Catalog,^^ is in full dic-
tionary catalog form, and is the fullest and only com-
plete alphabetical record of all United States govern-
ment publications to be had. The Monthly Catalog is
also as fully complete, but is not alphabetical. Atten-
tion is called to the entry to be found in each Document
Catalog, in its alphabetical place under the heading,
" Congressional Documents List." Here is given a
schedule or systematically arranged list of all the vol-
umes of the Congressional series for the Congress which
the catalog covers.
Second ; the " consolidated index " is in title-a-line
index form, and is restricted to the Congressional set
alone. It was thought of as superseding the six sepa-
rate indexes which had been heretofore made and bound
in each volume of the six series, viz. : Senate Miscellane-
ous Documents, Senate Executive Documents, Senate Re-
ports ; and House Miscellaneous Documents, House Ex-
ecutive Documents, and House Reports, respectively ; and
as being a consolidation of all these six in one, in a sepa-
rate volume by itself. This is known as the Document
Index,^' and will be taken up more fully later with the
Congressional publications.
Third ; a " Monthly Catalog " ^' of all United States
publications. This has taken on more the form of a
bibliography or list, being a record of documents ar-
ranged under the departments and their subordinate bu-
reaus issuing them, with a curt index which refers to
page only. The index has been variable, and is missing
in some parts of the file. Indeed, this catalog has seen
15 See Checklist, p. 417.
16 See Checklist, p. 418.
17 See Checklist, p. 418-420.
40 Catalogs and Bibliographies
more vicissitudes and changes of form and arrangement
than the others. Notes at the beginning of each issue
give helpful information and explanation and call atten-
tion to noteworthy documents. This Monthly Catalog
is the only one which gives price and directions where
to apply to obtain a work.
In addition to these regularly issued catalogs required
by law, the Documents Office published in 1902 what is
known as the " Tables and Index," ^^ including the Con-
gressional set only, but including that set from the 15th
to the 52d Congress, 1817-1893. It is in two parts, the
first, a list of all the volumes published by the Congresses
covered; the second, an alphabetical index to the same.
As the alphabetical index part is only 113-753 P^g^s, and
it covers 38 Congresses, it may be contrasted with the
1-2025 pages of alphabet in the eleventh volume of the
Document Catalog, which covers only one Congress,
the 62d. It is true the Document Catalog is not re-
stricted to the Congressional set alone, as is the Tables
and Index ; also the number of publications has multi-
plied more than an hundredfold ; therefore as a test of
the minuteness and completeness of the Tables and In-
dex the comparison can not be said to be exact.
Besides these catalogs the Documents Office has pub-
lished its annual reports ; sundry bulletins of varying size
and importance ; and a large number of priced sale lists.^^
These last have been distributed broadcast to bring
home to the people knowledge of the subject matter and
value of the federal publications, and to stimulate sales.
But most important of all, the office issued in 191 1 the
Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909,
third edition, to the value of which, as a model bibliog-
raphy, and as a treasury of facts about the various gov-
ernment bodies and their publications, testimony has al-
ready been given.
Of the index to United States publications of all
18 See Checklist, p. 416.
19 See Checklist, p. 415-425.
Catalogs and Bibliographies 41
branches of the government, prepared by J. G. Ames -'^
as superintendent of documents before that office was
transferred from the Interior Department to the Gov-
ernment Printing Office, mention has already been made.
The first edition covered only 1889- 1893, and was in one
volume. A second edition, published in 1905, superseded
this and extended the years covered to embrace 1881-
1893. Dr. Ames's work is in form an index, which form
precludes giving titles of works with uniformity and
bibliographical exactness, and in so far fails occasionally
in identification of the work recorded. But its construc-
tion, with the Congressional series designations and num-
ber of pages or volumes in the right margin, and the
author, official or personal, in the left margin, is ingenious
and space-saving; and, though necessarily incomplete,
due to the compiler's scanty means for getting hold of
what was published, it is a useful work.
A catalog, also purporting to include all works of
the government, had been issued in 1885, and is the work
of Ben Perley Poore."^ It covers the period 1 774-1 881,
and embraces a perhaps surprisingly large proportion of
what had been published, although not much except what
is in the Congressional set. Its construction is clumsy
and time-consuming, namely, a chronological list of titles
occupying most of the bulky large quarto volume, fol-
lowed by an alphabetical index of subjects and authors
which refers to page only. Thus the whole double-
column page has to be searched to find the title to which
reference is made.
To assist the memory and guide in making quick and
sure reference to the right book for each work or prob-
lem sought, a summary of the seven available lists and
catalogs is herewith given : —
Bibliographies or lists.-'^
To all :
Checklist; ist-6oth Congress; 1789-1909.
20 See Checklist, p. 459.
21 See Checklist, p. i6_'.3.
22 See, for account of bibliographies and lists, Checklist, pages vii-xiii.
42 Catalogs and Bibliographies
Continued by
Monthly Catalog; 54th Congress, near close of 3(1
session, to date; January, 1895 — date of latest
issue.
To Congressional set only :
Checklist, tables in first part; ist-6oth Congress; 1789-
1909.
Tables and Index, tables in first part; I5th-52d Con-
gress; 1817-93.
Document Catalog, under heading, " Congressional
Documents List"; 53d Congress, 1893, to date of
latest issue.
Document Index, Schedule of Volumes at end: 54th
Congress, 1895, to date of latest issue.
Catalogs
To all:
Poore; 1 774-1 881.
Ames ; 1881-1893.
Document Catalog; 1893 — date of latest issue.
Continued by
Monthly Catalog, Index to ; 1895 — date of latest issue.
To Congressional set only :
Tables and Index, second part; I5th-52d Congress;
1817-1893.
Continued by
Document Index; 54th Congress, 1895 — date of latest
issue.
VIII
Depository Libraries
A library to which according to law all or certain pub-
lications of the national government must be sent is
called a depository library.-^ The practice of supplying
documents to libraries dates from early in the history of
the nation, but acts of 1857, 1858, 1859, and 1861 laid
the foundation of the present system of designation by
members of Congress of libraries in their home locali-
ties as depositories. As the law now stands each repre-
sentative may designate one library in his district and
each senator and delegate one in his state or territory.
Certain libraries additional to these have been made de-
positories by special enactments from the early days on.
In the new printing bill the list by special enactment is
slightly enlarged, and that, being most likely the list of
the future, is given here : — the libraries of all the execu-
tive departments, at present ten in number ; of the United
States Military and Xaval academies; of the Documents
Office, and the Pan-American Union ; of the American
Antiquarian Society — this having been continuously a
depository from 1814, the first created by law; the
libraries of the land-grant colleges, 67 in number; of
each state and territory, of the District of Columbia, of
Porto Rico, and of the Philippines; and of the Canal
Zone, Isthmus of Panama, and the Historical Library
and Museum of Alaska.
At the end of the fiscal year 191 5/ 16, the existing de-
23 See list of depositories and references to laws concerning them in U. S.
Documents Offiee, Official list of depository libraries ... to Jan. i, 1909,
p. 3-6. (Bulletin ij.) Also, same infcrmaticn brought down to lattr date,
but without list, in U. S. Documents Office, Depository libraries. [July 15,
1913] 4 P (Circular 22, 2d rev. ed.) See also, beyond, Bibliography
of Laws: Depositories. Also U. S. Congress. Printing Joint Committee.
Congressional printing handbook, 1913, p. 95-103.
43
44 Depository Libraries
positorics to which the superintendent of documents was
making regular shipments numbered 484.
By the earher laws distribution to depositories was
made through the Interior Department. When the print-
ing law of 1895 abolished the office of superintendent of
documents in that department, it transferred this distri-
bution to the new Documents Ofifice under the Govern-
ment Printing Office.
Of course, the object of the Congressional designations
of libraries to receive the national publications is to pro-
vide complete collections of these at centers in every part
of the United States. That these collections should be
complete, and in fixed libraries whose designations
should be permanent, and not partial collections scat-
tered among many libraries whose designations should
change as the membership of Congress changes, will not
be questioned. Congress took a step to effect this, after
redistricting had occurred in some states, by providing,
in the act of March i, 1907, that existing designations in
the redistricted area should be permanent. Again, the
sundry civil appropriation act of June 2T), 1913, in view
of a rearrangement of Congressional districts to follow
a new reapportionment, took the precaution to enact the
same for the whole country. But the new printing bill
takes the designation of depositories away from the
shifting membership of Congress and vests it in the su-
perintendent of documents, as a decisive step for the
permanency and completeness of these storehouses of the
nation's publications, at the same time enacting that all
existing designations shall stand permanently.
Depositories are required to have a minimum of 1,000
volumes outside of the documents, and to be free to the
public.^* They are expected to accept, preserve, and
make accessible to the public all the nation's publications
sent them. They may not sell, give away, destroy, nor
24 The new printing bill does not specify requirement of minimum size for
depository libraries, but says they are to be designated " under such rules
and regulations as shall be approved by the Joint Committee on Printing."
It does require that all publications given them shall be made accessible to
the public.
Depository Libraries 45
reject anything except duplicates, and these they are ex-
pected to frank back to the clearing house of the Docu-
ments Office in Washington. The number of books,
pamphlets, etc., sent to each depository during the fiscal
year 1915/16 was 1,627,405, an average of over 3,362 to
each one. The responsibility of providing shelf room
and of caring for so much, including always some mate-
rial that, in all probability, in some of them will never be
used, has weighed heavily upon especially the smaller
and poorer depositories. The new printing bill provides
that each library be allowed to choose whether every-
thing, or only certain publications shall be sent to it.
To give relief to such libraries as wish it, the Superin-
tendent of Documents has, since 19 14, with the approval
of the Joint Committee on Printing, distributed to libra-
ries on this selection basis, each depository selecting what
it will receive.-^ That this possibility of rejection be-
cause of lack of means to care for might result in there
being no complete collection of documents within a wide
area, especially in the newer states, where libraries are
fewer and with smaller resources, is, perhaps, the only
danger in this concession. The depository library has
responsibilities, each in its own locality, for all future
time, to the historian, the archivist, the delver into first
hand sources of the past, and should govern itself by this
consideration as well as by the current needs of its
readers.
The weakness of the depository system, which has
been a sufficiently long time on trial, is that, while theo-
retically a good one, it does not correspond to the actual
situation in regard to libraries throughout the United
States.-*^ Leaving out of the question the state libraries,
there are not dotted all over the United States at equal
intervals and for equal units of population such as the
25 See U. S. Documents Office. Depository libraries. [July 15, igu-l
4 I). (Circular 22, 2d rev. ed.)
2ti See, for criticism of the present system of designating depositories,
Library Journa), 33: 150-151, Apr., 1908. Also Public Libraries, 12: 251-
254, 1907 (Hasse), or same, in American Library Association, Papers and
proceedings, igt", p. 132-135.
46 Depository Libraries
Congressional districts represent, libraries the support
and accommodations of which are adequate to accepting
and caring for the thousands of publications which a
generous Uncle Sam has arranged to bestow upon them.
On the other hand, there is a large and increasing num-
ber of libraries which have use for certain publications
selected according to the needs of each library. Neither
the present law nor the proposed bill makes adequate pro-
vision for these libraries, which, it would seem, siiould
look for their supply to the one agency, the Documents
Ofifice, rather than to the various publishing offices,
and for the demands of which that ofhce should be given
an ample quota of every work as it comes from the press.
As has been said, when the new printing bill becomes law
the designations of depositories will be legally vested in
the Documents Office, and the selection plan will permit
a depository to accept only one book a year — an ab-
surdly improbable minimum — if that is all it can use
and take care of. These concessions having been ob-
tained, there should be initiated immediately movement
for a further improvement in the depository system.
The lists should be thrown open, so that any and all
libraries may become depositories. The depository sys-
tem should become more a system of registration of
libraries, as the libraries of New York state register with
the New York State Education Department and receive
certain privileges. Any library that fulfils the conditions
of registration should then be entitled to call upon the
Documents Office as its legally appointed central agent
for the supply free of any publication of the govern-
ment — and that office, as said above, should have such
control of editions that it shall not fail these demands.
Should it be said that the government can not afford
such universal free distribution to libraries, one needs
only to point to the overprinting going on as evidenced
by the sales to the junk man of tons of printed matter
that no one wants, and the other waste through bad pub-
lication methods described in these pages, to show that
Depository Libraries 47
economy should be effected by cutting off what no one
wants rather than what the hbraries want for their pub-
lic.^^ For, one copy preserved and cataloged in a
library saves providing a hundred copies to as many in-
dividual readers.
In addition to those of which we have been speaking,
there are also, according to the law of 1895, the so-
called geological depositories and the Patent Gazette de-
positories, named by members of Congress to receive
publications of the Geological Survey and the Official
Gazette of the Patent Office respectively. Of the
former libraries each of the 96 senators and the 440
representatives and delegates can name four, making a
possible total, in 1917, of 2,144 geological depository
libraries.-* Of the latter, each could designate eight, and
the possible total becomes 4,288 Patent Gazette deposi-
tory libraries. As not so many libraries were found
wishing these publications as was expected, and other
ways of obtaining them are open to such as do want them,
both these classes of depositories are to be abolished by
the new bill.
Among documents which are exceptions to the gen-
eral rule that one copy of everything published goes to
the depository libraries may be mentioned the follow-
ing: — such as are confidential or which are printed ex-
clusively for the needs of the department of bureau ; the
bills and resolutions of Congress ; the Senate and House
Journals ; the reports and digests and other publications
of the federal courts ; besides others, mostly minor in
size or technical in nature, e.g. the Treasury decisions.
27 " Of such accumulated returns vve have recently destroyed, by permis-
sion of the Joint Committee on Printing, nearly i,ooo tons of books which
were absolutely worthless." Superintendent of Documents (Post) in Lib.
Jour. 34: 44, Feb., 1909. See also reports of the Documents Office for
i9i4/'5. 191 5/16, and other years. See also speech of Senator Smoot, Mar.
12 & 13, 1912, p. 43, under heading: Waste of Public Documents; same in
Cong. Record, Mar. 12, 1912.
28 The first enactment of geological depositories was by joint resolution of
Mar. 3, 1887, permitting two designations to each member of Congress. The
law of 1895 granted two more.
IX
Edition and Demand: "Usual Number:"
"Up Number:" "Reserve"
The laws regulating United States government publi-
cations under the present complicated system are very
detailed and voluminous. -■' They undertake to settle for
each publication just how many copies shall be printed
and to whom each shall go. It is, of course, impossible
to go into the subject of the number of copies of each
work allowed by law to be printed, and their distribution.
But the phrases " usual number," " up number," " re-
serve," have been brought into discussions of printing
regulations so often as to require explanation. The four
series of the Reports and Documents of the Senate and
House, and many other publications, are ordered printed
in the " usual number." Of many publications the law
provides that there shall be printed an extra number of
copies " in addition to the usual number." The usual
number was originally a fixed number in the statute.
It is designed to be just so many copies as will supply all
the regularly entitled recipients. By the law of 1895 i^
was set at 1,682. It has fluctuated.- It was stated be-
fore the Printing Investigation Commission in 1905 as
1,850. The latest statement has named it as "approxi-
mately 1,345 copies, varying with the number of deposi-
tory libraries.'' ^° In the new bill it is not a fixed num-
ber, but instead the recipients are designated, and it is
20 See, bej-ond. Bibliography: Laws.
30 See statement by Geo. H. Carter, clerk of the Joint Committee on
Printing, Library Journal, Nov., 1914, p. 818. But see also U. S. Congress.
Printing Joint Committee, Congressional printing handbook, 1913, p. 15>
where number is stated as 1,316 copies, and the varying numbers of inter-
national exchanges and foreign legations mentioned as factors in determin-
ing the " usual number." Everhart, published 1910, gives the usual number
as 2,474, including " up-number " i,-'77 and reserve 1,197.
48
Edition and Demand 49
ordered that a sufficient number of copies be printed to
supply them. It is also specified whether their copies
are to go to them bound or unbound. The bill makes
the varying factors two in number : — the depository
libraries ; and the press galleries, and the newspaper cor-
respondents whose names are now listed in the Congres-
sional Directory, these latter being newly added. This
addition it is* estimated will bring the usual number up
to about 1,800 copies. The recipients, not to give a com-
plete list, include members of Congress and its officials,
government offices generally, together with the legations
in Washington (this being dependent on whether the
favor is reciprocated in the legation's country), the in-
ternational exchanges through the Library of Congress,
and the depository libraries. Thus it will be seen that
the depositories are sure to get all of which the usual
number is printed. Other publications are provided for
them by special clauses or acts.
The " up number " was those given immediately to the
recipients, mostly in Washington, and unbound. The
" reserve " was put aside to be bound and distributed
later to depositories, or on order to members of Con-
gress. By law of June 25, 1910, the ** members' reserve,"
or that portion of the whole reserve which was put aside
for two years subject to being bound and given in fixed
quotas to members of Congress, on their orders, was
abolished, and their need supplied from the Senate and
House document rooms. ^^ This reduced the size of the
usual number. The depositories are now supplied
from the " up number." These details are not of spe-
cial interest except to those who work the machinery in
Washington, and are also largely gone by.
The problem of the legislators is to adjust supply to
demand, and the existing system of statutory regulation,
applying a fixed rule to every case, does not, of course,
accomplish this. The Printing Investigation Commis-
sion perceived this, and caused to be passed public reso-
31 See S. Report 568, 6ist Congress, 2d session, Apr. 16, 1910, 4 p.
50
Edition and Demand
lution 14 of March, 1906 (59th Congress, ist ses-
sion). This requires that, prior to printing publications
of more than trifling cost, an estimate of the numljcr of
copies needed for use be made, and that only such num-
ber of copies be first printed, this to be regarded as a
first edition. When this edition is exhausted, another
edition or editions may be printed to supply demands, till
the aggregate equals the total authorized by law. The
resolution applies to both Congressional and executive
publications. Regulations under this statute were pro-
mulgated by the Joint Committee on Printing on May
18, 1906, and revised January 13, 1909, the latest revi-
sion being dated October 6, 1913.^" Included is a list of
129 publications which are ordinarily printed each year,
giving for each the usual number, unbound and bound,
and the extra copies, as authorized, with the distribution
of each, and in each case the substituted number that is to
be printed as a first edition. The edition plan would
seem to have the effect of substituting another and lower
fixed number for that in the printing laws, with an added
element of flexibility in being able to reprint if demand
arises. As to publications not on the list, those which
are Congressional and not over one hundred pages have
no estimate made of them, nor first edition printed.
Those who make the edition estimates for the various
classes of publications are, respectively, the publishing
departments, the Joint Committee on Printing, the Docu-
ments Office, and the document rooms and folding rooms
of the Senate and House.
There seems a growing tendency to substitute in the
laws provisions which, instead of fixing the number of
copies of a publication to be printed, delegate that re-
sponsibility to the body or officers which are going to use
or distribute it, giving them carte blanche to order such
an edition as is needed. Why this could not be made
the universal rule naturally comes up to question. In
32 For regulations of 1906 see U. S. Printing Investigation Commission,
Report, 1906. V. 2, p. 672-691. Later revisions are printed as separate
pamphlets. See, beyond, Bibliography: Printing Investigation Commission.
Edition and Demand 51
the same way as a budget is made up, estimates of the
number wanted could be handed in in advance of print-
ing, by every ofifice or officer that will use or distribute a
work, to whatever board or officer is appointed to have
charge of the details of printing and distribution. Let-
ting the total edition then be kept in some central store-
house, all parties could draw upon it, according to their
estimates, at their convenience, and the remainder be
available for sale to individuals and free distribution to
libraries on request. The obligation laid upon all offices
in Washington handling government publications, execu-
tive and Congressional, to return all surplus to the Docu-
ments Office each year, would soon disclose whether a
department had made its estimates recklessly and in ex-
cess. The time-honored custom of delivering to stated
recipients fixed quotas of publications for which they
have expressed no desire, and for which they may have
neither use nor storage room seems to operate to enrich
the junk man at the expense of the United States gov-
ernment.
X
Distribution ^'
There are at present three overlapping agencies of dis-
tribution: — (i) the publishing department; (2) the
Documents Office; and (3) the members of Congress.
The official source of information — outside of sales
lists and the like — as to price and where to apply for a
special publication or class of publications is the Monthly
Catalog.
It is to be marked, first and foremost, that the Docu-
ments Office is the great storage and supply house of all
the publications of past years.
To the Documents Office, in its capacity as a clearing
house, libraries, individuals, officers and departments of
the United States may return, under franks furnished
by the office, all superfluous and unused government
publications. It is one of the functions of the Docu-
ments Office to relieve the other government offices of
the necessity of keeping a stock of back publications.
From these incoming lots the office extracts what is
usable and still in demand. It is a sad commentary on
the waste going on that — so great has been the conges-
tion of books pouring in upon the office from all parts of
the country and all departments of the government, and
so impossible the problem of storing them in numbers
mounting up into the millions — the office has found
itself forced to seek means of relief. At five different
dates between 1908 and 1912, 3,039,342 copies of surplus
and obsolete publications were condemned, cut up, and
sold as waste at eight-tenths of a cent a pound."* The
33 Wm. S. Rossiter, What shall we do with public documents? Atlantic,
97: 560-565, 1907. See also W. L. Post in Library Journal, 34: 44, 48, Feb.,
1909.
34 U. S. Congress. Printing Joint Comn^ittee, Congressional printing
52
Distribution 53
mere paper alone, before any of the labor of printing or
binding was expended on it, had cost the country from
three and one-half to seven cents a pound. Sale of junk
paper goes on today to the amount of $125,000 a year.
It is to be marked, secondly, that the Documents Of-
fice is the almost exclusive agent for the selling of gov-
ernment publications.
The policy has been developed of requiring individuals
to pay for government publications, the price, according
to law, to be usually equal to the cost of printing from
stereotype plates, including paper and binding. This is,
of course, far below the actual cost, as it leaves out, in
the process of manufacture, the composition or typeset-
ting, and does not reckon in at all the preparation of
manuscript or authorship value. An example is the
Checklist . . . 1789- 1909, a work of 1.707 octavo pages,
which is sold at $1.50. One hundred times this sum
would not, perhaps, for the number of copies that will be
sold, pay the salaries for the time spent on it of the ex-
perts who compiled the work. And the expense of set-
ting the type, if added to the cost as the government
reckons it, would more than double the price.
Although individuals are expected to pay, it is the
policy of the government to give freely to libraries that
are open to the public whatever they can use. It is as-
sumed that the depository libraries will be supplied with
everything intended for distribution. Mark, thirdly, that
the Documents Office is the agent of supply to the deposi-
tory libraries. But for the libraries of medium size also,
now so rapidly increasing in number, the Documents Of-
fice should become the authorized agent of free distribu-
tion. It should be supplied with quotas of all publica-
tions sought for by those libraries in order to give them
out to the libraries on demand. This need will, it is
hoped, before long be recognized and provided for by
law. The depository system, which looks especially to
handbook, 1913, p. 127. See also Cong. Record, 64th Cong., ist sess., H.
of R.; Apr. 26, 1916; v. 33:6870; Barnhart.
54
Distribution
the needs of the large library, fails of providing ade-
quately for the libraries which will never be of more than
moderate size. In the newer and less settled portions of
our country, where there are few libraries able to burden
themselves with everything that a multifarious govern-
ment puts into print, the depository system breaks down ;
and everywhere it needs to be supplemented by a more
general system of giving to any and all free libraries. ^^
When a librarian wants to get a United States govern-
ment publication, let him consider first whether it is a
recent work or not. As has been explained, publications
of past years are, as a rule, obtainable only through the
Documents Of^ce. though some government offices may
cling to the practice of supplying files of their own puljli-
cations. Next let it be decided whether it is a Congres-
sional publication, or whether it is non-Congressional in
origin, i.e., issued by some body of the executive or ju-
dicial branch of the government, a department, bureau,
oflfice. division, a court, or a permanent commission or
board. In the identification of the oi^cial author the
Checklist . . . 1789-1809, and the pamphlet, Author
Headings for United States Public Documents'*^ (three
editions, 1903, 1907, and 191 5, each covering only its own
period), or the list of government authors at the end of
each Document Catalog, will be of service.
If the publication be decided to be recent and non-Con-
gressional, let the librarian then consult the "Monthly
Catalog of the appropriate date to see if there are any
special directions for applying for it. Although a price
may be named there, it does not follow that a library will
have to pay to get it. If the Monthly Catalog is not at
hand, or if no special directions are given there, let the
librarian ask the department or other body which pub-
lishes it to give the library a copy, or, if an annual or
other serial, to place the library on its mailing list so
35 See Documents Office, Annual report, 1915/16, p. 6. Also, Library
Journal, ^4: 608, 1899. Also Clarke, Government publications as seen in.
libraries; A. L. A. Papers and proceedings, 1916, C:3, p. 318.
36 See Checklist, p. 416.
Distribution 55
that it may receive this and future issues. If the pub-
lishing office can not supply what is wanted, it will most
likely give a hint as to a source of supply.
The publishing office is the preferable place for first
application for a non-Congressional publication because
of its permanence and first-handedness. Especially is
this true for annuals and other serials which it is de-
sired to receive regularly. The publishing office has as
part of its mission to keep the public, and especially those
citizens working in the same field, informed by means
of its publications as to what it is doing. Many research
bureaus have scientific workers collaborating with them,
possibly contributing in their investigations, and these re-
ceive the published results as their due. On the other
hand, many departments, especially the War and Navy,
put certain matter in print with a single eye to official
use. The non-official public is only incidentally allowed
to share in the distribution as a favor from the depart-
ment. Examples are the Manuals of Surveying Instruc-
tions of the General Land Office," the Manual for Army
Cooks ^* of the Subsistence Department,^" and there are
many others. Other publications, like the agricultural
Year Book or the Smithsonian reports, are published
with the sole purpose of spreading useful information.
These considerations seem to justify some free distribu-
tion by the publishing office, where it may be done with
discrimination and an eye to results.
By act of August 23, 1912, the " addressing, wrapping,
mailing, and otherwise dispatching " of all publications
sent out by publishing offices was directed to be done in
the Documents Office, the mailing lists of each office be-
ing put for this purpose in the hands of the superin-
tendent of documents. In the year 191 5/16 the office
reported that it distributed for the departments from
1,103 stenciled mailing key lists, containing 850,000
37 See Checklist, p. 509.
38 See Checklist, p. 1233.
39 The Subsistence Department is now a part of the office of the Quarter-
master General of the Army.
56 Distribution
names. Changes on these hsts were made to the num-
ber of 274,611 new names and the cancellation of 142,-
444 old ones. Many departments make it their rule to
strike from their mailing lists all depository libraries,
which, as such, are supplied by the Documents Office,
unless a specific request for a second copy has been made.
Thus sending of duplicates where not needed is pre-
vented, except that caused by Congressional distribution.
Duplication has been a large cause of the piling back
upon the Documents Office by libraries of documents
sent to them but not wanted. It is evident that this
duplication must be stopped, that the backward flow due
to it must be checked, and the actual demand be given a
chance to assert itself and become known. Only when
this has been eflfected can those in charge at Washing-
ton arrive at any rational estimates by which to adjust
supply to demand. Duplication in distribution alone is
considered here. Elsewhere the equally bad duplication
by publishing many editions of one work is given atten-
tion. But where it can be proved that there is genuine
use of a work in more than one part of a library, say in
the legislative reference section as well as in the docu-
ments department, or in several branch libraries, it would
seem that a government which has been lavish to waste-
fulness would not stint the granting of a second, a third,
or even more copies if asked for. These extra copies
would, indeed, be saved many times over could only re-
formed and systematized methods of distribution be fully
enforced.
Difficulty may arise as to publications of boards or
commissions not permanent, which have passed out
of existence after having performed the duties for which
they were created, perhaps leaving a trail of documents
which continue to appear after their decease. Such are
the Industrial Commission of 1898-1902, the Immigration
Commission of 1907-1910, and the Industrial Relations
Commission, 1912-1916. Or a publishing office may not
be able to supply a document, or may ask payment. Gen-
Distribution 57
erally speaking, unless a library has book funds ample
for all its needs, it should try every avenue of distribu-
tion before it accedes to paying for a publication of the
national government, although there are a few cases
where payment is required even from a library. In the
cases above mentioned recourse must be had, of course, to
the other two sources of supply, the Documents Office,
and the state senators or the representative of the dis-
trict.
The Documents Office's supply of recent publications
for free distribution is generally only a remainder after
the legal distribution has been carried out.*'' As the
legally designated residuary legatee of every official body,
however, copies are likely to drift in later from those
sources.
Congressional free distribution
Congressional publications, i.e., such as have printed
on them — and it is part of the binder's title as well —
the title of one of the four series : — Senate Reports,
Senate Documents, House Reports, House Documents —
are to be asked for from members of Congress. Also
from them is to be asked at present the Congressional
Record, although by the new law the Documents Office
will supply this to depositories.
Centralization, whether for sales or gifts, is conceded
to be desirable, and the establishment of the Documents
Office was with the intent that it should serve as such a
central agency. We have seen, however, that free dis-
tribution by departments may and should exist in har-
mony with this.
For free distribution by members of Congress there
would seem to be no such justification. Originally,
when the publications which emanate from Senate and
House were all there were published, no other means
of giving them out to the public existed or was thought
40 The Documents Office's supply for distribution is stated by Senator
Smoot as consisting solely of " remainders . . . reversions . . . and ex-
changes . . ." See S. Report 731, 6ist Congress, 2d sess. May 23, 1910.
58 Distribution
of. Now that two-thirds to three- fourths are non-
Congressional, and the Documents Office has been
created expressly to take care of the distribution, the
old-time free distribution by members of Congress,
like the free seed distribution, has lost its excuse for be-
ing. As it can not fail to be on political lines, and with-
out discrimination or knowledge as to use or interest, it
has been in the past the main source of duplication and
extravagance in the disposal of the government's print-
ing. Sent by members of Congress to their constitutents,
lightly prized as a compliment or a bonus, the volumes
find their way to attic or cellar and are thrown out in the
annual housecleaning, and dumped upon the local library
or the second-hand man, and trickle back to the clearing-
house at Washington.
Great as is its direct wastefulness, it indirectly fosters
even greater extravagance in its bad effect upon methods
of publication. It fosters the overloaded Congressional
set.^^ Not that a work published independently of the
set is not just as free to the member of Congress if
he asks for it as one published in the set, and the valua-
tion plan described in the following paragraph should
work out that way. But the officials who serve Con-
gress in the care and use of the publications, changing
from time to time, and untrained in dealing with book
collections, cling to the series numbering as their only
life line by means of which they can find and handle the
books. Without it they are lost. The class mark given
by the Documents Office to each work as soon as issued,
being shorter and available for every department pub-
lication, has proved in that office a thoroughly work-
able substitute for the series numbers, and its use by the
officials of the Senate and House libraries, document
rooms, and folding rooms would remove their difficulties.
For the senators' and representatives' personal use, as
each may require, of course no restriction or stinting is
thought of or should be made.
41 See, beyond, Why Bewildering: topic 6.
Distribution 59
What is looked upon as a step toward transferring the
distribution now lodged in members of Congress to the
Documents Office is put forward in the new printing bill
by the so-called valuation plan. According to this each
senator is to have credit at the Documents Office to the
amount of $2,200, and each representative to the amount
of $1,800 annually. The office will send out publications
free on his order till their sale prices exhaust the credit.
Duplications of orders will be detected in the office and
canceled. The Report on the bill has this to say on the
subject:^- "It is believed that the proposition to sell
all government pulilications at a minimum price should
be worked out gradually. . . . The proposed distribu-
tion of documents to members of Congress on a valuation
basis, as provided for in section 68,*^ is another step in
the progress towards the ultimate sale of government
publications. ... It is believed that when the public is
ready for the placing of all government publications upon
a strict business basis the change can be . . . made . . .
to the satisfaction of all concerned."
This order credit should extend to anything pub-
lished by the government that is subject to public distri-
bution, and not, as drafted in the new printing bill, be
again under rigid statutory provision and limited to fixed
quotas of special publications printed for Congressional
valuation, although provision is also made for obtaining
others not on the valuation list. That the valuation plan
will introduce incalculability into the demand that under
the present system of edition fixed by statute will be al-
most impracticable, only shows the faultiness of that
system, and the need of replacing it by the editorial board
on government publications recommended by the Com-
mittee on Department Methods. This prospective cur-
tailment of free distribution, let it once more be observed,
is not intended to aiTect libraries.
42 Senate Report 438, 63d Congress, 2d session, p. 68-69; also identical
House Report 564.
43 Sec. so in the 64th Congress bill.
6o Distribution
Congressional free distribution has always included an
item of expense little known to outsiders, namely, the
maintenance by Senate and House separately of folding
rooms, each with a number of employes engaged to do
the wrapping and mailing of documents sent out by mem-
bers. It has been openly stated on the floor of Congress,
and the testimony at the hearings on the proposed bill
has corroborated it, that any business firm could do this
work at about one-half to three-fourths the expendi-
ture.^* Although the service ofifered to Congress by the
Library of Congress, with its immense resources and
its stafif of experts, in its legislative reference library, its
law library, and its documents division — where are kept
two copies of every publication of the national govern-
ment — fulfils now all the functions for which formerly
the House and Senate libraries were needed ; and the
experts of the Documents Ofifice do the distribution,
as statistics show, with a much higher percentage of
efficiency than the politically appointed officials of the
folding rooms — yet Congress is slow to relinquish its
earlier appointed agencies, even though their work is now
done better by new ones. In its present form the pro-
posed bill does not abolish these folding rooms, but, the
sending out of publications on the members' valuation
orders being transferred to the Documents Office, leaves
to them the wrapping and mailing of speeches and other
reprints for members.
Objection to the valuation plan was voiced by mem-
bers who stated that if their distribution was put on
a money basis they would be swamped with requests for
the more expensive w^orks up to a money value far be-
yond the sum allotted them ; while on the quota basis
they could take refuge in the reply that their quota of
such a work was exhausted. The bill as offered in the
2d session of the 64th Congress (S. 7795 and H. 21021)
44 In the Hearings before the House printing committee. May 20-22,
jgi2, p. 106, the annual cost of the folding rooms is estimated at $88,345,
doing work that the superintendent of documents stated would cost, if done
in his office, $19,965.
Distribution 6i
makes the use of the valuation plan or remaining on the
old quota system optional with members.
Before we leave the subject of free distribution by
members of Congress there should be mentioned again
the wholesale dumping out as waste and throwing away
of these publications which have cost the United States
so much to print and perhaps to bind. In folding rooms
and document rooms of Congress by the officials there ;
by senators and representatives as they receive them at
their offices and homes ; by their constituents to whom
they ship the documents as perhaps unwelcome gifts —
among all these this disposal as waste goes on. Under
the present Congressional quota system the publications
go out, not in answ-er to the cry — I want information
about immigration, national banks, the soils of my dis-
trict, or what not. The cry seems to be rather — Here is
this government document stufif piling in upon us ; how
can we get rid of it?
Suinmary
To sum up ! After twenty years the Documents Of-
fice, established expressly to centralize the handling of
documents, has succeeded in making headway against
privilege entrenched in habit only to the extent of cen-
tralizing the stock of back publications. But as to cur-
rent publications w^e are yet far from the simple system
under which the man in the street and any library can
apply to the Documents Office in every case, and obtain
without fail by purchase or gift the desired publication.
The printing laws are still burdened with undertaking to
say for each publication just how many copies shall be
printed, and to whom each copy shall go, instead of hand-
ing over the minutise of regulation to the Documents
Office and its bibliographical experts, or to a board repre-
senting all parties concerned, with a budget system, mak-
ing estimates of documents instead of dollars, to regulate
the editions printed. Of a great many publications, be-
sides all in the Congressional series, the entire edition is
62 Distribution
handed over for distribution to members of Congress,
or to the pubHshing department and Congress, the Docu-
ments Office receiving only a few remainder copies,*'' and
those which may later trickle back from recipients who
got what they did not want. As to selling, the Docu-
ments Office has competitors among a few of the publish-
ing offices. Some of these still hold on to the sale o£
their own publications, which is denied to the Documents
Office. And although between 450 and 500 libraries as
designated depositories have a legally appointed central
supply agent in the Documents Office, yet the great ma-
jority of libraries which are outside this class are still
floundering between three cross currents of supply. We
are yet far from fulfilment of the prediction, " Some day
it will come about that every library can have just what
it wants, nothing more, nothing less, and all from one
central office." *'''
The tyro may be reminded that all government publi-
cations are sent from government departments and by
members of Congress free of mail charges. Also that no
government office will accept postage stamps in payment.
45 See table of remainders received by the Documents Office from round
numbers printed for Senate ami House, in U. S. Congress. Printing Joint
Committtee. Congressional printing handbook, 1913, p. 102.
46 J. I. Wyer, U. S. government documents, 1906, p. 32. See also, be-
fore, under Depository Libraries, p. 46, project for attaining to this
desired status.
XI
Why Bewildering: Bad Publishing Methods
What follows is descriptive of a century's output of
our country's publications, irrespective of what reforms
have been made in recent years. These, and some which
still remain to be made, will be recounted later.
The publications of our national government have
been in the past very bewildering, an entanglement in
the mass, and a hard nut to crack in the individual docu-
ment. The difficulties in their use are various. Some
of them can be remedied ; others inhere in the documents
themselves. Their difficulty exists in, first, their subject
matter, and in the ill-digested manner of its presenta-
tion, i.e., lack of competent editing; second, in the bad
and all but useless indexes which before 1895 were
given them ; third, in their corporate authorship, as the
cataloging phrase goes, that is, in the fact that their
authors are not persons, but government or official bodies
and in the fact that these bodies are in constant process of
change ; fourth, in their involved titles with excessive
verbiage, especially in the Reports and Documents of
Congress ; fifth, in the way the publications of Con-
gress are arranged and gathered into volumes, without
grouping by subject or source (though now an effort in
this direction is made), and formerly with no key to the
volume in the way either of table of contents or of run-
ning page headings ; sixth, in being reprinted and re-
reprinted to make up various series, in which works al-
ready separately published and dissimilar in subject and
length are arbitrarily tied together by a uniform binding
and lettering and consecutive numbering; seventh, in
their being reprinted, also, as parts of larger works, an
inferior officer's report being reprinted in that of the
63
64 Why Bewildering
next higher officer, and so on till it reaches the top of
the ladder; these reprints or editions being in most cases
each the same in text as the original print, but, as ex-
plained, being combined with other matter.
All but the first of these difficulties is bibliographical.
Many of them arise from the way documents are made
up and their bad publication methods. Others can not
be overcome, but exist in the publications themselves,
and for this class it is doubtful whether any other method
of dealing with the material with fewer difficulties could
be devised.
It is but fair to say also that, so far as the writer's
experience goes, the publications of the United States
are no more complicated than those of other countries.
Many of the states of the Union, also, follow the unde-
sirable pattern of the federal publications in a repub-
lished uniform complete series of their publications.
And when the great state of New York offers no index
to its voluminous document set, it is obvious that to find
the document wanted is not quickly possible. It is to be
hoped that the reform which is being brought about in
the federal publications may inspire the states to show
their progressiveness by following suit. Let us con-
sider each one of these difficulties more closely.
J. Technical subjects-' poor editing
First, difficulties in the subject matter and its frag-
mentariness, and in poor editing. Government publica-
tions, those, at least, which are administrative and of-
ficial in matter, can not be made to have the clearness
and interest of popular works. Exception must be
made of the increasing number of valuable and authori-
tative brochures and books prepared for popular in-
struction by the scientific experts of our government.
These, written in clear, terse, vigorous English, often
attractively illustrated, well bound, of a high grade of
excellence or even elegance in typographical style and
Why Bewildering 65
execution, are the equals of any put out by private pub-
lishers.
But the ordinary run of official publications on ad-
ministrative business is different. In the first place, this
business is of as many kinds and as various as are the
different sections of the United States and the affairs
with which government concerns itself. Its subjects
are largely technical, special, local, matters of law and
administration which the average citizen finds hard to
understand. In the second place, often the document
in hand concerns only one phase or segment of a situa-
tion or action whose beginning and end are in other docu-
ments. Usually no word of explanation is oft'ered,
though occasionally curt references to previously pub-
lished material on the same subject are given in fore-
word or text. It is like one instalment of a serial story
without the usual synopsis of the preceding chapters.
In the third place, many government publications lack
in clear and systematic arrangement. Their prepara-
tion has not been given the same thought, labor and skill,
the digesting, arranging and boiling down, the molding
into shape, pruning, and polishing, spent on private pub-
lications that must commend themselves to the public in
order to pay for the expense of their pul^Iishing. What
editorial supervision they receive, especially the admin-
istrative reports, is from hands often not experienced
in book publishing, however highly versed in the subject
treated and master of its details.
2. Poor indexing
Second, lack of good indexes. The poor indexing of
the past persists notably now only in the index to the
Congressional Record. ^^ The indexing of the Statutes
at Large, however, also has not escaped criticism.*^ The
Congressional set, since 1895, has a well-made index, the
47 See, for criticisms, beyond, footnote under Legislative Publications:
Congressional Kecord, p. 128.
48 See remarks of Mr. Mann, Cong. Record, 51: 15237.
66 Why Bewildering
Document Index made in the office of the superintend-
ent of documents. The six separate indexes which ex-
isted before that date have only to be tried to prove their
defects.
J. Official authors
Third, difificulties of corporate authorship. C. A.
Cutter, in his Rules for a Dictionary Catalogue, says,
"... Congress, Parliament, and other governmental
bodies are authors of their journals, acts, minutes, laws,
etc., and other departments of government of their re-
ports, and of the works published by them or under
their auspices." This principle is adopted by all the
codes of rules which have been published in the United
States since. A work written by John Smith on his
own initiative, from his own resources, and of which
he will be the sole and absolute owner, is very ditTerent
from the one which the same John Smith compiles offi-
cially in an office, in performance of his official duties,
in time paid for by the government and with the facili-
ties of the office, and which, when done, will be the
property of the government. In the latter case the of-
fice is the author, and he is only its agent. Moreover,
Smith is that agent today, Jones may be tomorrow,
and Robinson next year. The office stands throughout
the years, carrying on its work, producing literature and
results through a shadowy procession of human agencies
which pass continually in and out its gates. That the
production of the office, material, spiritual, or literary,
should be recorded in the book of human events under
the successive persons who are the actual producers
would efifect a scattering and discontinuity of record.
No, the institution endures and the individual passes.
The corporate body, the legal entity that never dies,
never intermits rights and action, that constantly rein-
vigorates and readapts itself by drawing in fresh in-
dividualities with a fresh stock of ideas, stands for all
the personalities who at one time and another write in
Why Bewildering 67
its name. The cord that binds together successive re-
ports, decisions, orders, bulletins, etc., and gives them
continuity in spite of the changing personnel of the of-
fice, is the government body that issues them. There
are cases where an individual, acting for the government
as a special agent or in a special line or piece of work,
may prepare material which retains a genuine personal
authorship even after publication as a document. Scien-
tific and technical publications are more likely than ad-
ministrative publications to be of this class. Or some-
thing written by a person unconnected with the govern-
ment may be picked up and published by the govern-
ment. This occurs oftenest among the Documents of
Senate and House.
It may be that the foregoing argument is not needed
to convince the reader that the United States Treasury
Department is the responsible author of the long file of
annual reports from 1790 down, not Hamilton, Wolcott,
Gallatin, Fessenden, Gage, or McAdoo ; that the only
expression for the combined authorship of a collection
of official papers of our Chief Executives, from Washing-
ton down to Woodrow Wilson, is United States Presi-
dent ; that Harvey Washington Wiley is personally the
author of his Principles and Practice of Agricultural
Analysis, 3 v. 1906-14, but of the long series of reports
prepared by him as head of the Chemistry Bureau of
the Agricultural Department the United States Chem-
istry Bureau stands as author, as it does of those made
by his predecessors and successors at the head of the
bureau; that a dissenting opinion by a single judge of
the United States Supreme Court, let us say Justice C.
E. Hughes, is an opinion of the court and to be so
quoted, although, at the same time, a brief on the case
written by James Brown, non-government employed law-
yer, cannot be quoted as anything else than the produc-
tion of James Brown himself.
The reader unversed in bibliographical intricacies, and
who, if he thinks at all of the authors of the books he
68 Why Bewildering
sees, pictures to himself always some person who has
written each one, will by this argument realize what this
is that is called corporate authorship. It includes, be-
sides institutions and associations of all kinds, also gov-
ernment bodies as a large and important group. He
will realize, further, that in order to use public docu-
ments with facility it is essential to learn to think in
terms of government bodies, to know them by name, to
distinguish between two bodies with names identical or
differing only slightly, but which are distinct and in
different departments, etc. ; to know the functions of
each and its relations with other higher and lower units
of the government organization.
4. Poorly made titles
Fourth, difficulties of confused, verbose, and mis-
representative titles. The involved titles loaded with
verbiage mostly occur in the Reports and especially in
the Documents of the Senate and House. Much im-
provement has been made here within a few years.
Most of the separate Senate and House Documents as
well as the committee Reports now have title-pages and
running titles at top of the pages. But in many cases
improvement stops here, and the title-page displays as
title a sample of the same kind of wordy caption which
appeared on the old documents above the beginning of
the text. One example of such a title will suffice.
Senate Document 190 of the 626. Congress, 2d session,
has for its title the following:
626. Congress 1 c . j Document
2d Session J 1 190
Fertilizer Resources
of the United States
Message from the
President of the United States
Transmitting
A Letter from the Secretary of
Why Bewildering 69
Agriculture, Together with a Pre-
liminary Report by the Bureau of
Soils, on the Fertilizer Resources
of the United States
December 18, 191 1
Read; Referred to the Committee on Agriculture
and Forestry and ordered to be
Printed with Accompanying Illustrations
Washington
1912
Page 3 next to the title-page contains the " Message
from the President," 7 lines ; pages 5-6 give the " Letter
of Transmittal " from the secretary of Agriculture ;
pages 7-8 give " Letter of Submittal " from the chief of
the Bureau of Soils; page 9 is a half title-page for the
work itself ; which is actually a preliminary report on
the fertilizer resources of the United States by em-
ployees of the United States Soils Bureau. Few will
deny that much of this title would be better omitted. An
example of a simpler title is that of House Document
1261, 6ist Congress, 3d session, as follows: "Special
Report of J. M. Dickinson, Secretary of War, To the
President, On the Philippines."
5. Publications diverse, linked by printing-sequence
numbers, nozv discontinuous
Fifth, difficulties in the way the publications of the
Congressional set are numbered and gathered into vol-
umes, without grouping by subject or source. This in-
dictment applies especially to the set as it is found
earlier than 1895. There has been progressive improve-
ment ever since. The present stage of progress, how-
ever, presents certain conditions that are puzzling until
an explanation makes smooth sailing.
Of the four series of the Congressional set : — namely.
Senate Reports, Senate Documents, House Reports, and
70 Why Bewildering
House Documents — each separate publication has its
own number within its own series. This numbering is
now continuous during the duration of a Congress,
though in other times the numl)ering of some of the
series ran through one session only.
These numbers are assigned by the Government
Printing Ofifice as each publication comes over from
Senate or House to be printed. For instance, on De-
cember 7 three House Documents may arrive ; they are
numbered House Document i to 3. On December 8
seven more may come ; they will be numbered 4 to 10.
The numbering efYects a chronological arrangement ac-
cording to date of reception at the Printing Office. This
may or may not exactly parallel their order according
to the day, month, and year printed on them. This date
of day, month, and year is that of action taken by Sen-
ate or House directing them to be sent to the Printing
Office, the so-called " order to print."
This stringing on a numbered string as they come
along does not, of course, bring together publications on
one subject, or successive reports of one bureau, nor
even the volumes of one work if there is any interval of
time between their dates of publication. It is the
way usually adopted for bulletins, circulars, and the
like, and is regarded as the best and clearest way of
treating a mass of publications which are mostly only
one leaf to a few pages in extent. Applied to works
forming each a full volume or set of volumes, it is ob-
jectionable.
When they come to be bound, such as are large or
important enough are bound separately. Those of less
size are bound together in numerical order into volumes.
But as the numbers run regardless of size, a volume of
small publications, say numbers 1-343, may show gaps
where numbers 3, 142 and 275 ought to be, they
being large and so bound separately. Thus, in the four
series, as they stand in bound volumes on the shelf, the
Report or Document numbers run irregularly and w'ith
Why Bewildering 71
continual jumps over numbers lacking in their order.
For the small undistinctive papers that hold the business
of Congress there is no suggestion that this system of
numbering and voluming is not the best that can be de-
vised. For the large works that hold the business of
the bureaus, departments, etc., it is the worst that can
be devised. And until past 1900 all was so slipshod and
careless and without aids, as to make difficulties for and
often mislead the user. Now each volume containing
more than one publication is provided with a table of
contents giving their numbers and titles ; and each pub-
lication has a running page heading. Grouping together
into volumes by subject is also done so far as is possible.
In 1895, Dr. Ames added to the Congressional set an
additional and independent numbering known as the
serial numbers, publishing them in the second edition of
the Checklist prepared by him. Beginning with the 15th
Congress, the four series with the House and Senate
Journals added being arranged by volumes under Con-
gress, session, and series or Journal title, to each volume
was assigned a number consecutive as the volumes
stood in order. As a brief and simple identification and
arrangement mark this has proved of much convenience.
By the resolution of March i, 1907, amended by reso-
lution of January 15, 1908, the annual reports and other
works of departments — which are the large volumes of
the series of Documents of Senate and House — appear,
just as before, as Documents and are so distributed to
official Washington, to members of Congress, and to
the Library of Congress for international exchange.
But copies sent out to depository libraries are in plain
title edition. Thus in the Congressional set in a deposi-
tory library there is a gap wherever one of these vol-
umes comes. That volume drops out from its House
or Senate Document and from its serial number, the
substituted plain title edition appearing elsewhere on the
shelves in an orderly file with its companion reports of
other years. Looking at the Schedule of Volumes at
72 Why Bewildering
the back of the Document Index, the hght-faced typvi
entries there show where these hiatuses come in the de-
pository Congressional set.^"
For this exclusion of the department publications
from the Documents of Congress the Documents Of-
fice, the Printing Investigation Commission, and the
librarians were unanimous. The resistance to it on the
part of the offtcials of the documents rooms and libraries
of Senate and House — due to lack of acquaintance with
modern methods of handling books in masses — is in
line with the fact formerly freely stated that the State
Department was the only office of its size in the coun-
try that did not use typewriters ; and with the delay in
installing modern machinery in the Government Printing
Office, and in substituting the more durable buckram for
the perishable and labor-making sheep bindings. The
conservatism that rules in Washington is the cause that
the Congressional set exists in dual form — a reduced
and expurgated form in depository libraries ; in its old-
time fulness and redundancy in Washington.
Further gaps in the Congressional set as it comes now
to depository libraries are the following.
Since passage of the law of January 12, 1895, the
Journals of House and Senate are no longer sent to all
depositories, only three copies being given out in each
state or territory. The new bill restores the Journals.
By law of January 20, 1905, depository libraries are
no longer supplied with reports of committees of Sen-
ate and House on private bills and on simple and con-
current resolutions, river and harbor projects being
classed as private bills. These reports are now bound
into volumes together, and lettered A, B, C, etc. But
49 But as the decision whether a publication is to be classed and treated
as a publication of Congress or of a department is left to an official of
the Government Printing Office, the so-called " jacket clerk." much that is
departmental, or, at least, non-Congressional, is made a Document. The
distinction between legislative and executive taught in the elementary text-
books of civics does not seem to be applied. See also beyond, in this sec-
tion, 6th topic, p. 75; p. 83.
Why Bewildering 73
both these lettered volumes and the Journals — again on
the insistence of the ofhcials who serve Congress in the
care of the documents — are given serial numbers. In
this case the library never sees the volume so numbered.
These hiatuses in the sets on the depository shelves,
although they are in the interests of economy and good
methods, until understood, add to the dithculties of our
fifth topic.
6. Reprinting as House and Senate Documents
Sixth, difficulties in the same work appearing in vari-
ous guises or editions by being reprinted in various
series.^"
The republication, as part of a series, of a work al-
ready in print independently of the series in a plain title
edition, is almost the greatest, and certainly the least ex-
cusable, cause of confusion and waste in United States
government publications. There have been three main
series which have caused this waste. Of these one is
now defunct, and another is to be abolished by the new
printing bill.
The first in importance and largest is the so-called
Congressional set. To this we shall return and consider
it fully.
A second is the Alessage and Documents series, which
has ceased to exist.^^ In regard to this it will suffice
to quote the Checklist, page 1667. " The set had no
value, because it was merely a duplication (except for
binding) of some of the volumes which appeared in the
50 Edition as used in the sections " Edition and Demand " and " Why
Bewildering ": topics 6 and 7, deals with two different sides of what the
word means. In the former the discussion turns on how many copies of a
work shall be printed at one time. Each of these copies is, of course, iden-
tical with every other. In " Why Bewildering " the discussion is of the dis-
tinction between all these identical copies and another lot of copies identical
with each other but differing from the first lot in some detail, the text being
the same. A changed date on the title-page; the addition of a note of its
being numbered in the House or Senate Document series; its repetition as
part of the pages of a larger work; different binding; or even — though this
does not occur often in government publications — wider page margins, make
a different edition in this latter sense.
Bi See, for further description. Checklist, page 1667.
74 Why Bewildering
Congressional set; yet it was published for nearly half a
century, hcginnnig about 1842-43, or possibly a little
earlier, antl ending with the Message and Documents
Conmiunicated to Congress at the Beginning of the 2d
Session of the 54th Congress, Being the Issues for 1896-
97. . . . There seems to have been no definite provision
of law which justified the existence or the termination of
the set."
Another of the three series is the Abridgments of
Message and Documents, made up of some of the same
material as the preceding two, namely, the President's
message and the department reports, the latter reprinted
with omissions."^- When the Abridgment is issued,
these reports have already been nearly a year in print
and in the hands of the public. The law of 1895 ^^~
thorized an edition of 12,000 copies of this, and it is
still being printed, but is now usually condensed in two
volumes for each year. Reprinting in this series has
cost about $23,000 annually.
Librarians are not advised to try to keep these last
two series, and it would be a remarkable case if a
library could bring together a complete set of either.
Volumes of the Message and Documents series may be
used to fill in gaps in the files of the executive reports,
but the text itself must be examined to make sure what
year is covered, as the binding dates mislead. As the
words, " Message and Documents," appear on the title-
pages of early volumes of the Congressional set also,
identification of this series is puzzling; but the binding is
black cloth, and the words " Alessage and Documents "
often are part of the binder's title.
Leaving out of cons* deration the last two series as
abolished or about to be, let us look at the first men-
tioned, the Congressional set. This is a necessary series.
Its abolishment is not to be thought of, but it needs to be
expurgated and reduced to include only that material
which properly belongs to it. The Congressional set as
52 See Checklist, pages 1621-1622; also note, page 1667.
Why Bewildering 75
it existed prior to 1907, and exists today for Congres-
sional and international distribution and official Wash-
ington, but not for depository libraries, is what is meant
here. It consists of four distinct series : — Senate Re-
ports, Senate Documents, House Reports, House Docu-
ments, all four series made up and bound in uniform
style so as to give the appearance of being but one
series." Of these four series the Senate Reports and
the House Reports may be dismissed from considera-
tion, as no charge is brought against them of contain-
ing what does not l)elong under a Congressional classifi-
cation. They contain nothing previously in print, noth-
ing non-Congressional in origin.
The Senate Documents and House Documents are
alone in question. These two series consist of what we
may call class A, genuine Congressional Documents, i.e.,
such as originate in Senate or House or on their order;
and class B. or spurious Congressional Documents, which
are non-Congressional in origin, originating in the execu-
tive departments and bureaus, a few in the judicial
branch of the government. These two classes, as before
said, are designated since 1907 in the Schedule of Vol-
umes at the end of the Document Indexes by heavy-
faced and light-faced type respectively. The division as
made there is very inexact, and includes among the gen-
uinely Congressional a good many which are non-Con-
gressional, instances of which may be seen by exam-
ining any Schedule of Volumes since 1907.
Class A, genuine Senate and House Documents, are
reports of the officers and other business of either
house ; their manuals or rules ; memorial addresses ; mes-
sages from the President ; compilation of precedents
of parliamentary practice ; contested election cases ;
tables of estimates and appropriations and general gov-
53 The House and Senate Journals, one volume for each session, used to
be considered part of the Congressional set, hut as the Congressional Record
supersedes these in use and their distribution is now restricted (see under
fifth topic), they are for simplicity's sake ignored in this section. See
beyond: Legislative Publications: Journals.
76 Why Bewildering
ernmcnt accounts ; responses from executive depart-
ments to resolutions asking for information; and all the
various papers presented on the floor of either house to
elucidate its debates — roughly, nine groups.^* All these
own Congress as their initiative source, and, with a few
exceptions, are not reprints. All this material must be
preserved in print, and printing it in the form of Sen-
ate or House Documents is the original, proper, and
only way of publishing it. Few of these are works of
a size to be bound independently ; most are from one
page to one hundred pages in length.
Class B, spurious or non-Congressional Documents,
originating in and dealing with the w^ork of the various
bodies of the executive branch of the United States gov-
ernment, or occasionally of the judicial branch, are al-
most all of a size to bind independently, and vary from
one hundred up to several hundred pages or a number
of volumes in length. These have come out in print
earlier in plain title edition ; or, in a few cases, will so
come out later ; or, if not, would be better to come out as
plain title editions than as House or Senate Documents,
being of sufficient size, specialized subject, and of pri-
mary interest each to its own department. The plain
title edition, it may be explained, is the same as
the department or bureau edition, and is often called by
the latter name, being the form which the department or
bureau insists on having for its own use as best adapted
for a working copy. Between 1907 and 1913 the plain
title edition sent to depositories was bound in khaki
cloth similar to that used for the Congressional set, but
this was the only way in which it differed from the de-
partment edition. It is at present bound like the de-
64 The House and Senate Manuals might be issued in plain title without
being numbered Documents, as has been done with the Congressional Di-
rectory. So might also the memorial addresses, and the President's mes-
sages, of both of which a plain title edition is printed. The same can be
said of the compilations of precedents, Hinds's, for example, in eight vol-
umes (H. Doc. 355, 59th Congress, 2d session), and of contested election
cases. But it does not hold good for the other Documents in the enumera-
tion given above.
Why Bewildering 77
partment edition. The fact that it almost invariably
comes out ahead of the Senate or House Document edi-
tion gives it another desirable feature.
The results of this reprinting are that these Senate or
House Document reprints each receive now a title-page,
a number, and a binding and binder's title for the series,
which are more conspicuous than the title of the actual
work. These give the impression that here is a differ-
ent work from that contained in the plain title edition.
Minute collation of the two texts is required to estab-
lish the fact that in most cases the two editions are
identical in contents. A typical instance is the follow-
ing.^^ The plain title edition of a report of the Indian
Bureau has on its title-page: Annual Report of the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1894. Washington,
Government Printing Office, 1895. The binder's title is:
Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The
reprint, which is a House Document, has on its first title-
page : The Executive Documents of the House of Rep-
resentatives for the Third Session of the Fifty-third
Congress, 1894-1895. In 35 Volumes. Washington,
Government Printing Office, 1895. Following this is an
18-page index to all the 35 volumes. Then comes a sec-
ond title-page : 53d Congress, 3d Session, House of Rep-
resentatives, Executive Document i, Part 5. Report
of the Secretary of the Interior; Being Part of the ]\Ies-
sage and Documents Communicated to the Two Houses
of Congress at the Beginning of the 3d Session of the
53d Congress. In 5 Volumes. \'olume II. Washing-
ton, Government Printing Office, 1894. The binder's
title is : House Executive Documents, 3d Session, 53d
Congress, 1893-95. Vol. 15. Report of the Secretary
of the Interior. Vol. 2. 1894. Indian Affairs. The
text of the two editions is identical.
The series number and voluming which these reprints
get brings them into the numbered chronological ar-
rangement of the Senate or the House series of Docu-
55 Documents Office, Report, 1895/96, p. 11.
78 Why Bewildering
nients — according as each is placed. This arrange-
ment, so regardless of subject, source, extent, or impor-
tance, is good for the mass of minor publications, as
has been explained, but is not good for works large
enough to become distinct volumes or a set of volumes;
and when applied to a mixture of both minor publica-
tions and bulky voluminous works it becomes very bad
indeed. It works worst for the serials, because, in-
stead of the annual reports or the bulletins of a depart-
ment being in a file with all the issues together in order
of year or number, it separates the annual or consecu-
tively numbered issues, linking together in one group
for the year all the single volumes of diverse reports or
sets.
Hearings and reports on the public printing are full
of the evils of this publishing over again, in a series,
works which exist already in book form answering ev-
ery purpose.^"^ The Documents Office from its estab-
lishment till today has steadily preached the doctrine
that there should be one original edition of any gov-
ernment publication and one only, and for department
publications that should be the plain title edition.^" The
50 U. S. Printing Investigation Commission, Report, 1906, v. 1:4-5, 12-17
(Ricketts): 82-84 (superintendent of documents): v. 2:523 (librarian of
Congress). Printing Investigation Commission, Supplemental report, 1907
(H. Doc. 736, and identical S. Report 6828, 59th Cong., 2d sess.), p. 8-10
(Presented resolution of March 1, 1907, abolishing reprinting department
publications as House and Senate Documents. One of the strongest and
most complete statements of the bad effects of the practice). S. Report i,
60th Cong., ist sess., p. 2 (This presented the compromise resolution of
Jan. 15, 1908, restoring the reprinting, but providing that depository libra-
ries shall receive the plain title edition). S. Report 1200. 6ist Cong., 3d
sess., p. 16-17. S. Doc. 293, 62d Cong., 2d sess., p. 17 (Superintendent of
documents before the Economy and EiBciency Commission). H. Report 816
(p. 25-26) and almost identical S. Report 201 (p. 21), 62d Cong., 2d sess.
Reed Smoot, Speech in Senate, March 12-13, 1912, p. 12 (Claims economies
efTected, especially by stopping reprinting, by resolution of March i, 1907).
Hearings before H. committee on printing, 62d Cong., May 20, 22, 1912,
p. 105 (Economies include: " Elimination of Document titles from annual
and serial publications specified"). See also Public Libraries, 8:405-406,
1903 (M. Dewey against issue of publications of departments in collected
Documents series as exemplified in government publications of New York
state).
57 See Documents Office, Report, 1894/s. P- 16; same, 1895/6, p. 4-16;
same, 1900/1, p. 8-10; same, 1901/2, p. 6-9 (Recommends "library edition"
Why Bewildering 79
American Library Association urged the matter till it
got in 1907 the plain title edition for depository libra-
ries, which leaves, however, the confused, waste-pro-
ducing system still rampant.^^ Reprinting should take
place only when that original edition is exhausted, and
should be like the original in form/^ While the three
series mentioned were in existence an executive report
could, and certain ones did, appear in four editions that
were due solely to the series reprinting, besides other
duplication due to causes that will be described later.
The evils which result in the public administration,
and the inconveniences which arise in library use and
practice, especially in the college library and the aver-
age public library, from the mixture of Congressional
and non-Congressional in the Documents series of both
houses, may be summed up under two heads : ( i ) the
bibliographical; and (2) the economic.
Reprinting hihliographicaUy had
Bibliographically, as judged by standards of good
publishing methods, these two series, House Documents
and Senate Documents, are a hodge-podge, a heteroge-
neous jumble, the like of which no private publisher nor
any publishing society has ever issued. The most all-
of annual reports and other department publications); same, 1903 4, p. 5;
same, 1904 5, p. 5-7; same, 1909 10, p. 6-7.
See also Monthly Catalog, Jan., 1908, p. 26^-272; same, Feb., 1910, p.
27i-i7^; same, July, 1913, p. 10.
See also Document Index, 60th Cong., ist sess., 1907-8. preface.
See also testimony of superintendents of documents as follows: — Cran-
dall: Lib. Jour., 22: 160, 1897; same, 25:65-67, 1900. Ferrell: Lib. Jour.,
26: 671-674, 1901. Donath: A. L. A. Papers and proceeds., 191-', p. 309.
Wallace: A. L. .\. Papers and proceeds. , 1913. p. 3.S7-3.i8.
58 See among many expressions of this, more or less clearly thought out
and stated. Lib. Jour., ;:7: C92-C96, 1902 (R. P. Falkner) : same. 28: C102-
C106, 1903 (R. P, Falkner. Both the preceding ask for a "library edi-
tion"); same, 32:207-208, 1907 (.W. S. Burns); same, 35:3-28, 1910 (\.
L. A. Council adopts resolution against reprinting department [lublications
as H. and S. Docs.).
The non-depository libraries, in common with individuals, in short, every-
body and all libraries who get their supply through members of Congress,
receive the Document edition.
59 " Separates," of course, or the reprinting of part of a work for dis-
tribution to those interested in that part only, as the chapter on clay
products in Mineral Resources, are excepted, being necessary and useful.
8o Why Bewildering
embracing series, like Bohn's or Everyman's libraries,
usually make groups, such as classics, science, belles let-
tres, etc. And the great national academics divide up
into sections which issue their publications separately.
By the chronological numbering, as has been explained,
there are strung together Documents large and small,
ephemeral and standard, highly technical and trivial —
the report of the Immigration Commission in forty-one
volumes, Hinds's Precedents in eight volumes, the Presi-
dent's messages on vital national policies, alternately with
the findings of the Court of Claims in the case of John
Jones, or a report of examination of Fish River, Ala-
bama, or horse claims rejected by the War Department.
This heterogeneity exists, it is true, among the House
and Senate Documents that are genuine Congressional
papers, also among the Reports of the two houses. But
for both of these, being mostly from one leaf to a few
pages only, nothing better than the chronological sequence
numbered arrangement can be devised. The non-Con-
gressional publications bulk as 75% of the Senate and
House Documents, though in number of titles they are
only 20% ; they are mostly large works ; they are special-
ized in subject, coming from publishing offices each of
which has its definite and restricted field of action. The
removal of these would simplify the two Documents
series and reduce the evils charged against them from
the bibliographical standpoint. To bring these series up
to good publishing standards elimination should not stop
with reprints of department editions only. Every work
important in subject matter and large enough to be is-
sued independently, reports of Congressional or mixed
commissions especially, should be published as an inde-
pendent work, leaving to the series only the minor pub-
lications which have to have a number as a handle by
which to keep track of them.
If any one is inclined to make light of this mess, let
there be urged further the effects of the mix-up in vari-
ous directions.
Why Bewildering 8i
First, to the public it is genuinely confusing. The
average citizen is not acquainted with the various bodies
of the United States government, but he knows there is
legislative, an executive, and a judicial branch. If,
now, one could say to him — here are all the publica-
tions of Congress in four series, contents as before enu-
merated (see page 75), making all together what is
called the Congressional set. Outside of these are the
separate publications of the ten executive departments,
and of the independent offices and establishments, and
of their subordinate bureaus, and also of the various
courts, also of all specially organized boards or commis-
sions, only one edition of each publication — then clar-
ity would reign and difificulties vanish. He would only
have to ask whether the publishing body was of the
legislative, the executive, or the judicial branch to know
whether the work was in the Congressional set or not.
Second, to the Documents Office the numerous edi-
tions bring increased labor, as the office preserves and
catalogs every edition. The monotonous repetition of
" Same " in the Document Catalog is due to the multi-
plication of editions.
Third, when several editions are in existence, they
may be mistaken for dififerent works, and an artificial
demand is stimulated. The uninformed student will
take pains to get each separate one, only to find in dis-
gust that they are all the same. The librarian, fearing
to reject something of value, as only collation of each
with the others will prove them to be identical, perhaps
resolves to keep every edition. But to cut off the sup-
ply of duplicate copies has been one of the avowed ob-
jects of the Printing Investigation Commission and its
work. To reduce the supply to the working minimum,
one copy or edition only to any recipient (except extra
copies needed for actual use) is a necessary first step, so
the commission has thought, toward learning what the
demand actually is on which to base the size of edition
to be ordered.
82 Why Bewildering
Fourth, to pursue further the bad results to tlie libra-
ries of reprinting in this series, they may be expounded
as follows.
Libraries in general keep their books in groups ac-
cording to their subjects. Though this entails labor,
the claim is made that it pays in economy and quickness
of service, increased convenience, aid to the memory,
saving of steps to the staff, and the display of the
library's resources on any topic on a glance at the
shelves. The subject arrangement is supposed to ac-
quaint the reader with authorities which otherwise he
might not find, and to stimulate the use of them. But
the unexpurgated Congressional set can not be adjusted
to any subject arrangement unless its volumes be scat-
tered. Some librarians there are w'ho carefully exam-
ine and identify the various editions in which the de-
partmental publications come to them. They class in
the subject place one edition, preferring the plain title
edition, but, failing that, using a House or Senate Docu-
ment edition. That its place in the Congressional set is
left vacant they consider immaterial. They discard all
other editions. This practice has the advantages that
the subject group on the shelf does not lack the govern-
ment published works that are among its most important
material. It makes the government publications share
all the benefits claimed for subject grouping. And it
does away with duplicates except where extra copies are
actually needed.
When it is the House or Senate Document edition
that must be used in the subject place, the disadvantages
are that it has obtrusively on its binding a series title and
numbering that mislead and hide the actual title of the
work. And, in a depository library, the series of Senate
and House Documents on the shelves will have great
gaps in their numbers which may represent volumes lost
or never received, or only removed to subject place.
Some documents are there and others dispersed to
various places to which their subjects took them, and
Why Bewildering 83
no one knows where a desired voUime will be found till
the dummy tells the tale or some index is consulted.
The exclusion from these two series of all the spe-
cialized department works, and of everything except
the minor Documents which can be cared for only by
numbering and gathering into volumes, would imme-
diately remove these disadvantages. This end is at-
tained by the issue to depository libraries since 1907
of department publications in plain title editions —
since 19 13 in the department cloth binding. And it has
reduced the asking for duplicates unless the use requires
them. It is true the sorting out and separating of de-
partmental from the Congressional has not been done
with all the consistency desirable, but errors in placing
individual works possibly would be corrected on peti-
tion from the librarians.
The advantages of subject placing and of the plain
title edition were recognized in a decision of the council of
the American Library Association of ]\Iay 31, 1910. By
this the depository libraries are advised that all publica-
tions listed in the Schedule of Volumes at the end of the
Document Indexes in light- faced type should be classed
in their subject places, while those in heavy-faced type
may be left together to form the expurgated or genuine
Congressional set. Owing to many inconsistencies,"" as
above noted, in the Schedule of Volumes, the rule might
be modified to read: class under subject all in light-
faced type, and also those in heavy-faced type that are
of sufficient size or importance to be so classed.
If a depository chooses to follow a course contrary to
the subject placing here described, and tries to keep its
Congressional set intact — it will work out as follows.
For every Document wanted an index or catalog will
have to be consulted first to find its serial or Document
number. Each annual report of a department up to 1907
60 One instance of this inconsistency is that the Index to the Reports of
the chief of engineers, 1866-1912 (H. Doc. 740. 63d Cong.. 2d sess.), was
sent to depository libraries in the Document edition, notwithstanding that
they are receiving the set of reports in plain title edition.
84 Why Bewildering
will be separated from its companion reports and must
be found separately through the index. The reader
using the shelves will miss seeing among the books on a
subject the important government material, and becom-
ing acquainted with it. And this material when wanted
will have to be brought from another part of the collec-
tion by an attendant or the reader must go there for it.
Or perhaps the library may try to keep its Congressional
set complete and together, and in addition a file of plain
title duplicates in the subject place. This is no less
wasteful of shelf room than it is of government print-
ing.
The economic arguments which follow should have
weight with those, if any, who would make light of the
preceding bibliographical ones. Economically, the se-
ries printing and reprinting involve large waste of
money in administering the public printing.
Reprinting economically zvasteful
Economic waste results because, first, it costs more,
of course, to put a work to press again for a series edi-
tion than to print the needed number of copies all at
once in one edition.^^ This extra expense might be
deemed negligible. But further bad results follow.
Waste is caused, secondly, by the fact that every pub-
lication included in the four series of Senate and House,
if under loo pages, must have exactly the same number
of copies printed, a fixed number regulated by the print-
ing law or other statute, the so-called " usual number,"
no more and no less.*^^ The law provides for extra
copies in some cases, mainly for works over the loo-
61 Here is not meant the economy of printing part of the total authorized
by statute in a first edition estimated to meet the demand, followed by a
second edition if called for. The reissue of a plain title work in a series
edition is meant here.
62 " Under that law [of 1895] the public printer is compelled arbitrarily
to print a stated number of certain documents (including such as have
House or Senate Document numbers on them) without regard to their
value or to the demand," — Printing Investigation Commission, Report,
1906,. V. I, p. 4 (Ricketts; Oct. 26, 190s)-
Why Bewildering 85
page limit, these copies being usually plain title edition.
Also, for those over 100 pages, the fixed statutory edi-
tion has been modified by the provisions of public reso-
lution 14 of March 30, 1906. According to this, the so-
called " edition plan," a preliminary estimate may be
made of the number of copies needed, and only so many
struck ofif as a first print or edition, a second edition up
to the total of the statute following if the call ex-
ceeds the first number printed. Regulations established
by the Joint Printing Committee May 18, 1906, and re-
vised 1909 and 1913, prescribe for 129 publications
the number of copies of each that shall be put to press
as the first issue. This substitutes another rigid fixed
number for the statutory one, but is withal a betterment.
That the edition of the yearly report of the sergeant-at-
arms of the Senate on receipts from sales of condemned
property should be as numerous as the brief but weighty
report of 191 1 of the Railroad Securities Commission;*^
or that there should be as many copies of the estimate
for an appropriation to establish certain boundaries in
New Mexico as of the report of the Federal Reserve
Board, seems absurd. But, except as the order to print
or the statute may specify extra copies, there is no help
for it; by virtue of the series note, the indiscriminate
fixed rule applies. The series is legislated for in a
bunch, as a mob of books, and discrimination as to treat-
ment between a folder and a 41-volume commission re-
port, between a work for propaganda or popular in-
struction and one for service use only, between one for
scientific or technical workers and a popular illustrated
work, is difficult and awkward to arrange. The " edi-
tion plan " ; the reduction in issues of the Journals ; the
curtailment of copies of reports on private bills and sim-
ple and concurrent resolutions ; the shutting off of print-
ing the " members' reserve " — all these are stopgaps to
this unavoidable waste. The only efifectual remedy is
63 House Document 256, Sid Congress, 2d session. 44 pages. Also a
plain title edition.
86 Why Bewildering
that put through by the Printing Investigation Commis-
sion by resolution of March i, 1907, so unfortunately
nullified on January 15, 1908 — namely, the elimina-
tion of all works of any size or importance from the
series and its blanket rule.
Waste occurs, thirdly (though this is only another
phase of the blanket system of legislation just discussed)
because the Congressional set is given out to recip-
ients designated by statute — namely, officials and offices
of the government, members of Congress, depository
libraries, etc. — as a unit. Each gets every publication in
the set. It is obvious that the intent in supplying these
recipients with one or more complete sets of the Con-
gressional series is to keep them informed of the pub-
lic business. But it would seem that a report of in-
vestigations on the mound builders made by the Eth-
nology Bureau was hardly part of that business, and
would not interest most of the department officials or
members of Congress. The report of the Treasurer of
the United States on the sinking fund of the District of
Columbia, and the annual report of the assistant attorney
in charge of Indian depredation claims are necessary for
routine record, but do not seem of such interest that
every member of Congress will want to preserve the an-
nual issues. The reports of the tests of metals and
other materials made at the Watertown Arsenal, the
Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, and the
Bulletins of the Hygienic Laboratory are scientific and
technical researches which the average non-scientific
reader can hardly understand, much less read to his
profit. Does the reprinting of these benefit either the
member of Congress or his constituents? Or, if only re-
ports are made Documents, would the report of the In-
dian Afifairs Office or of the Reclamation Service touch
the activities of the representative from a downtown dis-
trict of New York city, or that of the Ordnance Bureau
of the Navy those of the member from an agricultural
district of Kansas? It is presumable that a member of
Why Bewildering 87
Congress may wish to possess and have at hand the
papers in vvhicli are printed the actual activities of Con-
gress and of the sessions in which he has taken part.
But to load upon him in addition numerous reports of
administrative bodies or of scientific or technical bureaus
to which he sustains only the remotest relations,®' by in-
cluding them in the Documents of Congress sent to him,
is to give him in the majority of cases what is not wanted,
will not be used, and so is total waste. Any one of these
reports is available to him at any time on request to the
department that issues it. And the necessity of every
senator and representative stocking up with everything
the nation publishes in order to keep himself informed
should not now be so necessary since the legislative
branch of the Library of Congress has been established
expressly to supply him with publications and informa-
tion whenever he needs them.
The fixed quota of publications assigned to each mem-
ber of Congress for distribution, and the remedy for
that provided in the new bill by the valuation plan have
been previously discussed in the section on Congressional
distribution. Also they do not belong solely to the Con-
gressional set.
Waste and abuses arise, fourthly, because in an over-
loaded, encumbered Congressional set the individual work
gets lost, it escapes attention. As there is no one re-
sponsible for the editing of the set, almost anything is
possible to happen in it, except economy and system.
Besides accidental waste, there is always danger of some
publication, useless and extravagant or serving special
interests, being foisted upon the printing appropriations
under cover of the series without its extent and expense
being suspected. In a more simple, less comprehensive
set these would not escape detection.
It is the problem of the private publisher, on which de-
pends his commercial success or failure, to ascertain the
64 See U. S. Congress. H. of R. List of reports to be made to Congress
by public officers. Dec. 4, 1916. 28 p. (H. Doc. 1407. 64th Cong., 2d
sess.) This list is now issued each session.
88 Why Bewildering
actual demand for every publication, and to adjust the
size of the edition to it. The plain title edition of a
work can be printed in the number of copies estimated
to satisfy the demand, and can be sent to only those of-
ficials, libraries, and individuals who want it and will use
it. Because it is not easy to make this adjustment ex-
actly and simply, even under the edition plan, for any-
thing that is a numbered Document of Senate or House,
it follows that that form is not one in which to issue
works of any size or specialization. The reader who
wants the report of the Children's Bureau is liable to
get it, if it comes in a Document edition, bound in one
volume with a number of Documents he does not want.
Siiminary
To recapitulate : — The bad results from publishing
department and other independent works in the Con-
gressional Documents may be summed up as follows,
(i) It is confusing and is the" cause of difficulty in
understanding the publications. (2) It makes the set
too jumbled and heterogeneous as to subjects and sizes.
(3) It creates extra and useless labor for the government
catalogers. (4) It makes an edition not suited to sub-
ject arrangement in libraries nor to keeping files of
annual reports and other serials together in order.
(5) It is an edition which, further, is always later in
coming out than the plain title edition. (6) It increases
the demand for duplicates. (7) It increases expenses of
publication. (8) It foils effectually efforts to learn the
actual demand. (9) The Document edition does not
adapt itself to or is likely to evade the attempt to vary
the number of copies printed to suit the demand. (10)
It is impossible to distribute the Documents according to
their subject matter and the want, and dumps much that
is not wanted, and for which the recipent has no use,
upon both Congressmen and the public.
If it be asked: how did the reprinting of publications
Why Bewildering 8g
of executive bodies among the Congressional Documents
originate and what caused it? — it may be said that, like
the distribution of the national publications by Congress,
it grew up and dates from the earliest times. Then the
little that Congress published was the total output, and
the voluminously publishing departments and bureaus of
the present day were many of them not even in existence.
On the side of Congress there was the inducement to
extend the Congressional dragnet over more and
more publications because an elusive and unheard-of
publication which a constituent might chance to claim
from a busy representative was sure, if a Document, to
be within reach. And, to the departments, until the law
was recently changed, there was the inducement that
getting a publication printed as a Document transferred
the whole expense of its printing from the department's
appropriation upon that for Congress. By public resolu-
tion 13 of March 30, 1906, the department now pays
from its own appropriation, for any work originating
with it, the initial expenses of publication — that is, com-
position, stereotyping, illustrations, and the like ; the bal-
ance of the cost, however — for press\vork, paper, bind-
ing, etc. — being shared by Congress in proportion to the
number of copies it uses.
What are the advantages of the system? Aside from
precedent and habit, they are simply those of tying a
number of things together with a string. The things are
sure to be all there when you untie the bundle, none lost.
And laws can be made as to how many bundles shall be
printed, and how the bundles shall be distributed, with
less trouble than to sort out all the things in the bundle
and treat each on its merits. But now, as every publica-
tion is listed by the Documents office and, if non-Con-
gressional, within a few hours or a few days of its com-
ing off the press is given its individual number accord-
ing to the Document library classification system, this
makeshift expedient is no longer needed.
go Why Bewildering
In how haphazard a way it is all managed, and of how
little consequence to the lawmakers it is whether a publi-
cation is reprinted as a Document or not is shown by
numerous cases of works that have either never been in
the Documents series, or have been some years in and
other years out, without any one's noticing in either
case.*^^
It has been the avowed object of Congress on certain
recent occasions (the child labor law of the District of
Columbia for instance) to pass a model law for territory
where it has jurisdiction which the state legislatures
might copy. Here among the official publications, which
are such a huge item in the budget of every state and
municipality, to set up an administration and methods
Avhich will show how to secure economy and good busi-
ness management among them, is a duty and an oppor-
tunity which Congress should recognize and not shirk.
If there be any who regret the passing of the dragnet
Congressional series in its fullest redundancy, reprints
and all, in spite of the evils in its train, to them this cold
comfort may be offered. By withdrawals from the
set in many cases and by stoppage of distribution in
others, as described under our fifth topic, the set is
irretrievably honeycombed and altered. By many elimi-
nations its several consecutive numberings have now be-
come inconsecutive and broken. The ever enlarging
mass of United States official literature outside of the
Congressional series makes more evident every day the
65 The report of the Supervising Architect since 1878 to date has never
been printed either in the department report or as a Document. The report
of the Life-Saving Service from 1872 down to its merger (1915) in the
Coast Guard was never a part of the department report except once (1876)
nor a Document except in that case and once again individually (1881).
The Public Health Service report has been in the department report only
by summary and is not there even in that form now, and from 1872 to
1903, when its present reprinting as a Document began, it was only once
(1872) so printed. The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, tech-
nical mathematical tables, was a Document in 1886-1889, and again in
1896-1902, but is no longer one. The report of the Immigration Bureau
from its beginning m 1892 has been a Document only in 1903 and 1904,
and since 1904 as a part of the department report, in abridged form. The
Checklist will show many other like cases.
Why Bewildering 91
insufficiency of the series to continue to fill its aforetime
role — that of a representative gathering of the most
important of the national publications.
jVIore space has been given to this topic because Con-
gress comes and goes, but the Documents problem goes
on forever. Official Washington of today knows little
of what its predecessors have threshed out and made
plain for themselves. The idea has been to bring to-
gether here for permanent reference the testimony and
facts brought out in the most recent of the decennial
printing investigations. Except the observations on
library practice, all arguments and facts have been drawn
from the government publications themselves. The ap-
plications to library practice will, it is thought, appeal
most strongly to those libraries which make the largest
use of the scientific and technical and other specialized
subject publications; not so much, doubtless, to the state
library and the document department.
7. Reprinting bureau and sub-officials' reports
Seventh, reprinting in an added edition, causing con-
fusion and duplication, is done also in another way, this
time in the administrative reports only. It arises thus :
Official no. i, at the bottom of the ladder, sends a writ-
ten report to official no. 2, his chief. Official no. 2 ap-
pends said report to his own report made to official no.
3, his superior. No. 3, reporting to no. 4, his superior,
includes reports of nos. i and 2. No. 4, if still a suljor-
dinate, makes his report and sends along those of i, 2,
and 3, as part of it. Examine the report of an executive
department or of an important bureau of a date before
1906. There will be found, first, the few brief pages of
the report of the chief officer — like the short, swift up-
ward shoot of a skyrocket, expanding at its end into a
fiery display that overspreads the whole heavens ; or, in
the case of the report, into a concatenation of appended
exhibits, tables, sub-reports, and sub-sub-reports that
swell the whole to a bulky volume. As the total aggre-
92 Why Bewildering
gation is paged continuously, it is difficult to discover the
connection and relations between the parts ; or, espe-
cially if bound with other documents, to know where one
ends and another begins. A table of contents or index
is often lacking, sometimes faulty.
A few hints may help the tyro in public documents
through any such tangle, now, happily, almost a thing
of the past. The Government Printing Office uses the
sign O at the end of a completed publication where in
old books one sometimes reads Finis. The report of the
chief is often paged with roman numerals, the appended
papers and sub-reports being in arabic page numbers.
This report of the chief discusses or summarizes the work
of each sub-bureau in turn, and in the table of contents
these paragraphs of the chief's report are often enu-
merated in prominent type under the names of the bu-
reaus. The beginner is cautioned not to mistake these
references in the contents as meaning the report itself
of the bureau. That will be found, probably, further on
in arabic page numbers. It is sometimes helpful to look
for the signature of the chief, as that will usually be at
the end of the main report and immediately preceding
the appended papers and sub-reports ; but sometimes the
report is not made up in this way and this resource fails
us. Incidentally, it is well to notice the address, which
stands either at the beginning, or at the end of the chief's
report to the left of his signature ; very infrequently at
the end of the volume. This shows to what superior
officer or body — Congress, the President, or a depart-
ment head — the chief is required by law to make his
report. But sometimes this also is lacking. Notice also
the letter or letters of transmittal at the front. Note to
whom the report is transmitted, by whom, and from
whom as the original author or compil-er, and any other
bits of information.
Where the sub-reports are themselves of a size to
make one or more volumes, the clumsiness and waste of
reprinting them with the superior officer's report be-
Why Bewildering 93
come more apparent. It is the policy of the federal ad-
ministration to group all activities as subordinate bu-
reaus under a few comprehensive departments, rather
than to multiply small independent bodies. The de-
partments of the Interior and the Treasury are the two
on which have been saddled in the past the greatest num-
ber of miscellaneous bureaus, although both departments
have been greatly relieved since 1903 by the transfer of
many such bureaus to the present departments of Com-
merce and of Labor. It will be instructive to compare
the methods of these two departments as to printing the
sub-reports of bureaus under them. The report of the
Interior Department of 1900 consisted of sixteen vol-
umes, containing reports as follows : —
V. I. Secretary of the Interior, and Land Office
V. 2. Indian Office
V. 3. Five Civilized Tribes Commission, etc.
V. 4-5. Miscellaneous
V. 6-14. Geological Survey
V. 15-16. Education Bureau
Of these volumes all except v. 3-5 are reprints of sep-
arate plain title or bureau editions occupying one or
more entire volumes. Of volume 3-5, smaller reports,
each or most of them were also issued in a limited edi-
tion in paper covers.
Contrast the Treasury Department report for the
same year. It is in one volume, and includes reports,
summarized or without appendixes, of only five bureaus,
the strictly financial ones.*^*^ Among bureaus omitted
from it, to name only those now belonging to the depart-
ment, are the reports of the Coast Guard, of the Bureau
of Engraving and Printing, the Board of General Ap-
praisers, the Public Health Service, the Supervising
Architect, and others. These omitted reports all have
due publication in separate form, and are distributed
C6 These five included reports have also one or more bureau editions
apiece, in addition to the two editions (plain title and House Document)
as part of the department report, these last two in brief form without ap-
pendixes, it is true.
94 Why Bewildering
separately to the persons needing them, an entirely dif-
ferent and distinct set of persons for each bureau. The
Treasury Department report is one of the longest series
among United States government publications, has been
continuous since 1790, and has regularly been only one
volume or less in size.
The advantages, in simplicity, and in economy in dis-
tribution, of the Treasury Department plan of detached
publication of subordinate reports seem self-evident.
There suggests itself the practicability as well as desir-
ability of extending this method into every department
report ; and of publishing and paging independently, in
one edition only, each and every sub-report, no matter
how brief. The small ones could all be bound together
in order, in much the same way as the miscellaneous
Documents of Senate and House are, or any set of bul-
letins is, to make the combined and entire file of reports
of the department and its bureaus. The report of the
department head should, of course, contain a statement
of the subordinate bureaus whose reports for the year
have been printed to accompany its own.
To make clear — according to this plan, in the set of
Interior Department reports before described, not only
would V. I, 2, and 6-16 be published detached and in the
bureau edition only, but also v. 3-5 would be composed
of separately published and paged reports bound into
those volumes. As a fact, and as the Document Catalog
will show, all, or nearly all of these bureau reports, even
of only a few pages, are printed separately, with either
separate page numbering or the page numbering of the
department report. In the latter case the Document
Catalog calls them " separates." In either form they are
a necessity to the bureau for separate distribution to its
officers and others interested.
When the aggregation described above as the report
of the Interior Department is again reprinted as v. 26-41
of the House Documents of the 56th Congress, 2d ses-
Why Bewildering 95
sion, as is the case, the evil is flagrant. It may be added
that the full department edition of the War Depart-
ment report for 1900 filled twenty-eight volumes, and
was reprinted as v, 2-2^ of the House Documents of the
same Congress (serial numbers 4070-4097).
In accordance with the executive order of President
Roosevelt of January 20, 1906, and various laws to im-
prove methods of publication put through by the Print-
ing Investigation Commission of 1905-1913. and since,
the reports of the executive departments and bureaus
have been much compressed, shorn, and reduced in size,
and the most complicated examples are before that time.
But the plan of having only one edition of each sub-
report, the bureau edition, separately paged, as outlined
above, has not yet been tried.
A greater number of reports of bureau grade have
of late years come to be reprinted in the Documents series
independently and outside of the report of the depart-
ment. The result is an increase in duplicates or editions.
The report of the Engineer Department is a bulky ex-
ample. Editions printed are usually : — ( i ) the pamphlet
report of the chief without appendixes; {2) same in the
plain title edition of the department report; (3) same in
the Document edition of the department report; (4) same
with appendixes, separate plain title bureau edition; (5)
same. Document edition. The entries in the Document
Catalogue do not show (3). Of these there should be
abolished (2), (3) and (5).
To recapitulate : — the results of incorporating sub-re-
ports in the report of the chief are (i) confusion — the
reprinting of the text of each as many times and in as
many combinations as there are official grades between
it and Congress; (2) waste — the necessitated distribu-
tion to those who want, let us say, the report of the gov-
ernor of Alaska, of all other documents between the
same covers and in continuous paging with that ; and (3)
disorder — users of the publications would undoubtedly
96 Why Bewildering
rather have all the annual reports of the governor of
Alaska bound together in the order of years in one vol-
ume, than the reports of all the territorial governors for
one year together.
XII
Since 1895: The Future
By the printing law of 1895 it was doubtless the aim
to put the public printing on a sound and permanent
basis of efficiency and economy ; to give the Government
Printing Office effective administrative supervision; to
establish good methods in the publishing of the national
literary output; to provide that there should be preser-
vation of the national publications to supply public needs
in well-distributed, free depository libraries ; to central-
ize distribution whether by sale or gift ; to provide the
necessary catalogs and indexes to keep everybody in-
formed of what is being published ; and to eliminate all
that is useless and excessive. Under the various sections
attention has been called to where the law in operation
has fallen short of efifecting all these results; also to
opinions of experts as to what remains to be done, and
in what directions further steps should be taken. A
brief review of the events of the twenty years' operation
of the law and its amendments will enable the reader
to judge whether these statements of shortcomings and
these counsels are just and reasonable.
In ten years from 1895 the expenditures of the Gov-
ernment Printing Office more than doubled, increasing
from $3,473,780.92 for the year ending June 30, 1895, to
$7,080,906.73 for that ending June 30, 1904. President
Roosevelt, in his annual messages for 1902, 1904, and
1905, called attention to this rising tide of cost, which
appeared to be likely to continue mounting up.
The Committee on Department Methods, otherwise
known as the Keep Commission,*^' appointed by Presi-
dent Roosevelt to study the entire administration of the
67 The members were: C. H. Keep, assistant secretary of the Treasury;
V. H. Hitchcock, postmaster-general; Lawrence O. Murray, comptroller of
the currency; James R. Garfield, secretary of the Interior; Gifford Pinchot,
head of the Forestry Bureau.
97
98 Since 1895: The Future
national government at Washington, made a report on
the pubHc printing January 2, 1906, which included
among its principal reconnnendations the following: —
lirst, that the Government Printing Office be placed un-
der one of the executive departments,®^ thus making the
public printer, as an administrative officer, responsible to
a member of the Cabinet, to whom, with the President,
the country has entrusted the national administration.
It has been shown that, owing to the phenomenal de-
mands of the printing of Congress, which, during its
sessions, must always be served first and with a rush,
the loss by Congress of its close connection with and
control over the Printing Office might work havoc ; and
that a permanent board of directors, on which should be
represented both Congress and the publishing offices,
offers a better solution than either department or Con-
gressional control exclusively.
A second recommendation was that minor matters of
" form, size, style, paper, type, make-up, and binding "
be passed upon by a commission on bookmaking to con-
sist of the librarian of Congress as chairman, the public
printer (perhaps to be represented by the superintendent
of documents?), a representative of the department
which does the most printing, and two publishers of
large experience in bookmaking and not in the employ
of the government. At present, in the stage to which
systematized control of the national publishing has ad-
vanced, it is shared between, first, Congress — through
the printing committees of both houses and the statutory
powers of the Joint Committee on Printing; second, the
publishing departments; and third, the Government
Printing Office.
The Joint Committee on Printing is a political body
of changing make-up, whose members are immersed in
the great American game of politics. Their own per-
sonal and political fortunes, the interests of their home
localities, and great national problems demand their at-
68 The Commerce Department was the one designed to take it.
Since 1895: The Future 99
tention. Even if the clerk of that committee is long in
office and acquires familiarity with the details of the
printing, and is a wise and tactful executive, it still is
not in accordance with our plan of government that a
committee clerk should exercise control over a great
government establishment like the Government Print-
ing Office.
As for the departments, each is pressed and overbur-
dened with its own special work. The Government
Printing Office itself is a manufacturing plant for
books, not a publishing house. Each of these three
bodies pulls for itself, without cooperation or adjust-
ment of the system as a whole.
Section 74 of the new printing bill provides that the
public printer shall consult with the chiefs of the divi-
sions of publications which the bill requires that the de-
partments shall establish, and with the printing clerks of
the two houses of Congress, " in the preparation of rules
governing the forms and style of printing and binding at
the Government Printing Office, which rules shall be
subject to the approval of the Joint Committee on Print-
ing." Even did this provision amount to more than
securing that each body concerned should have its say as
to " forms and style," we note in the board recommended
by the Keep Commission, first, the expert trained in bib-
liography and library methods, represented by the libra-
rian of Congress ; next, the experienced publisher ; and,
last but not least, the non-political management. It is to
the lack of this kind of directorship that the faults in our
national publishing are directly, it might almost be said
wholly, due.
To this proposed board, which should be a permanent
body, there should be committed, besides matters of
publishing methods and make-up, also the ordinary daily
questions as to size of edition, reprints, etc., and as to
distribution, with investigating, discretionary, and regu-
lating powers — within limits — such as the public serv-
ice commissions have. It should have authority to make
100 Since 1895: The Future
rulings as the public service commissions do. The han-
dling of these matters by a board or commission would
relieve the statutes of a mass of detail, and would put
an end to the practical absurdities which result from
enactments rigid and the same for all kinds of publica-
tions, for all circumstances and all time. It would suIj-
stitute that elasticity in applying a system, and that
adaptal>ility and exact adjustment which a private pub-
lisher must use. In this connection there may be sug-
gested the desirability of having the bibliographical staff
of the Documents OfBce represented on any such board
of editors, as they have more intimate acquaintance with
the national publications than any other body in exist-
ence. Of course it is understood that the board would
have no authority over the contents of the works passed
upon, and would not dictate to any branch of the gov-
ernment what it should or should not publish.
Third among the recommendations of the Keep Com-
mission were various suggestions for condensing and
shortening the annual administrative reports, such as
printing in summary, not in full, sub-reports made to an
office below the department rank; excluding text of laws,
etc. ; and the like.
This third recommendation was made efifective by
President Roosevelt — who took a lively interest in reduc-
ing the riot and extravagance which he believed existed
in the government printing — in an executive order issued
January 20, 1906. He cautioned against overloading re-
ports, and formulated directions as to what was to be
omitted, e.g., scientific treatises ; unnecessary illustra-
tions ; non-ofiicial contributions ; reports of lower grade
officers except in summary ; laws ; biographies and eulo-
gies ; personnel ; tables ; specifications ; lists ; etc. The
order also directed the establishment in each of the ex-
ecutive departments of an " advisory committee on the
subject of printing and publication " ; adding, *' And at
least one member of the committee shall have had prac-
tical experience in editing and printing." On June 25,
Since 1895: The Future loi
1910, the Printing Investigation Commission '^" stated
that " The order has fallen into almost disregard."
True to precedent, no ten-year period to be without its
investigation, in the deficiencies appropriation act of
March 3, 1905 (58th Congress, 3d session), Congress
gave to the Joint Committee on Printing the powers of
a Printing Investigation Commission, to summon wit-
nesses and make inquiry into the national publishing, and
report " remedial legislation," if, in their judgment,
needed. Later acts continued the life of the commis-
sion and extended its field of investigations, so that for
seven years it was actively at work, during the 59th,
60th, 61 st and 626. Congresses, expiring with the latter
Congress on the 4th of March, 1913. According to Sen-
ator Smoot, the expense of this investigation was some-
thing under $35,000.'^
Its recommended " remedial legislation " is the print-
ing bill so often referred to in these pages.'"^ This was
framed by the commission and first introduced in the
60th Congress, and reported on in both houses in the 2d
session, in February, 1909. It has been before Congress
ever since, has been progressively much amplified, and
has undergone much modification. At date of writing
it has not become law. Further hearings on the bill
have been held, since the commission expired, by the
printing committees of House and Senate. This bill, as
has already been said, is a codification of the laws ad-
ministering the Government Printing Office and Docu-
ments Office, and the printing, binding, and distribution
of the national publications. It repeals the law of 1895,
superseding that and the various enactments which
cluster around it. It is greatly needed to bring together
and so simplify the total body of law on the public print-
ing, now much scattered.
But, outside of this general bill, which includes some
69 See its report of that date, page 51.
70 See his speech in the Senate, March 12-13, 1912; or Congressional
Record of same dates.
71 See, beyond, Bibliography: Printing Investigation Commission.
103 Since 1895: The Future
new provisions, the conimission has secured at dilTcrent
times legislation to effect urgent special economies and
reforms. Among these are the two laws of March 30,
1906, requiring departments to pay main costs of their
publications which are Documents of Congress (public
resolution 13) ; ^- and for the " edition plan " of issuing
publications (public resolution 14) ; "^ also the law of
March i, 1907, for a number of details, none more far-
reaching and important than the requirement that re-
ports and other publications of departments shall not be
printed as Documents of Congress.'^*
This measure from the beginning was judged by the
commission a reform most necessary of enactment. It
became law without opposition on March i, 1907, 59th
Congress. It was repealed on January 15, 1908, 60th
Congress. The substitute measure restored the Con-
gressional series as before for members and officials of
Congress in Washington, but gave department publica-
tions to depository libraries in a plain title edition.
Non-depository libraries and persons deriving their sup-
ply from members of Congress, of course, get the Docu-
ment edition. This retrogression to the old plan for
every one except the depository libraries was done on
the urgent protest of the officials who handle the books
for Congress that they knew of no way to handle de-
partment publications if they did not have series num-
bers on them. This is no doubt a genuine distress, but
with the remedy near at hand, as the same difficulty has
been met and solved in the Documents Office.
Convinced as the commission was by overwhelming
testimony of the mischief of reprinting department pub-
lications as Documents, and having demonstrated by the
law of March i, 1907, the approval of Congress of its
stoppage — still, in framing the new bill, the commission
felt under compulsion to concede something to these old-
72 Discussed also under "Why Bewildering": topic 6, p. 89.
73 Discussed also under Edition and Demand, p. 50, and under Why
Bewildering: topic 6, p. 85.
74 Discussed also under "Why Bewildering": topic 5, p. 71.
Since 1895: The Future 103
time employes. The new bill provides for changing the
existing way of dealing with department publications,
and will try an experiment with them. It may fairly be
called an experiment, as it is a way never tried before,
and it is quite uncertain as to how it will result. It is a
purely compromise measure.
It adopts first the principle so often and from so many
quarters laid down as an axiom, namely, that each work
shall be printed in one edition or form only. Then, as
but a small proportion of the department publications,
excluding the scientific, scholarly, and technical ones, are
handled by the libraries, the document rooms, and the
folding rooms of Senate and House, which these protest-
ing officials represent — especially as now the Library of
Congress and the Documents Office supply expert as-
sistance — it was thought that these officials should be
content with some, not all of the department works.
The department reports are now restricted to adminis-
trative business, all professional papers and technical
matters being put into other publications of the depart-
ment. Therefore the bill makes an arbitrary distinc-
tion — in this class it puts the department reports ; in
that, all other publications of the department. The re-
ports are to be printed as Documents. All other depart-
ment publications are to be printed in plain title form.
This distinction is justly called arbitrary, because the ad-
ministrative business of the report of the Coast and
Geodetic Survey, of the Standards Bureau, of the Naval
Observatory, the Ordnance Department, and of many
other specialized bureaus, is highly technical ; and the
classing by form — reports on this side, other works on
that — is on a faulty basis, and does not efifect the divi-
sion between governmental business material and tech-
nical material that is sought. And although, in the let-
ter, the bill states its adherence to the rule of one form
only of such work, yet, as the Joint Committee on Print-
ing announces that the library copies of the Document
editions of annual reports will be bound like the plain
104 Since 1895: The Future
title edition, there will still be two editions existing of
them. And as to uncertainty of result — whether a
protest will be made by the departments, following the
discovery that they are being robbed of their department
edition, and must accept the Document edition with the
complications that hang upon anything entangled in the
Documents series, that will effect a restoration of their
department edition, remains to be seen.
If the reports of " more than 400 " ^^ government bod-
ies are to be made part of the Congressional series, with
no department edition of them, there will be introduced
into that series a variability as to size of edition needed,
and as to distribution, far beyond the worst that was
known in the days of pre-bibliographical reform, and
staggering to contemplate. The public desiring reports
of the Agriculture Department and the Education Bu-
reau is far more numerous than, and not at all the same
as that desiring the report of the National Home for
Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, or of the Treasurer of the
United States on the sinking fund of the District of
Columbia; or of the Reclamation Service; or of the Gov-
ernment Printing Office ; not to speak of the scientific
bureaus, of mines and fisheries, the Geological Survey,
etc. It is true that the edition plan can be applied to
these as Documents. But as one main purpose of tying
together in a series is to issue in a fixed number, and
supply as a unit, at least this purpose can not be urged
as an excuse for so publishing reports so diverse and
unconnected.
The conclusion to which the commission came on the
subject of reprinting is well stated by Senator Smoot in
Senate Report 414, 62d Congress, 2d session, on S. 4239
(page 23). "This is proposed to avoid the printing of
the same report or document under two designations,
which will operate to eliminate the distribution of the
75 See paper by G. H. Carter in American Library Association, Papers
and proceedings, 191 6, p. 310.
Since 1895 : The Future 105
same report twice to the same hbrary. At the present
time this duphcation results in a shameful waste of gov-
ernment publications, and is also very confusing to the
recipients of the same." Senator Smoot's comprehen-
sive and masterly speech in the Senate on March 12-13,
1912 (Congressional Record 48:3244-3254), under the
heading, " Waste of Public Documents," '^ states the
facts brought out by the investigations of the commission.
The abolition of the " members' reserve " "' by law of
June 25, 1910, is the last to be mentioned of important
single reform measures prepared and passed by the
Printing Investigation Commission.
The pending general printing bill re-enacts all these
separate measures of reform.
Summary of reforms needed
The fact that, throughout the whole history of the
present system of administration of the public printing,
within so short a period as ten years after an investiga-
tion and its reform measures, similar bad conditions al-
ways recur, forces upon us the question : does the " reme-
dial legislation " go to the root of matters and really
remedy ? Or, applying it to the draft of legislation as it
stands today: does the proposed bill embody a full pro-
gram of reorganization which will make impossible the
recurrence of bad conditions in future? Such a pro-
gram of reforms — to gather up the recommendations
heretofore made and present them as a whole — should
include the following : —
Note. — Those double starred are provided for in the bill;
those starred the bill provides imperfectly, perhaps in some
cases taking the furthest step in the direction of reform that it
is possible to eflfect at present.
(i) The management of the Government Printing
Office by a board of directors representing all interests,
with continuity of service and freedom from political in-
76 Pages 43-46 of separately printed speech.
77 Discussed also under Edition and Demand, p. 49.
io6 Since 1895: The Future
terference for both board and pubHc printer, so that
they may give it the same business management and
efficiency that a private firm has.
(2) The estabhshment under these directors of an
editorial board or officer of bibhographical education
and experience who shall have discretionary powers for
each publication and in general to settle minor matters
of style and materials, publishing methods, size of edi-
tions, reprinting, and supply and demand, which de-
tails shall then be omitted from the statutes.
(3)* The selection, as a Presidential appointee, of the
superintendent of documents from among the ranks of
the librarians ; or the requirement in the appointee of
the same literary and bibliographical acquirements com-
bined with administrative capacity as the librarian of the
large public library must possess.'^
Or else — the transference of the cataloging and bib-
liographical work of the Documents Office to the Library
of Congress.
(4) The separation of the publications of the execu-
tive and judicial branches of the national government
from those of Congress. The publishing of each work
of any size or importance independently of any series
and in only one original form or edition. That to be
the plain title department edition for everything orig-
inating in the departments, the Congressional series edi-
tion for such only as originate in the sessions of Con-
gress.'^^
(5) The abolition of free distribution by members of
Congress. ^° Free distribution to individuals to be re-
stricted to that made for cause by the publishing office.
78 The bill makes the superintendent of documents a Presidential ap-
pointee. He is now appointed by the public printer, and must take a civil
service examination, which, as events show, does not prevent too frequent
changes in the position.
79 Provisions for publication in one edition only are in various sections
of the present bill, but the one edition for department reports is the Con-
gressional Document edition.
SO The bill provides the valuation system of distribution by members of
Congress, as a step toward ceasing free distribution to individuals. The
provision for valuation distribution should be thrown open to cover every-
Since 1895: The Future 107
Libraries to receive publications free on application.
Their supply to be through the Documents Office solely.
Provision to be made that not depositories only, but ev-
ery library open to the public may have " just what it
wants, nothing more, nothing less, and all from one cen-
tral office." All other distribution to be on a sales basis,
and all sales to be centralized in the Documents Office.
(6)** Depository libraries once designated to be per-
manently such. Designation to be made by the Docu-
ments Office.
(7) Provision that the index to the Congressional
Record be made by the trained indexers of the Docu-
ments Office : or at least by some person who knows
what scientific cataloging is.*^
(8)* Supply of the Congressional Record to libraries
by the Documents Office. *-
(9)* Supply of hearings and other publications of
committees to libraries regularly or on request. ^■''
(10) Arrangements for a bill depository, preferably in
the Documents Office, where pending public (not pri-
vate) bills shall be kept for a certain length of time to
supply demands from libraries, debating clubs, etc.
thing published in which the public and Congress are allowed to share. See
discussion under Distribution, p. 59.
SI The bill provides that the daily Record shall have in future a table of
contents. With good subject indexing a table of contents would be much
less needed.
»2 Now by Congressional distribution. The bill provides that depository
libraries shall in future receive it from the Documents Office. This distri-
bution should be extended to all libraries that request it.
83 The bill provides that depositories shall receive them from the Docu-
ments Office.
XIII
Government Organization and Terminology
In a preceding paragraph it has been said that to
handle public documents one must think in terms of gov-
ernment bodies. As a help towards this there are given
here a few elementary remarks on the organization of
the government of the United States and the titles of its
various bodies. Lists of these bodies, showing their
grades and relations and the departments to which at-
tached, may be found at the end of the Document Cata-
logs (restricted to those which have published some
work during the period covered by the special volume) ;
also a consolidated list is published separately,^* with title,
Author Headings for United States Public Documents,
with the same restrictions. Care should be taken to
keep every edition of this list, as all together make a
progressive table of the organization of the government.
Lists may be found also in Everhart,®^ down to 1909,
with, under each, a slight history and description of its
functions and publications ; and in the Checklist, through
1909, with history and publications (but those now non-
existent not separated from the present ones). Later
lists are in the table of contents of the biennial Official
Register,^'' a good bird's-eye view of the present organi-
zation ; recent issues 2specially good for temporary com-
missions and boards ; and, latest of all, in the Congres-
sional Directory,*^ this being not exhaustive as a list,
but giving also duties of each. The last two give also
personnel.
84 See Checklist, p. 416; GP3.3:4 and GP3.3:g, «
85 E. Everhart, Handbook of United States public documents. Minne-
apolis, Wilson, 19 10.
86 See Checklist, p. 321; C3.10.
87 See Checklist, p. 1616-1621.
108
Government Organization and Terminology 109
Of the three coordinate branches of our government,
legislative, executive, and judicial, it may be remarked
that the last includes the judges only. The executive
officials of the courts — the attorneys, clerks, marshals,
and commissioners — the administration of the prisons,
etc., are under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Justice, which is one of the ten executive departments.
The publications of the federal courts, being strictly
legal matter, and most of them not printed nor distrib-
uted by the government, but published and sold pri-
vately, are given no consideration in this work. In the
Checklist and Document Catalog entry for all that are
government publications will be found. In regard to
lawsuits in which the government is a party, the prose-
cutions of trusts, etc., it is well to remember that only
the opinions of the court and the briefs, etc., of the at-
torneys for the government are official, those prepared
by the attorneys of the corporation being non-official
and private.
No further allusion will be made to the publications
of the judicial branch.
The legislative branch consists of Congress and its
employes. Some bodies of the executive branch, the
Treasury Department among others, report directly to
Congress, although their heads are appointed by the
chief of the executive branch, the President. Also, the
three administrative establishments — the Botanic Garden,
the Library of Congress, and the Government Printing
Office — which are under Congress, are to be regarded,
not as legislative, but as part of the executive machinery
of the United States. Over the first two it exercises
supervision through the Joint Committee on the Library,
which differs from other standing committees by being a
statutory body, that is, one whose existence is made ob-
ligatory and its duties defined by statute. The adminis-
tration of the latter, as has been said, is in the hands of
the Joint Committee on Printing, which has similar
status.
no Government Organization and Terminology
Congress handles its business by means of committees.
We hear of standing, select, joint, and conference com-
mittees, also of the Committee of the Whole House and
the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the
Union. A standing committee is one existing accord-
ing to the standing rules of either house, and in perma-
nent charge of certain specified subjects of proposed
legislation. Most of the committees of Congress are of
this class. A select committee is one specially appointed
to consider some special question. A joint committee is
one made up of members from both houses. A full
list of standing and select committees of both houses may
be found in the Congressional Directory. Changes may
occur in either class, though the majority of the stand-
ing committees runs on from Congress to Congress with-
out change. A conference committee is always a select
and a joint committee, and is appointed to adjust differ-
ences between the two houses, going out of existence
when it has reported — to each house separately through
its members on the committee — the results of the confer-
ence. The Committee of the Whole and the Committee
of the Whole House on the State of the Union are not
committees at all, but a parliamentary device by which a
deliberative body changes its rules temporarily to facili-
tate business. The usual phrase is, the House (or Sen-
ate) goes into Committee of the Whole.
There are also various bodies sometimes called com-
mittees, more often called commissions, or occasionally
boards, created by Congress for some special and tem-
porary purpose, and including frequently among their
members others than senators and representatives — ex-
perts on the subject in hand, or representing the inter-
ests of special classes of the public. The purpose of
one of these may be of mixed nature, including some-
thing of the judicial or administrative ; but most often it
is one of investigation or inquiry into facts to lay before
Congress, or the President, or other head. Such are
the Naval Consulting Board, the Tariff Commission,
Government Organization and Terminology iii
the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the
Railroad Securities Commission, the Printing Investiga-
tion Commission, and many others. New bodies for
war needs have been recently created, many with large
executive functions, and among these are found other
titles, as National Defense Council, Emergency Fleet
Corporation, Food Administration, etc. But we need
give these no special consideration. The status of each
particular committee (non-Congressional), commission,
or board, as to permanency, membership, to whom re-
porting, etc., is a matter to be inquired into separately
for each, as many bodies so entitled are fixed parts of
the government. ^^ But this kind of a committee or
commission does not usually speak by its chairman or
other members on the floor of Congress ; nor are bills re-
ferred to it for report, although it often shapes and
recommends a bill or bills which are introduced into
Congress through the usual channels. The report made
by the commission ordinarily goes to Congress in the
same way that an executive report does, and appears in
the Congressional set as a House or Senate Document,
not Report. The latest issue of the biennial Ofificial
Register will give a convenient list of these commissions
existing during the two years covered by the issue.
When the Reports of Congress are spoken of, the re-
ports of these commissions are not included.
We come now to the executive or administrative
branch of the government, organized into bodies over-
whelmingly more numerous and diversified than any-
thing the legislative branch has to show.
In the flying notice that we are about to give to these
bodies the first fact to be grasped is that they are not
standardized ; variability is much in evidence and the
terminology even of the statutes creating them is often
not uniform; so that the most striking thing about any
general statement is that it has numerous exceptions.
88 The General Supply Committee in the Treasury department, and the
Philippine Committee on Geographical Names are instances of permanent
committees equivalent to bureaus or boards.
112 Government Organization and Terminology
This being premised, we may consider the terms: de-
partment, bureau, office, division, section, board, com-
mission, survey,. and service, which we meet constantly.
Of these the first five are the usual terms in the order
given for the successive grades of permanent botlies per-
forming routine administrative work, bureau and office
being regarded as of the same grade, and used inter-
changeably. Thus, under any department may be many
bureaus or offices. Under any bureau may be a divi-
sion ; or sometimes a body directly under the depart-
ment, but minor in function, may be termed a division.
If a further specialization in organization under a divi-
sion is needed it may be called a section. The War De-
partment, however, stands alone in using the term de-
partment for most of its important bureaus, e.g., the
Ordnance Department, the Medical Department, etc. It
gives the same title to the territorial divisions of the
army, as the Eastern Department, the Hawaiian Depart-
ment, etc.
Commission and board and, less often, committee, are
most often applied to more detached and independent,
often temporary bodies, charged with special, sometimes
expert work. Survey attaches to a body employed in
geodetic, geographical, or hydrographic work, naviga-
tion, exploration, or the like. Service denotes a body
of employes in most cases distributed all over the coun-
try, as the States Relations Service, formerly the Ex-
periment Stations Office ; the Customs Service ; the For-
estry Service, etc. System is used in the sole case of
the Postal Savings System.
The term report, as used in the executive, the legisla-
tive, and the judicial branches of the government, desig-
nates works entirely different from each other. A re-
port from a body which has administrative functions,
like the Department of Agriculture or the Bureau of
Education, is an account of work done during the period
covered, with recommendations for future activities. As
Government Organization and Terminology 113
to render a concise statement requires care, it is due to
the lack of it that some reports are overladen with ill-
digested statistics and details, repeating in one place
what is already in print in another, or even the same
volume. Also, there tend constantly to creep in be-
tween the covers of a report informational or research
special papers. The temptation is strong to give the
pubHc this helpful material under cover of the appropria-
tion for printing the annual report. This, as said before,
has been, for the present, at least, sternly ruled out, and
research papers relegated to separate series of bulletins,
monographs, and the like.
A report from the legislative branch of the govern-
ment is an entirely different kind of work. It comes,
not from Congress as a whole, but from a committee to
which that body has delegated responsibility for recom-
mending legislation on a specific subject. It is not an
account of work done, but of investigations and conclu-
sions arrived at. Its subject matter is a constructive
measure of legislation which it recommends to Con-
gress for passage or rejection.
The judicial report is again quite another thing. In-
cidentally it may be remarked that it would be in the
interests of definiteness in the use of terms if the reports
of the Supreme Court, and of all other courts, state or
federal, could have their title changed to " Opinions " or
" Decisions " of the court. In this the Interstate Com-
merce Commission has set a wise precedent. The judi-
cial report consists namely of the opinion of the court
with a brief statement of the case. So the reports of the
national Court of Claims, of the United States Supreme
Court, etc., are not like either of the former two, execu-
tive or legislative. The dift'erence in the kind of work
called indiscriminately a report, as published by these
three different branches of the government, should be
borne in mind as the United States publications are
examined.
114 Government Organization and Terminology
Of the so-called executive (Jei)artments*'''* there are
since 1913 ten, namely, the departments of Agriculture,
Commerce, Interior, Justice, Labor, Xavy, Post-Office,
State, Treasury, and War The head of each is called
secretary, except of the Post-Office Department, headed
by the postmaster-general, and the Department of Jus-
tice, by the attorney-general. Together these heads of
executive departments form the President's cabinet, or
official advisers and agents for carrying out his policies,
corresponding to the ministry in most Euro])ean coun-
tries. The ten departments do not make the sum total
of bodies of the executive branch. There are bodies in-
dependent of them, some of the most important being
the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Civil Service
Commission, the Smithsonian Institution, the Federal
Reserve Board, the Federal Trade Commission, and
others that will suggest themselves. It may be noted
that many a subordinate bureau is better known and
more important to the general public than the depart-
ment it is under.
89 The new printing bill uses throughout the expression, " Departments,
independent offices, and establishments"; also, when greater inclusiveness
is intended, " Committee, commission, office, department, or establishment
of the government."
XIV
Things to be Noticed
Certain things which it is well to notice in a govern-
ment publication have been already mentioned : — the
mark O for finis; the signature at end of a report; the
address at beginning or end ; the letter or letters of trans-
mittal, etc. Sometimes the seal of the publishing body on
the title-page gives information lacking in the words of
the title. In the Congressional publications is occasion-
ally seen an asterisk in the margin at the foot of the
first page. This indicates a corrected print struck off to
replace a first print in which an error occurred.
Some publications have, usually on the reverse of the
title-page, the words, " Treasury Department document
number so-and-so," " War Department document num-
ber so-and-so," or the same expression with the name
of some other bureau or department substituted. This is
often a help in ascertaining the administrative body which
is the responsible author of the work, although it can not
be depended on to fix the final decision. It should be
included in the catalog entry, as it will be found occasion-
ally a helpful item in identifying or correlating two or
more documents. The words, " Whole number so-and-
so," or some equivalent, or simply a detached number,
usually in the hundreds, are seen on some bulletins, etc.,
at the extreme top of cover or title-page, or in another
place. This is not so necessary to include in the catalog
entry. Both this and the department or bureau docu-
ment number serve a purpose, usually that of identifica-
tion and consecutive file number in the office which issues
the publication. But with neither set of numbers will
it be advisable to try to check off or keep count of
them to see if all are received; for one reason, because
"5
ii6 Things to be Noticed
the file may inchide confidential material or office blanks
and forms, etc. Neither is a series entry needed under,
e.g.. " U. S. Treasury Department document " or " U. S.
Education Bureau. Whole number."
PART II
Legislative Publications
I
General
Congress, the legislative branch of the government, is
charged with giving, in the form of statute law, the orders
which create and keep in motion the total machinery of
the federal government. This excludes, of course, all
matters regulated by the constitution of the United States,
as well as all which are entrusted to the sovereign states
to regulate for themselves according to their own state
constitutions and the laws which the state legislatures
make for them.
Of the two bodies composing the Congress of the
United States, members of the House of Representatives
have a term of office of only two years. Senators hold
office six years. But as every second year the freshly
elected members of the House of Representatives take
their seats, there is said to begin then a new Congress.
These biennial Congresses have been numbered consecu-
tively from the first in 1789 to the present 65th Congress
whose members came into office March 4, 1917. Each
senator, then, is elected for the period of three Con-
gresses. But their terms of office have been arranged
from the beginning so that they expire, not all at once,
but in relays, one third of the membership every two
years. Thus, while we have biennial Congresses, with
annual sessions, the Senate is a continuous body down
from the beginning of the government. The Senate, al-
though the smaller body, yet — because each senator
stands for a larger constituency than a representative,
and is, indeed, often considered as standing for a
sovereign state, not for a certain number of voters — is
given precedence of the House of Representatives in all
official matters. One hears them called the upper and
119
120 General
lower house respectively. This extends even to the ar-
rangement of their pubhcations, those of the Senate being
placed first usually.
A session is a meeting which is regarded in parliamen-
tary law as continuous, but is actually broken by daily or
more frequent adjournments, each one specifying a defi-
nite time of reassembling. It may last over a number of
months. An adjournment sine die, that is, without any
fixed time for coming together again, terminates a session.
The constitution of the United States directs that Con-
gress shall meet at least once a year, beginning the first
IMonday in December, unless Congress shall fix some
other date, which it has not done. Congress has ordered,
however, that, of its regular annual sessions, two for each
biennial Congress, one session may run along to the very
hour of opening of the succeeding session, unless ended
sooner by its own vote ; but the other must terminate the
fourth of March. Thus we have alternately a long
session and a short one. It is convenient to recall that
this end of the short session on the fourth of March
comes always in the odd-numbered years, 1913, 1915,
.etc. The fourth of March sees also, as each two biennial
periods pass by, the inauguration of a President. At
jioon of this day, as the 63d, 64th, or other biennial Con-
gress expires, the members of the new Congress imme-
diately come into office. The new representatives have
been elected (in all but three of the states, in which elec-
tion is earlier) on the Tuesday after the first Monday of
(November of the preceding year, and have been repre-
sentatives-elect all through the short session, of December
to March, during which the Congress about to expire
has been sitting and making laws. The representative
who was elected in November and holds ofifice from the
fourth of March, does not begin his lawmaking until
the regular session opens the following December,
unless urgent business demands immediate action. In
that case an extra session may be called by the President
at any time after March fourth. As the sessions are
General 121
numbered continuously throughout a Congress, if an extra
session is called, the regular sessions become the second
and third, instead of first and second, in numbering.
The Senate has, of course, its semi-executive func-
tions as adjunct and advisory to the Chief Executive in
the appro\»al of treaties and of nominations of officers.
It is, therefore, for this purpose only, occasionally as-
sembled in session alone, the House not sitting; but this
does not affect the numbers of the sessions, which include
only those held jointly, Senate and House both sitting.
The printed proceedings and debates of these special
sessions of the Senate, those, that is, not confidential
and published in the Congressional Record, are usually
so slight that they are not made a separate volume, but
are bound in with the volume covering the session fol-
lowing or preceding. And the same is done wnth the
Reports and Documents, if any, of these special sessions
of the Senate. A convenient table of dates of Con-
gresses and their sessions and the Presidents in office
during each may be found in the Checklist, pages 185-
188. Another list is in the Congressional Directory.
The regular publications of the legislative branch of the
government which will be taken up here in turn may be
counted as five, viz: — (i) the Journals of each house;
(2) the Congressional Record; (3) the bills and laws;
(4) the committee Reports of each house; and (5) the
Documents of each house. The laws are included here
for convenience. Strictly, an engrossed copy of each
goes from Congress to the State Department, where the
Bureau of Rolls and Library preserves the engrossed
copy, and prints and distributes all editions of the laws.
II
The Serially Numbered Set
Three of these five publications, the Journals, Docu-
ments, and committee Reports, have from the earliest
times been connected together by a certain uniformity of
treatment, including make-up, style, binding, laws as to
printing and distribution, etc. This has caused them to
be thought of together by the public, and shelved together
in libraries, as one continuous series known as the Con-
gressional set, or Congressional series, or — calling all by
the title which belongs to only one of the series — the
'Congressional documents. It has also been dubbed the
sheep-bound set or sheep set, other government publica-
tions being mostly in cloth or paper, while these volumes
till 1907 were always bound in full sheep. Also it has
been called the serial set from the serial numbers spoken
of beyond.
The Congressional set actually consists of six separate
and distinct series, or, before the consolidation of the
Executive and Miscellaneous Documents into a single
series with the title Documents, of eight series. These
six series are the Journals, Reports, and Documents
(Executive Documents, Miscellaneous Documents) of
each house. ^
1 It should be observed that in very early Congressional publications
these series were not differentiated, nor were their titles always Documents
or Reports. It is only beginning with the i6th Congress that the Reports
were differentiated from the Documents, and then only by the House. With
the first session of the 30th Congress, 1847-48, both the Senate and House
publications began to be divided, besides Journals, into Reports and Ex-
ecutive Documents and Miscellaneous Documents. The Executive Docu-
ments were intended to include all communications from the President and
the executive departments, the Miscellaneous Documents all other papers
connected with the business of Congress outside of committee Reports. By
the printing law of 1895 and beginning with the ist session of the 54th
Congress, 1895-96, the Congressional set was simplified by consolidating the
two series of Executive and Miscellaneous Documents for each house each
into a single series with the title Documents. See Checklist, p. xix.
122
The Serially Numbered Set 123
The two Journals, of the Senate and House respect-
ively, consist each of one volume only. But each of the
four (or six) other series consist of many separate publi-
cations, bound, separately or in collected lots, into numer-
ous volumes. Within each series the publications and
also the volumes are numbered consecutively and inde-
pendently, making a dual system of numbering within
each series.
The order of arrangement of the six (or eight) series
has not always been the same, but always a session to-
gether, the Senate preceding the House, and the Journals
foremost. At present the order is, first the Journals of
both houses, then the Reports of both, then the Docu-
ments. The Executive Documents preceded the Miscel-
laneous Documents as long as these existed separately.
Examination of the tables of the Congressional set in the
Checklist will show how the order varied from time to
time.
Another set of numbers ties together these six (or
eight) series with an additional bond. This is the so-
called serial number assigned to every volume of Jour-
nals, Reports, and Documents, beginning with the first
of the 15th Congress and continuing without a break
down to the latest volume issuing today from the govern-
ment press. This was devised by Dr. John G. Ames, and
the full scheme was first put into use in the second edition
of the Checklist, 1895. In regard to the serial number-
ing it may be allowable to repeat here what has been al-
ready explained.- This is that, while it might seem that
to add another to the already complicated sets of number-
ings would only increase confusion, yet, with the Congres-
sional set as it existed when Dr. Ames assigned them,
these numbers were a great help. They provided an ab-
solutely distinctive and short designation for each volume
to substitute for the long statement of Congress, session,
number, and volume. Besides quoting and calling for it
by this short number, distinct and different for each vol-
2 See Why Bewildering: topic 5, p. 71.
124 The Serially Numbered Set
ume, the set on the Hbrary shelves could be checked by
these numbers to prove that nothing was lacking, and all
were in order. Under the present semi-reformed and
compromise system there are three classes of publications
with serial numbers which are lacking in the depositories'
sets. These are the Journals ; the Reports on simple and
concurrent resolutions and on private bills; and the an-
nuals and other serials originating in the executive bodies,
as the depositories receive these in plain title edition.
Gaps in the serial numbers on the depository library
shelves show where these three classes of works are want-
ing. The continuity of the numbers is now so ragged
and broken as to impair their usefulness.
To describe or refer with bibliographical exactness
to any Document or Report of Congress, eight items or
designations must be given, viz.: — (i) U. S. ; (2) num-
ber of the Congress; (3) number of the session; (4)
Senate or House; (5) title of the series, i.e., Document
(Executive Document, ^Miscellaneous Document) or Re-
port; (6) number in its series; (7) volume number; (8)
serial number.^ The number of the session, (3), is
superfluous for publications of a date since the Document
and Report numbers began being continuous throughout
a Congress. But as during nearly a century the num-
bering began anew each session, to omit this item for any-
thing earlier than the 2d session of the 60th Congress
might leave the reader in doubt between two Documents
of the same number but of different sessions, instead of
guiding him straight to the right one.* Thus the correct
reference or quotation will read, e.g., U. S. 54th Con-
gress, I St session, House Document 430. In v. 88; 3455.
The order, punctuation, etc., do not matter, provided all
the items are given. But in any catalog, to adopt an
order of items and use it uniformly is recommended,
both for neatness, and to check forgetfulness.
3 See also, beyond. Cataloging: i. House and Senate four series, p. 207.
4 See Checklist, p. 156, footnote.
Ill
Journals
The Journals of the Senate and of the House are pub-
lished separately for each body, are royal octavo, and
are one volume a session for each. They contain the
bare minutes of the proceedings, excluding debates,
speeches, etc. How: much that which is excluded is in
bulk may be seen by comparing the two volumes of the
Journals for preferably a long session with the several
large quarto volumes of the Congressional Record for
the same session.
Although the Journals still have assigned to them a
serial number as of old before the days of bibliographical
reform, yet that number now represents always a gap on
the shelves of the depository library. Since the passage
of the law of January 12, 1895, the Journals have not
been sent to all depository libraries. There are printed
for libraries only 144 copies, sent to only three libraries
in each state, one of which is the state library. The
new printing bill restores the Journals to the depository
libraries.
The Journals of the executive sessions of the Sen-
ate are confidential until, after due lapse of time, that
body removes the injunction of secrecy and orders that
they be printed.^ They are not a part of the Congres-
sional set, but a distinct series of volumes by themselves,
and will not be taken up here, except to say that the new
bill provides for each volume, as it is printed and made
public, the same distribution as for the Journals of the
open sessions. An account of them will be found in the
Checklist, page 1503.
5 See, for account of them, Monthly Catalog, May, 1910, p. 667.
125
IV
Congressional Record °
The Journals are superfluous and unwanted in libra-
ries because the Congressional Record contains every-
thing found in them, with much more. The Record,
however, gives the proceedings of each legislative day
in both houses continuously, instead of segregating them
in a separate volume for each body, as the Journals do.
It gives a complete verbatim account, taken down on the
floor of Senate and House by the official stenographers,
the most expert in the country, of all that is said and
done in Congress day by day.
The Record began in 1873 ^t the opening of the 43d
Congress, and its publication was the beginning of the
government's official reporting and printing the pro-
ceedings for itself. It has, how-ever, three predecessors,
which, though not compiled by the government, were
sanctioned by it and recognized as official, and which
successively bring down these proceedings from the
first Congress in 1789 to 1873. These are the An-
nals of Congress, the Register of Debates, and the Con-
gressional Globe.'^
The proceedings of Congress which the Record con-
tains are not reprinted in any Report or Document of
the Congressional set, the now undistributed Journals
being left out of the question. Conversely, neither do
6 Interesting discussions of this publication will be found in Congressional
Record, 62d Congress, 2d session, v. 48:2293 (illustrations in); 3936 (sub-
scription price); 3254 (quotas of members); 4328 (average cost of printing);
4466 (1,000,000 copies proposed); 5824, 6497 (speeches in). Also in same,
63d Congress, 2d session, H. of R.; Jan. 24, 1914; v. 51:2266-2268 (Barn-
hart; cost of Record). As to quotas of Records distributed through folding
rooms in 56th, 5 7th, and 58th Congresses, see U. S. Printing Investigation
Commission, Report, 1906, v. i: 123 (Brian); also, in S3d to s8th Con-
gresses, same: 156-160.
7 See, for history and description of these series, Checklist, p. 1463-1475.
126
Congressional Record 127
the Reports and Documents of Congress appear reprinted
in the Record except infrequently as some special reason
may place one there. For instance, messages of the
President, which are always in the Record, may or may
not be found as Documents of Congress. Neither is the
text of bills and resolutions, of laws and treaties to be
found in the Record except as above stated. The print-
ing there of simple resolutions and of other short resolu-
tions may be an exception to this general rule.
The bulk of the Record is swollen by the advantage
taken by members of Congress of the so-called leave
to print or to extend remarks. By this, on request, if
no one objects, a member is permitted to print in the
Record remarks, to present which on the floor of Senate
or House time was not granted, or, scandal whispers,
sometimes was not desired nor asked. And, coupled
with this, is the privilege to have reprinted at cost and
without restriction as to quantity any part of the Rec-
ord, and, indeed, of any United States government pub-
lication. These reprints, costing little and sent free un-
der the member's frank, may be distributed broadcast
over the country as campaign documents, or as tokens
to the member's constituents of his activity and impor-
tance in Congress, where, it might happen, he had not
once been recognized to make a speech. The printing
bill sets limitations to both these privileges.
The Record is issued in an unbound part for each
day that Congress or either house is in session. Index
parts come out semi-monthly. Caution must be given
that the paging of the final bound volumes differs from
that of the dailies, being changed in consolidating the
text as it appeared in the daily issues. So the semi-
monthly indexes can not be used for the bound volume,
nor will the index to the bound volumes verify if used
for the unbound numbers. Reference made to the Con-
gressional Record should be always to the pages of the
bound volume ; or, if necessarily to the unbound issues,
then statement to that effect should be made. The
128 Congressional Record
daily issues should be thrown away as soon as the bound
volume is received. They are no longer of any use,
and are not wanted returned in Washington. The pro-
ceedings of a session are called one volume of the Rec-
ord, paged continuously, with an index to all of it at the
end ; but this so-called volume is usually so large as to
have to be bound in several parts, each part itself a large
quarto volume with its own separate title-page. The
index by itself makes one of these parts or separate
volumes of good size. An appendix, bound often with
the index, contains only speeches, those which did not
appear in the daily Record of proper date, perhaps be-
cause they were withheld by their authors for revision,
or for other causes.
The index of the Record under committees and mem-
bers is satisfactory, so far as the writer's experience
goes. But the indexing of subjects gives reason to wish
that a person could be put at the task who, besides be-
ing conversant with the business of Congress, might be
in addition trained in catalogmg. Examples can be
furnished by hundreds where the canons of subject cata-
loging do not seem to be known, and are certainly not
observed.^ The user thereby loses much time, and fre-
quently loses some of the material also.
One indispensable part of the index has given the
writer efficient service on all occasions when used.
This is the History of Bills and Resolutions at the end.
This is a complete numerical list of, first the Senate
bills and joint, concurrent, and simple resolutions, fol-
lowed by the same of the House. It includes only those
which have been introduced or on which action has
8 See, for criticism by R. P. Falkner, endorsed by the council of the
American Library Association, Library Journal, 2-]: C93, C96, 1902; Library
Journal, .:8: C103-C104, 1903; also same in A. L. A. Proceedings, 190J,
1903. Also, by the writer, in A. L. A. Papers and proceedings, 1916, p.
318. Also by Superintendent of Documents Ferrell, U. S. Printing Investi-
gation Commission, Report, 1906, v. 1:77. The last complains that the
index gives no clue under subjects to a speech made to a bill, but on a
subject foreign to it, e.g., a speech on the tariff made while rivers and
harbors appropriations have the floor.
Congressional Record 129
been taken in the session covered by the volume in-
dexed. Gaps between the numbers show bills of an-
other session untouched in this session. Under each bill
will be found stated every stage of its progress from its
introduction down to — if it became a law — its return
approved by the President ; and, in recent volumes, its
number as a public or private law or resolution. The
numbers of any Reports or Documents on it are also
given. If none of these facts are given, then the bill
had no history after being introduced and referred to a
committee as the rules direct, that is, in the session cov-
ered by the index being consulted. But the search must
extend through all the indexes for all the sessions of a
Congress, as the bill may have been introduced at the
opening of the first session and not passed till near the
close of the last session.
If one particular bill failed to pass, this does not prove
that the measure did not go through. Often several bills
and resolutions to accomplish an identical purpose, or
identical bills in both houses are introduced ; or a bill or
bills are swallowed up by a committee, and the measure
reported back in an entirely new bill with another num-
ber. In recent volumes of the Record index, in the
alphabetical part, an asterisk added to a bill number in-
dicates that there was action on the bill.
If the object be to find whether a measure passed or
not and then to find the published text of the law. the pro-
cedure is to look in the alphabetical part under subject
and other entries, and note either all bills there recorded,
or, in recent volumes, the one starred.** Then turn to
those numbers or that number in the History of Bills
and Resolutions at the end of the index. In the earlier
case each number must be examined till the one is
9 The index is so faultily made that one can not be sure to find together
under one subject all bill numbers, etc, but one must examine all pertinent
and related subjects and also the committee and personal entries to make
sure of getting all the material. If the index were properly made, with
uniform system of subject headings, and consistency in entry under them,
and in the cross references, this would not be necessary.
130 Congressional Record
found the history of which comes down to its being
passed and signed by the President. In later Records the
asterisk gives reference direct to the one which became
law, or to several on which action was taken, which must
include the one that finally passed. The date when ap-
proved; also, in the later volumes, the words, "Public
no, ," or " Private no. " (these latter being the
number of the law in slip form), will identify the law
either in the separate slip form, or in the collected laws.
Of both of these forms description will be given fur-
ther on.
In tracing, by use of the Congressional Record and its
index, the passage of a bill into law, the following data
should be gathered : —
1. Number of bill or resolution that passed. Describe by four
designations.
2. Congress and session and years covered by the session in
which passed.
3. By whom introduced. If prepared in committee, note it.
4. Committees of each house which considered it, including con-
ference committees, if any.
5. Other bills or resolutions on the same subject which did not
become law.
6. Any Reports printed. Describe by eight designations.
7. Any Documients printed. Describe by eight designations.
8. Notable debate and speeches. Names of speakers and refer-
ence to pages of Record.
9. Date of signature.
10. Slip law number.
11. Volume and page of Statutes at Large where law is to be
found. If Statutes are not yet out substitute reference to
Session Laws.
But if on the measure there are sought the total ac-
tion and the debates of Congress, then there must be
noted under the subject in the alphabetical index every
entry and every bill and resolution, and, in the History,
the action taken on all the latter, also the Documents and
Reports printed ; and all page references must be looked
up. Looking up the page references is a weary search
which might be lessened, especially for the references
in the History, were the indexing done by a person as
Congressional Record 131
expert in indexing as the Record stenographers, say,
are in stenography, as a system of defined or modified
references to pages might be worked out.'*^ But the
most enhghtening debate and the most important action
may have been on a bill which did not pass finally, an-
other bill number having gained the right of way. And
speeches or debate on, for instance, the tarifif, or other
subject of current politics, occur often quite irrespective
of the measure before the house. The subject entries
of the index should give a clue to these also.
To find the total history of legislation which was
long incubating, the Records of several sessions or Con-
gresses must be searched. Government treatment of
American merchant marine will occur to any one as a
subject sporadic in Congress over many years. In its
latest phase, government owned ships for the period
of the European war, it presents an interesting exam-
ple of how a measure, discussed in Congress after Con-
gress without action thereon, may persist and finally in
one form or another become law. Not until every stone
has been upturned in searching the Record can one be
sure one has not overlooked some vital facts in this orig-
inal source of current political and legislative history —
facts of which this is the storehouse, and which can be
gleaned at first hand nowhere else. The inestimable
value of a scientifically made index to the Record, with a
system of uniform subject headings continuous through
successive volumes, can be thus seen. Could such a one
be once made and shown, it would be acclaimed by scho-
lars, statesmen, in fact, by every one who has occasion to
use the work.
A comparison of the Congressional Record index and
the Document Index as to what can be obtained from
each may be helpful. The Record not only indexes its
own contents — the debates and proceedings of Congres3
including its action on bills — but also supplies incident-
10 See Indexing, principles, rules, and examples, by M. T. Wheeler. 2d
ed. rev. Albany, 1913. (N. Y. State Library. Library School IBuUetin]
33)
132 Congressional Record
ally the numbers of bills and resolutions and of the Re-
ports and Documents on them, and, begmnmg with the
57th Congress, 1901-3, the numbers of the slip laws. All
of these are publications separate from the Record.
The Document Index indexes only the Documents and
Reports, and supplies incidentally only one thing, viz., in
the entry of Reports the number of the bill or resolution
on which made. The good workmanship of this latter
index ensures finding, under the subject heading used,
all the Reports and Documents that bear on it ; but no clue
is supplied to bills not reported on, to the action of Con-
gress on a bill, or to whether a bill became law or not.
The Document Index is so much better an index than that
of the Record, that it may sometimes expedite search to
find from it the number of a bill, instead of from the
alphabetical part of the Record index, thence turning
direct to the History for the action on it and final dis-
position of it.
The Document Catalog, it may be mentioned, ap-
pends to entries of Reports the page number of the
Statutes at Large where the text of the bill that was
reported and became a law is to be found. If the bill
did not become law in that Congress, of course there is
no reference.
The abbreviations used by the Record index and the
Document Index respectively are difterent. To avoid
confusion, a table of them is appended : —
Congressional Document
Record Index-
Senate bill S. S.
Senate joint resolution S. J. Res. S. J. R.
Senate concurrent resolution S. Con. Res. S. C. R.
Senate resolution S. Res. S. R.
House bill H. R. H.
House joint resolution H. J. Res. H. J. R.
House concurrent resolution .... H. Con. Res. H. C. R.
House resolution H. Res. H. R.
V
Bills and Resolutions: Laws
The business of Congress is to produce laws. A pro-
posed law is either a bill or a resolution. " Facts, prin-
ciples, and their own opinions and purposes, are ex-
pressed in the form of resolutions.^^ There are three
kinds of resolutions : joint ; concurrent ; and simple. As
to form the difference between the four is in the enacting
clause at the beginning. A bill begins : " Be it en-
acted " ; a resolution, " Resolved," or " Be it resolved,"
the rest of the phrase varying with the kind of resolution
it is.^- As to content, the simple and concurrent resolu-
tion are of the same grade, and are not understood to
embody legislation. The simple resolution concerns the
business of one house only, and is not submitted to the
other house, nor to the President, nor preserved in the
laws. Frequently, being short, its text is printed in full
in the Record as part of the proceedings. Concurrent
resolutions concern the business and require the consent
of both houses. They do not go to the President, but
since the printing law of 1895 they have been printed in
the Statutes at Large, beginning with volume 28 for the
53d Congress.
" The joint resolution is a bill so far as the processes
of Congress in relation to it are concerned . . . They
are used for what may be called the incidental, unusual.
n U. S. Congress. H. of R. Constitution, Jefferson's manual, and rules
. . . 63d Congress, 3d session, sec. 388.
12 A simple resolution begins: "Resolved"; a concurrent resolution,
••Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring)"— the
order is reversed if originating m the House; a joint resolution, " Resolved
by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America m Congress assembled"; a bill, "Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the United States of Anlenca ' in " Congress
assembled."
133
134 Bills and Resolutions: Laws
or inferior purposes of legislating."" The differences
in content of bills and the various kinds of resolutions
may be grasped by exammation of samples of them in
the Statutes at Large. But to illustrate — if either
house alone takes an adjournment for the allowed
period, it does so by simple resolution. It also adjusts
its business relations with its own ofticials in this form.
But the two houses adjourn for more than the permitted
three days or sine die by concurrent resolution. Orders
to print may be by simple resolution up to a certain
limit of cost, above that by concurrent resolution, or by
joint resolution, or even by a bill.^*
A bill or resolution is quoted by stating four items
concerning it, namely : — ( i ) number of the Congress ;
(2) the house in which it originated; (3) its title, i.e.,
bill or resolution of whatever kind; (4) its number.
The description will read, for example, 64th Congress,
Senate joint resolution 2y.
At present a bill or resolution under consideration is
printed, unless specifically ordered by either house, six
times only, viz.: — when in the house of origin it is (i)
referred to a committee; (2) favorably reported back;
and (3) after its passage; the same processes duplicat-
ing in the second house.
No bill or resolution, unless in special reprint edition,
is listed in the Checklist, or in the Monthly Catalog,
nor is any indexed directly in the Document Index or
in Poore, Ames, or the Document Catalog. They are
indexed directly in the Congressional Record index only.
But such as attain the dignity of having a Report made
on them can be reached indirectly through the entries
13 U. S. Congress. H. of R. Constitution, Jefferson's manual, and rules
. . . 63d Congress, .3d session, sec. 390.
14 " Resolutions of inquiry are usually simple rather than concurrent in
form, and are never joint resolutions." U. S. Congress. H. of R. Con-
stitution, Jefferson's manual, and rules . . . 63d Congress, 3d session, sec.
835. " Notice to a foreign government of the abrogation of a treaty is
authorized by a joint resolution." Same, sec. 592. " Amendments to the
Constitution are proposed in the form of joint resolutions . . but are not
presented to the President for his approval." Same, sec. 223.
Bills and Resolutions: Laws 135
for these Reports in the Monthly Catalog (under the
name of the committee only), in the Document Catalog,
and the Document Index, the bill number and title of the
bill bemg included as part of the entry in the first two,
the number only m the last. Bills and resolutions are not
received by libraries, nor has the Documents Office any
supply for distribution. Their number is legion, and
the demand for them is infinitesimal in proportion to
their number. But debaters who discuss live topics and
those interested in pending legislation are frequently at
a disadvantage because of not having before them the
exact provisions of a measure which is being considered
by Congress. Application to a senator or representative
will usually, doubtless, procure a copy or copies. But
if some depository of current bills, on public business
only, could be created, to which application could be
made at need, with certainty of prompt supply, it would
be a boon to many. The burden of the overwhelming
surplus of bills which would never be called for, but
which would have to be kept so as to be ready to supply
the few demands, could be relieved by requiring merely
a four-years' or a two-years' preservation, and exclud-
ing private bills.
The procedure by which a bill or a joint resolution
becomes law is the following : — ( i ) It is introduced into
either house and referred to a committee, usually auto-
matically and according as the rules direct. Many bills,
in fact, the majority of the vast number with which Con-
gress is annually flooded, stop here, and are said to die in
committee. (2) It is reported back, either adversely, or
favorably with or without amendments. It is seldom, in-
deed, that a bill is passed over an adverse report. (3) It
is voted on and passed by the house in which it originated.
(4) It is introduced into the other house and referred to
a committee. (5) It is reported back with or without
amendments. (6) It is passed by the other house. If it
is passed with amendments of course it has to go back to
be considered again in the house from which it came.
136 Bills and Resolutions: Laws
And if the two houses vote to disagree about the pro-
visions of the bill, then members of each house are des-
ignated to meet and confer with a view to settling points
of diflference. This is called a conference committee,
and the bill is said to " go to conference." Usually the
conferees are appointed from the membership of the
committee which reported the bill in each house. But
this may be omitted from our count of processes as a
little out of the ordinary. During all these stages it
has retained its bill number as given it w^hen originally
introduced, e.g., S. 19785, or H.J.R.25. (7) It is signed
by the President. We may omit the veto procedure. It
is now published in separate pamphlet form known as a
slip law ^^ or a slip resolution, with a new number consec-
utive through the Congress, as " Public no. ," or
" Private no. ," " Public resolution no. ," or
" Private resolution no. ." Although this ends the
stages of the progress of a bill or resolution into full-
fledged law, yet, to make the bibliographical record com-
plete from start to finish, the various successive forms
in which the laws are published and distributed may be
added here. As a slip law it has gone into the hands of
the State Department, which prints and distributes the
laws. (8) All laws of a session are collected together
and printed as the so-called Session or Pamphlet Laws.^*^
Appended to this volume are the collected treaties and
conventions and the proclamations of the year, which, like
the slip laws, have had previous publication in large oc-
tavo broadside or pamphlet form. (9) All the laws of a
Congress are collected together and republished as a
volume of the Statutes at Large. ^' Appended are the
treaties and conventions and the proclamations for the
two years. (10) The final form is the Revised Stat-
utes. ^^ This consists of all the laws in force at the time
15 See Checklist, p. 954-957.
16 See Checklist, p. 957-962.
17 See Checklist, p. 965-968.
li See Checklist, p. 968-970. See also. Documents Office, Price list 10:
Laws; 9th ed., March, 1917, from Which iiiforrhation abbut Codes given
below is quoted.
Bills and Resolutions: Laws 137
of revision, omitting everything repealed or made void by
later legislation, rearranged under their subjects, and re-
enacted en bloc to make the whole legally binding. No
treaties nor proclamations are included. All treaties to
which the United States is a party are pubHshed in a
cumulated edition from time to time.^^ And proclama-
tions can be found in the messages and papers of the
Presidents, several cumulated editions of which have been
successively published.-" No issue of the Revised Stat-
utes has been made since the Supplement to volume 2,
1892-1901, 52d-56th Congresses, since when the Statutes
at Large and Session Laws must be depended on. With
this set should be used the Index Analysis of the Federal
Statutes . . . 1789-1907, by G. W. Scott, M. G. Beaman
and others, 2 volumes, published 191 1 and 1908 respec-
tively, by the Library of Congress. " In 1897 a Commis-
sion to Revise the Criminal Laws was created. Later its
scope was enlarged to include all the Federal laws. Two
chapters of the new revision have been thus far passed by
Congress and made laws, namely, the Criminal Code [no
pages, 191 1 ] and the Judicial Code [149 pages, 1913]."
No. 7, the slip laws, are not sent to libraries, any more
than the bills are, although they can be obtained on ap-
plication as directed in the Monthly Catalog. No. 8,
the Session Laws, are the first issue which the libra-
ries receive. No. 9, the Statutes at Large, are the final
form for a library to preserve. They contain all the
laws of all the sessions of a single Congress, and so
entirely duplicate the two or three volumes of the Ses-
sion Laws, which should be thrown away when the
Statutes at Large are received. The only use an old
volume of Session Laws has is to fill in where a dupli-
cate is needed, or to supply gaps where the Statutes are
not obtainable, as may happen with early volumes. The
case is dififerent as regards the Statutes at Large and
the Revised Statutes. In the latter all acts superseded
19 See Checklist, p. 976-978. Also, an edition 1910-1913, in 3 volumes.
20 See Checklist, p. 874-875.
138 Bills and Resolutions: Laws
or repealed arc omitted ; therefore, to have a copy of the
laws in force at any given date the complete set of the
Statutes must be permanently retained.
The slip laws can be found in the Checklist,-^ and cur-
rently in the Monthly Catalog and the Congressional
Record index. Reference to the separate enactments in
the Session Laws and the Statutes at Large can be
made through their volume indexes ; also, as said be-
fore, through the entries in the Document Catalog un-
der Reports made on them. To a trained indexer the
volume indexes to the volumes of the Statutes at Large
seem unsatisfactory, matter bearing on the same sub-
ject being indexed partly under one heading and partly
under another.-- Whether the legal profession are sat-
isfied with them is not known to the writer.
The only exact way to quote a law is as " Pub-
Cong. " j Cong.
or • " Private law TTT".-; c'
lie law
date I date
" Public resolution ~~z:
Cong.
or ; " Private resolution,
date
fc^^i— "
or , It may also be quoted — giving its sub-
date
ject, as there might be more than one law of that date —
by date alone ; the date given being, of course, that of ap-
proval by the President. An example is : Public resolu-
tion 13, of March 30, 1906; or, Public resolution 13, 59th
Congress ; or, Public resolution approved March 30, 1906,
requiring departments to pay main costs of their publica-
tions printed as Documents of Congress — these three
being dififerent ways of quoting the selfsame act. It is
often spoken of less definitely as the law on such a sub-
ject of such a year; or, by the name of some man who
21 Under State Department, S7 5.
22 For fault found with the indexing of the Statutes at Large by James
R. Mann, Republican leader in the House, see Cong. Record, 51: 15237.
Bills and Resolutions: Laws 139
was active in putting it through, as the McKinley tariff
law, etc. ; but a law so described would be difficult to
identify in the Statutes.
If the distinction between public and private legisla-
tion is not clearly grasped, the following may help :
" The term, private bill, shall be construed to mean all
bills for the relief of private parties, bills granting pen-
sions, and bills removmg political disabilities," -•*
It should be added that now, as the business of Congress
is so volummous, the preparatory investigation and
threshing out of all important legislation are done in the
committee rooms. But what goes on there often is un-
published, and what has been put into print has been
inaccessible, unknown, and unregulated as to what may
be printed and to whom distributed. Often valuable
material known to have been put in print has vanished,
leaving not a copy for later generations. Much of the
total work done by Congress in the hearings and rec-
ords of committees and in other papers printed to facili-
tate their discussions, has been lost to the student of
public events. Luckily, the new printing bill provides
better regulation of committee publications, and enacts
that the depository libraries shall receive them.
23 Present law includes bills for the survey cf rivers and harbors. The
new printing bill excludes these from the definlticn of private bills, but
provides that they shall have the distribution ot private bills.
VI
Reports of Committees ^*
As has been seen, the subject of the activity of Con-
gress is in the form of bills and resolutions. These
bills and resolutions are in the hands of committees.
For instance, to the committees on Indian affairs in
Senate and House are referred all bills introduced
touching that business. The committee examines each
one and brings before its respective house those upon
which it deems best to recommend action. The com-
mittee itself, also, may frame a bill which it recom-
mends to be made law. This recommendation is called
a Report. So the Report of a committee is usually,
but not invariably, on a bill or resolution which it sub-
mits, or reports favorably, or favorably with amend-
ments, or reports adversely.
Committee Reports of the United States Congress,
mostly from one to only a few pages in length, have al-
ways been most unsatisfactorily treated as regards their
titles. A catchword heading in prominent type runs
across the top of the first page above the text of the
Report. This catchword heading usually is inadequate
to convey more than the merest inkling, if that, of the
subject matter of the Report. Below this are the name
of the member who presents the Report ; the name of
the committee that makes it ; the word " Report " ;
and the house and number, but not the title, of the bill
that the Report " accompanies," as the phrase on the
bill reads. Somewhere in the body of the Report one
is told whether it amends, favors, or is adverse to the
bill. Recently the larger Reports are provided with
24 See, before. Government organization and terminology, p. 113.
140
Reports of Committees 141
title-pages, but the titles on them are not yet framed ac-
cording to any system.
Now, the subject matter of a Report is that of the
bill it accompanies. And the subject matter of a bill
is stated in its title, which describes it according to the
best judgment of its framers, or, perhaps, of the print-
ing clerk. A satisfactory statement of what the Report
is about will thus be best secured by quoting the title
of the bill. If this title be inadequate to convey an
idea of the subject matter of the bill, still, it is right
here, by supplementing and defining the title according
as an index-analysis of laws would require the purport
of the bill to be stated, that adequacy of statement as to
what the Report is about is most properly supplied.
Here, by stating clearly in its title the purport of the bill,
is the chance to secure a clear, adequate title for the Re-
port itself. A Report title should include ( i ) the com-
mitee making the Report; (2) the kind of recommenda-
tion made; (3) house and number of the bill; (4) title of
the bill (with addition of any explanatory words needed) ;
(5) the member presenting the Report. Such a Re-
port title would read : " Report from the committee
sul^mitting
favoring
amending
adverse to
of Mrs. H. P. Porter; presented by H. A. Du Pont.""
Or : " Report from the committee on the District of
Columbia amending S.3813, to require street railroad
companies in the District of Columbia to issue free
transfers; presented by J. H. Gallinger." In both
these examples the phrase following the bill number
might be in quotation marks, as it is the title printed
on the bill itself. Using the bill title gives system and
certainty and uniformity to the titles of the Reports,
and if the printing clerks of Senate and House could be
induced to adopt a Report title on some such system as
that outlined above, to include the title of the bill, it
on pensions -<
S.I 1 8, to increase pension
142 Reports of Committees
would give us good riddance of the hastily patched up
catchword heading title now used. The Documents Of-
fice saw this when, under F. A. Crandall and the present
writer, it made up its rules and system of cataloging;
and the entry for Reports that we see in the Document
Catalogs is, in fact, made up of these essential items.
However, beginning December, 191 5, a change has been
made in the Document Catalog, so that the entry now
includes also the catchword heading. It thus approxi-
mates more closely the title for Reports used by the
Library of Congress on its printed cards, which copies
faithfully Avhat is found printed on the Report itself.
But this new form of Document Catalog title omits
telling whether the Report favors, amends, or is ad-
verse to the bill, and this information is important to
persons depending on the catalogs for information. If
the phra?e now printed on the Reports : " To ac-
company r- ," could be changed to " Recommend-
^ •' bill no. °
ing pyi ," or " Recommending with amendments
," or " Adverse to t-ttj — — ," or some such phrase
bill no. ' bill no.
stating the action taken on the bill by the committee, it
would, with the addition of the bill title above asked for,
make a title for the Reports according to a system, de-
pendable and satisfactory to catalogers and those who
look in the catalog for knowledge, and simpler and
quicker for the printing clerk to make up.
Committee Reports are numbered consecutively as
they arrive at the Printing Office, separately for each
house, from beginning to end of a Congress. The
essential items to identify or quote a Report with exact-
ness are the eight designations ; ^^ or, as the Report num-
bers have been continuous through all sessions of a
Congress from the 47th down, the session may be
omitted for Congresses later than the 47th.-^ An ex-
ample is: U. S. 60th Congress, ist session, House Re-
25 See, before, Legislative Publications: Serially Numbered Set, p. 124.
26 See Checklist, p. xx.
Reports of Committees 143
port 1351. In V. 2; 5226. The calendar number that
is printed on Reports is a mere temporary item of rou-
tine business and not essential. The importance of the
name of the senator or representative who presents the
Report is in proportion as he is a commanding and well
known statesman, but dwindles in importance as time ad-
vances.
Since the act of January 20, 1905, committee Re-
ports on private bills and on simple and concurrent
resolutions are separ?.ted from those on public bills and
joint resolutions, and treated differently. They are
collected in volumes by themselves which are lettered
volume A, B, and C, instead of volume i, 2, and 3. These
lettered volumes are not sent to depository libraries, only
345 copies being printed. This makes two separate files
of the volumes of Reports, the numbered file and the let-
tered file, while the Reports themselves are numbered in
one series chronologically. Thus the numerical order of
the Reports is interrupted, so that there are gaps in the
numbering inside both lettered and numbered volumes.
The lettered volumes which no library receives are still
assigned serial numbers. The disadvantages of this
have been already explained.
VII
Documents
The scries of Senate and House Documents form the
great bulk of the Congressional set. For this reason
the general consideration given to the set under General :
\\'hy Bewildering: topic 6, and under Legislative Pub-
lications : Serially Numbered Set, applies mostly to the
Documents and has forestalled largely all that needs to be
said about them. But the salient fact of the two series of
Senate and House Documents is that more than three-
fourths of them in bulk and a less proportion by number
do not belong in the series at all, being publications, not
of Congress, but of the executive branch of the govern-
ment. The other significant fact is that almost all of
these, if not every one. are already in print in a plain
title edition before their republication as House or Sen-
ate Documents. It is in this original form, in Part HI,
Executive Publications, that information about these
should be sought.
Among the Documents that are genuine publications
of Congress, of the nine groups before mentioned,-^
some are issued annually or occasionally. Such are
the reports of its officers ; the Congressional Directory ;
the manuals of rules ; the tables of estimates, of re-
ceipts and expenditures, and other statements of ac-
counts. Regularly recurring Documents are obituary
addresses and Presidents' messages. Others due to ap-
pear in fresh editions from time to time are compila-
tions of contested election cases, and of precedents of
parliamentary practice, of which Hinds,^^ in eight vol-
27 See Why Bewildering: topic C, p. 75.
:i8 See Checklist, p. 1493.
144
Documents 145
umes, is the latest, and the Biographical Congressional
Directory.-"-'
' But each session there are printed very many sepa-
rate Documents, the majority of the length of a maga-
zine article, but varying indefinitely in size, multiplex of
topic as can be imagined, but these topics of live current
interest, and the Documents most interesting and desirable
to libraries and the public. These mostly make up, of the
nine groups that have been before mentioned, " all the
various papers presented on the floor of either house
to elucidate its debates." A glance over the con-
tents of one of the volumes entitled, " Documents of a
Public Nature," makes one suspect that Congress in its
printing has in mind also its distribution privileges,
and prints for a benevolent propaganda of right think-
ing and popular instruction. Large editions of such
Documents as Professor Irving Fisher's " National Vi-
tality, its Waste and Conservation," ^° articles or
speeches by leading statesmen and experts, even reprints
of agricultural bulletins and those of the Education Bu-
reau, seem to have this excuse for being issued as Docu-
ments. The so-called " Jefferson's Bible," ^^ of which
Congress printed and distributed 9,000 copies in 1904,
is an extreme instance of this kind. But to these one
can only call the attention of readers as a treasury which
it is hoped they will not fail to use. It is of course as
impossible to give any account in detail of what is or
will be printed among this class of Documents as of the
contents of next month's magazines.
Of valuable publications of Congress in the past may
be mentioned the Journals of the Continental Con-
gress ; ^- Elliott's Debates of the Constitutional Conven-
tion of 1787 ; ^^ and the chain of four successive publi-
cations of which the Congressional Record ^* forms the
latest link.
29 See Checklist, p. 1491. 32 See Checklist, p. 1673.
30 See Checklist, p. 1624. 33 See Checklist, p. 1668.
31 See Checklist, p. 877. 34 See Checklist, p. 1463.
146 Documents
Publications of commissions and boards of mixed
Congressional and non-Congressional personnel are, as
has been said, grouped here with executive publications.
The aim of this little work, it may be said finally, is other
than to provide a descriptive list of government pub-
lications. The Checklist supplies that, authoritative and
complete, and the Monthly and other catalogs continue
it. Other works given in the appended bibliography
may also be used.
PART III
Executive Publications
I
General
The early days of our republic saw a jealously re-
stricted central government. Development of each state
as an isolated, self-sufficient commonwealth was re-
garded as the bulwark of a free country against concen-
tration of autocratic power. In those days almost the
sole national body on which all eyes were fixed was the
Congress. The publications of the national government
were few in number, and it was taken for granted that
everything published emanated from Congress.
The nineteenth century saw — and the movement
goes steadily forward in the twentieth century — what
has been almost a revolution in economic conditions,
which has profoundly modified political institutions.
Economically, it has seen a vast extension of territory ;
undreamed of expansion of transportation facilities ; the
breaking down of state lines in the growth of popula-
tion and business ; and the merging of state interests in
broad problems requiring national care and control.
Politically, it has witnessed an enormous extension in
the field of what is entrusted to government agencies to
carry on. With this increase in governmental func-
tions there has come into existence in our federal gov-
ernment, in total reversal of the ideals of early years, a
vast centralized administrative organization having no
connection with nor dependence upon Congress except
for its legal existence and appropriations. This or-
ganization is carried out in a scientific and expert de-
tail which would surprise those who have never given
it a thought.^ It embraces an intricate framework of
1 Pamphlets prepared by different departments or bureaus specially for
the public, sometimes as part of an exposition exhibit, describing their work,
149
150
General
bureaus, divisions, sections, and individual officials, each
with a specialized task of investigation or action, of
which the minutiae can only be hinted at here, and which
is only sketched out broadly in the subjoined taljle. The
best example of this specialized organization is per-
haps the Department of Agriculture, the most wholly
scientific and technical of any of the ten departments,
or, as the encyclopedia states it, of any government de-
partment in the world.
As the publications of the government are simply one
phase of its activities, the result is that today the output
of the Government Printing Office for the administra-
tive bodies is twice or three times the amount of that
done for Congress, even with that body's lavish print-
ing. And this preponderance is constantly increasing.
As to subject, the literary output of the executive
bodies reflects the multifarious activities of the bodies
themselves, activities which enter into the private as
well as the public life of every citizen. The works issued
run the gamut from breadmaking and infant nursing to
world politics and stellar physics. As to form and
size, they range from the leaflet of a single paragraph
or a few pages — such as are the slip laws, single orders
of the Interstate Commerce Commission, or the service
and regulatory announcements of the Federal Horti-
cultural Board and other such bodies — to long sets of
elaborate works like the Harriman Alaska expedition,
or voluminous reports of commissions, like the Immi-
gration Commission, so often before mentioned as typi-
cal. They may take the form of a scientific periodica',
like the Journal of Agricultural Research ; or of the
often give organization and functions more in detail than can be found
elsewhere. A good example is U. S. Chemistry Bureau, Circular 14; Or-
ganization and work of the Chemistry Bureau. Rev. to July i, 1909.
Others are given in Bibliography: General: Publishing bodies' lists of
their own publications.
The Congressional Directory also describes the official duties and enumer-
ates the personnel of the executive bodies, though not always without
omissions and lapses. For a good skeleton outline of the bodies and their
subordination see the Official Register published by the Census Bureau,
table of contents.
General 151
light illustrated folders advertising the nation's play-
grounds, the national parks ; or of such series of circu-
lars or bulletins as the daily Commerce Reports or the
Farmers' Bulletins.
The impossibility that such an aggregation of litera-
ture, of which the variety is here but faintly described,
can be satisfactorily used or handled en bloc is now al-
most universally recognized. It must be studied and
known just as English drama or modern fiction in Eng-
lish are known. One must acquaint oneself not only
with each individual publishing body, but more, with
each set or series of reports, of bulletins or circulars,,
with each periodical, each single leaflet or work. As
well shelve and use Everyman's Library as a special de-
partment of the library as try to place all this diversi-
fied literature of the United States publishing bodies in
one group and know the works as so many " pub.
docs." In reality, this latter would be a much greater
offense against the principle of subject arrangement
and show a grosser ignorance than the former.
How may one acquire this intimate individual ac-
quaintance with the government publications? As is
true in every department of bibliographical knowledge,
nothing w'ill take the place of first hand examination of
the publications themselves. The difficulties put in the
way of gaining clear and exact ideas of many executive
publications by their being printed in the Documents series
of Senate and House, confusing the non-Congressional
with the Congressional, have been shown. When this, a
trouble-making practice that has been partly abolished,
is wholly done away with, many difficulties will vanish.
It has already been explained that it is beyond the
scope of this little book to provide a bibliographical ref-
erence list of publications, or to serve as a manual sup-
plying exact detailed information concerning each.
Specific descriptive lists may be found in other works
than this. The Checklist especially may be regarded as
the continuation work to take up after and in connec-
152 General
tion with this work in the study of the national publica-
tions. That the Checklist breaks off at the end of 1909
becomes more and more a disadvanatge as we leave that
date more in the background, although the Monthly
Catalog serves, in segments, as its continuation. Ever-
hart, Handbook of United States Public Documents,
will help, though it describes the publications only in a
general way, and requires verification or correction
in every statement because of changes in administrative
organization since its printing. The series of Docu-
ment Catalogs is, of course, the complete and rapid
reference guide to everything printed. Also, the Price
Lists of the Documents Office, which are alphabetical
by subjects, analytical, and include back pubHcations,
give valuable first aid to one who would find subject
material in the documents. Sixty-eight of these have
been issued to date of writing.
Attention is called to the four groups of publications
used by the CheckHst under each publishing body.
These are : — (i) annual reports; (2) bulletin series; ^3)
circular series, the circulars being generally smaller
than the bulletins; and (4) general publications, namely,
everything not belonging in one of the first three groups,
most of them separate, distinct works.
Generally speaking, every administrative body is re-
quired by law to make report to the office next above it
in rank at the end of each governmental or so-called
fiscal year, the year running from July ist to the follow-
ing June 30th. Minor reports may, in the discretion of
the superior office, not go into print. These annual re-
ports are on the administrative work done.- One nota-
ble exception is the State Department, whose annual
report on foreign relations contains nothing but the
diplomatic correspondence of the year. The treaties, it
must be remembered, are not in these volumes, but are
published with the laws, as told under that head.
2 See, for list. Reports to be made to Congress. (H. Doc. 1407, 64th.
Cong., 2d sess.) This list is now printed each session.
General 153
The following list includes only " executive depart-
ments, independent offices and establishments," and
does not mention all of these, as it omits some which be-
long in that grade, but which are of slight general in-
terest, for example, the National Home for Disabled
Volunteer Soldiers. The table is given as a base exer-
cise, a key list of twenty-two executive bodies of inde-
pendent rank. Many bodies of secondary and subordi-
nate rank, and therefore not included, e.g., the Educa-
tion Bureau, are of more general interest than some of
those that are included in this list because of being of
the highest and independent rank. But if this list is
committed to memory it will serve as a skeleton struc-
ture, a sort of spinal column for the memory, so to
speak, into which may be fitted the subordinate bodies
as they are learned, according as they belong under
each on the list.
* Agriculture department II Library of Congress
t Civil service commission II National academy of sciences
* Commerce department * Navy department
t District of Columbia t Pan American union
t Federal reserve board * Post-office department
t Federal trade commission t Postal savings system
II Government printing office II Smithsonian institution
* Interior department * State department
t Interstate commerce commis- t Tariflf commission
sion * Treasury department
* Justice department * War department
* Labor department
* One of the lo executive departments,
t Independent offices.
II Establishments.
Publishing Bodies of the United States
Government Classed by their Specialties
according to the Decimal Classification
The subjoined table ^ is a bird's-eye view or sample
list of the fields in which the various government bodies
are publishing. It is given on the chance that it may
help some persons, and because there is nothing in print
that provides a survey of the publications from this
viewpoint. On the plan of the " Sponsors for knowl-
edge " which Mr. G. W. Lee has provided for us in the
Library Journal, it gives, under various class numbers
of the Decimal classification, the government bodies
which may be expected to be publishing material in that
field, such being within the scope of their legalized ac-
tivities. Except that it is intended to omit none, this
table is admittedly sketchy, tentative, and inexact. It
is so unavoidably open to criticism that all fault found
with it is cheerfully accepted in advance as probably
having good reason. It is also liable to the errors, in-
evitable in everything written about government bodies
and their publications, which arise from the changes con-
stantly going on among them.
As a conspectus of present-day publishing activities
it is debarred from giving credit to any government
body for work done in the past, as, for instance, to the
Signal Office for its pioneer work in meteorology, which
now the Weather Bureau has been created to perform.
It sets its face toward the future, and may be called a
table of probabilities or expectations in government
3 It has been a question how far to make an effort to include the various
war boards and committees now being so rapidly created, of which as yet
even the accepted name is uncertain; most of which have not published
and possibly never will publish anything. But some of these have been
included.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 155
publications. No body not now existent is admitted;
nor any merely temporary, thus excluding the special
commissions which expire when their work is done. It
rules out all sporadic works, not likely to be reissued,
such as the " Jefferson's Bible " ; nor is material form-
ing parts of works taken into account. As a list of
standing and permanent sources of knowledge only, it
cannot take in the diversified Documents and Reports,
nor bills and laws, nor the debates of Congress, al-
though on many live topics, such as the agitation for
national prohibition and national woman's suffrage, these
are the only and prolific government sources of mate-
rial. Some attempt has been made to state the com-
mittees in Senate and House which have in charge spe-
cial kinds of business.
A government body is listed in the table under a
specific subject either (i) because of some particular
work that it issues at consecutive periods, or (2) be-
cause its publications in general deal with the topic.
For instance, the Foreign and Domestic Commerce Bu-
reau issues the annual Statistical Abstract of the United
States, and is therefore listed under 317.3. The pub-
lications of the Animal Industry Bureau are in general
concerned with domestic animals, and the bureau there-
fore appears under 636. In most cases the department
also, in its own publications, provides material on the
special work of its different bureaus. Especially is this
true of the Agriculture Department in its series of Bulle-
tins, Yearbooks, etc. The department therefore is also
listed, together with the bureau, under the special topic
covered by the bureau.
Within such a large field as, e.g., 660, Chemical tech-
nology, the minor topic, 664.8, Foods : Preservation, etc.,
is brought out in order to mention bodies not before
mentioned that publish in this division of the field.
Other minor topics, such as 665.7, Illuminating gas,
are not brought out, as they would bring to the table
only repetition of the list of publishing bodies already
156 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
named under the main class, Chemical technology.
Under Foods: Preservation, etc., there is repetition of
the bodies named under the main class, so as to make
the list of bodies publishing on the subject complete
under that number, as it is meant to be under every
class number.
There is under each subject an attempt at arrange-
ment according to the amount and importance of the
printed output, putting first those bodies that make the
greatest contributions. Under what higher body each
body on tlie Hst belongs is indicated (in curves follow-
ing) only in cases where the name is duplicated, to dis-
tinguish between two of the same name. These higher
bodies can be easily found in the Author Headings for
United States Government Documents, or in the tables
at the end of the Document Catalogs.
Finally, as in this table no notice is taken of parts of
books, e.g., a section on infantile paralysis in the report
of the Public Health Service, it can not fill the place of
the Document Catalogs, which give detailed entry of
everything the government has published on a specific
subject during a given period; nor of the Price Lists,
which give subject references less detailed, but covering
everything in print. If it enlarges its readers' concep-
tions of the vast field that the publications of the execu-
tive branch of the United States government cover, it
will have served one worthy purpose. Whether it will
in any way aid classifiers in libraries to sort out these
publications and put them where they will be most useful,
is for the individual classifier to decide.
010. Bibliography.
Library of Congress.
013. Bibliography of American doctoral dissertations.
Catalog division (Library of Congress).
016. Subject bibliographies. >
Bibliography division (Library of Congress).
Note. — Publishes bibliographies on all sorts of sub-
jects. Most of the other bodies listed here publish
bibliographical material on the subjects in which
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 157
they specialize, e. g., educational bibliography by
the Education bureau, etc. No mention other than
this note will be made of such material.
oiCo? I Bibliography of periodicals and newspapers.
Periodical division (Library of Congress).
016.353. Bibliography of United States government publications.
Documents office.
See also 655.59, Government printing.
016.3539. Bibliography of state official publications.
Documents division (Library of Congress).
016.355. Bibliography of military information.
War college division.
016.61. Bibliography of medicine.
Medical department (Army).
016.63. Bibliography of agriculture.
Library (Agriculture dept.).
Publications division (Agriculture dept.).
016.912. Bibliography of maps and charts.
Maps and charts division (Library of Congress).
020. Library science.
Library of Congress.
027. Libraries.
Education bureau.
027.5. Library of Congress.
Library joint committee (Congress).
028. Book selection and reading courses.
Education bureau.
Library of Congress.
029.6. Preparation of manuscript for publication.
Geological survey.
See also 655.53, Typographical style.
070.14. News censorship.
Public information committee.
09c. Book rarities.
Library of Congress.
091. Manuscripts.
Manuscripts division (Library of Congress).
3.32. , .Mental diseases.
Saint Elizabeth's hospital [Formerly Government
hospital for the insane].
Public health service.
Children's bureau.
Medical department (Army).
• Census bureau. ■ .
136.7. Child study.
Education bureau.
Children's bureau.
158 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Class>l..w_
172.4. International arbitration. Peace.
Permanent court of arbitration, The Hague.
Education bureau.
178.4. Liquor traffic.
Kducation bureau (Temperance instruction).
Internal revenue commisijioncr.
Labor statistics bureau.
Alcoholic liquor traffic committee (H. of R.).
See also 336.27, Special taxes ; 663, Beverages, Fer-
mented and distilled.
178.8. Stimulants and narcotics.
See 615.9, Poisons and habit-forming drugs.
280. Religious bodies in the United States.
Census bureau.
299.7. North American Indians : Religious customs.
Ethnology bureau.
317.3. Statistics of the United States.
Census bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Census committee (Senate).
Census committee (H. of R.).
Note. — Statistics of special subjects are also sup-
plied by each government body in its special field.
324.3. Woman su ft rage.
Woman suffrage committee (Senate).
325.1. Immigration.
Immigration bureau.
Labor statistics bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Immigration committee (Senate).
Immigration and naturalization committee (H. of R.).
325.1. Naturalization.
Naturalization bureau.
Immigration committee (Senate).
Immigration and naturalization committee (H. of R.).
See also 371.98, Education of the foreign-born.
327. Foreign relations. Diplomatic and consular service.
State department.
President.
Foreign relations committee (Senate).
Canadian relations committee (Senate).
Foreign affairs committee (H. of R.).
See also 341, International law; 9^.3, United
States : Boundaries.
328.1. Parliamentary law.
Rules committee (Senate).
Rules committee (H. of R.).
328.73. Legislative proceedings of the United_ States,
Congress.
331. Labor.
Labor statistics bureau.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 159
Labor department.
Education and labor committee (Senate).
Labor committee (H. of R.).
331. 1. Capital and labor.
Mediation and conciliation board.
331.2. Wages.
Eight-hour commission.
331.25. Industrial insurance. Workmen's compensation.
Employees' compensation commission.
Labor statistics bureau.
Labor department.
Solicitor of Labor department.
Public health service.
See also 339, Poor relief; 368, Insurance.
331.3. Child labor.
Children's bureau.
Labor statistics bureau.
Education bureau.
See also 362.7, Children : Charities. Delinquents.
331.5. Convict labor.
United States penitentiaries commission (or Commis-
sion on equipping United States penitentiaries for
manufacturing articles used by government).
332. Banking.
Federal reserve board.
Comptroller of the currency.
Federal farm loan bureau.
Banking and currency committee (Senate).
National banks committee (Senate).
Banking and currency committee (H. of R.).
See also 332.2, Savings banks.
332. Money.
Treasury department.
Loans and currency division.
Public moneys division.
Treasurer of the United States.
Register of the Treasury.
See also 332.4, Coin money; 332.5, Paper money.
332.2. Savings banks.
Postal savings system.
Postal savings division.
See also 332, Banking.
332.32. Building and loan associations.
Labor statistics bureau.
332.4. Coin money.
Mint bureau.
Assay commission.
Treasury department.
Comptroller of the currency.
Finance committee (Senate).
Coinage, w^eights, and measures committee (H. of R.).
i6o Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
332.5. Paper money.
Comptroller of the currency.
Engraving and printnig bureau.
232.7, Agricultural credits.
Federal farm loan bureau.
Agriculture department.
Rural credits joint committee (Congress).
233. Conservation of natural resources.
States relations service.
Conservation of national resources committee (Sen-
ate).
Council of national defense.
National research committee.
334. Cooperative undertakings.
Labor statistics bureau.
Agriculture department.
336.1. Public lands.
General land office.
Geological survey.
Justice department.
Public lands committee (Senate).
Public lands committee (H. of R.).
See also 338.2, Mineral products: 613.75, National
parks and reservations: 634.9, Forestry; 913.7,
Antiquities of North Ainerica.
336.2. Taxation. Customs. Revenue.
Finance committee (Senate).
Ways and means committee (H. of R.).
336.26. Import duties.
See 337, Import duties.
236.27. Special taxes (e. g., income, liquor, stamp, etc.).
Internal revenue commissioner.
Treasury department.
Solicitor of internal revenue.
See also 178.4, Liquor traffic; 663, Beverages, Fer-
mented and distilled.
336.3. Bonds. Public debt, etc.
Treasury department.
Loans and currency division.
Treasurer of the United States.
Register of the treasury.
Government actuary.
336.73. Finances of the United States.
Treasury department.
Census bureau.
Appropriations committee (Senate).
Appropriations committee (H. of R.).
See also 336.3, Bonds. Public debt, etc.
237. Import duties.
Tariff commission.
Customs division.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification i6i
Appraisers.
Court of customs appeals.
Treasury department.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau (Foreign
tariffs).
Finance committee (Senate).
Ways and means committee (H. of R.).
338. Production. Manufactures. Prices.
Federal trade commission.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Commercial economy board.
Census bureau.
Manufactures committee (Senate).
See also 380, Commerce. Transportation. Com-
munication.
338.1. Agricultural products.
Crop estimates bureau.
Markets bureau.
Agriculture department.
Federal horticultural board.
Federal farm loan bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Plant industry bureau.
Chemistry bureau.
Census bureau.
Agriculture and forestry committee (Senate).
Agriculture committee (H. of R.).
338.1. Lumber and forest products (e. g., turpentine, tan bark,,
etc.).
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Forest service.
General land office (Almost exclusively on the public
domain).
Census bureau. -
Pan American union.
Agriculture and forestry committee (Senate).
See also 634.9, Forestry; 674, Manufactures of
wood ; 676, Paper making.
338.1 Meat supply.
Animal industry bureau.
Agriculture department.
Crop estimates bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Census bureau.
States relations service.
Transportation and sale of meat products committee
(Senate).
338.2. Mineral products (Includes stones, mineral earths, min-
eral oils, etc.).
Mines bureau.
Geological survey.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
General land office.
Interior department.
i62 Publishing Bodies by Decimal ClassiRcation
Mines and mining committee (Senate).
Mines and mining committee (11. of R.).
See also 662.6, Coal. Peat. Coke. Natural gas.
Denatured alcohol; 665.4-5, Mineral oils. As-
phaltum.
338.3. Water products (Fisheries, Sponges).
Fisheries bureau.
Fisheries committee (Senate).
Merchant marine and lisheries committee (11. of R.).
See also 581.92, Marine plants; 639, Fisheries.
338.4. Manufactured articles.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Census bureau.
Manufactures committee (Senate).
Industrial arts and expositions committee (H. of R.).
See also 660, Chemical technology ; 670, Manufac-
tures ; 664.8, Foods : Preservation ; Canning ;
Cold storage.
338.5. Prices. Cost of living.
Labor statistics bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
338.8. Monopolies. Trusts.
Federal trade commission.
Justice department.
Labor statistics bureau.
Labor department.
Manufactures committee (Senate).
339. Poor relief. Mothers' and old age pensions.
Labor statistics bureau.
Children's bureau.
Census bureau.
See also 331.25, Industrial insurance. Workmen's
compensation.
340. Law.
Law library (Library of Congress).
341. International law.
State department.
Naval war college.
Permanent court of arbitration, The Hague.
International commission of jurists [on private and
public international law].
See also 2)^"], Foreign relations. Diplomatic and
consular service.
341.2. Treaties.
President.
State department.
Senate.
341.6. International arbitration.
State department.
Permanent court of arbitration. The Hague.
See also 917.3, United States : Boundaries.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 163
341.7. Diplomatic service.
State department.
See also 2)2"/, Foreign relations. Diplomatic and
consular service.
341.8. Consular service.
Consular bureau.
State department.
See also z^T, Foreign relations. Diplomatic and
consular service ; 382, Foreign commerce.
342. Constitutional law and history.
American historical association.
Manuscripts division (Library of Congress).
Rolls and library bureau.
State department.
Supreme court
34373' Criminal law^ and administration.
Justice department.
Secret service division.
Criminal identification bureau.
Investigation bureau.
Pardon attorney.
Parole boards.
See also 364-365, Reformatories. Prisons. Crimi-
nology.
344. Courts-martial.
See 355, Military regulations. Military law.
Courts-martial.
345. United States statutes and cases.
Rolls and library bureau.
Joint committee on revision of the laws of the United
States (Congress).
Justice department.
Solicitor of the Department of agriculture.
Solicitor of the Department of commerce.
Solicitor for the Department of the interior.
Solicitor for the Department of labor.
Solicitor for the Post-office department.
Solicitor for the Department of state.
Solicitor of the Treasury.
Supreme court.
District courts.
Circuit courts of appeals.
Court if claims.
Court of customs appeals.
Judiciary committee (Senate).
Judiciary committee (H. of R.).
351.1. Civil service.
Efficiency bureau.
Civil service and retrenchment committee (Senate).
Committee to examine the several branches of the
civil service (Senate).
Civil service reform committee (H. of R.).
351.2. Civil service lists.
Census bureau.
164 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
351.3. Civil service examinations.
Civil service commission,
351.5. Pensions, Military, naval, and civil service.
Pension bureau.
Interior department.
Pensions committee (Senate), *
Pensions committee (H. of R.).
Invalid pensions committee (H. of R.).
See also 331.25, Industrial insurance. Workmen's
compensation; 339, Poor relief. Mothers' and
old age pensions.
352.073. Cities in the United States.
Census bureau.
352.1. City finance and accounting.
Census bureau. •
352.6. City water supply accounting.
Census bureau.
353.6. United States army : Personnel and stations.
Adjutant general's department.
Note. — Also, certain branches of the service pub-
lish each its own list, e. g., Medical department
(Army).
See' also 355, Military science. Army. Military
administration of the United States.
353-7- United States navy : Personnel and stations.
Navigation bureau (Navy dept. ).
See also 359, Naval science. Navy. Naval admin-
istration of the United States. • ,
355. Military science. Army. Military administi'ation of
the United States.
War department.
• War college division.
General staff corps.
Army and navy jomt board.
Council of national defense.
Marine corps.
Military affairs committee (Senate).
Military affairs committee (H, of R.).
355, Military regulations. Military law. Courts-martial.
•Judge advocate general's department (Army).
General staff corps.
War department.
Note. — Also, certain branches of the service pub-
lish each its own regulations, e. g., Signal office;
Quartermaster general of the army.
355.07. Military science : Study and teaching.
Miltary academy (West Point).
Army war college (D. C).
Army service schools (Ft. Leavenworth. Six schools
are enumerated in Author Headings for U. S.
Public Documents, 191 5. Several of these, also
others existing elsewhere, are listed separately
here under their special subjects).
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 165
35S-I5- Colors and standards. • • .
See 929.9, Flags.
355.2. Militia.
Militia bureau (War dept).
Naval militia affairs division. '
See also 359, Naval science. Navy. Naval admin-
istration of the United States.
355.5. Drill manuals.
General staff corps.
Note. — Also, certain branches of the service istue
each its own drill manuals, e. g., Medical depart-
ment (Army) ; Signal office.
355.7. Military establishments and reservations (Includes forts,
barracks, military parks, military cemeteries, and
other buildings and grounds used for military
purposes).
Judge advocate general's department (Army).
War department.
Special commissions for special national military
parks.
357. Cavalry.
Mounted service school (Ft. Riley).
359. , Naval science. Navy. Naval administration of the
United States.
Navy department.
Naval war college (Newport).
Naval intelligence office.
General board.
Army and navy joint board.
Naval operations office.
Navigation bureau (Navy dept.)
Judge advocate general (Navy).
Naval consulting board.
Naval militia affairs division.
Navy yards and naval stations commission.
Naval aft'afrs. committee (Senate).
Naval affairs committee (H. of R.).
361. Charitable institutions.
• American national Red Cross.
Census bureau.
Freedman's savings and trust company.
362.1. Hospitals.
Army general hospital (Fort Bayard).
Freednien's hospital (D. C).
Naval hospital (D. C).
Public health service.
Hospital corps (Army).
Hospital corps (Navy).
362.2. Insane.
St. Elizabeth's hospital (D. C. Formerly Government
hospital for the insane).
362.4. "Deaf.
• Columbia institution for the deaf (D. C).
Education bureau.
i66 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
362.^. Pauperism.
Census bureau.
Labor statistics bureau.
362.6. Homes for the needy.
National home for disabled volunteer soldiers.
Soldiers' home (D. C).
Naval home.
362.7, Children : Charities. Delinquents,
Children's bureau.
■ . Labor statistics bureau.
Education bureau.
See also 331.3, Child labor.
364.
365.
>- Reformatories. Prisons. Criminology.
Justice department.
International prison commission.
United States penitentiaries commission (or Commis-
sion on equipping L^nited States penitentiaries for
manufacturing articles used by the government).
Education bureau.
Smithsonian institution.
See also 343.73, Criminal law and administration.
368. Insurance.
Census bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
See also 331.25, Industrial insurance. Workmen's
compensation,
368.2. Marine insurance.
See 386-7, Transportation : Water.
369.135. National society of Daughters of the American revolu-
tion.
369.151. Grand army of the republic,
370, Education.
Education bureau.
Census bureau.
Education and labor committee (Senate).
Education committee (H, of R.).
371.3. Methods of instruction,
Indian affairs office.
371.7. School hygiene.
Public health service.
Education bureau.
See also 379.173, Rural schools.
371.74, School games, dances, songs, etc.
Indian affairs office.
371.912. Education of the deaf.
See 362.4, Deaf.
371.95. Education of the Indian.
See 970.1, Indians.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 167
371.974. Education of the negro.
Education bureau.
Howard university.
371.98. Education of the foreign-born.
Education bureau.
Naturalization bureau.
Information division (Immigration bureau).
378. Colleges.
See 607 and 630.7, Colleges of agriculture and me-
chanic arts.
379-'^73- Rural schools.
Education bureau.
Agriculture department.
States relations service.
Markets bureau.
See also 371.7, School hygiene.
380. Commerce. Transportation. Communication.
Federal trade commission.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Commerce department.
Commercial economy board.
Markets bureau.
Census bureau.
Interstate and foreign commerce committee (H. of
R.).
See also 338, Production. Manufactures. Prices.
381. Domestic commerce.
Federal trade commission.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Markets bureau.
Interstate commerce committee (Senate).
Interstate and foreign commerce committee (H. of
R.).
See also 385 and 386 and 387, Transportation.
381. Commercial organizations.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Interstate commerce commission.
382. Foreign commerce.
War trade board.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Markets bureau.
Pan American union.
Commerce committee (Senate).
Interstate and foreign commerce committee (H. of
R.).
383. Post office.
Post office department.
Post offices and post roads committee (Senate).
Post office and post roads committee (H. of R.).
384. Telegraph. Telephone. Cable.
Interstate commerce commission.
Radio service (Navigation bureau, Commerce dept.).
Naval communication service.
i68 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
Census bureau.
Post offices aud post roads committee (Senate).
Post office and post roads committee (H. of R.).
See also 621.38, Telegraphy; 623.7, Military sig-
naling.
385]
386 Y Transportation.
387 1 Quartermaster general of the army.
385. Transportation: Railroads (Railroad management).
Interstate commerce commission.
Valuation division.
Eight-hour commission.
Interstate commerce committee (Senate).
Railroads committee (Senate).
Interstate and foreign commerce committee (H. of
R.).
Railways and canals committee (H. of R.).
See also 625, Railroads (Railroad building).
385. Express.
Interstate commerce commi>sion.
Interstate commerce committee (Senate).
Interstate and foreign commerce committee (H. of
R.).
386 ") Transportation: Water (Canal, river, ocean). Ships.
387 J Shipping board.
Emergency fleet corporation.
Interstate commerce commission.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Commerce department.
Foreign mails division.
Navigation bureau (Commerce dept.).
Coast guard.
Steamboat-inspection service.
War risk insurance bureau.
Commerce committee (Senate).
Merchant marine and fisheries committee (H. of R.).
Railways and canals committee (H. of R.).
Interstate and foreign commerce committee (H. of
R.).
See also 626.9, Ship canals.
386. Highways.
See 625.7, Roads.
388. City transit. Street railways.
Census bureau.
389. ' Weights and measures.
Standards bureau.
Standards, weights and measures committee (Senate).
Coinage, weights and measures committee (H. of R.).
390. Customs. Folk lore.
National museum.
Ethnology bureau.
497. Indian languages.
Ethnology bureau.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 169
500. Science.
Smithsonian institution.
National academy of sciences.
National research committee.
Education bureau (Science teaching).
Science bureau (P. I.).
510.8. Mathematical, physical, etc., tables.
Nautical almanac office.
Smithsonian institution.
520. Astronomy.
Naval observatory.
Smithsonian institution.
521. Theoretical astronomy.
Astrophysical observatory.
525.6. Tides.
Coast and geodetic survey.
Weather bureau.
526. Geodesy.
Coast and geodetic survey.
526.9. Surveying.
General land office.
Engineer department.
526.99. Hydrographic surveys and charts.
Hydrographic office.
See also 551.46-7, Oceanography. Currents, etc.;
551.57, Rainfall. Flow of streams. Floods.
527. Navigation.
Navigation bureau (Commerce dept).
Navigation bureau (Navy dept.).
Hydrographic office.
Naval observatory.
Nautical almanac office.
528. Ephemerides.
Nautical almanac office.
529.78. Instruments for measuring time.
Standards bureau.
530. Physics.
Standards bureau.
538.7. Terrestrial magnetism.
Coast and geodetic survey.
Smithsonian institution.
540. Chemistry.
Standards bureau.
See also 543.5, Analjtical chemistry; 631, Soils.
Fertilizers; 660, Chemical technology.
543.5. Analytical chemistry.
Chemistry bureau.
See also 614.3. Food and drug analysis; 631, Soils.
Fertilizers ; 660, Chemical technology.
170 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
549. Mineralogy.
Geological survey.
National museum.
See also 553, Economic geology.
549.8. Coal, etc.
See 662.6. Coal. Peat. Coke. Natural gas. De-
natured alcohol.
550. Geology.
Geological survey.
Geological survey committee (Senate).
551. Physical geography.
Geological survey.
551.2. Seismology.
Weather bureau.
Geological survey.
Smithsonian institution.
551-46 1 Oceanography. Currents, etc.
551.47 j Coast and geodetic survey.
Hydrographic office.
International council for study of the sea.
See also 526.99, Hydrographic surveys and charts.
551.5. Meteorology.
Weather bureau.
Smithsonian institution.
551.57. Rainfall. Flow of streams. Floods.
W^eather bureau.
Geological survey.
Agriculture department.
Flood control committee (H. of R.).
See also 627, Rivers. Harbors. Hydraulic engi-
neering.
553. Economic geology.
Geological survey.
See also 338.2, Mineral products ; 549, Mineralogy.
553.2. Coal, petroleum, etc.
See 662.6, Coal. Peat. Coke. Natural gas. De-
natured alcohol; 665.4-5, Mineral oils. As-
phaltum.
553.7. Mineral waters.
See 615.79, Mineral waters.
560. Paleontology.
Geological survey.
National museum.
571 1 Prehistoric archeology. Anthropology. Ethnology.
572 Y Ethnology bureau.
573 I National museum.
572.998. Eskimos.
Ethnology bureau.
National museum.
Education bureau.
Public health service.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 171
579. Collectors' manuals. Taxidermy, etc.
National museum.
Biological survey burea
580. Botany.
Plant industry bureau.
National museum.
United States national herbarium.
Agriculture department.
581.2. Diseases of plants.
Plant industry bureau.
Federal horticultural board.
Agriculture department.
See also 632, Insects. Blights, etc.
581.92. Marine plants.
Plant industry bureau.
Fisheries bureau.
See also 338.3. Water products.
582. Trees.
See 634.9. Forestry.
590, Zoology.
Biological survey bureau.
National museum.
International commission on zoological nomenclature
(Smithsonian institution).
National zoological park.
591.65. Noxious animal life (Mostly insects and more minute
organisms).
Public health service.
Entomology bureau.
Agriculture department.
Insecticide and fungicide board.
Medical department (Army).
Canal Zone. Health department.
See also 632, Insects. Blights, etc.
591.92. Marine animals.
Fisheries bureau.
See also 338.3, Water products.
595.7. Insects.
See 591.65, Noxious animal life; 632, Insects.
Blights, etc.
597. Fishes.
Fisheries bureau.
National museum.
See also 338.3, Water products; 639, Fisheries.
598.2. Birds.
Biological survey bureau.
National museum.
Agriculture department.
Smithsonian institution.
599.7. Seal.
See 639.2. Seal fisheries.
172 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
60a Useful arts.
Smithsonian institution.
606. Industrial expositions.
United States commissioners to expositions in United
States or foreign countries.
State department.
Education bureau (Educational exhibits described).
Industrial expositions committee (Senate).
Industrial arts and expositions committee (H. of R.).
607. Industrial education.
Education bureau.
Labor department.
Federal board for vocational education.
607. Colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts.
Education bureau.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
608. Patents and trade marks.
Patent office.
Pan American imion.
Patents committee (Senate).
Patents committee (H. of R.).
610. Medicine.
Public health service.
Hygienic laboratory.
Medical department (Army).
Medicine and surgery bureau.
Education bureau.
Lighthouses bureau.
Smithsonian institution.
National academy of sciences.
Agriculture department.
Entomology bureau.
Biological survey.
Animal industry bureau.
Plant industry bureau.
Canal Zone. Health department,
610.7. Medical study and research.
Army medical school (D. C).
Naval medical school (D. C).
Hygienic laboratory.
610,73, Training of nurses.
Education bureau.
Medical department (Army).
Medicine and surgery bureau,
612.39. Foods: Nutrition: Metabolism.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
Smithsonian institution.
See also 614.3, Food and drug analysis; 641, Foods.
Cookery.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 173
613. Personal hygiene.
Markets bureau.
Public health service.
Qiildren's bureau.
613. IZ Health resorts.
See 613.75, National parks and reservations.
613.6. Hygiene of employment.
Labor statistics bureau.
Labor department.
Public health service.
Internal revenue commissioner.
Medicine and surgery bureau.
See also 622, Mines and mining.
613.71. Physical training.
General staff corps.
Education bureau.
613.75. National parks and reservations.
National park service.
Interior department.
613.8. Hygiene of the nervous system.
See 615.9, Poisons and habit-forming drugs.
614. Public health.
Public health service.
Hygienic laboratory.
Labor statistics bureau,
^ledicine and surgery bureau.
Animal industry bureau,
Agriculture department.
Indian affairs office.
Smithsonian institution.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Government printing office.
International office of public hygiene (Paris).
Public health and national quarantine committee
(Senate).
614. 1. Vital statistics.
Census bureau.
614,3, Food and drug analysis.
Chemistry bureau.
Reference board of consulting scientific expert
Agriculture department.
Solicitor of the Department of agriculture.
Animal industry bureau.
Fisheries bureau.
Hygienic laboratory.
Forest service.
See also 338.1, Agricultural products; 543-5. An-
alytical chemistry; 612.39, Foods: Nutrition; Me-
tabolism; 641, Foods. Cookery.
614.32. Pure milk.
Public health service.
Hygienic laboratory.
Animal industry bureau.
174 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
Chemistry bureau.
See also 637, Dairying.
614.4 1 . .
614.5. J Contagious diseases.
Public health service.
Hygienic laboratory.
614.7. Hygiene of the air and ground.
Labor department.
Chemistry bureau.
614.81. Rescue from drowning.
Coast guard.
614.82. Suffocation in mines, etc.
See 622, Mines and mining.
614.83. Explosions and explosives.
See 622, Mines and mining; 662.2, Explosives.
614.837. Steam explosions.
Locomotive boiler inspection division (Interstate com-
merce commission).
Steamboat-inspection service.
614.86. Protection of travelers.
Interstate commerce commission.
614.865. Lighthouses.
See 627.9, Lighthouses.
614.9. Hygiene of animals.
Animal industry bureau.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
Public health service.
See also 619, Veterinary medicine.
614.96. Transportation of animals.
Engineer department.
615. Materia medica. Drugs.
Hygienic laboratory.
Chemistry bureau.
Public health service.
State department.
Agriculture department.
Plant industry bureau.
615.78. Drugs acting on the nervous system.
See 615.9, Poisons and habit-forming drugs.
615.79. Mineral waters.
Chemistry bureau.
Geological survey.
Interior department.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
615.9. Poisons and habit-forming drugs.
Public health service.
Hygienic laboratory.
Internal revenue commissioner.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 175
Treasury department.
Labor department.
Insular affairs bureau.
618. Childbearing.
Children's bureau.
618.9. Diseases of children.
See 649, Nursery. Children.
619. Veterinary medicine.
Animal industry bureau.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
See also 614.9, Hygiene of animals.
619.1. Horse.
Mounted service school (Fort Riley).
Animal industry bureau.
Militia bureau (War dept.).
620. Engineering.
Engineer department.
Engineer school (Washington barracks).
States relations service.
Public roads and rural engineering office.
Yards and docks bureau.
Civil engineer corps (Navy).
Mines l)ureau.
Geological survey.
Target practice and engineering competitions office.
620.1. Tests of materials.
Watertown arsenal.
Standards bureau.
Chemistry bureau.
620.12. Timber tests.
Forest service.
Agriculture department.
See also 674, Manuiactures of wood.
621. 1. Steam engineering.
Steam engineering bureau.
621.18. Steam generation. Boilers. Furnaces.
Standards bureau.
Mines bureau.
Steam engineering bureau.
See also 614.837, Steam explosions. ?
621.182. Fuels.
See 662.6, Coal. Peat. Coke. Natural gas. De-
natured alcohol ; 665.4-5, Mineral oils. As-
phaltum.
621.1941. Smoke prevention.
Alines bureau.
621.2. Hydraulic motors and machinery.
Geological survey.
176 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
621.3. Electric engineering.
Standards bureau.
Census bureau.
Signal office.
Steam engineering bureau.
621.33. Electric railways.
See 388, City transit. Street railways.
621.38. Telegraphy.
Radio service (Navigation bureau, Commerce dept.).
Naval communication service.
Signal office.
Navigation bureau (Commerce dept.).
See also 623.7, Military signaling.
621.43. Gasoline engines.
Coast guard.
621.56. Refrigeration.
See 664.8, Foods : Preservation. Canning. Cold
storage.
622. Mines and mining (Includes mining laws and decisions,
safety devices, etc.).
Mines bureau.
Geological survey.
Standards bureau.
General land office.
, Labor department.
„ California debris commission.
Mines and mining committee (Senate).
Mines and mining committee (H. of R.).
See also 662.2, Explosives.
622.33. Coal mining.
See 622, Mines and mining; also 338.2, Mineral
products ; 662.6, Coal. Peat. Coke. Natural gas.
Denatured alcohol.
623. Military engineering. Firearms. Fortifications. Gun-
nery.
General staff corps.
War industries board.
Engineer department.
Engineer school (Washington barracks).
Army field engineer school (Ft. Leavenworth).
Ordnance department.
Ordnance and fortification board.
Coast artillery office.
Coast artillery school (Ft. Monroe).
National board for promotion of rifle practice.
Target practice and engineering competitions office
(War dept.)
Adjutant general's office.
War department.
Ordnance bureau (Navy).
Naval gun factory.
Gunnery exercises and engineering performances office
(Navy dept.).
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 177
Navigation bureau (Navy dept.).
Coast defenses committee (Senate).
See also 355, Military science. Army. Military ad-
ministration of the United States ; 359, Naval sci-
ence. Navy. Naval administration of the United
States.
623.6. Military roads.
Engineer department.
Alaska road commissioners board.
623.7. Military signaling.
Signal office.
Army signal school (Ft. Leavenworth).
See also 621.38, Telegraphy.
623.8. Naval architecture.
Construction and repair bureau.
See also 699, Ship building.
624. Bridges.
Engineer department.
Public roads and rural engineering office.
Commerce committee (Senate).
Interstate and foreign commerce committee (H.
of R.).
625. Railroads (Railroad building).
Alaskan engineering commission (Interior depart-
ment).
Engineer department.
See also 385, Railroads (Railroad management) ;
614.837, Steam explosions ; 614.8(3, Protection of
travelers.
625.7. Roads.
Public roads and rural engineering office.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
Post offices and post roads committee (Senate).
Roads committee ( H. of R.).
See also 623.5, Military roads.
626.8. Irrigation engineering.
Reclamation service.
Geological survey.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
Smithsonian institution.
Census bureau.
International commission for the equitable distribu-
tion of the waters of the Rio Grande, U. S. and
Me.xico.
Irrigation and reclamation of arid lands committee
(Senate ).
Irrigation of arid lands committee (H. of R.).
See also 627, Rivers. Harbors. Hydraulic engi-
neering; 627.5, Soil drainage.
626.9. Ship canals.
Panama canal.
178 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
Maritime canal company of Nicaragua (Interior
dcpt.).
War department.
State department.
President.
Pan American union.
Naval war college.
American historical association.
Smithsonian institution.
Labor statistics bureau.
Weather bureau.
Interoceanic canals committee (Senate).
See also 386 and 387, Transportation : Water.
627. Rivers. Harbors. Hydraulic engineering.
Engineer department.
International joint commission on boundary waters
between U. S. and Canada.
Rivers and harbors engineers board.
Mississippi river commission.
Commerce committee (Senate).
Rivers and harbors committee (H. of R.).
See also 551.57, Rainfall. Flow of streams.
Floods; 626.8, Irrigation engineering.
627.5. Soil drainage.
See 631, Soil drainage.
627.9. Lighthouses.
Lighthouses bureau.
Hydrographic office.
628. Sanitary engineering.
Public roads and rural engineering office.
Agriculture department.
See also 696, Plumbing.
628.1. Water supply (Potable water and water power).
Geological survey.
Public health service.
Hygienic laboratory.
Agriculture department.
Plant industry bureau.
National academy of sciences.
Federal trade commission.
628.3. Sewage disposal.
Geological survey.
Public health service.
Hygienic laboratory.
Agriculture department.
Plant industry bureau.
Census bureau.
See also 628.4, Town sanitation.
628.4. Town sanitation.
Public health service.
Agriculture department.
Census bureau.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 179
628.5. Industrial sanitation.
See 621.1941, Smoke prevention.
629.13. Aviation.
Signal office.
Smithsonian institution.
National advisory board for aeronautics.
Aircraft production board.
630. Agriculture.
Agriculture department.
International institute of agriculture (Rome).
Agriculture and forestry commmittee (Senate).
Agriculture committee (H. of R.).
630. Farming as a business. Farm life.
Farm management office.
Markets bureau.
Agriculture department.
Federal farm loan bureau.
Rural credits joint committee (Congress).
See also 112.^, Agricultural creditr.
630.6. Agricultural associations.
Interstate commerce commission.
630.7. Agricultural study and experimentation.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
Plant industry bureau.
Reclamation service.
Education bureau.
630.7. Colleges and schools of agriculture.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
Education bureau.
631. Soils.
Soils bureau.
Agriculture department.
States relations service.
Plant industry bureau.
631. Fertilizers.
Soils bureau.
Agriculture department.
States relations service.
Plant industry bureau.
Geological survey.
631. Soil drainage.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
(i2)2: Insects. Blights, etc.
Entomology bureau.
Insecticide and fungicide board.
Agriculture department.
Federal horticultural board.
Plant industry bureau.
See also 581.2. Diseases of plants; 591.65, Noxious
i8o Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
animal life; for pests afTccting animals see 636,
Domestic animals.
634.9. Forestry.
Forest service.
National forest reservation commission.
Geological survey.
Agriculture department.
Solicitor of the Department of agriculture.
Census bureau.
Agriculture and forestry committee (Senate).
Forest reservations and protection of game committee
(Senate).
Agriculture committee (H. of R.).
See also 338.1, Lumber and forest products; 620.12,
Timber tests; 674, Manufactures of wood; 676,
Paper making.
636. Domestic animals.
Animal industry bureau.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
Public health service.
Census bureau.
See also 338.1. Agricultural products; 614.9, Hy-
giene of animals; 619, Veterinary medicine.
637. Dairying.
Animal industry bureau.
States relations service.
Agriculture department.
See also 614.32, Pure milk.
638. Bees.
Entomology bureau.
639. Fisheries.
Fisheries bureau.
International fisheries commission.
Fisheries committee (Senate).
Merchant marine and fisheries committee (H. of R.).
See also 33ii.3, Water products ; 597, Fishes.
639.2. Seal fisheries.
Fisheries bureau.
State department.
Finance committee (Senate).
Ways and means committee (H. of R.).
640. Home economics.
Agriculture department.
Indian aft'airs oflice.
Education bureau (Teaching methods).
641. Foods. Cookery.
Agriculture department.
Quartermaster general of the army.
States relations service.
Chemistry bureau.
Animal industry bureau.
Plant industry bureau.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification i8i
Fisheries bureau.
Education bureau,
Indian attains office.
Interior department.
See also 612 39. Foods : Nutrition ; Metabolism.
641.4. Foods : Preservation ; Markets.
See 338.1, Agricultural products; 338.1, Meat sup-
ply; 33S.4, Manufactured articles; 664.8, Foods:
Preservation ; Canning ; Cold storage.
649. Nursery. Children.
Children's bureau.
Public health service.
654. Telegraph.
See 621.38. Telegraphy.
655. Printing and publishing.
Census bureau.
655-53- Typographical style.
Government printing office.
See also 029.6, Writing for publication.
655.59. Government printing
Government printing office.
Publications divisions.
Note. — It is intended that there shall be a publica-
tions division in each executive department and
independent office.
International exchange service.
Printing joint committee (Congress).
Printing committee (Senate).
Printing committee ( H. of R.).
See also 016.353, Bibliography of U. S. government
publications.
656. Transportation.
See 385, Transportation : Railroads ; 386 and 387,
Transportation: Water; 388, City transit.
657. Accounting.
See 352.1, Ctiy finance and accounting; 352.6, City
water supply accounting.
660. Chemical technology.
Chemistry bureau.
Agriculture department.
Standards bureau.
Census bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
See also 338.4, Manufactured articles.
662.2. Explosives.
Mines bureau.
Ordnance bureau (Navy dept.).
Adjutant general's office.
662.6. Coal. Peat. Coke. Natural gas. Denatured alcohol.
Mines bureau.
Geological survey.
i82 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
Quartermaster general cif tlic army.
See also 33S.2, Mineral products; 665.4 and 665.5,
Ahneral oils. Asphaltum.
663. Beverages, Fermented and distilled.
Internal revenue commissioner.
See also 178.4, Liquor traffic; 336.27, Special taxes.
664. Foods : Chemical technology.
See 614.3, Food and drug analysis ; 664.8, Foods :
Preservation; Canning; Cold storage.
664.8. Foods: Preservation; Canning; Cold storage.
Markets bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Chemistry bureau.
See also 338.1, Agricultural products; 338.4, Manu-
factured articles.
f.(.l"t' \ Mineral oils. Asphaltum.
^■^' ■' Mines bureau.
Steam engineering bureau.
Geological survey.
Standards bureau.
Interstate commerce commission.
Census bureau.
See also 338.2, Mineral products ; 662.6, Coal, etc.
666. Clay industries.
Mines bureau.
Geological survey.
669. Metallurgy.
Mines bureau.
Geological survey.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Standards bureau.
Census bureau.
See also 553, Economic geology.
670. Manufactures.
Federal trade commission.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Census bureau.
Pan American union.
Manufactures committee (Senate).
See also 338.4, Manufactured articles.
674. Manufactures of wood.
Forest service.
Agriculture department.
See also 620.12, Timber tests.
676. Paper making.
Chemistry bureau.
Forest service.
Agriculture department.
Plant industry bureau.
Labor statistics bureau.
See also 338.4, Manufactured articles.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 183
682.1. Horseshoeing.
Mounted service school (Fort Riley, Kans.).
General staff corps.
Militia bureau (War dept).
696. Plumbing.
Public roads and rural engineering office.
Supervising architect.
Agriculture department.
See also 628, Sanitary engineering.
699. Ship building.
Construction and repair bureau.
See also 623.8, Naval architecture.
700. Fine arts.
Fine arts commission.
National gallery of art (National museum).
Library joint committee (Congress).
711. Public parks.
National park service.
725. Public buildings.
Supervising architect.
Fine arts commission.
Office of public buildings and grounds and Washing-
ton monument (For D. C. only).
Public buildings and grounds committee (Senate).
Public buildings and grounds committee (H. of R.).
727. Schoolhouses.
Education bureau.
769. Collections of engravings.
Prints division (Library of Congress).
770. Photography.
Signal office.
780. Music.
Music division (Library of Congress).
Education bureau (Music teaching).
790. Amusements.
See 371.74, School games, dances, songs, etc.
797, Yachting.
Navigation bureau (Navy dept.).
798, Horsemanship.
War college division.
Militia bureau (War dept.).
799, Hunting. Fishing. Game.
Biological survey bureau.
Agriculture department.
Alaska. Governor.
Forest reservations and protection of game committee
(Senate).
900. History.
American historical association.
See also 973, History of the United States.
184 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
910. Geography.
Geographic board.
PhiUppine committee on geographical names.
See also 917.3, Geography of the United States.
912. Maps and charts.
Geological survey.
General land office.
Topography division (P. O. dept.).
Coast and geodetic survey (Coasts of United States
and waters adjacent).
Hydrographic office (Foreign waters and coasts).
State department.
Reclamation service.
Forest service.
Engineer department.
* Mississippi river commission.
Northern and northwestern lakes survey.
General staff corps.
War college division.
Geographic board (Advisory).
Maps and charts division (Library of Congress.
Bibliography).
See also, for statistical weather, and soil maps,
317.3. Statistics of the U. S. ; 551.5, Meteorology;
631, Soils.
Note. — Here are not included maps bound in and
illustrating books, but maps issued separately only.
01^8 [ Antiquities of America.
^ ^' ■ •' Ethnology bureau.
National museum.
Mesa Verde national park
Casa Grande ruin.
Interior department.
917.2. Mexico. Central America. West Indies.
Pan American union.
917.293. Dominican Republic.
Insular affairs bureau.
Dominican customs receivership.
917.295. Porto Rico.
Porto Rico. Governor.
Agricultural experiment station.
Education bureau.
Census office (And other government depart-
ments of Porto Rico. They report to the United
States War department).
Insular affairs bureau.
Census bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Labor statistics bureau.
.. • Geological survey.
Ethnology bureau.
Education bureau.
Agriculture department.
Animal industry bureau.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 185
Forest service.
Plant industry bureau.
Weather bureau.
Public health service.
Pacific islands and Porto Rico committee (Senate).
Insular affairs committee (H. of R.).
917.3. Geography and description of the United States.
Geological survey.
Coast and geodetic survey (Coasts and waters).
See also 910, Geography; 912, Maps and charts.
917.3. United States : Boundaries.
International joint commission on boundary waters
between United States and Canada.
International boundary commissions, United States
and Canada (3 in number).
State department.
Geological survey.
International boundary commission, United States and
Mexico.
St. John river joint commission.
917.53. District of Columbia.
District of Columbia. Commissioners.
District of Columbia committee (Senate).
District of Columbia committee (H. of R.).
See also 725, Public buildings.
917.7. Mississippi river.
Mississippi river commission.
Mississippi river and its tributaries committee (Sen-
ate)
Flood control committee (H. of R.).
917.98. Alaska.
Alaska. Governor.
Agricultural experiment station.
Interio'r department.
Smithsonian institution.
Geological survey.
Coast guard.
Coast and geodetic survey.
Census bureau.
Alaskan engineering commission.
Alaska road commissioners board.
War department.
Education bureau (By means of the Alaska school
service; the Alaska division; and the Alaska rein-
deer service).
Agriculture department.
States relations service.
Plant industry bureau.
General land office.
Labor statistics bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Topography division (P. O. depL ; Map).
Territories committee (Senate).
Territories committee (H. of R.).
And other
government
bureaus, all
under the
commission.
186 Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification
See also 57-'. 998, Eskimos; 590, Zoology; 622, Mines
and nnning , O34.9, Forestry; 639, Fisheries; O39.2,
Seal hslienes; 970.1, Indians.
918. South America.
Pan American union.
Internationa] high commission.
9]8.6. Canal Zone (Isthmus of Panama).
919.14. Philippine islands.
Philippine commission, 1900-date.
Science bureau.
Census bureau.
Forestry bureau.
Weather bureau.
Lands bureau.
Public instruction department.
Insular affairs bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Geological survey.
Coast and geodetic survey (Atlas).
Labor statistics bureau.
Agriculture department.
Education bureau.
Public health service.
Philippine committee on geographical names.
Philippines committee (Senate).
Insular affairs committee (H, of R.).
919.61. American Samoa.
Navy department.
Pacific islands and Porto Rico committee (Senate).
Insular affairs committee (H. of R.).
919.67. Guam island.
Navy department.
Guam. Agricultural experiment station.
Pacific islands and Porto Rico committee (Senate).
Insular affairs committee (H. of R.).
919.69. Hawaii.
Hawaii. Governor.
Agricultural experiment station.
Interior department.
Education bureau.
Census bureau.
Foreign and domestic commerce bureau.
Labor statistics bureau.
Geological survey.
Coast and geodetic survey.
General land office (Map).
Ethnology bureau.
Agriculture department.
States relations service.
Biological survey bureau.
Entomology bureau.
Forest service.
Plant industry bureau.
Weather bureau.
Publishing Bodies by Decimal Classification 187
Fisheries bureau.
Territories committee (Senate).
Territories committee (.H. of R.).
919.8. Arctic regions.
Smithsonian institution.
919.9. Antarctic regions.
Smithsonian institution.
920.073. Biography: United States.
Congress (Memorial addresses and other publica-
cations).
Joint printing committee (Congress).
National academy of sciences.
Adjutant general's office.
929.9. Flags.
Navy department.
Quartermaster general of the army.
Library of Congress.
970.1. Indians.
Ethnology bureau.
Indian affairs office.
Indian commissioners board.
Five civilized tribes superintendent.
National museum.
Smithsonian institution.
Interior department.
Census bureau.
Indian affairs committee (Senate).
Five civilized tribes of Indians committee (Senate).'
Indian affairs committee (H. of R.).
973. United States: History.
American historical association.
Manuscripts division (Library of Congress).
Rolls and library bureau.
Library and naval war records office.
Library joint committee (Congress).
PART IV
Library Practice
I
Information and Selection
Especially for the small library and the non-deposi-
tory, where the Monthly Catalog, if received, is not read
regularly, the following hints as to means of informa-
tion about the national publications and their selection,
are given.
In the first place, every library, even the smallest,
should own and use the Checklist. It is in itself a lib-
eral education for both librarians and readers. But this
gives publications only through 1909. Also, J. I. Wyer,
United States Government Documents In Small Libra-
ries,^ should be owned by every small library, and the
publications there recommended be the first procured.
It will doubtless be not allowed to fall too far behind in
date. Further, even the small library will be helped by
the Author Headings For United States Public Docu-
ments As Used in the Official Catalogues of the Super-
intendent of Documents,^ because the learning from
this list that there is at Washington, for example,
a Children's Bureau, will suggest that its publications
may be of use to a reader interested in child welfare.
Of great help will be the Price Lists issued by the Docu-
ments Office from time to time, pamphlets, each giving
references to where material may be found in a spe-
cial field of knowledge. Parts of works are given, and
back as well as current publications are included. Some
of the subjects on which Hsts have been issued are: —
United States history, poultry, forestry, fishes, military
and naval literature, labor questions, foods and cooking,
1 4th edition revised. Chicago, A. L. A., 1914. (.\. L. A. Publishing
Board, Library handbook 7.)
2 3d edition, March 4, 1915. (Documents Office. Bulletin 18.) For two
earlier editions see Checklist, p. 416.
191
192 Information and Selection
insect pests, oenieiit. engineering mechanics, international
law. etc. New editions replace old ones as new mate-
rial is printed. Many government offices issue yearly or
occasionally a prmted list each of its own publications,^
and it is entirely proper for any library to write, for in-
stance, to the Children's Bureau to ask if it publishes
such a list, and to request the gift of it. The list of
publications of the Agriculture Department is printed
monthly, and is sent to all who ask for it.
Aside from these, the same helps in selecting as used
for other kinds of literature will be used. The selected
United States publications given in the A. L. A. Book
List are all good. Notes of new publications in maga-
zines, newspapers, in lists of other libraries and in special
bibliographies, etc., will be helpful.
The librarian of a small or medium sized library
must not be misled by the statements made of the value
of the national publications into accepting and keeping
blindly everything which may descend upon the library
from an undiscriminating Congressman, or any other
source. Each publication should be looked into, its
scope and value be ascertained. The criterion, with
this as with other material, is in the answer to the ques-
tion: Does this fit into an interest felt by my readers,
or any interest which I can develop among them? As
anything can be sent back to the Documents Office free
under franks which that office will provide on request,
such disposal should be made of any which do not sur-
vive the application of this test. But discarding should
not be done without due deliberation, and expert ap-
praisal should be secured, if possible.
To keep half a dozen back volumes of an annual re-
port of which it is not thought worth while to get the
other issues to complete the file, does not seem sensible.
Odd volumes of miscellaneous House and Senate Docu-
ments and Reports should not be kept unless some pub-
3 See Bibliography: General: Publishing bodies' lists of their own pub-
lications.
Information and Selection 193
lication in any volume is wanted for its subject's sake.
This does not negative the keeping of the latest issue
only of any report or statistical publication, and ship-
ping last year's report back to Washington as this year's
is received, or retiring it to basement or attic. If an
odd volume is kept because of the value of only one of
several publications in it, it should be classed according
to that one, and that alone be cataloged. It is allow-
able to ignore other publications in the volume if they
would be discarded except for being included. In cata-
loging the one valuable publication, if the volume is
of the four series of House or Senate, the catalog en-
try will end with the note of the series, e.g. : (U. S. 54th
Congress, 26. session. House Document 134. In volume
29; 3505). But no entry under U. S. Congress, House
Documents, need be made for it.
The most troublesome question constantly recurring
is : In what other form or forms does this material
appear, and which one, or how many, of those obtain-
able shall the library keep? To the cost of storage and
care must be added, be it remembered, that of the cleri-
cal labor of all records, the labeling, perhaps binding,
etc. The writer once bound for use the three quarto
volumes of the Documentary History of the Constitu-
tion of the United States, 1786-1870,^ extracting them
from the Bulletins of the Rolls and Library Bureau,
w^here they were originally published as a series of ap-
pendixes. Later there came to the library an edition
in beautiful binding bearing the seal of the State De-
partment. A third edition came out later in the form
of a sheep bound House Document.
Many things come out unbound earlier, and later
form part of a bound volume which may or may not
agree with the earlier issue. The cases differ. An ex-
ample of one case is the Bulletins of the Geological Sur-
vey, which have first publication each unbound. Later
the depository libraries receive them bound in volumes.
4 See Checklist, p. 972.
194 Information and Selection
The Experiment Station Record and the Congressional
Record replace the separate issues with a bound edi-
tion of the completed volume. The Session or Pam-
phlet Laws, indispensable as the early first issue at the
end of each session, are superseded at the end of the
Congress by the Statutes at Large, which contain, bound
and also rearranged, all that is in the previously pub-
lished two or three volumes of Pamphlet Laws. Of
course each Senate and House Report and Document
appears in Washington, first and promptly, separate and
unbound, and they are later made into volumes, as be-
fore described.^ But the depository libraries get them
at a later date, after they are bound. On the other
hand, of some publications, the Monthly Catalog, for
instance, each issue must be preserved with care, as
copies can not be obtained from Washington to replace
any lost.
Some unbound material is extracted from larger
works, and may bear the paging of the publication from
•which it is taken, or be independently paged. The
separate and advance print without appendixes of the
report of the head, which is issued by most depart-
ments and important bureaus, and which, when it strays
into a library, is likely to puzzle a tyro, is the most fa-
miliar instance of this. The " separates '" of very many
scientific, technical, statistical, or other such publica-
tions — for example, the Mineral Resources, the Year
Book of the Agriculture Department, the Proceedings
of the National Museum, etc. — entries for which crowd
the Monthly Catalog, the Document Catalog, and the
Checklist, usually bear the inclusive paging of the larger
work. This will help to identify them as " separates,"
for it is not easily recognizable that they are such, or
whence they come. Separates do not come under the
ban as wasteful reprint editions. They are issued for
convenience of advance distribution, or for the use of
those who have need for one part of the work but not for
5 See Why Bewildering: topic 5.
Information and Selection 195
the whole; and for those purposes are indispensable.
The question whether a library, when it has the complete
work, should keep any separates that may chance to come
should generally be answered in the negative. Only
when the demand for this special material in its place
among the works on its special subject, justifies it, should
a separate be kept.
II
General Practice
As has been said, library practice should be identical
whether applied to government or to non-government
material, be it books, serials, pamphlets, ephemeral mat-
ter for temporary keeping, or anything else. But the
great variety of depository material, and the difficulty
of assorting each item so as to assign to each its appro-
priate treatment, invite discussion. Therefore certain
recommendations, taken from the experience of the
writer, are offered here, on the chance that one or an-
other of them may help the inexperienced librarian.
Most of these suggestions apply equally to non-govern-
mental and governmental material of the class desig-
nated, and the library that has a well thought out sys-
tem in operation will have no use for them. No at-
tempt IS made at giving complete instructions under any
topic. What is outlined here is not put forward as the
system, but as a system which will be found workable.
That a system must be adopted as a whole, and that to
take one segment from one system and another segment
from another system will often block the running, must
be remembered.
What IS meant by system? Each kind of material
that comes to a library has to be " processed," as it is
called in the arts. Efficiency principles apply here the
same as in manufacturing or office work. Even the
arrangement of the work rooms enters into the result.
From raw material to finish it should pass as if on a
gravity railroad, without ever retracing a step, each find-
ing the process adapted to its class without question as
to which that is — nothing done twice, every non-essential
eliminated, every essential adequately, well, and perma-
196
General Practice 197
nently done. For the library does not, like the factory
or business house, make a complete turnover and clear-
ance once in so often. It consumes its own finished
product, and its own errors of judgment and execution
disarrange its shelves and clutter up its records. Sys-
tem does not consist in picking up one part of the pro-
cess here and another there, and installing a patch-
work routine in which details jangle with each other
and with facilities and conditions, but in perceiving the
indispensable, and securing it in the fewest steps' possi-
ble.
The very large libraries, which are building up huge
aggregations of government publications of all the coun-
tries on the globe in document departments, are not in
view here. The state libraries also have problems and
use which differ from those of the public and college
library, and will find nothing to help them here. The
publications as they are and have been are here treated.
With better bibliographical methods in publishing this
material, much said here would become unnecessary.
The United States publications as they come to a de-
pository library are a very heterogeneous lot of mate-
rial, besides the problems of various editions which they
present. Different ones will call for about as many di-
verse processes of treatment as the library has in use,
with, possibly, a few extra ones expressly devised for the
government publications. The opening, checking, and
disposal of the shipments as they come to the library
should not be confided to a mere clerk. If there is a
reference librarian specially deputed to care for the gov-
ernment publications, he may supervise the unpacking.
But it would seem to fall naturally to the chief of the
cataloging and classification to say in what way each kind
of material shall be disposed of, how recorded, and its
manner of preparation for the shelves ; also to declare
what may be discarded and when. Constant consultation
and dovetailing of system will be necessary between the
head of the cataloging and classification and the keeper of
igS General Practice
the serial check record. As all library records and meth-
ods have for their object to serve the library staff — espe-
cially tiie reference stafif — and the readers in getting hold
of the books and the material in them, so here also this
mnst be held in view as the end and object.
For purposes of discussion we may treat this material
under the three classes : — books, bound or unbound ; °
pamphlets; and serial publications; though this is like
making the divisions of men, women, and government
olificials, for the serial publications will include both
books and pamphlets. The treatment of each of these
classes will follow the system of the library for non-
governmental publications of the same class, and the
government publications will be entered in check record,
accession book, catalog, and shelf list side by side with
and sandwiched in between non-governmental books,
pamphlets, and serials. The exceptional case of the
four series of Senate and House Documents and Re-
ports, the so-called Congressional set, will be spoken of
in the section on cataloging. Pamphlets also, and maps,
will be given separate attention later.
6 An important work which comes unbound may be bound: or. if the
library is not likely to use it much, and the material on the shelves is well
taken care of, and the binding fund is overdrawn, it may be protected by
outside covers, and accessioned, cataloged, and used as if bound. This is
at the discretion of the librarian.
Ill
Check Record of Serials
After unpacking, all separate publications of the rank
of books, whether bound or unbound, will be sent on to
be accessioned and cataloged. All publications which
have a numbering continuous with others in a series ^ will
be entered previously to this or other disposition of
them, in the serial check record. The four series of
Senate and House Documents and Reports need not be
entered in the serial check record, except in case the
separate unbound publications of the series are issued
to the libraries as printed. This was done for a few
years just preceding 1910, but has been discontinued.
That the library should make record of every serial
issue under the serial title immediately upon its coming
to the library, is very essential. This record will pref-
erably be on cards, a separate card for each title. The
purposes accomplished by this record are three. First,
it provides the library with a " tickler," by which it can
ensure the getting regularly every issue of the serials on
the list, without lapses or delay. A device by which
this " tickler " automatically corrects itself annually has
been used at the library of the University of Illinois. A
box or tray is used for holding the cards which is
slightly wider than the cards. At the beginning of the
year the cards are all pushed to one side of the box.
After the last issue for the year is entered on each card,
it is shoved to the other side of the box. All card rec-
ords not so moved at the end of the year receive atten-
tion. Without some such check a lapse in coming, espe-
cially of an annual, might not be noticed till a reader's
7 Such series as the -American Statesmen or English Men of Letters series
are not meant here.
199
200 Check Record of Serials
application called attention to the lack of late issues.
Second, it provides the library with a statement up to
the minute of what it possesses of each serial. Those se-
rial issues that are complete, independent works of a size
to be shelved without delay, will be accessioned and cata-
loged like other books, after being recorded. The
others — by far the majority — which we may call the
minor serials, will not appear in accession book or cata-
log until after a period of delay that may be a year or a
term of years. For it must be remembered that the
catalog is not the place to record, ordinarily, what is
bibliographically incomplete, or not in its final shape
for preservation ; and a minor serial may wait for years
to complete a volume or to accumulate enough to be
bound. And all during this period the check record
will be the only place which provides information con-
cerning late issues of each serial. This will be more
fully discussed in the section on cataloging. It will be
shown there that the catalog will refer to the check rec-
ord for information which it will not give itself. For
this reason the form of entry in this record should be
the same as that used in the catalog; and, generally, all
records thoughout the library, especially those filed al-
phabetically, should use a standardized, uniform en-
try. And because it is an adjunct to the catalog, the head
of the cataloging should have the right of revision of
the serial record, and to have included in that record
whatever details are required by him.
Third, it provides the most convenient place for as-
sembling all the other items about these serials needed
for ordering them. The following are details that will
in general be found worth while to give on the check
record card: — f i) place of publication; (2) frequency;
(3) number of volumes a year; (4) period of complet-
ing volumes; (5) source; (6) on what terms; (7)
list price; (8) net price; (9) date of order; (10)
date of bill; (11) period when subscription expires; (12)
what has been received to date; and (13) call number
Check Record of Serials 201
in library. Of course not every one of these is used
for every serial, and when (6) is iilled out with
*' gift," as in the entry for all United States government
serials, (7)-(ii) are blanks. When a new serial begins
to come, the head of the cataloging will supply a classi-
fication and book number in advance, together with form
of entry, if the latter is in doubt. In such a case it is
not always possible to ascertain all items in advance, nor.
if publication is only just now started, to forecast how it
is going to develop. Record can be made and details
filled in as they become known.
In the case of series of bulletins, circulars, etc., each
issue of which is a short but distinct work, complete in
itself, with its separate author and title, like the bulle-
tins of the Education Bureau, it will be desirable, as
explained later, to make the briefest note possible of the
author, the title, and the date of each issue along with
its number. This may be put on a supplementary card
or cards, if more convenient. A substitute, usually an
unsatisfactory one, is to check the issues on a printed
list.
In cataloging a serial there are four items concerning
it which must in all cases be stated if they exist in the
serial in hand. These are: — (i) the volume number
or issue number, or both; (2) dates covered by the con-
tents of the issues; (3) number of volumes; (4) first
and last publication dates, connected by dash. Of these
catalog items, the first two belong in the check record.
If, as in the case of most administrative reports, there
is no consecutive numbering, item (i) drops out. Sim-
ilarly, where, the serial being neither statistical nor ad-
ministrative, the period covered has no significance, as
in the Farmers' Bulletins, item (2) vanishes. But
when, like the Congressional Record, the serial supplies
both items, it will ensure accuracy and often save time
to give both, not only in the serial record, but also in
lists of wanting parts, in orders — in fact, every time
serial issues are quoted. The use of the oblique dash
202
Check Record of Serials
between dates in (2) adds definiteness to the initiated,
though it means nothing to the outside pubHc. The
entry: ist-5th report, 1894/5- 1898/9, is clearer by its
use.
The check record of serials may be on cards made in
the following form.®
Check record. A.
no_" Publishing office
Title
Place of pub. Frequency
No. of vols, a yr.
Vols, begin and end when
Source
Terms
List price
Net price Order date Bill date Sub'n expires
Vol. Yr. Ian. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June luJy Aug. Sept Oct Nov. Dec. Extra Tpj
Check record. B.
Call
no_ Publishing office
Title Place of pub. Frequency
No. of vols, a yr.
Vols, begin and end when
Source
Terms
List price
Net price Order date Bill date
Vol. Year Date rec'd Vol. Year Date rec'd
Sub'n expires
On the reverse of the cards the whole space can be
ruled and utilized for recording. Cards for recording
weeklies and dailies will be ruled as these periodicities
8 See also Public Libraries, 15: 181, 1910 (by Tilton).
Check Record of Serials 203
require. In case of serials not monthly, weekly, nor
of other regular periodicity, as the Farmers' Bulletins,
their consecutive numbers, e.g., i, 2, 3, etc., may be, on
form A, entered in the space for the month in which re-
ceived. Such bulletins are often so inconsecutive that
the memorandum of the approximate date of receipt is
helpful.
It will probably be found convenient to keep the cards
in two separate files, one for annuals, another for
serials appearing more frequently, and possibly a third
file for such as are temporarily unsettled in status, or
those of which only an occasional number floats in upon
the library. But this is a matter of choice.
IV
Cataloging (Excluding Subject Cataloging)
I. House and Senate four series
The bound volumes of the four series of Documents
and Reports of Senate and House, or so-called Con-
gressional set, it has been said, are not to be entered in
the serial record, although each separate Document and
Report, if the series were supplied in the unbound form,
would be. Only one record of the whole bound set is,
according to the writer's experience, necessar}^ This
record is the shelf list. The entry there will be under
the title of each series, each volume being entered sepa-
rately under its volume number, e.g., Senate Docu-
ments, volume so. In the shelf list for the Congres-
sional set there will be a column for the serial number,
i.e., the consecutive numbers which come down from
the 15th Congress. These serial numbers, distinct for
each volume, will be added to the class and book number,
identical for every volume of the set, to make the full call
number for the volume (e.g., 328.73 Un3 6122, accord-
ing to the Decimal classification and the Cutter book num-
ber table). There will be another column for the short
title on the back of the volume indicating its con-
tents, e.g., " Documents of a public nature " ; or " De-
ficiency estimates." A sample of shelf list entries is
appended. (See Shelf list, A.) The numbers of the
Reports or Documents included in a volume can, ob-
viously, not be given when there are several of them.
Those transferred to other classes will receive full en-
try in the shelf list where transferred. If preferred,
class and book number as transferred may be put in the
accession number column. This will eliminate the
204
Cataloging
205
" Classed " column. The contents title may or may not
be omitted for these. (See Shelf list, B.)
Shelf list. A.
3-'8.73
Un3 L
. S. 62d Congre
SS, 2(
session
Serial
no.
Ace. no.
Series title
Vol.
Contents title
Classed
6122
Senate Reports
3
.... Miscellaneous,
III
697. Approps. for
rivers & har.
6123
" "
4
6129
House Reports
1
.... Miscellaneous,
I
Miscellaneous,
II
6130
« <i
2
6140
6141
(Omit no.)
Senate Docs.
I
112. Navy yearbook,
1883-191 1
113. Cong'l direct'y
1st ed.
3 59Un39
R328.738
Una
6210
62:1
6321
House Docs.
28
29
139
511. Proposals, En-
gineer Dept.
246. Preservation of
Niagara Falls
.... Docs, of a pub-
lie nature
Shelf list. B.
328.73
Un3 r
. S. 62d Congre
= S, 2d
session
Serial
no.
Ace. no.
Series title
Vol.
Contents title
6:22
6123
Senate
Reports
3
4
.... Miscellaneous, III
697. Approps. for rivers &
harbors
6129
6130
House
Reports
1
.... Miscellaneous, T
.... Miscellaneous, II
6140
3SoUn39
Senate
Docs.
I
112. Xavy Yearbook, 1883—
6141
R32S.73SUn3
"
,,
2
191 1
113. Cong'l direct'y I St ed.
6210
62 1 1
. 6321
House
Docs.
28
29
I -0
511. Proposals, Engineer
Dept.
246. Preservation of Niagara
Falls
.... Docs, of a nubHc nature
Under the following headings cards will be put in
the catalog : —
U. S. Congress.
Congressional series.
U. S. Congress. Senate.
Documents.
U.S. Congress. Senate.
2o6 Cataloging
Reports of committees.
U. S. Congress. House of Representatives.
Documents.
U. S. Congress. House of Representatives.
Reports of committees.
The call number, which will have to be for the set,
not for each of the four series separately (328.73 Un3
according to the Decimal system and Cutter book number
table), will be given its usual place on the card. But
there will be no entry on any of these cards other than
those given above. A note, however, will appear on
each, reading something like this : " See shelves ; also
shelf list for statement of what the library has.
For special Documents or Reports and subject mate-
rial consult the Document Catalog and other govern-
ment indexes, also this catalog. Apply at desk." In
the opinion of the writer, these entries will never be
looked for by readers. But they elucidate to any one
who happens to find them the handling by the library
of this class of publications, and such elucidations
should never be lacking.
Some one in the library will of course have an eye
open for important government matters as they come
up in Washington, and be following in the Monthly
Catalog the material published on them. Some sys-
tem of temporary memorandum of such as are likely
to be wanted by readers wall have to be the reliance,
until the Document Index, and the index to the Monthly
Catalog, loose and time-consuming in its references as the
latter is, come, to direct to material on all subjects. If
a desired publication is a House or Senate Document, its
number in the series should be noted. When received in
this form and no other, and it is certain that its use will be
much increased if it is classed with the books on its sub-
ject — say the report of the Federal Reserve Board with
the books on banking — no hesitation need be felt to
transfer it bodily to the subject place. When this is done.
Cataloging 207
entry for it in the shelf list of the Congressional set will
include the call number to which transferred. This call
number must also be noted opposite the volume in the
Schedule of Volumes at the end of the Document Index.
The catalog, then, will have no complete entry for
all or any of the Congressional series, but only a refer-
ence to the shelf list. Each individual Report and
Document which it is thought advisable to catalog, how-
ever, will be handled as a distinct work — of course
with its series note in curves at the end of the entry.
But no entry for the series will be made in the case of
the individual work either. This series note comprises
when complete eight items, viz.: (i) U. S. ; (2) num-
ber of Congress; (3) number of session; (4) which
house; (5) Document or Report; (6) number of Docu-
ment or Report; (7) volume number in series; (8)
serial number. A sample series note in full is the fol-
lowing for volume nine of the Document Catalog: '* (U.
S. 60th Congress, 26. session. House Document 1574.
In vol. 151 ; 5561)." ^ Order of items, punctuation, etc.,
will be settled by each library for itself, and then used
uniformly. For the period since the numbering of the
Documents and Reports began to be continuous through
a Congress, without break for sessions, (3) is not in-
dispensable. When many volumes of different Con-
gresses, as a file of annual reports, for instance, are in
one entry, the note will read: e.g., " (U. S. Congress.
House Document. Number varies)."
For Reports, the heading, or official author, will be
uniformly: " U. S. Congress. Senate Tor House),
name of committee •" For Documcnts the headings
will be as diverse as there are official authors of the
United States, besides unofficial authors in every va-
riety. The Document Catalog may be consulted to de-
termine what official body is author of any Document.
For some documents, " U. S. Congress," or " U. S. Con-
■ 9 See also Legislative Publications: II. The Serially Numbered Set, p. 124.
2o8 Cataloging
gress. Senate,'' or " U. S. Congress. House," is the
official author. But very rarely will there be needed
the very unpractical heading including the number of
Congress and session, e.g., " U. S. 63d Congress. 3d
session." A more practical one, which brings things to-
gether on some classification basis, can usually be sub-
stituted. For instance, memorial addresses of whatever
Congress are better grouped under " U. S. Congress.
Memorial addresses"; or '* U. S. Congress. Senate (or
House). IMemorial addresses," rather than scattered
each under the number of Congress and session in which
uttered. The phrase, " Memorial addresses," being a
catchword inserted in the heading to make a grouping,
will be omitted in the subject entry. The same method
applies to the directories of Congress, to the manuals
of Senate and House, the reports of their officers, etc.
This insertion of a topic catchword to form groupings
is made much use of in the Document Catalog.
For each library, or for any library to catalog every
Document and Report would be an act of foolishness
and supererogation. The Document Catalog does this
finally, and other aids supplied by the Documents Office
help out till that appears. For how many of the gov-
ernment publications each library shall make entry in
its own catalog, is for each library to decide, according
to the use and needs of its readers. Generally speak-
ing, most of the departmental reports and separate pub-
lications of importance should be in the library's cata-
log. For most of the Congressional Reports and the
minor Documents, dependence on the Document Cata-
log and Monthly Catalog is recommended.
In the second paragraph of this section it is recom-
mended that an individual Document wanted for use be
classed and shelved with the books of its subject. It
may, if that is the system adopted, be cataloged and
still left in place among the Documents.^^ It will then,
10 For further discussion see in this section, topic VIII, Classification,
P- 23S-
Cataloging 209
of course, have the call number of the Congressional
set, below which may be added the serial number of
the individual volume. Where it is a file of annual re-
ports or of some other serial that one desires to cata-
log and still leave each in its separate place by Con-
gress and session, it will be difficult to give on the cata-
log card the location of each volume. Instead of at-
tempting this on the catalog card it will be better to
refer to the latest issue of a printed table that lists the
serial numbers of annual reports and other such pub-
lications.^^ This list will probably always fall short
by some issues of being complete to date.
If the library has the plain title edition of a work,
that is the one to be classed by subject and cataloged.
If the House or Senate Document edition be also in the
library, how that shall appear in the catalog, or whether
it shall appear at all, will be according to the labor the
library devotes to its cataloging. Full entry may be
made for it as an added edition. Or there may be
given only the note : " Also in the Congressional set :
328.7^ Un^— ;; — ; ."
0/0 o Serial no.
In cataloging a minor Senate or House Document,
either with or without a title-page, excessive verbiage
may be perplexing.^- Apply the general rule, which
permits omissions ad libitiiui (indicating each omission
by three dots, and retaining the opening words unless un-
desirable) ; and insertions (within brackets) of explana-
tory words, if necessary; but all without the slightest
alteration or rearrangement.
In the case of the Reports, as has been said, the prob-
lem frequently is where to find on the Report itself
w'ords which will make a satisfactory title." The Li-
11 See U. S. Congress. Senate. Finding list to important serial docu-
ments published by the government in the library of the United States
Senate; prepared by James !M. Baker. 1901. 281 p. (S. Doc. 238, s6th
Cong., 2(1 sess. In v. 15: 404.3.)
l-'or same list brought to later date see U. S. Congress. Senate. Cata-
logue of the library of the United States Senate. 1908. 600 p. il. p. i57-
383. Xo Document edition.
12 See Why Bewildering: topic 4, p. 68.
13 See also Legislative Publications: \I. Reports of Committees, p. 140.
210 Cataloging
brary of Congress catalog and the Document Catalog
differ more in their entries for Congressional Reports
than for any other kind of publication. The entry is
given in the Document Catalog only once, i.e., under
subject — or subjects, if it requires more than one.
Under personal name of senator or representative, and
under committee, only a reference to the subject entry
is given. Until December, 1915, the beginning of the
64th Congress, it ignored the catch title printed on the
Report, and itself made up a title according to a form
which is explained in its preface. The entry was as ioU
lows: — (i) subject heading; (2) personal name head-
ing J (3) title, reading: Report from ,
name of committee
favoring (or adverse to, rarely other variations) ,
no. of bill
^^^^^ ^^ ^^^n . Words necessary to make the purpose of
the bill clear are added to the title of the bill in brackets.
The subject of the Report is told in the title of the bill.
Since December, 1915, the entry is: — (i) subject head-
ing; (2) committee heading; (3) title, reading; ,
catch title
report to accompany no. of bin t.tie of b.ii i. ' submit-
ted bv j . The Library of Congress
persona! name -' o
gives for title (under the heading, " U. S. Congress. Sen-
ate (or House). 7 ■ ") nothing but the
ixk.^ ^^wl j.j.vyi..v^v. y . name of C(nnmitiec -' °
catch title and other words found on the Report, without
the title of the bill, and provides the necessary explana-
tions and extra details in copious notes. Subject entries
correspond.
2. Corporate and other non-snhject entries
A previous section has explained why the catalog
should use in most cases the publishing office as the au-
thor of a government publication instead of the actual
person or persons who prepared it.^'^ Directions given
14 Title of bill is not always given.
15 See Why Bewildering: topic 3, p. 66.
Cataloging 211
in the A. L. A. Catalog Rules, under " Corporate Bodies
As Authors : Government Publications," or the same in
other cataloging codes, should be followed. Contrary
to the recommendation of some authorities, it is advised
that no library, not even the smallest, shall omit the gov-
ernment author entry. ^*^ That ninety-nine out of a hun-
dred readers do not know and will not look for this
government author entry, and will find the work, if at
all, by its subject entry, is not denied; but the argu-
ment is equally good for omitting author entry of
much popular fiction and juveniles. Also, the public is
coming to know some of the government publishing
bodies, each individual the ones that touch his own
private interests. The automobilist learns of the Geo-
logical Survey through its topographic sheets, or road
maps, as he calls them; the manufacturer, of the Stand-
ards Bureau through its tests of materials. The farmer
knows the Agriculture Department ; the railroad man.
the Interstate Commerce Commission ; the county su-
pervisor, the Public Roads and Rural Engineering Of-
fice ; the banker, the Comptroller of the Currency ; the
teacher, the Education Bureau ; and so on. Clearer and
better acquaintance with the specializing publishing
bodies will come as the government's publishing methods
are simplified. The library, the people's university.
which should always be one step higher and pulling the
public up w^ith it, should educate the public into definite
knowledge of government authors by using them in its
catalog. Loose records make vague and inefficient
knowledge. When a reader is made to look under the
name of the publishing office for a work giving informa-
tion which he is seeking, ten to one he will find there
other helpful publications of the same bureau, and the
source is disclosed to him whence government help in
his line may be sought. The omission of the govern-
ment author entry deprives the one reader who looks
IG See J. I. Wyer, U. S. government documents in small libraries, 1914,
p. 25.
212 Cataloging
for it of the answer to the question he puts to the cata-
log: what pubhcations by this bureau are to be had in
this library ?
Discussions have taken place at library meetings as
to which of several possible entries (exclusive of sub-
ject entry) — government author, title, personal author,
etc. — is best choice for a government publication.
These discussions seem to the writer all equally futile.
The obvious solution is to make them all. Make always
(it is a universal rule for a good catalog) every entry
under which it can be imagined that any fairly intelli-
gent person will by any possibility look. It is better to
make unreasonable, foolish entries than to fail to give
readers every possible clue. Small libraries need sim-
ple catalogs, but simplicity should be sought in omis-
sion of bibliographical detail and in substituting refer-
ences for complete entries, and in other economies, some
of which will be suggested here, rather than in with-
holding the life lines which the reader, floundering in
the catalog, needs.
It must be explained immediately that not all these
entries will be careful, complete statements of the material
which the library has. Many will be only guideposts,
references giving the reader general directions where in
other parts of the catalog he will find this information.
Among the most general of these will be references under
su-ch words as Report, Bulletin, Proceedings, etc., direct-
ing the reader to look under the name of the body making
the report, etc. Under " Interstate Commerce Commis-
sion " there will be found a reference to " U. S. Interstate
Commerce Commission." If the reference is for a defi-
nite work, the call number may be given with the refer-
ence, so that the publication may be sent for without being
obliged to look at the entry to which one is referred.
Title entries, which may be entries or references, as
economy dictates, will be made freely. They will be made
not only for actual titles, as : *' Commerce Reports,"
" Farmers' Bulletins," " Statistical Abstract "' ; but also for
Cataloging 213
any names under which a pubHcation has come to be
known, as : " Horse Book " ; " Interstate Commerce Re-
ports," by which lawyers quote the Opinions of the com-
mission ; or " Uncle Sam's Cook Book," which last desig-
nates not one book, but a list of United States publications
on the topic put out under that attractive title.
Personal author entry (which also may in most cases
be a reference) is where the rule given, to satisfy every
conceivable search, meets its limitations. It is imprac-
ticable for the general library to refer from the personal
name of each secretary of the Treasury, from Hamilton
down, to the United States Treasury Department, al-
though the A. L. A. Catalog Rules direct such a refer-
ence for current reports of departments, and the Docu-
ment Catalog makes not only this but other personal
name references. The needs of the historian who looks
for a treaty under the diplomat who carried it through ;
of the politician w^ho knows the report of a commission
only by the name of its chairman ; of the mining en-
gineer who knows the man who surveyed a claim but
not the bureau which published his report ; and of divers
others, can never be fully met in cataloging govern-
ment publications. The partial solution of the personal
entry problem — it can not be fully solved except by a
mere elaborate catalog than any reader of this is likely
to find means to make — is in extending a helping hand
here and there; e.g., when the name of the publishing
body is unlikely to be known, or the personal author has
been long or prominently connected with the work, as
was Carroll D. Wright with the United States Labor
Bureau. The explorations of the western United States
made in the middle of the nineteenth century have long
and cumbersome names, viz., Geographical and Geologi-
cal Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region ; Geological
and Geographical Survey of the Territories ; Geograph-
ical Surveys West of the looth Meridian. They are bet-
ter known under their directors, respectively Powell,
Hayden, and Wheeler. A reference under each name
214 Cataloging
directing to the government author entry, where will be
found brought together every one of its publications,
will be best, for this and other more technical reasons.
A large number of personal names enter the catalog"
in so-called analytical work, i.e., (i) cataloging sepa-
rately a certain chapter or certain pages in a work; or
(2) cataloging each of a set of bulletins or other series
as a distinct work. The personal author is the proper
and only author of many, perhaps a majority of these
cases. A typical case is the Bulletins of the Education
Bureau. Series entry, with list of the Bulletins — or,
better, reference to the bureau's printed list of them —
will be made under " U. S. Education Bureau." Each
separate Bulletin will be cataloged as a distinct work.
All that have personal authors will be entered under
those authors' names. Each one that has no author other
than the bureau may be cataloged with the bureau for
its individual author entry. But as an economy it is
suggested that no author entry for these be put in the
catalog, and that the series card state the omission in a
note reading somewhat like this : " No other entry under
U. S. Education Bureau besides this is made for any bul-
letin. But see separate entries under subjects of each,
and under all individual authors." This recommended
omission of " U. S. Education Bureau " as author entry
for the single bulletin would not extend to the subject
entry, where the words, " U. S. Education Bureau,"
would appear twice : once as individual author next after
the subject heading; and again in the series note at the
end of the entry.
Analytical cataloging must be balanced, both as to
selection and amount, by the time and money the library
can devote to it. To reach the greatest results with its
time and money, the library is advised to refer often on
its catalog cards to printed indexes ; to lists on flyleaves
of latest issue or in pamphlet form ; to tables of con-
tents in printed catalogs ; or a printed list may be some-
times clipped and pasted on the catalog card. All lists
Cataloging 215
and indexes so referred to should be kept, so far as
other use allows, close at hand, preferably on top of the
catalog case; and the shelf list, and a dummy in the place
from which it is transferred for this reference use,
should state distinctly where each can be found.
Which of all the entries made shall be fixed upon to
be what is technically termed " main entry,'' can not be
laid down absolutely for every case ; but in the great
majority of cases it will be best to make the government
author the main entry. " In a card catalog the main
entry contains (generally on the back) a record of all
the other entries made " ; ^" also the accession number,
perhaps other cataloger's data. Also, as usually the
subject, title, and other " added " entries are identical
with the main entry except for the printing subject or
title or other added heading above the main entry
words, the choice of main entry determines the place of
all added entries in the alphabetizing, and involves the
risk that the entry may not be found when wanted. For
instance, under the subject " Commerce " there will be
many cards to finger. The Commerce Reports, if the
main entry is the title, will be found under " Commerce "
in the sub-alphabet under C, thus :
Commerce.
Commerce reports.
If the main entry is the government author, it will be
in quite another place, under U, thus :
Commerce.
U. S. Foreign and Domestic Commerce Bureau.
Commerce reports.
Further, that part of the call number which is called
the book number is usually taken from the main entry,
although this is not necessarily so. This book number
determines the subarrangement on the shelves. There
will be long rows of volumes in class Commerce on the
17 A. L. A. Catalog Rules. Boston, 1908. p. xv.
2i6 Cataloging
shelves. And if the book number begins with C the
student who searches for it under U may go away with-
out finding it. Uniformity in the choice of main entry
prevents that erratic usage which wastes the time of the
library staff and of the readers by their never knowing
where they will find thmgs. Controversy between ad-
vocates of personal, title, or government author main
entry, respectively, thus simmers down to minute techni-
cal details the bearings of which only experienced work-
ers can appreciate, and which the public and many head
librarians will deride as having no worth or significance,
simply because they do not know the often large re-
sults in practical working of these seeming trifles.
The Library of Congress is a safe guide to follow in
choosing a main entry ; but one must sedulously sift out
and avoid adopting headings — and subjects as well —
used in entries prepared by the libraries of certain de-
partments and bureaus of Washington and supplied to
the Library of Congress by them.^^ These do not follow
A. L. A. and Library of Congress rules — the two are in
the main identical ; but are according to forms in use in
the catalogs of the contributing bureaus, perhaps started
before these rules were formulated. Cards contributed
by some of these libraries need to be corrected as to
heading before being filed in any catalog that conforms
to Library of Congress usage.
3. Serials ^^
The four series of Senate and House Documents and
Reports are not included in this section. Works which,
like the War of the Rebellion, Compilation of Official
Records, are projected to be completed in a definite
18 For Irst of department libraries supplying entries see Library of Con-
gress, Card Section, Handbook of card distribution. 1914. p. 5. The De-
partment of Agriculture library supplies the most notably variant headings
in government authors. The subiect headings suggested by some of the
others differ considerably from those used by the Library of Congress.
19 See Price List 36 of the Documents Office: Government Periodicals,
including only those sold by the office. It contains examples of all three
types.
Cataloging 217
limit of time and volumes, but which come out in parts
at intervals, are not serials as the term is used here.
Three types
To bring clearly before the mind's eye what are under
discussion here as government serials, they may be
thought of in three types. Any serial, however, may
have mixed characteristics of two or three types, and a
rigid sorting into classes is not intended.
Type I is in the ordinary magazine form, successive
issues having identical title, usually consecutive num-
bering and paging, and forming volumes at fixed inter-
vals. Examples are the IMonthly Weather Review, the
Experiment Station Record, the Journal of Agricultural
Research, the Congressional Record, the Commerce Re-
ports, and others. The contents of each issue are usu-
ally diversified.
In type 2 the successive issues have each an identi-
cal series title, as Bulletm, Circular, etc., and usually
consecutive numbering. But each is a separate, com-
plete, though usually small work, with its own author
(frequently a person, not a government body), and an in-
dividual title additional to the series title. It may or may
not be separately paged, made up into volumes, etc.
Examples are the Farmers' Bulletins, the Bulletins of
the Education Bureau, of the Agriculture Department,
etc. The Bulletin of the Pan American Union has the
title Bulletin, but the characteristics of type i.
Type 3 includes all the administrative reports and
their kin. The successive issues have uniform title and
scope of contents. Each is a distinct work, even if of
only two or three pages. They are issued at longer in-
tervals, a year usually, or even longer, with or without
consecutive numbering. The fiscal year of the United
States runs from July i of one year to June 30 of the
next, and almost all the annual reports are now stand-
ardized to cover it. Some of the Census Bureau re-
ports are quinquennial, or otherwise vary from annual.
2i8 Cataloging
The Official Register, now published by the Census Bu-
reau, is l)iennial.
The one essential in cataloging serials is to bring all
issues together under one main entry in the catalog,
and, of course, together on the shelves.-**
Main entry
The main entry for serials will usually be best made
under government author, certainly in the case of types
2 and 3. In the case of type i, to make main entry under
title, instead of the bureau which issues it, would seem
to work no harm, especially where, like the Commerce
Reports, the bureau has changed once or twice.
In type 2,-^ the Education Bureau Bulletin, for in-
stance, the entry which brings all issues together is a
series entry, of course under government author.
To use the very briefest title for a serial is always
advisable, thereby excluding the variations so likely to
be found in the latter or minor part of the titles in a
long file of issues. These variations may be stated in
a note, if desired. " Report," or " Annual report,"
20 An example among the cards supplied by the Library of Congress
which violates this rule, and which works badly in the catalog, is the entry
for the set of reports of the Department of Agriculture. It was made by
the library of the Department of Agriculture, and printed and distributed
by the Library of Congress. The continuous set is cataloged in two en-
tries, both under the heading, " U. S. Department of Agriculture." One
gives the title as " Report of the secretary of agriculture," and records all
from 1862 down through 1893. The second gives the title as " Annual
reports of the Department of Agriculture . . . Report of the secretary of
agriculture. Departmental reports," and records the remainder of the set,
from 1894 down. When filed alphabetically in the catalog, the two entries
are quite far apart, other titles coming in between them. The reader is in
danger of concluding that the one entry he happens to find shows all the
library has, overlooking the mention of the other reports that is made in
a note. Straight directions from one card to the other: — e.g., "For re-
ports prior to 1894, see U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Report of the secretary
of agriculture"; and "For reports of 1894 and following years see U. S.
Dept. of Agriculture. Annual reports of the Department of Agriculture " —
are lacking. And in such a case the public should never be left without
directions so prominent and so plain that they can not be overlooked or
misunderstood. It is true the title did change as these entries show, but
for practical purposes it would be better were the whole set under the later
title, with note of and reference from the earlier form.
21 See also p. 201 and p. 214.
Cataloging 219
" Bulletin," " Circular," are long enough titles in the
majority of cases. Although the Document Catalog
under " Smithsonian Institution " gives title in full as fol-
lows : '' Annual report of board of regents of Smith-
sonian Institution " ; yet the library that makes its own
catalog will gain nothing by using a title as full as this.
If title does not state frequency of publication (in
types I and 2), or period covered by contents (in type
3), a note should state it.
Four items
As has been before noted, there are four items in
cataloging serials which must be thought of, and, if the
publication has them, must be stated in the entry. --
These are : — ( i ) the volume number or issue number
or both; (2) the dates covered by the contents; (3) the
number of volumes; and (4) the first and last dates of
publication, (i) and (2) are part of the title, but may,
in the case of current and incomplete sets, for the sake
of clearness and convenience, be given separately in
tabulated form under the heading: "Library has."
(3) goes in the collation; (4), in the imprint. As to
(3), if ten volumes, say, have been bound in one, it will
read: "10 vols, in i." If any are unbound a pencil
note will state it. If a report is regularly or occa-
sionally more than one volume, (3) will give the total
number. The accession numbers will alone supply data
as to how many volumes each annual issue comprises.
The accession numbers may, in the case of serials, be
left off the catalog card, a reference to see the shelf
list for them being substituted.
" Library has " forms
(i) and (2) tabulated should be always on an added
card which may be cut down at the top to the depth of
the heading on the first, or main card, and which will be
tied to the main card. A sample entry follows.
22 See also p. 201.
220
Card 1 -3
Cataloging
173.4
Un3
U. S. Interstate Conciliation
Board.
Annual report.
and Arbitration
Wasiiington, D. C, 1916-20.
3v. 22 cm.
Report year ends June 30.
Card 2
Library has:
1st, 1915/16
4tli, 1918/19
5th, 1919/20
•
Catalog entry for incomplete file
When the file becomes complete by the library's ac-
quiring all that has been or is to be published, the " Li-
brary has " card is canceled, and the entry will then be
filled in to read as follows.
173.4 U. S. Interstate Conciilation and Arbitration
Un3 Board.
1st-5th annual report, 1915/16-1919/20.
Washington, D. C, 1916-20, 5v. 22 cm.
Report year ends June 30.
Catalog entry for completed file ; " Library has " card canceled
Current additions.
Adding to the " Library has " catalog record the vol-
umes of current serials in permanent form for the
shelves as they come along, entails an amount of labor
undreamed of by one without experience of it. To save
labor the " Library has " record should be attached to
the main entry only, and all other cards for the serial
will bear a note that will read : *' For statement of what
the library has see — main entry •"
23 Actual examples include details which present complications. So an
imaginary report is given here, supposed to have run five years, and then
to have stopped publication.
Cataloging 221
But economy can go beyond this, in cataloging cur-
rent serials, at least. If the file is unbroken from the
beginning, or from the first which the library has, the " Li-
brary has " record may be omitted even from the main en-
try. All entries will read alike: '' — — date."
1st no. ot hie
(It is well to write the word "date" in pencil.) Thus,
using the example before given, the entry for the set in
1 9 19, it being current in that year, will read thus, item
(3) dropping out.
173.4 U. S. Interstate Conciliation and Arbitration
Un3 Board.
1st — date annual report, 1915/16 — date.
Washington, D. C, 1916 — date. 22 cm.
Report year ends June 30.
Catalog entry for current serial, unbroken file
If this economy is adopted, there must be an unim-
peachable check record of receipt, and a " tickler " sys-
tem which ensures that any stoppage or change shall be
immediately reported by the check record clerk to the
catalog department, so that the catalog may not go on
recording a serial as current which has long since
changed title or gone out of existence. The data con-
cerning the bound volumes of serials which in this method
the catalog withholds will be provided by the shelf
list, where each must be carefully entered as the library's
sole record of them, and for purposes of inventory.
Of types I and 2, the minor serials, whose single
issues do not each make a volume, it has already been
said that the " Library has " statement will not include
anything except the parts that have been put in perma-
nent collected form.-* One exception, however, is noted
beyond. During the often long period in which the
material exists in uncollected shape, the check record of
receipt will be the only record in the library of these sep-
24 See p. ioo.
222 Cataloging
arate issues. As soon as the first issue of a bulletin or
circular series, or of a periodical which gives promise of
permanence, is received, a catalog entry will be made for
it, which will include government author, title, place of
publication, frequency, and call number. But instead of
a statement of what the library has, a note will read:
"See shelves (or periodical room). Also, for statement
of what the library has, see serial record at librarian's desk
(or elsewhere).'' The issues themselves can be kept
on the library shelves according to the call number, un-
less kept among the periodicals. As soon as collected
volumes of the serial come along so that the catalog
can give the " Library has " statement instead of the
entry just described, in case of types i and 2 there will be
added to the " Library has " or the " To date " entry a
note reading : " For later issues see serial record at li-
brarian's desk."
Bulletin series
The aforesaid method, as it involves keeping all issues
together in one place, may be challenged for type 2.
There is always the temptation to seize upon one bulle-
tin of extra size or especially timely subject, and classify
and catalog it separately; other issues, meanwhile, be-
ing cast away or thrown among the miscellaneous
pamphlets. It is a help to the reference work to keep
in its subject place on the shelves a single bulletin sup-
plying timely information. But as the successive issues
continue to come, in the end it will be found that it
makes for economy and order to keep all of each
bulletin together, and in numbered order, making into
volumes as enough come — rather than to scatter them,
or even to group and bind by subject. The key to using
them then will be the catalog entry, which may be made,
if thought best, of course for the series as a whole, but,
in addition, for only the more important of the separate
issues. This catalog entry can be depended on to take
the place of a subject classification for each individually.
Cataloging 223
Temporary withdrawal of any publication from the lo-
cation to which assigned by the classed system of the
library, substituting a dummy, and placing the work at
hand or in a special temporary collection for reference
use, can and should be done constantly and freely.
Small annuals
Exception to the exclusion from catalog entry of any-
thing not in permanent collected form will perhaps have
to be made in case of type (3), annual reports which,
like the report of the Assay Commission, of the Yosemite
National Park, etc., are of only a few pages each. To
wait ten years for a file of one of these to accumulate
sufficient to make a volume before the catalog records
them would be a reductio ad ahsurdiim of our rule, and
each should be cataloged as received, but may or may
not wait till bound to be accessioned.
Frequent editions
Quite a number of government publications, not real
serials, come out periodically or irregularly in new edi-
tions, in course of time accumulating to a goodly num-
ber. Examples are the Congressional Directory, two or
three editions to a session ; and the semi-annual manual
of civil service examinations. Instead of entering each
as a separate edition, to catalog as a serial' saves space
and labor, and gives a compact, clearer statement. Not
all such publications need to be in the check record.
Changes of title or of publishing body
A difficulty always in cataloging serials is change of
title ; and in the case of a government serial a change
of the bureau publishing it may also occur. The
Monthly Consular Reports, for instance, now superseded
by the Commerce Reports, since beginning publication
in 1880 have seen two slight changes in title and have
been issued successively from three bureaus. The Con-
tributions from the United States National Herbarium
224 Cataloging
began publication under the Botany Division of the
Agriculture Department ; but is now prepared by the
National Museum. It is good usage to enter under the
current or latest government author and title, unless, in
a non-current serial, another form not the latest has in-
disputable cjaim to preference. The Checklist will give
the facts — at least to 1909 — and references, to the en-
try chosen, from all variations of title and all successive
publishing ottices (or entries under them), with clear
notes, must be made. Care has to be taken sometimes
that a reference made shall connect with something
given in the entry to which it is made. For instance, if
reference is made from Xelson W. Aldrich to " U. S.
Congress. Senate. Finance Committee," -^ for his re-
port on wholesale prices, wages, and transportation, his
name must be included, in either title or note, as part of
the entry referred to.
4. Printed catalog cards: periodical indexes
The librarian has already been advised,-*' instead of
multiplying tables of contents and analytical work, to
make his catalog refer to an auxiliary light squadron of
printed lists and indexes kept conveniently at hand.
Xow, in addition, it is recommended that he use, so far
as he can afford them, the various issues of printed
catalog cards for United States publications and their
parts, which are on sale. From January. 1904, to De-
cember, 1905, the Documents Office sent free to deposi-
tories printed catalog cards for current publications,
which were duplicates of the entries in the Document
Catalog. But these are now discontinued. Among the
cards sold by the Library of Congress are entries for
all important current national publications and many
earlier ones, together with analytical entries for many
government serials.-' The Geological Survey, the Edu-
25 U. S. 5-d Congress, ;d session. Senate Report 1394; In v. 3. 3074.
-6 See p. 214.
27 See Librar>' of Congrress. Card Section, Bulletin 16-19 (in one), 1914'
List of series of publications for which cards are in stock.
Cataloging 225
cation Bureau, the Agriculture Department, and, it is
likely, other government bodies, have published on cards
complete catalogs, including analyticals, of all their pub-
lications, kept up to date. That of the Agriculture De-
partment is sent free to United States agricultural col-
leges. As has been said, its government author entries
are made on a different system from those of the Li-
brary of Congress.
Poole's Index and other indexes to periodicals and col-
lections include entries for separate issues or separate
articles of many government serials. Entries in the
catalog for such serials should bear the note, e.g., " In-
dexed in the A. L. A. Index " ; and sometimes the exact
years indexed must be specified.
Xot every consecutive series numbering seen on
United States government publications merits the dig-
nity of an entry in the catalog. " Treasury Depart-
ment Document " ; " War Department Document " :
" Education Bureau Bulletin whole number," are ex-
amples of some that serve a useful purpose in the rec-
ords of the publishing office, and may be included as part
of the title in cataloging the work. But as these sets of
numbers may include office blanks and memoranda, or
confidential publications, it is wise not to try to check up
the numbers with a view to getting a complete file, and
not to make a series entry for them in the catalog.
5. Library of Congress and Document Catalog
divergences
The Document Catalog, begun in 1895, some years
before the Library of Congress began its present cata-
log and the sale of its printed cards, catalogs United
States government publications exclusively. It there-
fore lacks the complications and problems that would
arise did it include publications not only of the na-
tional government, but also of state and foreign gov-
ernments, besides a vastly greater number not of gov-
ernment origin at all. The Library of Congress has the
226 Cataloging
requirements of all these to consult in devising its li-
brary system, including its cataloging rules. In the lat-
ter library, technicalities mvolving the relations of each
part to the whole of the work, of each entry to all the
others in the catalog, arise on every side. The Docu-
ment Catalog, on the other hand, is untrammeled by
considerations such as these, can be simple, can make
concessions to its special purpose and clientele, etc., im-
possible to the Library of Congress.
The divergence between these two catalogs which is
the most noticeable and affects the greatest number of
entries, and has been the most widely discussed, is the
inverted as against the direct form of names of gov-
ernment bodies. In common parlance, some of the gov-
ernment authors are always named with the distinctive
word first, as Post-Office Department, War Department,
Interstate Commerce Commission. Others place the
distinctive word after the non-distinctive word, e.g., de-
partment, bureau, commission ; and in some cases sev-
eral insignificant parts of speech intervene before the
distinctive word is arrived at. e.g., Department of the
Interior, Bureau of the Census. Commission to Investi-
gate the Title of the United States to Lands in the Dis-
trict of Columbia, etc. In catalog entries the correct
name of a government body must be sought, of course,
in the law creating it, just as the name of an incor-
porated body is in its act of incorporation, and of a non-
incorporated society is in its constitution. But the law
frequently gives no definite name, or speaks of the body
in two or three different wordings.-®
On this account the Documents Office thinks itself
justified in its practice of invariably, in its entry of each
government author, putting the distinctive word first,
as Education Bureau, instead of Bureau of Education.
This creates, its critics say, in many instances, an in-
verted form of the name, and one not authorized by the
statute creating the body. The Library of Congress
28 See statement of this by F. A. Crandall, Library Journal, 28: 69, 1903-
Cataloging 227
uses the direct form as the statute gives it, not changing,
to be sure, Post-Office Department, but using Bureau
of Education, Department of the Interior, etc.
This divergence, be it noted, is one of form only, not
of principle. Its only result is a rearrangement of
alphabetical sequence of one catalog as compared with
the other ; a highly practical result, it is true, as the only
key to unlocking the resources of the library through
the dictionary catalog is its alphabetical arrangement.
In an exhaustive discussion of inverted versus direct
form at an A. L. A. meeting,-" of a number of argu-
ments advanced, two seem to be decisive ones. Ad-
vocates of the inverted form urged the inestimably
great convenience to the reader to be able to find a gov-
ernment author by means of the one word in its title
that sticks in the memory, as Interior, Agriculture, Cen-
sus, etc. The Library of Congress urged per contra
that the names of government authors in foreign lan-
guages could not be inverted, and it would be of no
help to the reader if they were. The use of inverted
form in English only, and direct form for all in for-
eign languages, the Library of Congress was not will-
ing to accept.
The Library of Congress printed cards, therefore,
read thus : " U. S. Department of the Interior " ; " U.
S. Bureau of the Census." ^" If any library adopts this
direct form for its catalog and uses it without change,
there should be made in every instance a reference to it
from the inverted or Document Catalog form. The cards
of the Library of Congress bearing direct form headings
may have the distinctive word underlined and then they
may be alphabetized by it, producing inverted arrange-
29 See Proceedings of the Catalog Section of the American Library Asso-
ciation, Niagara Falls meeting, 1903, in Library Journal, 28: C:76-Ci89.
As the writer is reviewing her own decisions as compiler of the first two
Document Catalogs under Mr. Crandall, she can not be accused of being
biased against or unappreciative of the advantages of the inverted form of
name.
30 Notice that both examples of direct headings given, alphabet (after
" of ") under " the." while " Department of Agriculture " follows " of " by
the distinctive word.
228 Cataloging
ment. A guide card with note of explanation must pre-
cede. This has its risks of confusing readers, especially
in the sub-alphabeting under the subject according to the
underlined word of the government author.
Care must be taken that the same body be not allowed
to appear in two different places in the catalog, under the
direct form and again under the inverted form of name.
Another point of difference between these two cata-
logs is that the Document Catalog makes entry direct
under each body, no matter what its grade, extending
this to the two houses of Congress. The Library of
Congress, on the contrary, enters every body below the
grade of a bureau as a subhead of its higher body.
Thus we have : —
Document Catalog Library of Congress
U. S. Publications Division U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Pub-
( Commerce Dept.). lications Division.
U.S. Senate (Congress). U.S. Congress. Senate.
U. S. House of Representatives U. S. Congress. House.
(Congress).
U. S. Finance Committee (Sen- U. S. Congress. Senate. Com-
ate, Congress). mittee on Finance.
These are the noteworthy divergences as to govern-
ment authors. The subject headings of the Document
Catalog are being gradually brought into uniformity
with those used by the Library of Congress.
The very great difference between the Document
Catalog and the Library of Congress in their method of
making up the titles to Reports of committees of Con-
gress, has already been fully described.^^
It has already been explained ^- how it happens that on
the cards sold by the Library of Congress headings are
found that are contrary to that library's own rules; such
as follows : " U. S. Department of Agriculture. Bu-
reau of Plant Industry." It may be of interest to de-
31 See Legislative Publications: VI. Reports of Committees, p. 140; also
Library Practice: IV. Cataloging: i, pp. 207, 209.
32 See Library Practice: IV. Cataloging: 2, p. 216.
Cataloging 229
scribe here the most numerous of these divergent head-
ings — those m.ade up in the hbrary of the Agricuhure
Department, and used in that hbrary's own card catalog.
The Agriculture Department library rule is to make ev-
ery government body below the highest grade a sub-
head under the higher body or bodies to which it is at-
tached. It uses the direct form of name. Anything of
division or section grade would be entered like the fol-
lowing example : " U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Weather Bureau. Library."
V
Pamphlets
There will be among the material received by deposi-
tory libraries many pieces not linked with others by a
series title, and not even issued periodically in revised
editions ; but single, detached publications, paper bound,
and on some minor or very specific topic. These are
the pamphlets. Examples are the publications of the
Interior Department descriptive of various national
parks ; of the Indian Affairs Office outlining work for
the Indian schools ; ^^ occasional " separates " that one
may want to keep, etc. Not every paper bound publica-
tion is a pamphlet. When such a publication is important
enough to catalog and classify it should be regarded and
treated as an unbound book. The following is a defi-
nition of a pamphlet which will serve the purpose here.
A pamphlet is a small separate publication, usually (but
not necessarily) paper bound, which — partly because
small and in paper covers, but still more because its sub-
ject matter is ephemeral, minor, or on minutiae — it
is not deemed advisable or necessary to make pass
through all the processes given to a book. Thus the
border line between book and pamphlet is seen to be as
imaginary as the equator. And a referendum vote of
readers insistently calling for something originally rele-
gated to this lower class occasionally brings a quasi
pamphlet up into the treatment of the book class ; while
if the recall could be used over many a so-called book,
much dead timber on which labor has been wasted
might be dumped back among the pamphlets.
A good system with pamphlets is the following.^*
33 See Checklist, p. 497-498.
34 These directions are largely copied, with slight variations drawn from
the writer's own experience, from a very practical article by Zaidee Brown
230
Pamphlets 231
Classify each as it comes, writing the class number on
its upper left corner. Then put in manila envelop or
pamphlet box, also marked with the class number, and
file on the shelves after the books of that class. The
box or envelop for economy may have on it several con-
secutive class numbers to hold a bunch of pamphlets,
even if their classes differ slightly. To be useful the
classification should be close ; a pamphlet on a special
breed of the domestic hen should be numbered, e.g., by
the Decimal classification, not 630, nor 636, but 636.5,
the proper subdivision. Number each consecutive
pamphlet of a class as it comes, i, 2, 3, etc., and write
636.5
this on it under the class number, e.^r., , ^^
' ^ ' Pam. I
On the outside of the box or envelop write a numbered
list of the pamphlets within, giving author, brief title,
and date of each. Subject entry or entries will be
made in the catalog, the card reading something like this :
639 Poultry.
See also on shelves the parrvphlets on poultry, at
the end of the books on the subject.
These subject entries made for the pamphlets will be
traced inconspicuously on each envelop or box. The
card will be filed at the end of the entries on the sub-
ject. On the shelf list also there will be, at the end of
the books of the class, the entry, e.g.. Pamphlets i-io.
When enough pamphlets on a subject have accumu-
lated to bind, this should be done, and each can then be
cataloged, or the same method of referring to them,
under subject only, be continued. But in the mean-
time, some pamphlets will have been superseded by
fuller information in book form or will have become
obsolete. To discard such will be easy, no separate rec-
ord for any one having been made except that on the
box or envelop.
in Library Journal, 32:358-360, Aug., 1907, which the reader is recom-
mended to read.
yi
Maps
A map separately published should be treated like a
book.^^ It may be classified according to its locality, or
in a class designating a collection of maps, number 912
in the Decimal classification.
The Library of Congress, according to whose printed
model cards library cataloging is becoming standard-
ized all over the United States, has as yet issued no cards
for maps. The rules it follows have, however, been
published.^" The quotations are from this guide.
" The cataloging of maps and atlases differs very little
from the cataloging of ordinary books." Briefly, the
catalog entry of a map dift'ers from that of a book in
two points: — (i) the scale must be added; and (2) the
actual measurement, in two dimensions, must be given,
from top to bottom always first. " The general items
contained on these [catalog] cards are, for sheet maps,
(a) author, with full name, (b) title of map, (c) scale,
(d) edition, (e) measurement in inches within the bor-
ders of the map from top to bottom and from side to
side (the top of the map is determined by placing the
map in proper position to read the title as printed), (f)
35 Documents Office, Price list 53: Maps, is a very complete and full
bibliography of everything the United States is doing or has done in the
line of map publishing. It is recommended that libraries, even small libra-
ries, get and use the following: — the large wall map of the United States
published by the General Land Office (ask from your senator or representa-
tive); the topographic sheets for your state or your section published by
the Geological Survey (ask from the Survey) ; and the postal rural delivery
map of your county (ask from Third Assistant Postmaster General, Finance
Division, Post-Office Department).
36 U. S. Library of Congress. Notes on the cataloging, care, and classi-
fication of maps and atlases ... by P. Lee Phillips. 1915- 20 P- lar.
i6mo. See also Library Journal, 25: 15-16, Jan., 1900. Also U. S. Library
of Congress. Report . , year ending June 30, 1901, pt. II (Manual . . .),
p. 263-266, 344-350.
232
Maps 233
place of publication, (g) publisher, (h) date of publi-
cation," Note that " within the borders " means exclu-
sive of margin. The author of a government map will
be the publishing office.^'
If there is any text printed on margin, back, or else-
where, this must be properly described in a note. If a
map is in more than one sheet or section, it is still one
map, but the fact should be stated in a note; the same
if backed, or on rollers, or folded into covers or a port-
folio. In the last case, the dimensions of both map and
covers should be given: e.g., 35x25 cm. folded into
covers 15 x 10 cm. Maps inset on larger maps should
be mentioned in a note and receive any separate entry,
subject or other, that they may be deemed worth.
A necessary equipment to be provided in building a
library which it seems to the writer is not so generally
emphasized and provided as it should be, is map draw-
ers built in, or a map room. Failing this, as a make-
shift maps may be kept inside pasteboard rolls such as
are used for mailing certificates, broadsides, or paper
sheets of any kind. Some other ways of disposing of
maps are the following : — they may be laid in drawers
or on shelves ; put in large manila envelops specially
made ; bound after mounting on guards ; backed and
attached to rollers for hanging; or framed under glass
in wall cases or wing frames for exhibit. If too large,
maps may be cut into sections, but they should always
lie flat or be rolled, never be folded, as they will wear
out and the text become obliterated in the folds. As
they are liable to be scattered in the library, wherever
a place can be found for them, it is well to state location
on the shelf list in a pencil note.
An oversize atlas accompanying a work will have to
be shelved apart from it. Accession and call number
should be plainly marked on it. and its location pen-
37 The man who makes the survey for and draws the map is really the
author, but, as is explained in General: Why Bewildering: topic 3, the
author in government publications merges his identity in the government
body whose work he is carrying on.
234 M^ps
ciled on the shelf Hst and, if desired, on the catalog
card. Of a set of loose maps or plates of any kind ac-
companying a work each should be stamped with the
library stamp, the accession number put on the con-
tainer, and the call number written on each map, also
the title of the work, if it is not printed on it. Then
none can be lost. These items should be put near the
title on the map, so that one may quickly find them, and
not have to search all over a big map surface to make
sure no memorandum recorded there is lost.
VII
Classification
If, as is the principle of this work, a government pub-
lication is not to be discriminated against because of its
origin, but is to be given equal chance with any other
kind of literature for making itself known and for
demonstrating either its capacity for usefulness, or the
lack of it — then each must be classified according to
the system used for other books. If this is carried out,
the four series of House and Senate, with the Congres-
sional Record, will find their place in that section of the
classification reserved for the " Proceedings of legisla-
tive bodies " {i28.y^ according to the Decimal system).^^
Laws will be classed with other laws ; treaties with in-
ternational law ; Presidents' messages, like those of
governors and mayors, in the class number for adminis-
tration, national, state, or municipal, as fits the case.
Hearings of committees, reports of special committees or
commissions, and any other publications emanating from
Congress, but which have escaped being clamped down
by note and numbering of the Congressional series, will
be put where their subject entitles them to be placed.
The reports, bulletins, and miscellaneous works of each
executive or judicial body will find each its subject
place. So that a work on cooking will be classed in
that branch of domestic science, regardless of whether
it comes from the Quartermaster General of the Army,
or from the Indian Aft'airs Office for the use of Indian
schools.
38 If the Congressional set were to be reconstituted on the basis of the
early days before attempts at reform, and were to be made up and sent
out with the intent of its being a systematically inclusive and complete col-
lected edition of all important national publications from every branch of
the government, a better class number according to the Decimal system
would be, It seems to the writer, 353. or 353o8.
235
236 Classification
Classing of the Congressional set in the class, " Pro-
ceedings of legislative bodies," does not, be it noted, pre-
clude the removal of this bulky set from among the
other works of that class and their place in the main
used part of the library to less used shelves on a higher
or lower floor, leaving a shelf dummy to tell the tale.
This can always be done with any little used group out
of a class, like an accumulation of old school and college
catalogs from class Education, etc.
The foregoing recommendations for subject placing
are from the standpoint of the supply, as at present, to
depository libraries of the majority of the department
publications in plain title edition. Subject classifica-
tion has already been discussed at considerable length ; ^'•'
and the reader is asked to read the discussion again in
this connection. But because of its practical impor-
tance, attention may again be called to the fact that even
now many works are still being sent to libraries as
House or Senate Documents that are needed on the li-
brary shelves among the other works of like subject.
And recommendation is again made not to let the fact
that a work is a House or Senate Document have the
slightest weight against its being placed on the library
shelves wherever it will be most used. This advice is
specially commended to non-depository libraries. An,
increasing number of large libraries w^ith trained man-
agement is in practice ignoring the House or Senate Doc-
uments series note and ntfmber in the treatment of gov-
ernment publications, and treating each work on its
merits like a non-government printed work. They re-
gard as a fetish the effort to keep the four series of
Congress intact, and make inroads upon the complete-
ness of the set continually and with no compunctions.
The other extreme — that of rigidly keeping together
everything to which a serial number has been assigned
— , as explained in the previous discussion, puts a heavy
handicap on the use of the works. The serial numbers
39 See Why Bewildering: topic 6, p. 8:1-83.
Classification 237
will show gaps where certain publications not sent to
libraries should be. The arrangement will reflect every
inconsistency and change in the laws which, as we have
seen, put a serial number on the issues of a continued
work during certain years and withdraw it other years.
Should the efforts succeed that are now being made, to
check waste by refusing to libraries duplicates wanted
only to keep the rows of serially numbered vol-
umes unbroken, these libraries may in the end find them-
selves obliged, when a second copy is wanted, to show
that the applicant knows what the work is and to prove
that the use justifies giving a second copy. A policy
directed toward bringing about such management of the
public printing as will secure printing just the number of
extra copies needed for those that need them, is better
than the fostering of wasteful duplication methods that
produce duplicates of twenty works not used or wanted
to one that is: Taking the stand : get everything lest
you lack something — leads to abuses that are likely to
defeat the purpose sought. And arranging by the se-
rial numbers will ultimately break down, as better pub-
lishing methods are applied to the national publications.
The Checklist classification
Another alternative, besides placing according to se-
rial number or placing according to the subject of the
work, is the classifying according to the system used
in the library of the Documents Office. This is given
in the Checklist, and in the invoices sent with the publi-
cations to the depository libraries.
The usefulness of the Checklist classification for the
Documents library, which is composed of United States
government publications exclusively, and used only by
the office staff, is indisputable. Indeed, the whole
work of the office is now organized upon this classifica-
tion. It was originated by Miss A. R. Hasse first for the
publications of the Department of Agriculture, and has
been expanded by the experts of the Documents Office so
238 Classification
that now it provides a place for every publication of
the United States government, a number being assigned
to each new publication as it comes out. It is not a
classification by subject. Its arrangement is that of the
United States government itself. If a change occurs
in the organization of the government, a break follows
necessarily on the shelves ; a new subdivision comes into
the system, and sometimes a contmuous series must be
broken ofi at one place on the shelves and transferred to
another location. A file of bulletins or reports is split
up into sections by the system, and put in as many sepa-
rate places on the shelves as the number of times the
body publishing it has changed. By the Documents Of-
fice classification the set of Consular Reports is broken
up into three sections in three places.**" The Labor re-
ports, annual and special, are m three parts in three dif-
ferent places.*^ When, in 1903, the newly created De-
partment of Commerce and Labor took over the Census
Bureau, the Light-House Board,"*- the Steamboat-Inspec-
tion Service, the Navigation Bureau, the Coast and Geo-
detic Survey, the Labor Bureau,"*^ the Immigration and
Naturalization Bureau.** and others, the set of reports of
each of these bureaus in its old place on the shelves was
broken ofif short with 1902. For 1903 and all later re-
ports one must go to another place quite far removed.
W^ith the establishment in 19 13 of the Labor Department
separate from the Commerce Department there were fur-
ther dislocations. As time goes on the breaks multiply.
The classification tables were started with an alphabetical
arrangement of departments and of bureaus under them ;
but as new bureaus come into existence the plan fails
to provide for their insertion in alphabetical order. Not
very long hence, especially if the multiplication of war
bureaus continues at the present rate, the order of gov-
40 S4.7; C14.8; C10.6.
41 Lai.i; C8.1; Li.i.
42 Became in 1910 the Lighthouses Bureau.
43 Became in 1913 the Labor Statistics Bureau.
44 Sejiarated in 1913 and became two, the Immigration Bureau and the
Naturalization Bureau.
Classification 239
ernment bodies will be much more difficult to follow than
at present.
Among the publications of the Department of Agri-
culture on forestry some are from the secretary's office,
Others from the Forest Service ; and material on the
subject may l)e published l)y other bodies, as the Plant
Industry Bureau or the Geological Survey. But this clas-
sification can not bring them together. This lack of
subject grouping and dislocation of continued files do
not trouble the staff of the Documents Office. They
have their attention claimed by no other subject than
the national publications, and can know their collection
from A to Z.
It is a huge saving in time and brain work for a
depository library to simply copy upon the national publi-
cations as they come to it the class numl^ers of the Docu-
ments Office library as given in the Checklist and the
document invoices. It creates within the library a sepa-
rate group or special collection of the national publica-
tions, which duplicates, so far as it goes, the Documents
library in Washington. Looking at this fact by itself,
there come into question the effects upon the everyday
working of a library which is arranged by subject groups,
of thus harboring another and very large group which
contains material supplementing nearly every one of the
library's subject groups, and not even in parallel sub-
ject arrangement with that other material. It is an
axiom among librarians that if a gift be proffered of a
collection of books on miscellaneous subjects, upon con-
dition that the collection be kept by itself, that it be not
scattered so that each work is put with those on the same
subject already in the library — then the rejection of the
gift is justifiable.
That the Checklist classification does not bring subject
material together in one place, e.xcept roughly as a bureau
specializes in its publications in a prescribed field, is a
defect in it for general library use.
The breaking oft' and separation of serial sets into
240 Classification
sections would, as it seems, cause uncertainty in which
section the issue for a certain year would be found. If,
for economy of labor or temporarily only, the Checklist
classification is used, it will be found fully worth the
trouble to transfer the full set to the latest class number,
leaving the earlier class numbers unused, thereby keep-
ing the file all together.
Finally, this classification segregates the publications
of the United States government in an arrangement and
with a marking exclusively their own. But it gives no
analogy by which those of state governments or foreign
governments may be treated. Shall the publications of
each state and each foreign government make each a
separate group too?
PART V
Bibliography
General Bibliography ^
Popular articles
Spofford, A. R. Government as a great publisher. Forum, 19:
338, 1895.
Fine presentation of the printing activities of the federal govern-
ment. Especially good description of early exploration publications.
Rossiter, W. S. Problem of the federal printing. Atlantic, 96 :
33^-334, Sept., 1905.
On cost and progressively rising expenditure.
What shall we do with public documents. Atlantic, 97 : 56a-
565, April, 1906.
On distribution methods. Abstract in Lib. Jour., 31: 188.
Earle, M. T. A disinterested publisher. Lamp, 38 (series 2, v.
28) : 461-466, July, 1904.
Describes valuable material contained in government publications
which the catalogs of libraries do not set forth. Summarized in Li-
brary Journal, 29: 394.
Whelpley, J. D. The nation's print shop and its methods. Rev.
of Revs., 28: 556-563, 1903.
Archives
Van Tyne, C. H., and W. G. Leland. Guide to the archives of
the government of the United States in Washington. 2d
ed. 1907. (Carnegie Institution. Publication 14.)
Does not deal with material in print and so not helpfui here. In
connection with description of archives of each government body gives
sketch of its duties and work.
Hasse, A. R. The nation's records. Forum, 25 : 598-602, 1898.
Comparison of treatment of archives in U. S. and foreign countries.
Not helpful as to material in print.
Aids as to publishing bodies
U. S. Documents Office. Author headings for United States pub-
1 It is understood that place of publication is Washington, usually at the
Government Printing Office, and size is octavo, unless otherwise stated.
The variety of size notation in this bibliography could not be avoided with
the conditions under which the work was done.
The scope of this work does not admit of including bibliographies on mis-
cellaneous subjects contained in the United States government publications,
though this is a fertile field that would yield a rich harvest and is calling
for a husbandman.
243
244 General Bibliography
lie documents [as used in the official catalogues of the
superintendent of documents]. 1903. 21 leaves. (Bulle-
tin 4-)
Same. 2d ed. July i, 1907. 1907. iii p. 32 leaves.
(Bulletin 9.)
Same. 3d ed. Mar. 4, 1915. 1915. ii p. 2;^ leaves.
(Bulletin 18.)
Each edition gives bodies in existence during period covered; but
only those which have published something during the time.
Census Bureau. Official register. 4°,
Biennial. Sometimes called the Blue Book. Now one volume.
Contents and table of departments mainly useful. Use latest issue.
Congress. Official Congressional directory.
Two or three editions a session. Use latest issue.
Everhart, E. Handbook of United States public documents.
Minneapolis. Wilson, 1910. 5 leaves, 320 p.
Gives useful material, but now not up to present date. Reviewed
by Wyer, Lib. Jour., 35: 221.
Note. — The four foregoing and two following are sources of in-
formation on the organization of the United States government into
departments, bureaus, etc. The first three give no publications. The
fourth describes publications, but not so thoroughly and exactly as the
Checklist. The second and third give personnel. The third and
fourth give duties and scope of each body. A preliminary consultation
of these may help to find a body and its publications in the Checklist.
Haskin, F. J. American government. Phil. Lippincott, 1912.
xvii, 398 p. illus.
Townsend, Malcolm. Handbook of United States political his-
tory. Boston, Lothrop, C1910. p. 133-148.
U. S. Congress. Senate. Senate manual, containing standing
rules and orders of the Senate . . . Jefiferson's Manual, etc.
Both plain title and Senate Document editions. Reprinted nearly
every Congress or session. Use late issue.
House of Representatives. Constitution, Jefferson's
Manual, and rules of the House of Representatives.
Always a House Document and sometimes a plain title edition.
Usually reprinted each session. Use late issue. Both the foregoing
are of frequent help in using the United States government publica-
tions, especially those of Congress.
Aids as to the publications
Wyer, J. I. United States government documents. Albany, 1906.
78 p. (N. Y. State Library. Bulletin 102; Library School
21.)
Covers the subject ably and completely for that date. Reviewed
in Lib. Jour., 31 : 233.
— ^ United States government documents in small libraries. 4th
General Bibliography 245
ed. rev. Chicago, 1914. 31 p. igK; cm. (A. L. A. Pub-
lishing Board. Library handbook 7.)
Gives selected list.
Hasse, A. R. United States government publications, pt. 1-2.
Boston, 1902-3.
No more published. Reviewed in Lib. Jour., 27:340.
Reeder, C. W. Government documents in small libraries.
Springfield, O., 1910. 9 p.
Reprinted from report of Ohio Board of Library Commissioners for
year ending Nov. 15, 1909. Gives list of 20 serial publications.
Wroth, L. C. A description of federal public documents. White
Plains, N. Y., Wilson, 1915. 22 p. ig'/i cm.
Government Printing Office
Kerr, R. W^ History of the Government Printing Office at
Washington, D. C., with brief record of the public printing,
1789-1881. Lancaster, Pa., 1881. 196 p.
Contains list of the most valuable publications.
Pan American Union. Monthly bulletin, Nov., 1910, p. 737-755,
illus. Where the Bulletin is printed.
Description of the Government Printing Office.
Post, W. L. Address before Association of American Agricul-
tural Colleges and Experiment Stations on work of Office
of Superintendent of Documents. (In Experiment Sta-
tions Office. Bulletin 212, July 10, 1909, p. 32-35.)
Also in Monthly Catalog, Nov., 1908, p. 177.
Depository libraries
Note. — See also, beyond, Bibliography: IIL Laws: Depositories.
U. S. Documents Office. Relation of the Office of the Superin-
tendent of Documents to the organized libraries of the
United States. 1907. 12 p. (Bulletin 8.)
Official list of depository libraries. Corrected to Jan. i,
1909. 1909. 504 p. p. 3-6, history, legislation, etc. ; p.
7-564, list of depositories. (Bulletin 12.)
Depository libraries. [July 15, 1913.] 4 p. (Circular
22, 2d rev. ed. )
About the same information as in Bulletin 12, but no list of libraries.
Documents due depositories. [1907.] 39 p. [Cover
title is. Public documents supplied to designated depository
libraries, 1907.] (Bulletin 7.)
Ptiblic printing to iQOj
Ames, J. G., A. R. Spofford, and S. F. Baird. Report regarding
the publication and distribution of public documents.
1882. 66 p. (H. Mis. Doc. 12, 47th Cong., 2d sess. In v.
i; 2115.)
246 General Bibliography
Includes table showing as to each publication of the 46th Congress
and 47th Congress, ist session, the number printed, cost, quota for
each member, and remainder; also compilation of laws in detail lor
each government publication; also proposed bill and resolutions for
the printing and distribution of public documents.
U. S. State Department. Communication relative to the estab-
lishment of an international bureau of exchanges [ot gov-
ernment publications]. Apr. 14, 1882. 113 p. (H. Ex.
Doc. 172, 47th Cong., I St sess. In v. 22; 2030.)
p. S-SP. report of Smithsonian Institution on its work in interna-
tional exchanges of scientific and literary productions since iS^io; p.
60-113. List of official publications issued by Congress and the re-
spective executive departments from 1867-1881.
Documents Division (Interior Dept."). Report regarding the
receipt, distribution, and sale of public documents on behalf
of the government by the Department of the Interior, 1878,
1883-1907-
For full description see Checklist: 459. This division, of which
Dr. John G. Ames was for many years head with title of super-
intendent of documents, was the distributing agency before the es-
tablishment of the Documents Office in 1S95, It then limited itself
to publications of the Interior Department, and Dr. Ames became
" clerk in charge of documents." This office was finally abolished
by the secretary of the Interior, July i, 1907.
— — Congress. Senate. Printing Committee. Report favoring
S.1549, providing for the public printing and binding and
distribution of public documents. Jan. 13, 1892. 483 p.
(S. Report 18, 52d Cong., ist sess. In v. i; 2911.)
By Senator Manderson. Of all the Reports, bills, debates, etc., in
which were voiced the long agitation and discussion whose final suc-
cessful outcome was the printing law of Jan. 12, 1895, this specimen
only is given.
Contents. — p. 5-8. Epitomized history of the public printing. —
p. 9-258. Hearings. — p. 259-384. Answers of departments to ques-
tions. — p. 385-404. List of public documents of 48th-5ist Congresses.
— p. 405-427. Number of copies, cost, and distribution of Congres-
sional Record, 47th-5ist Congresses. Suggestions. — p. 428-463. Let-
ter of commissioner of patents about his printing. Text of bill
annotated. — p. 464-483. Statement of superintendent of Senate fold-
ing room.
Documents Division (Interior Dept"). Special report rela-
tive to public documents ; by John G. Ames. 1894. 19 p.
Same. (In Interior Department. Annual report, 1894,
V. 3)
Complete, clear and vigorous statement of then existing condi-
tions and plea for needed reforms. Reviewed in Lib. Jour. 20:
26-27, 1895-
Government Printing Oflfice. Annual report, 1862-date.
Also a Congressional Document edition. Includes report of super-
intendent of documents.
General Bibliography 247
Documents Office. Annual report, 1895-date.
Separate edition, except 1897.
Lists
Note. — See also, beyond. Bibliography: General: Publishing bodies'
lists of their own publications.
Ford, P. L. Some materials for a bibliography of the official
publications of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789.
Brooklyn. 1888. 57 p.
Reprinted from the Bulletin of the Boston Public Library.
Friedenwald, Herbert. Journals and papers of the Continental
Congress. (In American Historical Association. Annual
report, 1896. v. i, p. 83-135.)
An exhaustive bibliography.
Greely, A. W. Public documents of the early Congresses. (In
American Historical Association. Annual report, 1896, v.
I. p. 1 109-1248.)
Essay with bibliographical lists appended, including list of indexes
of public documents.
Same, separate. 1897.
Public documents of the first fourteen Congresses, 1789-1817;
papers relating to early Congressional documents. 1900.
903 p. (S. Doc. 428, 56th Cong., 1st sess. In v. 37; 3879.)
Public documents of the first fourteen Congresses. (In
American Historical Association. Annual report, 1903-
V. I, p. 343-406.)
Supplements the preceding list.
Hickcox, J. H. United States government publications ; a
monthly catalog, 1885-1894. 1885-1894. 10 v.
Privately published. Stopped when Documents Office opened in
July. 1895, where Mr. Hickcox was the first chief of cataloging. See
Checklist, p. x-xi.
U. S. Documents Office. Checklist of United States public docu-
ments, 1789-1909. Congressional: to close of 6oth Con-
gress. Departmental : to end of calendar year 1909. 3d
ed. V. I, Lists. 1911. xxi, 1707 p.
Quote: " Checklist, 3d ed." Reviewed by Wyer in Lib. Jour.,
37: 630. hor earlier editions see Checklist, p. 415, 421-424, 460.
American catalogue. 1876 '84-1890 95. N. Y. 3 v. 4°.
At end of each volume are lists of United States publications, ar-
ranged by departments, compiled by R. R. Bowker. Lists cover Jan.
I, 1881-June 20, 1895. Checklist and other later catalogs supersede
these, but these are useful if others are wanting.
N. Y. State Library. Selection of cataloguers' reference books.
Albany, 1903. (Bibliography bulletin 36,) p. 290-296:
Documents ; United States.
Selected list.
248 General Bibliography
Kroeger, A. B. Guide to the study and use of reference books.
3d edition revised throughout and much enlarged by I. G.
Mudge. Chicago, American Library Association Publish-
ing Board, 1917.
The second edition (1908) of this valuable and authoritative work
has been continued by annual supplements in the Library Journal,
also two separately published cumulations of these, covering re-
spectively 1909-1910 and 1911-1913. Each, as well as the complete
work, contains a section giving a selected list of United States
government documents. Many other United States government
publications also are included in other sections devoted to the
special subject of the publication.
U. S. Documents Oflfice. Tables of public documents printed an-
nually or at regular intervals as provided by law, showing
extra and usual number printed and distribution of the
same. 1901. 12 p. (Bulletin 3.)
Index and review, all about government publications, v. 1-2,
Mar., 1901-Apr., 1903. Wash, iqoi-1903.
Private publication. No more publisheil.
U. S. Congress. Senate. Finding list to important serial docu-
ments published by the government in the library of the
United States Senate ; prepared by James M. Baker. 1901.
281 p. CS. Doc. 27,8. 56th Cong., 2d sess. In v. 15; 4043.)
A list of this kind was originally prepared by T. G. Ames, and
published in 1892. This is given because accessible in the Congres-
sional set, though superseded by the next following entry.
Catalogue of the library of the United States Sen-
ate. 1908. 600 p. il. p. 157-373: Finding list..
No Document edition. The catalog portion of this work is made
as the average intelligent person without training does it.
Catalogs and indexes
Note. — See, for early indexes to the Congressional set, Checklist:—
Yi.2:In2; Y4.Ac2.M19; and for comment, same, p. viii-x. See also
entries for these, with notes, in Wyer, United States Government
Documents. 1906, p. 60-61. No entry is made of these here.
See also, beyond. Bibliography: General: Publishing bodies' indexes
to their own publications.
Ordway, Albert. General index of the Journals of Congress
from the ist to the i6th Congress inclusive, being a synop-
tical subject-index of the proceedings of Congress on all
public business from 1789 to 1821, with references to the
debates, documents and statutes connected therewith,
1880-1883. '2 V. 4°. (H. Report 1776, 46th Cong., 2d
sess. In V. 6; 1939; and H. Report 1559, 47th Cong., 1st
sess. In V. 7; 2071.)
Noted in Lib. Jour., 5: 87. Valuable; includes only public business.
General personal index of the Journals of Congress from the
1st to the i6th Congress inclusive, being an index of the
General Bibliography 249
personal record of members of Congress from 1789 to 1821,
1885-18S7. 2 V. 4°. (H. Report 2692, 48th Cong., 2d
sess. In V. 4; 2331 ; and H. Report 3475, 49th Cong., ist
sess. In V. 12; 2446.)
" Only fairly satisfactory, and far from complete."
Church, A. \V., and H. H. Smith. Tables showing the contents
of the several volumes comprising the Annals of Congress,
Congressional Debates, Congressional Globe, Congressional
Record, Statutes-at-Large, United States Supreme Court
Reports and succession of the Supreme Court justices, ar-
ranged by years and Congresses. 1892. 29 p.
Documents Office Price List 49 duplicates this for the first four pub-
lications, bringing the tables down to date
Poore, B. P. Descriptive catalogue of the government publica-
tions of the United States. Sept. 5. 1774-Mar. 4, 1881.
1885. 1392 p. 4°. (S. Mis. Doc. (i-j, 48th Cong., 2d sess.
In v. 4; 2268.)
Quote: " I'oore." Also a plain title edition. Reviewed by Bowker
in Lib. Jour., 11:4-.=;. See for description of this and following cata-
logs Checklist: x-xi; also Wyer, United States Government Docu-
ments, p 62.
Ames, J. G. Comprehensive index to the publications of the
United States Government, 1881-1893. 1905. 2 v. 4°. (H.
Doc. 754, 58th Cong., 2d sess. In v. 1 19-120; 4745-4746.)
Also a plain title edition. Quote: "Ames, 2 v. edition." Super-
sedes an earlier edition in one volume, published in 1894, and covering
only 1889-1893.
U. S. Documents Office. Tables of and annotated inde.x to the
Congressional series of United States public documents
[i5th-S2d Congress]. 1902. 769 p. 4°.
Quote: "Tables and Index." Not in the Congressional Documents.
Reviewed by Ilasse, in Lib. Jour., 27: 291-293.
Catalogue of the public documents of the 53d [-62d
Congress], and of all departments of the government.
Mar. 4, 1893 [-June 30. 1913]. No. i [-11]. 1896 [-1916].
4".
Quote: "Document Catalog." Both plain title and Congressional
Document editions, v. 1-3, a volume each session; v. 4-date, a volume
each Congress.
Monthly catalogue, United States public documents,
No. I [-269] ; Jan.. 1895 [-May, 1917] ; 54th Congress
[-65th Congress, ist sess.].
Quote: " Monthly Catalog."
- Index to the Reports and Documents of the 54th Con-
gress, 1st session [-63d Congress. 3d session] ; Dec. 2, 1895
[-Mar. 4, igiSl- ^'o. i \-22\. 1895 [-1915]-
Quote: " Document Index." Schedule of volumes at end is usually
issued ahead of appearance of index.
250 General Bibliography
Price lists. 1898-datc. 8" and narrow i2mo.
I'ree to everybody. Lists showing wliere material can be found in
United States government publications have been issued to date on
68 subjects, and new editions with latest material are constantly being
printed.
Willoiighby, W. F. Statistical publications of the United States
government. (In Amer. Acad, of Polit. and Soc. Science.
Annals, v. 2, 1891-1892, p. 92-104.)
Critical and excellent for that date, though not entirely compre-
hensive.
Lane, L. P. Aids in the use of United States government publi-
cations. (In Amer. Statistical Assoc. Publications 7:40-
S7: Alar.-June, 1900.
Gives list of indexes. Reviewed in Lib. Jour., 25: 598.
Falkner, R. P. List of bibliographies published in official docu-
ments of the United States, May, igo2. to Apr., 1903, in-
clusive. (In Lib. Jour., 28:775-776, 1003.)
Part of his report as chairman of the documents committee of the
A. L. A.
Hasse, A. R. List of bibliographies contained in United States
public documents, June, 1903-May, 1904. (In Lib. Jour.,
30:287-288, May, 1905.)
Part of her report as chairman of the documents committee of the
A. L. A.
U. S. Education Bureau. Teaching material in government pub-
lications. 1913. 61 p. (Bulletin, 1913, no. 47.)
Valuable aid to finding reference material.
Government bodies described by themselves
Note. — The small publications that some bodies have occasionally
published, descriptive each of its own functions, acomplishments, and
projects, are the best possible source of information about them. The
list of such works given below makes no attempt at completeness, even
for the present moment. It is given more as a line of samples of
what is being put out, aided by which one may keep daily outlook
for such publications as they come out.
U. S. Chemistry Bureau. Organization of the Chemistry Bureau
[with list of publications of bureau] ; rev. to July I,
1909. Oct. II, 1909. 29 p. (Circular 14.)
Exhibit of the bureau at the Pan-American exposition,
Bufifalo, N. Y., 1901. 1901. 29 p. 4 pi. (Bulletin 63.)
Children's Bureau. Children's Bureau, establishment [etc.].
1912. 5 p. (Bureau publication i.)
Coast and Geodetic Survey. Work of the survey. 2d ed.
1909. 47 p. 6 pi. map.
Printed for distribution at the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition,
Seattle, Wash., 1909.
General Bibliography 251
Commerce Department.
Printing and Publications Division (Commerce Dept.).
Condensed history, duties, and practical operation of
the Department of Commerce, and its several bureaus
and offices, writh laws relating specifically thereto ; July
• I, 1913. 1913. 211 p.
Fisheries Bureau. United States Bureau of Fisheries, its
establishment, functions, organization, resources, oper-
ations, and achievements. 1908. 80 p. il. i pi. large
8°. ([Bureau of Fisheries doc. 641.])
Printed for distribution at the International Fisheries Congress,
WashiHErton, I). C, 1908.
Interior Department. General information regarding the
Department of the Interior, Dec, 1916. 1917. 24 p.
Library of Congress. Library of Congress and its work.
[Rev. ed.] 1907. 21 p. 16°.
Prepared for distribution at the Lewis and Clark Exposition, Port-
land, Ores;., 1905.
Markets Bureau. Work of the Office of Markets and Rural
Organization, with list of publications. Rev. ed. Nov.
2^, 1915. 16 p. (Markets doc. i.)
Name changed to Markets Bureau, July, 19 17.
Weather Bureau. Weather Bureau [history and work].
1915. 58 p. il. 16°.
Plant Industry Bureau. Bureau of Plant Industry, its func-
tions and efficiency. Mar. 15, 1913. 25 p. il. (Cir-
cular 117.)
.\nother paper included in these pages. Papers not issued separately.
Government bodies' lists of their oun publications
Note. — Almost every publishing body of the government issues
more or less often lists of its own publications, either complete, or
showing what is available for distribution. These lists are usually
given freely to all who desire them. Lists that include only works
prior to the end of 1909 are omitted here — except a few that coii-
tain titles of JJulletins and of other such works in series, while the
Checklist gives them only by number — as they duplicate the Check-
list. Lists of jjublications " available for distribution " are usually
omitted, unless quite comprehensive, or unless there is nothing else
to be had. The Price Lists published by the Documents Office are,
many of them, lists of publications of special bodies, and should be
borne in mind to supplement the lists given here. They usually ex-
clude all works out of print.
U. S. Agriculture Department.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). List by titles
of the publications of the Department of Agricul-
ture, 1840-June, 1901. 1902. 216 p. (Publications Div,
Bull. 6.)
252 General Bibliography
Monthly list of publications of the Department of
Agriculture. Jan., ii<y2-date.
List of publications of the Department of Agricul-
ture issued since July i, 1913; rev. to Dec. 31, 1916.
Apr. 26, 1917. 114 p.
Complete list of Farmers' Bulletins issued to Oct.
IS, 1916. Nov. I, 1916. 16 p.
Animal Industry Bureau. '
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.) Publications
of the Bureau of Animal Industry. Ed. of July 22,,
1913- [1913-] 6 p. (Publications Div. Circular 15.)
Biological Survey Bureau.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Publications
of the Bureau of Biological Survey. Ed. of July 8,
1913. [1913.] 2 p. (Publications Div. Circulars.)
Census Bureau. Circular of information concerning census
publications, 1790-1916. Jan. i, 1917. 124 p. ([Cir-
cular] 2.)
-r List of publications of the ioth-i2th censuses and per-
manent Census Bureau. July i, 1911. [3] p. f°.
— ' — Chemistry Bureau.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Publications
of the Bureau of Chemsitry. Ed. of July 8, 1913.
[1913.] 4 p. (Publications Div. Circular 7.)
Coast and Geodetic Survey. List and catalogue of the pub-
lications issued . . . 1816-1902 . . . with supplement,
[Jan.] 1903- [Aug.] 1908. 1908. 2ZT, 44, [i] p. 4°.
Catalogue of charts, coast pilots, and tide tables, 1916.
1916. 231 p. il. 4°.
^Same, supplement [May 12, 1916.] 1916. 5 p. 4°.
(Serial 46.)
Coast Guard.
Economy and Efficiency Commission. Bibliography of
the Revenue Cutter Service. (In Economy and Effi-
ciency Commission, Reports, April 4, 1912, p. Z^Z-Zl^'t
H. Doc. 670, 62d Cong., 2d sess. In v. 116; 6298.)
The Revenue Cutter Service has now become the Coast Guard.
Commerce Department.
Publications Division (Commerce Dept.). Monthly list
1 Since the changes in the publications of the Department of Agriculture
that took effect July i, 1913, the separate lists of publications of each
bureau that were appearing at frequent intervals prior to that date have
ceased appearing.
General Bibliography 253
of publications issued by the Department of Commerce,
July, 1914-date.
List of publications of the Department of Com-
merce available for distribution. 14th ed. Oct. 2, 1916.
83 p.
Education Bureau. List of publications of the bureau, 1867-
1910. 1910. 55 p. (Bulletin 1910, no. 3.)
Available publications of the Bureau of Education, Feb.,
1917. [1917-] II p.
Publications, 1867-1902. (In its Annual report, 1900/01,
V. I. pref. p. 103-112.)
Checklist by publication number.
Fntomology Bureau.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Publications
of the Bureau of Entomology. Ed. of July 23, 1913.
[1913.] 6 p. (Publications Div. Circular 16.)
Ethnology Bureau. List of publications of the Bureau of
American Ethnology', with index to authors and titles.
191 7. 40 p.
Crop Estimates Bureau.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Publications
of the Bureau of Statistics. Ed. of July 8, 1913.
[I9I3-1 3 P- (Publications Div. Circular 12.)
The Crop Estimates Bureau was formerly the Statistics Bureau.
Fisheries Bureau. List of publications of the Bureau of
Fisheries available for distribution. May 26, 1916. 23
p. (Bureau of Fisheries document 614.)
Foreign and Domestic Commerce Bureau. Catalogue of bu-
reau publications, review of information available to
manufacturers and exporters in bulletins issued by the
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. [Re-
print] 1916. 47 p.
Same, supplement. Mar. i, 1917. [1917.] 4 p.
List of publications for sale by the superintendent
of documents and by district officers of the Bureau
of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. 1915. 8 p. nar-
row 8°.
Forest Service.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Publications
of the Forest Service. Ed. of July 8, 1913. I1913.]
5 p. (Publications Div. Circular 11.)
Geological Survey. Publications of the Geological Survey,
not including topographic maps. Dec, 1916. 168 p.
254 General Bibliography
Topographic maps and folios and geologic folios pub-
lished by the Geological Survey. Wash. Geological
Survey, 1914. 131 p.
New publications, list 1-111. Sept., 1907-May I, 1917,
[1907-1917.] Monthly. Size has varied.
Hydrographic Office. Information regarding navigational
books and charts published and sold by the Hydro-
graphic Office. [Washington, Hydrographic Office,
Aug., 1916.] 2 p. narrow i". (Circular 3.)
Labor Department.
Publications and Supplies Division (Labor Dept.). Pub-
lications of the Department of Labor available for
distribution, Jan. i, 1917. 1917. 11 p.
Labor Statistics Bureau. Publications of the Bureau of La-
bor Statistics up to July i, 1916. 1916. 17 p.
Bureau under this name dates from Mar. 4, 1913.
Library of Congress. Publications issued by the library since
1897. Jan., 1917. 50 p. :?o cm.
Mines Bureau. Publications of the Bureau of Mines, Nov.,
1916 [and publications that may be obtained only
through the superintendent of documents]. 1916. 27 p.
• National Museum. List of the publications of the United
States National Museum, 1875-1900 [including Bulle-
tin 1-50]. 1902. 168 p. (Bulletin 51.)
Same, supplement i. List of the publications of the
United States National Museum, 1901-1906 [including
Bulletin 51-55] with inde.x to titles. 1906. 40 p.
These lists give titles of the bulletins, which are not given in
the Checklist.
Plant Industry Bureau.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Publications
of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Ed. of July 16, 1913.
[1913.] 10 p. (Publications Div. Circular 13.)
Public Health Service. Publications of the Public Health
Service, Sept., 1915. 1915. 61 p. (Miscellaneous pub-
lication 12.)
Public Roads Office.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Publications
of the Office of Public Roads. Ed. of July 11, 1913.
[1917,.] 2 p. (Publications Div. Circular 10.)
Reclamation Service. Publications of the Reclamation
Service for sale by the Reclamation Service. Aug.,
1916. 46 p. (List of publications 3.)
Lists I and 2 are called " Price Lists."
General Bibliography 255
Signal Office. Publications of the Signal Service, 1861 to
July I, 1890. (In its Annual report, i8gi, p. 389-409.)
Smithsonian Institution. List of publications of the Smith-
sonian Institution, 1846-1903. 1903. 99 p. (Smith-
sonian miscellaneous collections, v. 44, no. 1376.)
U. S. Soils Bureau.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Publications
of the Bureau of Soils. Ed. of July 22, 1913. [1913.]
6 p. (Publications Div, Circular 14.)
Standards Bureau. Publications of the Bureau of Standards.
4th ed. issued July i, 1913. 1913. 54 p. 25^ cm.
(Circular 24.)
Recent publications of the Bureau of Standards, supple-
menting, up to Apr. I, 1915, the list published in Cir-
cular no. 24, 4th edition. [1915.] 20 p. No t.-p.
States Relations Service.
Experiment Stations Office. The agricultural experi-
ment stations in the United States [with list of pub-
lications of the Office of Experiment Stations and of
the state experiment stations]. 1900. 636 p. 153 pi.
map. (Bulletin 80. H. Doc. 507, s6th Cong., 2d sess,
In V. 96; 4170.) Also a plain title edition.
Publications Div. (Agric. Dept). Publications of the
Office of Experiment Stations. Ed. of July 26, 1913.
[1913.] 12 p. (Publications Div. Circular 17.)
The States Relations Service was formerly the Experiment
Stations Office.
Treasury Department.
Printing and Stationery Division (Treasury Dept.).
Publications of the Treasury Department, 1916. 6 p.
Government bodies' indexes to their ozvn publications
U. S. Agriculture Department.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept). Publications
of the Department of Agriculture classified for the use
of teachers. Jan. 27, 1912. 36 p. (Publications Div.
Circular 19.)
Prepared in cooperation with the Experiment Stations Office.
Appended are titles of published lists of the publications of
various bureaus of the Department of Agriculture.
Documents Office. List of publications of the Agricul-
ture Department, 1862-1902, with analytical index.
1904. 623 p. (Bibliography of United States public
documents, department lists i.)
Reviewed in Lib. Jour., 30: 53.
256 General Bibliography
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Index of
authors, with titles of their publications, appearing in
the documents of the United States Department of
Agriculture, 1841-1897. 1898. 303 p. (.Publications
Div. Bulletin 4.)
Index to the Annual reports of the United States
Department of Agriculture, 1837-1803. 1896 [reprint
1899]. 252 p. (Pulilications Div. P.ullctin i.)
Since 1893 reports have been restricted to purely adminis-
trative business.
■ Index to the Yearbooks of the United States De-
partment of Agriculture, 1894-1900. 1902. 196 p.
(Publications' Div. Bulletin 7.)
Same, 1901-1905. 1908. 166 p. (Publications Div.
Bulletin 9.)
Same, 1906-1910. 1913. 146 p. (Publications Div.
Bulletin 10.)
List of titles of Farmers' Bulletins classified by
subjects. Dec. 13, 1916. 13 p.
Index to Farmers' Bulletins nos. 1-500. 1916. 432
P-
The Publications Division of the Agriculture Department is-
sues also title-page with table of contents and index to each 25
Farmers' Bulletins, and to each 25 Bulletins of the depart-
ment series begun July i, 1913.
Animal Industry Bureau.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Index to
literature relating to animal husbandry in the publica-
tions of the United States Department of Agriculture,
1837-1898. 1900. 676 p. (Publications Div. Bulletins.)
Crop Estimates Bureau.
Publications Division (Agriculture Dept.). Synoptical
index to the reports of the statistician of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, 1863-1894. 1897. 258 p. (Pub-
lications Div. Bulletin 2.)
The C'rop Estimates Bureau was formerly the Statistics Bu-
reau, with a head called the statistician.
Education Bureau. Publications, 1867-1890; with subject in-
dex. 1891. p. 1453-1551-
Reprint from report of the bureau for 1888/1889.
Ind^x to reports . . . 1867-1907. 1909. 103 p. (Bulle-
tin, 1909. no. 7.)
— Engineer Department. Index to the Reports of the chief
of engineers, U. S. Army (including the Reports of
the Isthmian Canal Commissions, 1899-1914), 1866-
General Bibliography 257
1912. 1915. 2 V. (H. Doc. 740, 63d Cong., 2d sess.
In V. 20; 6617.)
V. I. Rivers and harbors. — v. 2. Fortifications, bridges, Pan-
ama Canal, etc.
Entomology Bureau. Index to Bulletins 1-.30 [new series],
1896-1901, of the Division of Entomology. 1902. 64 p.
(Bulletin, new series, 36.)
Index to Circulars i-ioo of the Bureau of Entomology.
Nov. 2, 191 1, ii, 49 p. (Circular 100.)
■Ethnology Bureau. List of publications of the Bureau of
American Ethnology, with index to authors and titles.
1917. 40 p.
Foreign and Domestic Commerce Bureau. Index to the Con-
sular Reports nos. 1-239 [v. 1-63, Oct., 1880-Aug.,
1900]. 1887-1901. V. 1-5.
The Consular Reports have now taken the title, " Commerce
Reports, Daily Consular and Trade Reports," with title-page
and index quarterly.
■Geological Survey. Catalogue and index of the publications
of the Hayden, King, Powell, and Wheeler surveys.
1904. 208 p. (Bulletin 222. H. Doc. 606, 58th Cong.,
2d sess. In v. 58; 4684.)
Index to the hydrographic progress reports of the
United States Geological Survey. 1888-1903. 1905.
253 P- (Water-supply and irrigation paper 119.)
■Labor Department. Index of all reports issued by bureaus
of labor statistics in the United States prior to Mar.
I, 1902. 1902. 287 p.
-Labor Statistics Bureau. Subject index of the publications
of the Bureau of Labor Statistics up to May i, 1915.
Sept., 1915. 233 p. (Bulletin 174; Miscellaneous se-
ries 11. H. Doc. 1707, 63d Cong., 3d sess.)
- Ordnance Department, Army. Index to reports of the chief
of ordnance, Army, 1867-1902. 1904. 124 p.
Orders and circulars of this department have title-page and
index regularly. So do the Ordnance Pamphlets of the Ord-
nance Bureau. Navy; also the Circulars of the Militia Bureau,
War Department; and doubtless many other series not noted
here.
- Plant Industry Bureau.
Index to plant industry subjects in the Yearbooks of the
Department of Agriculture. Nov. 30, 1908. 55 p.
(Circular 17.)
Contents of and index to the Bulletins of the Bureau of
258 General Bibliography
Plant Industry, nos. i to 100. Oct. 12, 1907. 102 p.
(Bulletin loi.)
Smithsonian institution. Classified list of Smithsonian publica-
tions available for distribution, Dec. 15, 1916. 1916.
vi, 32 p. (Publication 2434.)
Catalogue of publications of the Smithsonian Institution,
1846-1882, with an alphabetical index. 1882. 328 p.
(Smithsonian miscellaneous collections, v. 27, no. 478.)
U. S. State Department. General index to the published vol-
umes of the diplomatic correspondence and foreign re-
lations of the United States, 1861-1899. 1902, 945 p.
Hasse, A. R. Index to United States documents relat-
ing to foreign affairs, 1828-1861. In 3 parts, pt. i,
A-H, Nov., 1914. (Carnegie Institution. Publication
185.)
All published to date.
States Relations Service. General index to the Experiment
Station Record, v. 1-12, 1889-1901. 1903. 671 p.
Same, to v. 13-25, 1901-1911. June 2"], 1913. 1159 p.
War Department.
Adjutant General's Department. Subject index of Gen-
eral Orders of the War Department, Jan. i, 1809-Dec.
31, i860. 1886.
Same, Jan. i, i86i-Dec. 31, 1880. 1862.
Subject index to General Orders and Circulars of
the War Department and Headquarters of the Army,
Adjutant General's Office, Jan. i, i88i-Dec. 31, 1900.
Apr., 1901.
Analytical index of General Orders, Adjutant Gen-
eral's Office, 1861-1876. 1878.
II
Bibliography of the
Printing Investigation Commission, 1905-1913
And Official Publications Since
Note. — See also under Bibliography: General: Public Printing to 1905,
especially S. Keport 18, s^d Cong., ist sess., of Jan. 13, 189^, and note.
For resume of each law passed see, under appropriate date, Bibliography
of Laws.
The Printing Investigation Commission was created by the de-
ficiencies appropriation act of Mar. 3, 1905, 58th Congress, 3d
session. It was continued and its scope enlarged by the sundry
civil appropriation act of June 30, 1906, 59th Congress, ist ses-
sion ; and by deficiencies appropriation acts of Mar. 4, 1907, 59th
Congress, 2d session, and Mar. 4, 1909, 60th Congress, 2d session.
Again continued by sundry civil appropriation act of Mar. 4, 191 1.
6ist Congress, 3d session, during term of 62d Congress (expired
Mar. 4, 1913).
See Congressional Record, 58th Cong., 3d sess.; Feb. 9, 11, 16,
17, 1905; V. 39:2147, 2389, 2709 (Senate), 2801 (H. of R.) ; same,
59th Cong., 2d sess. H. of R. ; Mar. 4, 1907; v. 41 : 4668.
The action of the commission in introducing reforms can be
traced in the following publications. It procured several more
pressing reforms by the passage of special resolutions or bills. A
quite comprehensive bill including needed new legislation the com-
mission had passed without opposition in the law of Mar. i, 1907.
It then prepared a general printing bill intended to supersede the
act of Jan. 12, 1895, and to revise and codify the whole body of
printing legislation. This was introduced, usually in identical
text, but, of course, with the bill number of its respective house,
in both houses, as follows : —
60th Congress : S. 9406
H. 6539
: H. 28247
64th Congress
S. I 107
6ist Congress: S. 10646
S. 7795
62d Congress: S. 2564
H. 323
: S. 4239
H. 8664
63d Congress: S. 825
H. 21021
: S. 5340
The bill has been extended.
somewhat modified,
and, in the 64th
Congress, rearranged. It still awaits action by Congress to be-
come law.
259
26o Bibliography of Printing Investigation
U. S. President (Roosevelt). [Warning against extravagance in
the public printing]. (In his Annual message to 57th
Congress, 2d session, Dec. 2, 1902. In Cong. Record, 36:
12.)
One paragrajih only.
Notliing on this subject in message of 1903.
Same. (In same to 58th Congress, 3d session, Dec. 6,
1904. In Cong. Record, 39: lO.)
Une paragraph only.
Same. (In same to 59th Congress, 1st session, Dec. 5,
1905. In Cong. Record, 40:95.)
Less than one paragraph.
Congress. H. of R. Printing Committee. Report favoring
S.4261, to provide for printing, and binding in half mo-
rocco, additional copies of the first edition of government
documents and publications for distribution to the desig-
nated depository libraries in lieu of the sheep-bound cop-
ies of the Document edition, so-called, now supplied to
said libraries. Feb. 7, 1903. 7 p. (H. Report 3663, 57th
Cong., 2d sess. In v. 3 ; 4415.)
Contains text of bill, and hearings including statement favoring^
bill by Superintendent of Documents Ferreil. Bill also recom-
mended in his report, 1901/2. Also recommended in report of
the documents committee of the A. L. A. by R. P. Falkner, chair-
man, June, 1902.
Department Methods Committee ("Keep Commission").
Government Printing Office. Report on purchase of type-
setting machines for the Government Printing Office.
[Aug. 4, 1905.] 26 p. 4°.
Public printing. [Jan. 2, 1906.] 12 p. 4°.
Government Printing Office. Report of examination into
cost of printing, at reduced price, special edition of the
Congressional Record [for sale to the general public].
Dec. II, 1905. 1906. 2 p. (S. Doc. 108, 59th Cong., 2d
sess. In V. 3; 5070.)
Printing Investigation Commission. Report. 1906. 2 v,
V. I. Hearings, v. 2. Appendix and preliminary report.
Surplus copies of departmental editions of government
publications as shown in appendix to report of commis-
sion, 1906. 1906. 32 p.
Also in the Report, v. 2, p. 541-582.
President (Roosevelt). Executive order directing that head
of each executive department shall appoint advisory com-
mittee on printing and publications, and assigning rules
governing annual reports of departments. Jan. 20, 1906.
I p. f°.
Bibliography of Printing Investigation 261
^ Same. (In U. S. Printing Investigation Commission.
Preliminary report. June 25, 191 0. p. 50-Si- S. Doc.
652, 6ist Cong., 2(1 sess.)
•Congress. H. of R. Printing Committee. Report favoring
H. J. Res. 127, to correct abuses in the public printing, and
for allotment of cost of ceriam Documents and Reports.
March 24, 1906. 1 p. (H. Report 2652, 59th Cong., ist
sess. In V. i : 4906.) Approved Mar. 30, 1906. Stat. L.
34:825-826. Public res. 13.
See Cong. Record, 59th Cong., ist sess., H. ot R. ; Mar. 26,
1906; V. 40:4303-4305; Landis and others.
Report favoring H. J. Res. 128. to prevent un-
necessary printing and binding, and to correct evils in the
distribution of public documents. Mar. 24, 1906. i p.
(H. Report 2653, 59th Cong., ist sess. In v. i; 49o6.)
Approved Mar. 30. 1906. Stat.-L. 34: 826. Public res. 14-
See Cong. Record, 59th CV.ng.. jst sess., H. of R.; Mar. 26,
1906; V. 40:4305-4306: Landis and others,
-Printing Investigation Commission. Preliminary report.
Mar. 24, 1906. 92 p. (H, Doc. 649, 59th Cong., ist sess.
In v. .49; 4989-)
Appended are tables of department publications, and of ap-
propriations.
Same. Mar. 26, 1906. 92 p. (S. Report 2153, 59th
Cong., 1st sess. In v. 2; 4905-)
Identical with the preceding.
Same. (In U. S. Printing Investigation Commission.
Report. 1906, v. 2. p. 583-691.)
Same, without tabulated matter. (In Cong. Record.
59th Cong., 1st sess. Senate; Mar. 26, 1906; v. 40: 4261-
4262. )
-Congress. Printing Joint Committee. Regulations making
effective public resolution 14, approved Mar. 30, 1906.
May 18. 1906. [5] leaves, oblong i".
Provide for printing Congressional and other publications in
two editions, the first less than the authorized number, and no
other to be issued till need for it is shown. Consists of one page
of regulations, and tour leaves giving number of copies for first
editit'n of 124 publicati'ins, with their distribution.
Same. (In U. S. Printing Investigation Commis-
sion. Report. 1906, v. 2, p. 677-691.)
H. of R. Appropriations Committee. Supplemental
hearing [June 8, 1906, on H. 19844. 59th Cong., ist
sess.] sundry civil appropriation bill, [fiscal year] 1907,
printing and binding, revised estimates [by committee on
printing]. 1906. 9 P-
262 Bibliography of Printing Investigation
Senate. Printing Committee. Inquiry into causes of
delay [in Government Printing Office] in completing
work of ist session of 59th Congress; report of Albert
H. Howe [with hearings, July 7-13, 1906]. igo6. 123 p.
Printing Investigation Commission. Supplemental report.
Feb. 18. 1907. 14 p. (H. Doc. 736, 59th Cong., 2d sess.
In V. S3 I 5156.)
Includes draft of bill.
See Cong. Kecord, 59th Cong., 2d sess.. H. of R. ; Teb. 26, 1907;
V. 4: : .3997-3999; includes text of bill; Landis.
See also Monthly Catalog, Jan., 1908. p. 263.
Report submitting S.8510. to amend act providing for
the public printing and binding and distribution of public
documents. Feb. 18, 1907. 12 p. (S. Report 6828, 59th
Cong., 2d sess. In v. 2 ; 5061.) Approved Mar. i, 1907,
Stat. L. 34: 1012-1015
Identical with the preceding except that draft of bill, p. 12-14,
is omitted.
Same. (In Cong. Record, 59th Cong., 2d sess., Senate;
Feb. 18, 1907: V. 41: 3176-3179.)
Congress. H. of R. Printing Committee. Report amend-
ing H. 25736, to amend act providing for the public print-
ing and binding and distribution of public documents.
Feb. 21, 1907. I p. (H. Report 8058, 59th Cong., 2d sess.
In V. 2; 5065.)
Bill identical with S.8510.
Senate. Printing Committee. Report amending S.Ssio,
to amend act providing for the public printing and bind-
ing and distribution of public documents. Feb. 22, 1907.
1 p. (S. Report 7257, 59th Cong., 2d sess. In v. 2;
5061.) Approved Mar. i, 1907. Stat. L. 34: 1012-1015.
H. of R. Printing Committee. Report amending S.8510,
to amend act providing for the public printing and bind-
ing and distribution of public documents. Feb. 26, 1907.
I p. (H. Report 8101, 59th Cong., 2d sess. In v. 2;
5065.) Approved IMar. i, 1907. Stat. L. 34: 1012-1015.
Senate. Printing Committee. Report amending S. J.
R. I, amending [sec. 2 of] act relative to the public print-
ing and binding, approved Mar. i, 1907. Dec. 4, 1907.
6 p. (S. Report i, both Cong., ist sess. In v. i: 5218.)
Approved Jan. 15, 1908. Stat. L. 35 : 565-5C6.
H. of R. Printing Committee. Report amending S. J.
R. I, amending [sec. 2 of] act relative to the public print-
ing and binding, approved Mar. i, 1907. Jan. 11. 1908.
I p. (H. Report 52, 6oth Cong., ist sess. In v. i ; 5225.)
Approved Jan. 15, 1908. Stat. L. 35-565-566.
Bibliography of Printing Investigation 263
See Cong. Record, 6oth Cong., ist session, H. of R.; Dec. i6,
1907; V. 42: 357; Landis. Almost no discussion in Senate.
Printing and Publications Division (Commerce Dept.).
Comparative costs of printing for the executive depart-
ments ; report to the President of Geo. C. Havenner [and
reply of C. A. Stillings]. 1908. 63 p. 2 tables.
Havenner was chief of this division.
Printing Investigation Commission. [Statement showing]
appropriations and expenditures for public printing and
binding [and expenditures from appropriations other than
those made specifically therefor; $1,000,000 worth done
outside the Government Printing Office] during the fiscal
years 1905-1907; by Victor L. Ricketts. 1908. [i] 70 p.
Kicketts was secretary to the commission.
Memoranda relative to binding of publications for dis-
tribution to state and territorial libraries and designated
depositories. 1908. 46 p.
H. of R. Letter from superintendent of document room rec-
ommending changes in certain features and detail of
printing and Congressional [Record] index service. Feb.
20, 1908. 2 p. (H. Doc. 703, 60th Cong., I St sess. In v.
108; 5377-)
Recommends numbering laws, resolutions, etc., consecutively
through a Congress; starring in the Congressional Record index
the bills that passed; and other improvements mostly now adopted.
Rossiter, Wm. S. Report to the President upon conditions pre-
vailing in the Government Printing Office [and reply
thereto by C. A. Stillings, public printer]. Alay 12, 1908.
150 p. illus.
At top of title: "Confidential."
Same. (H. Doc. 974, 60th Cong., ist sess. In v. 105; 5374.)
May 25, 1908, the Joint Printing Committee adopted a reso-
lution asking the public printer to submit to the com-
mittee for approval estimates of all proposed purchases
of machinery, equipment, etc., amounting to over $1,000.
See Senate Report 438, 63d Congress, 2d session, p. 6.
U. S. Printing Investigation Commission. Letter transmitting
report of subcommittee on investigation relating to pur-
chase of certain supplies for the public printing and bind-
ing, and operations of the audit system in the Govern-
ment Printing Office, and making recommendations with
relation to future appropriations for public printing and
binding. May 26, 1908. 19 p. (H. doc. 968, 6oth Cong.,
1st sess. In v. 105; 5374.)
— Same. May 27, 1908. 19 p. (S. Report 695, 60th
Cong., 1st sess. In v. 2; 5219.)
264 Bibliography of Printing Investigation
Congress. Printing Joint Committee. Regulations, super-
seding regulations promulgated May 18, 1906. [Jan. 13,
1909.] f°.
Limited edition.
Printing Investigation Commission. Supplemental report.
Recommendations in relation to appropriations for public
printing and binding, etc. Feb. 6, 1909. 5 p. (S. Report
932, 60th Cong., 2(1 sess. In v. i ; 5380.)
Relate to appropriations for publications of the Geological Sur-
vey, for the Documents Office, and for the supply of depository
libraries, for leaves of absence and holidays, for expenditures for
machinery, equipment, and salaries, and inspector for the commit-
tee, all in the Government Printing Office.
Report recommending legislation relative to printing,
binding, and distribution of public documents [to accom-
pany S.9406]. Feb. 18, 1909. 31 p. (H. Doc. 1464, 6oth
Cong., 2d sess. In v. 147; 55S7-)
Much information and draft of legislation.
Same, except p. 13-31, draft of legislation. (In Cong.
Record, 60th Cong., 2d sess. Senate; Feb. 19, 1909; v.
43:2673-2676.)
Report to accompany S.9406, to codify, revise and amend
laws relating to the public printing and binding and dis-
tribution of public documents. Feb. 19, 1909. 31 p. (S.
Report 1044, 60th Cong., 2d sess. In v. i ; 5380.)
Same as preceding H. Doc. 1464.
Congress. H. of R. Printing Committee. Report amending
H.28247, to codify, revise, and amend laws relating to
the public printing and binding and distribution of public
documents. Feb. 23, 1909. i p. (H. Report 2308, 60th
Cong., 2d sess. In v. i; 5384.)
Report favoring H.24864, for distribution of
the Congressional Record and public bills, documents,
etc., to governor general of Philippine Islands. Feb. 23,
1909. I p. (H. Report 2316, 60th C(jng., 2d sess. In
V. i; 5384.) Approved Mar. 4, 1909. Stat. L. 35: 1067.
Report submitting H. J. R. 263, to provide for
the distribution by members of the 60th Congress of
Documents, Reports, and other publications, as substitute
for H. R. 524. Feb. 23, 1909. i p. (H. Report 2272,
6oth Cong., 2d sess. In v. i; 5384.) Approved Mar. 2,
1909. Stat. L. 35: 1 168.
The 6ist Congress having been called in extra session for Mar.
15, this resolution provides that outgoing members shall have
control of distribution of publications of 6oth Congress, as is
customary, till first Monday in December. Shows feeling of repre-
Bibliography of Printing Investigation 265
sentatives about their distribution. See Cong. Record, 6oth Con-
gress, 2d session, H. of K.; Mar. i, 1909; v. 43:3510-3514.
Joint resolution [H. J. R. 38, 6ist Congress, ist sess.]
repealing joint resolution [of Mar. 2, 1909]. Approved
Apr. 22, 1909. Stat. L. 36 : 182.
See Cong. Record, 6ist Cong., ist sess., H. of R.; Apr. 5, 1909;
V, 44: 1075-1077.
No Reports in either house, and no discussion in Senate.
H. of R. Select Committee on Useless Papers and
Documents. Report to accoinpany H. Res. 220, disposing
of certain documents now in the folding room of the
House of Representatives. Jan. 8, 1910. 2 p. (H. Re-
port 116, 6ist Cong., 2d sess. In v. A; 5594.)
Includes long list of publications in storage rooms of folding
room which are offered for general distribution to members. Re-
port and list are printed in Cong. Record, 45: 445-453. Resolution
passed.
See Cong. Record, 6ist Cong., 2d sess., H. of R. ; Jan. 8, igio;
V. 43 : 445-453. 594-6oo.
■ Printing Investigation Commission. Hearings, Mar. 17, 1910,
[relative to investigation of branch printing offices of
Government Printing Office], iv, 45 p.
■Congress. H. of R. Printing Committee. Hearings rela-
tive to S. J. R, S7 [requiring the translation into the Eng-
lish language of foreign public papers and documents],
Mar. 25, 1910. 1910. 34 p.
Senate. Printing Committee. Report favoring S.7661,
to amend sec. 54 of act approved Jan. 12, 1895, as amended
by public resolution 36, approved June 30, 1902 [so as to
abolish the printing of the Documents and Reports now
reserved to be bound for members and officers of Con-
gress]. Apr. 16, 1910. 4 p. (S. Report 568, 6rst Cong.,
2d sess. In v. 2; 5583.) Approved June 25, igio. Stat.
L. 36 : 868.
Same. (In Cong. Record, 61 st Cong., 2d sess.,
Senate; May 4, 1910; v. 45 : 5787-5788.)
No debate.
See also Monthly Catalog, Apr., 1910.
Hearings, May 7, 1910. relative to valuation
system for distribution of publications by senators and
representatives. 16 p.
See Cong. Record, 6ist Cong., 2d sess., H. of R.; Jan. 13,
1910; V. 45: 597-598.
Mr. Walter I. Smith, representative from Iowa, describes his
valuation plan.
Report favoring S. J. R. 99, to amend resolu-
tion approved Mar. 28. 1904. relating to the sale of public
documents by the superintendent of documents. May 23,
266 Bibliography of Printing Investigation
1910. 2 p. (S. Report 731, 61 St Cong., 2d sess. In v.
3; 5584.)
Authorizes him to reprint for sale Congressional, as well as
department i)ublications.
H. of R. Printing Committee. Report favoring S. J.
R. 99, to amend resolution approved Mar. 28, 1904, relat-
ing to the sale of piihlic documents by the superintendent
of documents. June 21, 1910. 2 p. (H. Report 1677,
6ist Cong., 2d sess. In v. 3; S593-)
Almost identical with the preceding.
Senate. Printing Committee. Report referring to com-
mittee on appropriations, with recommendation of favor-
able action, amendment to H.25552, making appropria-
tions for sundry civil expenses of the government,
1910/11, authorizing more expensive binding of messages
and papers of the President, mss. and portfolios of the
State Department, valuable and rare books and mss. for
the Library of Congress, etc. May 23, 1910. 2 p. (S.
Report 734, 61 St Cong., 2d sess. In v. 3; 5584.)
H. of R. Printing Committee. Report favoring S. 7661,
to amend sec. 54 of act approved Jan: 12, 1895, as
amended by public resolution 36, approved June 30,
1902 [so as to abolish the printing of the Documents
and Reports now reserved to be bound for members and
officers of Congress]. June 23, 191G. 4 p. (H. Report
171 1, 6ist Cong., 2d sess. In v. 3; 5593-) Approved
June 25, 1910. Stat. L. 36 : 868.
See Cong. Record, 6ist Cong., 2d sess., H. of R. ; June 23,
1910; V. 45: 8858-8859.
Printing Investigation Commission. Preliminary report.
June 25, 1910. 81 p. (S. Doc. 652, 6ist Cong., 2d sess.
In V. 61 ; 5660.)
Preparatory to introduction of general printing bill. Informa-
tion and general discussion, especially on distribution to deposi-
tories, on branch printing offices, and on department printing
supervision.
— Congress. Senate. Printing Committee. Report amending
S. 10646, to amend, revise, and codify laws relating to the
public printing and binding and distribution of govern-
ment publications. Feb. 20, ^911. 48 p. (S. Report
1200, 6ist Cong., 3d sess. In v. i; 5840.)
An edition of this was printed in blank as to bill number, which
house, date, Report number, etc.; and with "Commission print"
at top of title.
— — Comparison of S.2564 [62d Cong., ist sess.],
printing bill, with existing printing laws. [1911.] 117 p.
oblong large 8°.
Bibliography of Printing Investigation 267
Printing Joint Committee. Statement showing price per
pound paid for various classes of paper bought for the
Government Printing Office from 1902/3 to 191 1/12, and
average price of each class for ten-year period, also cor-
responding prices in General Supply Committee's schedule
for 1911/12. 1912. [i] 9 leaves, oblong i°.
Senate. Printing Committee. Report amending S.4239,
to amend, revise, and codify the laws relating to the pub-
lic printing and binding and distribution of government
publications. Jan. 16, 1912. 55 p. (S. Report 201, 62d
Cong., 2d sess. In v. i ; 6120.)
Takes up bill section by section. This and House Report 8i6
of June I, J 91 2, are very similar but not identical.
Loose leaf binders; hearing on S.4239, Jan. 26,
1912. 1912. 19 p.
Relates to the supply of loose-leaf binders to government offices
by the Government Printing Office, and patented articles.
See Cong. Record, 626. Cong., 2d sess.. Senate; Apr. 9, 1912;
V. 48: 4474-4477.
Compensation of pressmen; hearing on S.4239,
Feb. 2, 1912; statement of J. F. Geckler. 1912. 9 p.
Relates to increase in compensation of pressmen in Government
Printing Office.
See Cong. Record, 626. Cong., 2d sess., Senate; Apr. 9, 1912;
V. 48: 4472-4474.
■ Economy and Efficiency Commission. Reports relative to
centralization of distribution of government publications,
and so forth. Feb. 5, 1912. ^j p. 3 plates. (S. Doc.
293, 62d Cong., 2d sess. In v. 36; 6175.)
Report sent to President Dec, 191 1. p. 5-24 deal with distri-
bution of public documents, including mechanical processes. Rec-
ommends distribution from departments to be done through the
Documents Office. Quotes Documents Office report stating that
Congressional distribution nullifies centralization. Notice in Lib.
Jour., 36: 38s, 1911.
Congress. Senate. Printing Committee. Report amend-
ing S.4239, to amend, revise, and codify the laws relating
to the public printing and binding and distribution of
government publications. Feb. 28, 1912. 60 p. (S. Re-
port 414, 62d Cong., 2d sess. In v. i ; 6120.)
Takes up bill section by section. Topic headings throughout
this Report are the same as in preceding Senate Report 201, of
Jan. 16, 1912. In this there are several slight amendments, but
the principal one strikes out the section relating to printing bonds,
etc., on power presses in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
See Cong. Record, 62d Cong., 2d sess.. Senate; Apr. 5. 9, 1912;
V. 48: 4325-4326; 4466-4472. Discussion of S.4239, especially on
proposed edition of Congressional Record of one million copies,
with estimate of cost; and incidentally on demand and supply to
members.
268 Bibliography of Printing Investigation
Smoot, Reed. Speech in Senate [on S.4239] ; Mar. 12-13, 1912
[62d Cong., 3d sess.]. 71 p. 1912.
Able i)resentation of history of printing legislation and reforms
needed.
Same. (In Cong. Record, 62d Cong., 2d sess., Senate; Mar.
12-13, 1912; V. 48:3184-3196; 3244-3254.)
U. S. Congress. H. of R. Printing Committee. Report favor-
ing S. J. R. 93, authorizing the librarian of Congress to
furnish a copy of the daily and bound Congressional
Record to the under secretary of state for external af-
fairs of Canada in exchange for a copy of the Parlia-
mentary Hansard. Apr. 4, 1912. r p. (H. Report 490,
62d Cong., 2d sess. In v. 3 ; 6131.) Stat. L. 37-(>32-
Economy and Efficiency Commission. Economy and effi-
ciency in the government service . . . reports. Apr. 4,
1912. 56s p. (H. Doc. 670, 62d Cong., 2d sess. In v.
116; 6298.)
Recommends practicable economies in all departments. Apx.
8, p. 535-558, is: Centralization of distribution of government
publications. Refers to and again recommends plan outlined in
report of commission to President, Dec. 4, 191 1, by him sent to
Congress Feb. S, 1912. Plan is to have all distribution from de-
partments done through Documents Office. Congressional distri-
bution this time not touched on. Discussed in House hearings of
May 20-22, 1 912.
Congress. H. of R. Printing Committee. Hearings on
S.4239. May 20-22, 1912. 161 p.
Report amending S.4239, to amend, revise, and
codify the laws relating to the public printing and bind-
ing and distribution of government publications. June
I, 1912. 60 p. (H. Report 816, 62d Cong., 2d sess. In
V. 4; 6132.)
This and Senate Report 201 of Jan. 16, 1912, are very similar
but not identical.
See Cong. Record, 62d Cong., 2d sess., H. of R.; June 18,
1912; V. 48: 8336-8344.
Discussion of appropriations for Printing Investigation Com-
mission; on increase of salary of public printer; and on printing
speeches of members for distribution, and waste in public printing
in general.
Commerce and Labor Department. Draft of bill to author-
ize secretary of commerce and labor to sell such tech-
nical, scientific, statistical, and other publications, issued
by department, as he may deem best for the public in-
terest. Feb. 4, 1913. 2 p. (H. Doc, 1338, 62d Cong., 3d
sess. In V. 138; 6504.)
Congress. Printing Joint Committee. Congressional print-
ing handbook : laws, orders, rules, and regulations relat-
Bibliography of Printing Investigation 269
ing to printing and binding and the distribution of gov-
ernment publications for Congress, and to the Joint Com-
mittee on Printing. 1913. 168 p. 24mo.
II. of R. Printing Committee. Public printing and
binding; hearings on H. R. 15902, a bill to amend, re-
vise and codify the laws relating to the public printing
and binding and distribution of government publications.
Mar. 9, Apr. 2, 9, and 21, 1914 [63d Cong., 2d sess.].
1914. 78 p.
H.I 5902, S.82S, and S.S340 are identical bills, and same as
S.4J39 of the 62d Congress.
Senate. Printing Committee. Public printing and bind-
ing; hearing ... on S.825, a bill to amend, revise, and
codify the laws relating to the public printing and bind-
ing and distribution of government publications; Mar. 14
and 21, 1914 [63d Cong., 2d sess.]. 1914. 75 p.
Revision of printing laws: report to accom-
pany S.5340. Apr. 22, 1914. 119 p. (S. Report 438, 63d
Cong., 2d sess. In v. i ; 6552.)
H. of R. Printing Committee. Revision of printing
laws; report to accompany H. 15902. Apr. 22, 1914. 119
p. (H. Report 564, 63d Cong.. 2d sess. In v. 2 ; 6559.)
Identical with preceding report and on identical bill. %
See Cong. Record, 63d Cong., id sess., H. of R.; 1914; v.
51:13988-97 (Aug. 19), 14290. 14296-7, 14298, 14299-311 (Aug.
26), 14614-25, 14627-37 (Sept. 2), 14869-88 (Sept. 9), 15224-49
(Sept. 16), 15595-610 (Sept. 2->,'), 15963-66, 15969-81 (Sept.
30), 16677-94 (Oct. 15). Also Same, 63d Cong., 3d sess., H. of
R.; Dec. 9, 1914; v. 52: 56-62.
No particular debate in Senate.
Senate. Printing Committee. Revision of printing
laws; report to accompany H. 15902. Jan. 13, 1915. 12 p.
(S. Report 904, 63d Cong., 3d sess. In v. i ; 6762.)
Touches on various points, but p. 6-12 is on postal stamped
envelops.
H. of R. Printing Committee. Report to accompany
H. J. R. 393, to discontinue the printing of certain publi-
cations [— i. e.. Ethnology Bulletins, Geological Survey
Bulletins, Professional Papers, and Water-supply Pa-
pers — for Congressional distribution]. March 2, 1915.
I p. (H. Report 1484, 63d Cong., 3d sess. In v. I ;
6766.)
Printing Joint Committee. Revised edition regulations
of the Joint Committee on Printing, making effective pub-
lic resolution 14, ist session. 59th Congress . . . approved
March 30, 1906, and superseding regulations promulgated
270 Bibliography of Printing Investigation
May 18, 1906, and January 13, 1909 (corrected to Octo-
ber 6, 1914). [1914] 13 P- f'-
Valuation plan for distribution of government pub-
lications to members of Congressi as proposed in H.8664
and S.I 107, with itemized statements showing value of
documents distributed through folding rooms of House
and Senate during fiscal years 1905-1915. 1916. 63 p. 4°.
H.8664 and S.I 107 are identical bills.
See also Documents Office, Report, 1910/n: Notes; also p. yz
of next entry.
H. of R. Printing Committee. Revision of printing
laws; report to accompany H. R. 8664 [to amend, revise,
and codify the laws relating to tlie public printing and
binding and distribution of government publications].
Jan. II, 1916. 132 p. (H. Report z^, 64th Cong., ist
sess.)
Identical with Senate Report 183 following, except for some
slight additions to the latter.
See Cong. Record, 64th Cong., ist sess., H. of R. ; Apr. 20, 26,
1916; V. 53:6505-6529, 6864-6885.
P. 6505-6529 is largely discussion of the valuation plan.
Senate. Printing Committee. Revision of printing
laws; report to accompany S.1107 [to amend, revise, and
codify the laws relating to the public printing and bind-
ing and distribution of government publications]. Feb.
25, 1916. 134 p. (S. Report 183, 64th Cong., ist sess.)
identical with House Report Z2 preceding, except for some
slight additions, and on identical bill.
Rate of pay for compositors and bookbinders
in the Government Printing Office ; report to accompany
S.6626. July 19, 1916. 2 p. (S. Report 690, 64th Cong.,
1st sess.)
H. of R. Printing Committee. Rate of pay for com-
positors and bookbinders, Government Printing Office ;
report to accompany S.6626. Aug. 15, 19 16. i p. (H.
Report 1116, 64th Cong., ist sess.)
See Cong. Record, 64th Cong., 2d sess., Senate; Dec. 15, 1916;
V. 54: [unbound] p. 395.
Discusses S. res. 290, 64th Cong., 2d sess., requesting commit-
tee on printing to investigate the subject and report within thirty
days as to what bulletins or publications issued by the govern-
ment may be suspended, temporarily at least, and as to what
economies may be practiced in the use of print paper by the
government in the various departments. Passed Dec. 15, 1916.
Text of resolution is given. S.7795 and identical H.21021 were
offered in response to this resolution.
Senate. Printing Committee. Economies in govern-
ment printing and use of print paper ; report pursuant
Bibliography of Printing Investigation 271
to S. res. 290 and to accompany S.7795 [to amend and
revise the laws relating to the printing and binding and
distribution of publications for Congress]. Jan. 11, 1917.
45 p. (S. Report 910, 64th Cong., 2d sess.)
See Cong. Record, 64tli Cong., 2d sess., Senate; Feb. 6, ^917;
V. 54: [unbound] p. 2879, 298J. Text of bill given [unbound]
p. 2880. Identical House bill is II. 21021.
Ill
Bibliography of Laws
Note. — This list is given as an attempt at a historical record. For legal
use the laws in force at date will be found in the two standard compilations,
the Federal Statutes Annotated; and the United States Cominled Statutes.
See, for compilations in print of all laws to end of 1909, Checklist;
GP1.2: L44; also GP3.2: P93. The report by Ames, SpofTord, and Baird,
188.2, p. 35-57, gives laws in detail for eacli publication. Other printed com-
pilations for limited periods will be found in the successive Document Cata-
logs. Bibliographies of laws were given as part of the report of the A. L. A.
documents committee in 1905 (Lib. Jour., 30: C92-C93) and 1906 (Lib.
Jour., 31 : 141).
Omitted are statutes affecting only one publication, single or series, and
any purely temporary in character.
See also, beyond, laws relating to depository libraries.
Jan. 12, 1895. 53d Congress. Stat. L. 28:601-624.
General law which established Documents Ofifice and present sys-
tem. Summarized m Library Journal, 20: 13-20, 1895.
Mar. 2, 1895. 53d Congress. Stat. L. 28:962. Sundry civil ap-
propriation act.
Restricts printing of hearings and other publications of committees
to $500. When no Joint Committee on Printing is in existence its
duties are to be performed by the committee then in existence of
either house.
Note. — The Senate rules continue the members of its printing
committee in office till their successors are appointed. The House
committe expires with the Congress.
U. S. Documents Office. First draft of proposed bill to . . .
simplify the methods of publication of public documents.
1896.
Printed and distributed by the first superintendent of documents,
F. A. Crandall, to arouse interest in and support for proposed re-
forms. Many of the reforms have been adopted, but this bill never
became a law. Summarized in Lib. Jour., 21: 102-105.
Feb. 6, 1896. 54th Congress. Stat. L. 29:463.
Gives State Department 20 copies of each Congressional Document
and Report, and 10 copies of every bill and resolution.
Feb. 26, 1896. 54th Congress. Stat. L. 29 : 465.
Extends provisions of sec. 79 of printing act for distribution to
geological depository libraries so as to include also future publications.
Mar. 19, 1896. 54th Congress. Stat. L. 29 : 468.
Increases by 10 each the number of copies of Congressional Record
to Senate and House libraries.
June II, 1896. 54th Congress. Stat. L. 29:454. Sundry civil
appropriation act.
272
Bibliography of Laws 273
Repeals par. 46, sec. 73, of printing act, furnishing Congressional
Record to 8 public or school libraries.
Feb. 17, 1897. 54th Congress. Stat. L. 29 : 700.
To furnish daily Congressional Record to newspaper correspondents
in Washington.
Feb. 18, 1897. 54th Congress. Stat. L. 29:701.
The Geological survey to give 500 copies of geological and topo-
graphical maps and atlases to foreign and national government bodies,
learned associations and libraries; one copy of each to be sent to
each senator and representative, and a second copy be at his disposal.
Mar. IS, 1898. 55th Congress. Stat. L. 30:316.
Secretary of state to deliver to superintendent of documents Re-
vised Statutes and its supplements, Session Laws, and Statutes at
Large, to be sold by him.
Jan. 28, 1899. 55th Congress. Stat. L. 30: 1388.
To furnish 6 copies of Congressional Record to Library of Con-
gress.
Mar. 26, 1900. 56th Congress. Stat. L. 31 : 713.
Amends law of Feb. 17, 1897, by providing also bound Congressional
Record to press correspondents.
Mar. 2, 1901. 56th Congress. Stat. L. 31 : 1464.
Regulates number of copies to Library of Congress of government
publications for its own use and international exchanges.
Mar. 7, 1902. 57th Congress. Stat. L. ^2: 1765.
The superintendent of documents to issue to the secretary of the
Senate and the clerk of the House of Representatives government pub-
lications needed by them.
June 30, 1902. S7th Congress. Stat. L. ^2 : 746.
Documents reserved for binding on orders of senators, representa-
tives, and officers of Congress, as provided by sec. 54, par. 6, of
printing act, not called for after two years to be bound and deliv-
ered to superintendent of documents for distribution to libraries.
July I, 1902. S7th Congress. Stat. L. 32 : 631.
Each senator and representative to receive one copy of the Revised
Statutes and supplements.
Jan. 30, 1903. 57th Congress. Stat. L. 2>2'- 786.
Doubles number of copies of Congressional Record to members and
officials of Senate and House and adds Labor Department and Civil
Service Commission to bodies receiving it.
Mar. 3, 1903. 57th Congress. Stat. L. 32: 1146.
Geological Survey surplus publications for sale in stock after five
years in excess of a reserve of 200 copies may be distributed to
public libraries.
Mar. 28, 1904. 58th Congress. Stat. L. :i2 '■ 584-
Authorizes superintendent of documents to reprint publications of
any department needed for sale, if approved by publishing department.
Apr. 6, 1904. 58th Congress. Stat. L. 33 : 159-160.
To amend Stat. L. 28, chap. 23, sec. 68, to include sergeant at
arms of House to receive quota of documents.
Apr. 28, 1904. 58th Congress. Stat. L. ^^ : 542.
Amends printing act as to allotment of laws and Official Register.
274 Bibliography of Laws
Jan. JO, 1905. 58th Congress. Stat. L. 33:610-611.
Amends printing act, sec. 54-55. Discontinues printing " usual
number " of Keports on private bills and on simple and concurrent
resolutions, and reduces edition of private bills and resolutions and
of simple and concurrent resolutions.! " Bills and resolutions . . .
unless specially ordered . . . shall only be printed when referred to
a committee, when favorably reported back, and after their passage
by either house."
Mar. 3, 1905. 58th Congress. Stat. L. 33: 1249. Deficiencies ap-
propriation act.
I'rohibits any department from printing any matter not germane
to its business without authorization by Congress. Illustrations not
to be included in order to print unless certified as necessary or spe-
cifically ordered. Creates Printing Investigation Commission.
Mar. 30, 1906. S9th Congress. Stat. L. 34 : 825-826. Public res.
13-
Original costs, i. e., composition, stereotyping, illustrations, etc., of
publications to be charged to government body issuing them; other
costs, for such publications as are included in the Documents of
Congress, to be charged pro rata to issuing body and to Congress,
according to number of copies used by each. Introduced by the
Printing Investigation Commission.
Mar. 30, 1906. 59th Congress. Stat. L. 34 : 826. Public res. 14.
Publications of Congress and of other government bodies may be
printed in two or more editions up to authorized limit in number
under regulations to be established by Printing Joint Committee.
Introduced by the Printing Investigation Commission.
June 30, 1906. 59th Congress. Stat. L. 34:762. Sundry civil
appropriation act.
Annual estimates for printing and binding for each government
body to be submitted and no other appropriation to be used for such
purpose. Continues Printing Investigation Commission.
Mar. I, 1907. 59th Congress. Stat. L. 34: 1012-1015.
Permits secretary of Senate and clerk of House to order reprints
of bills, resolutions, laws, or Reports of committees or commissions.
Hearings or other publications of committees restricted to i,ooo copies.
Copies extra to " usual number " and other printing, how ordered and
charged. As to stationery, blank books, binding, etc., for members of
Congress. [Amendments and additions to sec. 2 of printing act]
Department publications not to be included in Documents or Reports
series of either house. How publications for depository libraries
shall be made into volumes and bound. Number of copies printed
for depositories to be according to number of depositories. Docu-
ments Office to be specifically appropriated for. Authority to print,
except as authorized by Joint Committee on Printing, to lapse after
two years. [Amendments and additions to sec. 81 of printing act.]
Sec. 59, 81, and 99 of printing act, and amendment of Mar. 2, 1895,
repealed. Introduced by the Printing Investigation Commission.
Mar. 4, 1907. 59th Congress. Stat. L. 34 : 1394. Deficiencies ap-
propriation act.
Continues Printing Investigation Commission and enlarges its scope.
1 See, for table showing printing and distribution under this act, U. S.
Printing investigation commission, Report, 1906, v. i: 100.
Bibliography of Laws 275
Jan. 15, 1908. 60th Congress. Stat. L. 35 : 565-566.
Department annuals and serials, required, by law of Mar. i, 1907,
not to be included in Documents or Reports series of eitner bouse,
to be, in copies delivered to members and officials of Congress, in-
cluded in these series. A " library edition " to be sent to depository
libraries, which shall be arranged in volumes and bound as directed
by the Joint Committee on Printing. The departmental edition to be
printed concurrently with the " usual number." Hearings of com-
mittees to be printed as Congressional Documents only when spe-
cifically ordered.
See Monthly Catalog, Jan., 1908: Notes.
May 27, 1908. 60th Congress. Stat. L. 35 : 384. Sundry civil ap-
propriation act.
Repeals sec. 3 of act of Mar. i, 1907, requiring the Documents
Office to be specifically appropriated for.
Mar. 2, 1909. 60th Congress. Stat. L. 35: 1168.
Members of 6oth Congress to receive all publications ordered
printed by that Congress and published prior to Dec. 6, 1909.
Mar. 4, 1909. 60th Congress. Stat. L. 35 : 937, Deficiencies ap-
propriation act.
Continues Printing Investigation Commission during 6ist Congress.
Mar. 4, 1909. 60th Congress. Stat. L. 35 : 1067.
Congressional Record and bills, resolutions, and other documents
to be furnished to governor general of the Philippine Islands.
Apr. 23, 1909. 6ist Congress. Stat. L. 36: 182.
Repeals resolution of Mar. 2, 1909.
June 25, 1910. 6ist Congress. Stat. L. 36:868.
Repeals part of sec. 54 of printing act, as amended by resolution
of Tune 30, 1902, so that document reserve for members and of-
ficials of Congress shall not be printed. Each senator and repre-
sentative may have one copy bound of every public document to
which he is entitled. Recommended by the Printing Investigation
Commission.
See Monthly Catalog, Apr., 1910, Notes; also Lib. Jour., 28:Ci02.
Mar. 3, 1911. 6ist Congress. Stat. L. 36:1153-1156. Judiciary
act.
Regulates distribution of Supreme Court reports. Federal Reporter
and its digests.
Mar. 4, 191 1. 61 St Congress. Stat. L. 36: 1444. Sundry civil ap-
propriation act.
Continues Printing Investigation Commission until end of 62d
Congress [Mar. 4, 1913^-
Mar. 4, 191 1. 6ist Congress. Stat. L. 36: 1446. Sundry civil ap-
propriation act.
Unpaid bills for printing speeches, etc., to be deducted from sala-
ries of senators and representatives.
Aug. 23, 1912. 62d Congress. Stat. L. Z7 '• 4I4- Legislative, etc.,
appropriation act.
Provides that " addressing, wrapping, mailing, and otherwise dis-
patching publications for the departments " shall be done in the
Documents Office.
276 Bibliography of Laws
Aug. 24, 1912. 62d Congress. Stat. L. ^y. Sundry civil appro-
priation act.
Requires submission to Congress, with estimates of appropriations
needed, of detailed statement of employes, salaries, and of other ex-
penditures under appropriations Lp. 487]. Printing of bonds, etc., in
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, to be on power presses [p.
430]. Abolishes collected form of Speciiications and Drawings of
Patents [p. 481].
June 22,, 1913. 63d Congress. Stat. L. 38:73. Sundry civil ap-
propriation act.
Printing committee of either house, when it recommends printing
and binding for Congress, shall submit estimate of cost and estimated
cost of printing previously ordered in that fiscal year.
July I, 1916. 64th Congress. Stat. L. 39:83. Sundry civil ap-
propriation act.
Sets dates when copy, revised proof, and printed copies of annual
reports and accompanying documents shall be furnished, or printing
appropriations may not be used. Three reports specifically excepted.
U. S. Cong. Printing Joint Committee. Printing bill; compara-
tive print shov^fing H. R. 8664, as reported to the House
Jan. II, 1916, with H. R. 15902, as passed the House and
reported to the Senate in the 63d Congress, and the present
printing laws. Printed for the Joint Committee on Print-
ing. 1916. 11,121 leaves, oblong large 8°. (64th Cong.,
1st sess. Comparative print.)
Cover title. H.8664, H. 15902, and present laws respectively in
three parallel columns. Leaves I-II: "Corresponding sections in
old bill (H. R. 15902, 63d Cong.) and in new bill (H. R. 8664, 64th
Cong.)."
Depositories
U. S. Revised Statutes, Chapter 7, sec. 497-511, p. 82-85; also
supplements.
Contain all the unrepealed laws to dates of volumes. Also these
can be obtained in the Federal Statutes Annotated, and in the United
States Compiled Statutes.
Documents Office. Report, 1907, p. 38-44.
Gives resume of laws relating to depositories, with discussion.
Official list of depository libraries ... to Jan. i, 1909.
(Bulletin 12.)
Gives resume of legislation for depository libraries.
Depository libraries. July 15, 1913. 4 p. (Circular
22; 2d rev. ed.)
General facts about depository libraries, with summary of legis-
lation.
Dec. 27, 1813. 13th Congress. Stat. L. 3: 140-141.
Makes operative " for every future Congress " free distribution of
Journals of Congress and various other publications to executives and
each branch of legislatures of states and territories; to colleges and
7
P'
Bibliography of Laws 277
incorporated historical societies; as provided in various separate prior
acts. 200 copies in addition to the usual number to be printed for
distribution.
Dec. I, 1814. 13th Congress. Stat. L. 3 : 248.
Gives to American Antiijuarian Society at Worcester Senate and
House Journals and Documents " which have been or shall be pub-
lished."
July 20, 1840. 26th Congress. Stat. L. 5 : 409.
Apr. 30, 1844. 28th Congress. Stat. L. 5:717.
Increase to 300 the number of extra copies to be printed for
distribution.
Jan. 28, 1857. 34th Congress. Stat. L. 11:253.
Mar. 20, 1858. 35th Congress. Stat. L. 11:368. Amends pre-
ceding.
These acts are " real basis of the institution of depositories." The
publications which heretofore had been distributed by the Library
of Congress and Department of State, are now to be distributed by
the Interior Department to institutions to be designated by repre-
sentatives and delegates for their several districts.
Feb. 5, 1859. 35th Congress. Stat. L. 11:380.
Gives to Interior Department the receiving, keeping, and distributing
of all publications, including accumulations, except those given to
Congress or departments direct. Amends act of 1857 by adding
senators to designate depositories.
Mar. 2, 1861. 36th Congress. Stat. L. 12:244.
Long act summarizing laws in force. Permits Interior Department
to make selection of libraries to receive publications of which the
edition would not supply all libraries. State and territorial libraries
are not named in any law prior to 1895, and distribution to them
presumably began many years previously under this power. Deposi-
tories can not be changed except at beginning of a Congress or for
failure to meet requirements.
Mar. 3, 1887. 49th Congress. Stat. L. 24 : 647.
Establishes geological survey depositories.
T7 Jan. 12, 1895. 53d Congress. Stat. L. 28:601-624.
Main law on which is based the present system of depositories.
Creates special depositories to receive the Official Gazette of the
Patent Office [sec. 7i\. Creates duplicate set of geological depository
libraries to receive publications prior to 1894 [p. 621].
Feb. 26, 1896. 54th Congress. Stat. L. 29 : 465.
Makes permanent, and to receive publications of 1894 and after,
duplicate set of geological depository libraries.
June 6, 1900. s6th Congress. Stat. L. 31 : ZiZ- Alaska civil gov-
ernment act.
Makes Historical Library and Museum of Alaska a depository.
Jan. 18, 1907. 59th Congress. Stat. L. 34:850.
Makes library of Philippine Islands government at Manila a de-
pository.
Mar. I, 1907. 59th Congress. Stat. L. 34: 1014.
Adds land grant colleges to depository libraries. Assigns certain
278 Bibliography of Laws
depositories, found, after rcdistricting, in other than original district,
to new district.
June 23, 1913. 63d Congress. Stat. L. 38:80. Sundry civil ap-
propriation act.
Makes all existing designations of depositories permanent.
IV
The Librarians on the National Publications:
Articles in the Library Journal, the A. L. A.
Proceedings, and Public Libraries
Note. — Reviews of individual works are noted with the works, not here.
The report of the documents committee of the American Library Association,
if any, is put first in the contents analysis of each volume below. An
asterisk calls attention to certain articles of special interest in regard to
points emphasized in this work or otherwise helpful.
Library journal
Library Journal i, 1876/7 : lo-ii (Dewey; value, wasteful distri-
tion, etc.) : 177 (editorial; reform in distribution and
indexes needed).
2, 1877/8 : *26-28 (Spofford; distribution evils; discussion).
3, 1878 : II (editorial; notice of bill) -.32 (Hoar's bill; dis-
tribution through Interior Dept.).
4, 1879 : 195, 291 (Green, Spofford, Homes, committee, to
draft bill for distribution) : 81-83 (Axon; Distribu-
tion of British documents as example for United
States) :84-85 (editorial comment on Axon).
First committee report on government publications.
5.1880 187 (note on index to Journals of Congress being'
prepared by Alb. Ordway; discussion of indexing).
6.1881 : 86-89 (Green, chmn. ; report; presents two bills)
: *I30-I3i (discussion; Dewey, resolution covering re-
forms wanted) : 313 (editorial ; describes bills) : 314
(exec, board approves bills).
7. 1882 : 195, 226-228 (Green, chmn.; report).
8.1883 1257-260, 291 (Green, chmn.; report, includes petition
to Congress) : 107 (Ames; binding reform urged)
: 150-15 1 (progress on Poore's cat.) 1250-251 (Ed-
mands; plan for shelf numbering of Congressional set).
9. 1884 : No committee report : 140 (Boston Literary World;
Plea for index to govt, publications, federal, etc.).
10,1885 : *335-336 (Green, chmn.; progress report; asks for
everything published for large libraries, selected publi-
cations for smaller libraries) : *236-24i (Bowker;
historical and descriptive, includes lists and indexes and
279
28o Articles in the Library Journal
touches on distribution) : 241-244 (McKee; explains
numbering and methods of publication).
11,1886:377-378 (Green, chmn. ; report) : 482 (resolution
and letter by committee to Senate printing committee)
: 19 (Nation on Interior Dept. becoming clearing
house) : 20-24 (Singleton bill nearly in full) 130
(Cutter; catalog entry) 178 (Henderson bill to dis-
tribute Congressional Record and Statutes to libraries,
etc.) 1376 (resolution of thanks to J. G. Ames) : 3,
35, 99 (editorials, the last on Hickcox's catalogs).
12,1887 1445-447 (Green, chmn.; report, incl. letters from J.
G. Ames) : 135 (summary of Ames's report) : 161
(Hickcox's catalog) : 447-448 (indexes, especially on
patents).
13,1888: No report. : 131-132 (editorial: progress and
Ames's report) : 143-144 (summary of Ames's report
dated Mar. 27, '88).
14,1889:267-269 (Green, chmn.; report) : 275-276 (Beer;
bibliography needed) : *432 (Schwartz; bad publica-
tion methods) : 431 (editorial corroborating Schwartz)
: 487 (Cornell Univ. Bull., Nov., '89; gives arrangement
under countries in card catalog).
15, 1890: C95-C100 (Green; Fletcher; committee report)
: C104-C105, C116 (discussion) : *I2 (Dunn) : 12-14
(Ames) : 209 (distribution).
l6>i89i : C70-C73, C118-C120 (Bowker, chmn.; *special re-
port); C73-C74 (discussion) : 107 (Merrill; catalog-
ing).
17.1892 : C38-C39, C7S-C80 (Bowker, chmn.; report) : C57,
C77-C80 (discussion) :8-i7 (text of bill) : 46-47
(Dunn; protest) 153-54 (amendments) : 84 (bill for
free mailing) C61-C62 (Cheney; shelf notation in San
Francisco library) : 107 (Merrill; same at Miami uni-
versity) : 123-124 (circular urging support for bill)
: 124 (bill for supply to libraries) : 165 (progress of
bill) :3, 43, 477 (editorials).
18. 1893 : C52-C53 (Dunn, chmn. ; reports disagreement)
: C72-C74 (Ames) : 86-87 (resolution) : 507-508
(summary; letter of Dunn on amendments) : 3, 35,
497 (editorials on progress of bill) : 228 (editorial on
Hickcox's catalog).
19. 1894 : C126-C128 (Bowker, chmn.; report of progress)
: C128-C134 (discussion; letter from Ames) : C164-
C165 (resolution) : 95 (Minn, library association)
Articles in the Library Journal 281
1263-264 (Morse on distribution; from Pop. Sci. Mo.,
Aug., '94) :4i, 119, 255, 288 (editorials).
20, 1895 : C53-CS4 (Bovvker, chmn. ; report) : 26-27, 5^-57
(review of Ames's index, and of 2 reports, 1894) • ^3~
20 (summary of bill, i. e., law of Jan. 20, 1895) : C78-
C79 (Ames on bill) : 3, 43, 75 (editorials) 1197
(editorial on Crandall's beginning work) : 301 (edi-
torial ; first Monthly Catalog).
21, 1896 : C79-C80 (Bowker, chmn. ; report, cooperation with
Crandain : C20-C25 (Crandall; address) :4ii-4i2
(proceedings when report and address were made)
: 19-20 (Docs. Office, annual report, reviewed) : 74
(Checklist, 2d edition, reviewed) *: 102-105 (sum-
mary of Crandall's proposed bill ; reprints Bowker's
special report, 1891) *: 217-218 (Cutter; ideal is that
any library shall have any document free) : 225 (para-
graph on progress) '■ 2;i,7 (Hasse; instance of bad
methods) : 91, 215 (editorials).
22, 1897 : C97-C98 (Bowker, chmn.; report) : 4-5 (edito-
rial) : 16-17 (Hickcox; 104 serial, technical, and sci-
entific publications of the government not Congres-
sional Documents) : 43 (Doc. Cat, 1893/95, reviewed)
: 75 (editorial; Crandall's bill, and bill to extend Ames's
index) : 91 (Documents Office, report, 1895/96, re-
viewed) : 143 (progress) : *i6o (Washington Post,
Feb. 23, 1897, against, and Crandall's reply, Feb. 25, sup-
porting bill " taking the executive reports and serial
works out of the numbered series of the Congressional
Documents") : 270 (Doc. Index, 54th, ist, reviewed)
: C154 (resolution endorsing work of Docs. Office
under Crandall) : 735-736 (editorial on demotion of
Crandall) : 747 (resolution against demotion of Cran-
dall) : 770 (Doc. Index, 54th, 2d, reviewed).
23, 1898 : C117-C120 (Bowker, chmn.; Lodge's resolution for
transfer of Docs. Office to Library of Congress de-
feated; demotion of Crandall, etc.) : C121, C127-C128
(resolution favoring transfer; discussion; Ferrell's ad-
dress) : 3-4 (editorial; touches on transfer) : 21
(progress of Lodge's and Crandall's bills) : 47-48
(editorial; Lodge's bill) : 64 (resolution favoring
transfer) : 197 (examination for supt. of docs, an-
nounced) : 214 (Oberlin college; cataloging of execu-
tive reports in serial set) : 562, 669-670 (editorial,
and article from Nation on private reprint for sale of
282 Articles in the Library Journal
Messages of the Presidents) : 564-566 (Fuller; U. S.,
state, and town docs, in small libraries).
24.1899 : Cicx)-Cio2 (Bowker, chmn. ; report; only Cioo on
U. S. documents) 14 (editorial) : 16-17 (Docs. Of-
fice, report, 1897/98, reviewed) : 197 (plea for cata-
loging) : 608 (bad distribution) : 659 (editorial on
bill).
25.1900 : C91-C92 (Bowker, chmn.; resume of events; reso-
lution) : 56 (suggests reprinting early docs.) 1*65-
67 (summary of bill, wbicji takes executive pul)lications
out from Congressional set) : 293 (resolution ap-
proved) : 55, 103 (editorials on bill).
26, 1901 : C118-C119 (Bowker, chmn.; report) :Cii9-Ci20
(discussion) 14, 21 (editorials on bill) *:8-i3
(Hasse; before Nat. Assoc, of State Librarians) : 20-
21 (Docs. Office, report, 1899/1900, reviewed) : 62
(name nide.x to pub. docs, wanted) : *I52-I54 (Mann;
Univ. of Illinois library school course in govt, docs.)
■359 ("Index and review," notice) * : 397 (Chapin;
Decimal classification in cataloging pub. docs.) : C119-
C120 (work of Ferrell reviewed) : 671-674 (Ferrell;
The pub. docs. ; descriptive ; plea against inclusion of
department publications in Congressional set) 1689-
690 (Post; "Tables and Index" announced) : 820
(course in pub. docs, at Wise, summer school an-
nounced) : 849-850 (editorial on legislation needed).
27.1902 ; C92-C96 (Falkner, chmn.; report; asks for a
"library edition" of dept. publications) : C130 (dis-
cussion) : 21-22 (Docs. Office, report, 1900/01, re-
viewed ; plea for exclusion of department publications
from Congressional set) : 107 (Fichtenkam, catalog-
ing pub. docs., from "Index and Review," noticed)
: 120 (Gerould; wants Library of Congress to catalog
pub. docs.) : 149 (Wise, course in pub. docs., 1902)
: 207 (care of pub. docs., Wisconsin) *: 815-818, 825
(Hasse; Vexed question of pub. docs.; discussion)
1832 (Wyer, chmn. docs, committee. Western library
assoc, 4 requests) : 893 (betterments wanted by N. Y.
Library Assoc.) : 936-938 (Ferrell's answer to 4 re-
quests) *: 938-939 (Crandall; Catalog entry of govt,
authors) : 1013 (Roosevelt; pub. docs., from message,
1902).
28.1903 : C102-C106, C133 (Falkner. chmn.; report; resolu-
tion calls for " library edition " of dept. publications)
* : 69 (catalog entry of government authors; Jones vs.
Articles in the Library Journal 283
Crandall) * : C176-C189 (same; discussion; paper by
Hasse; decision favoring inverted form) : 117-118,
832-833 (Docs. Office, reports, 1901/02, 1902/03, re-
viewed) : 774-776 (Falkner, list of bibliographies pub-
lished in official documents of the United States, May,
1902-Apr., 1903).
29. 1904 : C168-C169 (Falkner, chmn. ; report; resume of
legislation and bibliographical material) *:ii6-i20
(Hasse; on a bibliography of pub. docs.) : 207 (de-
scription of Docs. Office printed catalog cards) * : 475
(Bliss; catalog entry for govt, authors) .-597 (list of
publications of Docs. Office).
30.1905 : C92-C101 (Hasse, chmn.; report; includes legisla-
lation, instruction in library schools, new docs., bibli-
ographies, and foreign docs.) : 182, 200 (Watson and
Koch ; want more than one card per title from Docs.
Office) 1291, 864 (foreign docs, committee consoli-
dated with pub. docs, committee ; functions of commit-
tee) : C86-C91 (Ambrose; Uses of govt. docs, in the
university library) : 930-931 (Daniels; agricultural
bulletins, indexes and value) : 951-952 (Kansas City
public library arranges department reports by subject;
etc.; : 174, 954-955 (Docs. Office, reports, 1903/04,
1904/05, reviewed).
31, 1906: C140-C145 (Hasse, chmn.; report; mostly about
state and foreign documents) : C219-C220, C279,
C281 (wanted, opportunity for discussion) : 661-
665 (Hasse; building up a pub. doc. collection) : 317-
318 (Clarke; protest against change in Monthly Catalog
to be alphabetical).
Page 661-665 same as in Public Libraries, 12:48-51, except
sample cards omitted in latter.
Note. — Beginning 1907 Papers and proceedings of A. L. A.
are published complete in separate form, and reports of docs,
committee no longer appear in the Library Journal except as
special contributions.
^2, 1907 : 97 ( Hasse ; cataloging ; geographical and political
divisions of different territory but same name) : 120
(pub. docs, committee invites questions) : 194 (edi-
torial on methods) : 195-198 (C. W. Smith; pub. docs,
as a library resource) *: 203-206 (Crandall; library of
Docs. Office described) *: 207-208 (Burns; law of
Mar. I, 1907, takes department publications out from
Congressional set. " a reform sought for many years ")
1245-246, 269 (pub. docs, at A. L. A. meeting) : 350
(editorial) : 361 (Merrill; utilizing govt, docs.)
284 Articles in the Library Journal
: 473-474 (Monthly Cat., July, 1907, alplialjctical form
and past issues reviewed).
33,1908:98 (Docs. Office, report, 1906/07, reviewed) : 150-
151 (libraries of a certain grade sliould be depositories,
not such as are designated by members of Congress)
* : 200 (VVyer; Docs. Office, Author Headings, ed. 2,
change to "Education Bureau" disapproved) * : 227
(Post; reply) : 302 (restriction on loaning modified).
34,1909 : 43-48 (Post; "most essential reform is decrease in
distributing agencies ") : 91 (Ballard ; verses) * : 538-
545 (Post; outline for a working collection and aids to
its use).
Post's address abridged, and Ballard's verses in Public Li-
braries, 14: 49-51.
35, 1910: 283 (Des Moines library segregates, but indexes pub.
docs.) * : 328 (Godard, chmn. ; pub. docs, commit-
tee; resolution for exclusion of department publications
from Congressional set) : 503-505 (Macdonald; use in
small libraries).
36.1911 : 270, 384 (summaries of bill) : 385 (Economy and
Efficiency Commission on distribution; etc.) : 425-426
(Godard, chmn.; docs, round table meeting).
37.1912 -.y], 442 (resolutions favoring bill) : 270 (Harris;
describes printing bill) *: 370-376 CMattern; national
and international cooperation in . . . analytical catalog-
ing [incl. national publications]) 1384 (analysis of
bill) : 385 (Economy and Efficiency Commission; re-
port on centralization of distribution) : 446 (Godard,
chmn.; docs, round table meeting) : 455 (pub. docs,
committee, its work [one paragraph]) -.504-506 (Rei-
nick; trials of a document librarian).
Resolutions favoring bill same as in A. L. A. Papers and
proceedings, 1912, p. 200-201.
38,1913:8-9 (Walter; pub. docs, as reference material)
: 402-403 (Luard; use in small library) : 523-524
(Godard, chmn.; docs, round table meeting).
39, 1914 : 129-130 (resolution for contents table to Cong.
Record) 1207-209 (Reinick; pub. docs, as commer-
cial factor) : 297-298 (Godard, chmn.; docs, round
table meeting) : 305 (Steiner; asks to have sold by
book dealers) :ZZ^ (Pomona college library; treat-
ment in non-depository libraries) : 577, 802 (editorials
on bill) *: 815-823 (Carter: resume of bill) : 936
(pub. docs, in a small library; from Iowa Library
Quarterly).
Articles in the A. L. A. Proceedings 285
40,1915 -.421 (Docs. Office, report, 1913/14, reviewed) 1493
(.resolutions) 1595 (Godard, chmn. ; docs, round ta-
ble meeting).
Documents round table meeting same as in A. L. A. Papers
and proceedings.
41,1916:401-402 (Hasse; course on United States foreign
relations and government docs.) : 601-602 (Godard,
chmn. ; docs, round table meeting ; "^ Clarke ; better-
ments needed) : 632 (editorial on printing bill)
* 1664-674 (Carter; printing bill) -.675 (Bowker; re-
print of report of 1891 showing progress).
American Library Association Proceedings
Note. — Down to and including 1906 the proceedings of the American
Library Association and papers read at the meetings were printed in full
in the Library Journal. The references to the Library Journal previously
given duplicate in page numbers and text all the references that could be
given to the separately published proceedings. Such references are, there-
fore, omitted here.
Beginning with 1907 the papers, reports of committees, etc., of the asso-
ciation are not generally to be found in the Library Journal, though an
account or abstract of proceedings may be given.
A. L. A. Papers and proceedings, 1907:132-135 (Hasse, chmn.;
report) : 135-139 (Post; address) : 139-145 (discus-
sion) : 146-149 (Reinick; use in the public library)
: 149-153 (Gill ; obstacles to use by depository libra-
ries) *: 153-156 (Austen; Congressional bills and Re-
ports in libraries) : 156-157 (C. H. Brown; pub.
docs, in technical libraries) : 303 (resolution for com-
mittee on federal legislation).
Page 132-135 same as Public Libraries, 12:251-254, 1907.
1908:178 (Hasse; suggestion) : 382-406 (Wyer, chmn.; re-
port; Post speaks; Everhart, paper; docs, course at
three schools described).
1909:227 (Godard, chmn.; report) : 277-278 (resolutions
on removal of Post) : 313-329 (papers by Montgom-
ery, Tilton, and Post; largely state docs.).
Post's paper in Library Journal, 34: 538-545.
1910:759-760, 674 (Godard, chmn.; docs, round table meet-
ing; resolutions).
Resolutions in Library Journal, 35:328.
1911:90-91 (Godard, chmn.; report) : 194 (resolution)
272-272 (docs, round table meeting).
Docs, round table meeting in Library Journal, 36:425-426.
1912:115-116 (Godard, chmn.; report) :200-20i (resolu-
tions favoring bill) : 307-311 (docs, round table meet-
ing; paper by Donath).
Resolutions in Library Journal, 37: 442.
286 Articles in Public Libraries
1913:256 (resolutions) : 352-362 (Godard, chmn. ; docs,
round table meeting ; * paper by Wallace ; * Crandall
on an executive gazette).
Kound table meeting, without papers, in Library Journal,
38: 523-524-
1914: 109-110 (invitation to round table) : 255-270 (Godard,
chmn. ; docs, round table meeting ; paper by Carter ;
Hegemann on Monthly Cat.; Hartwell on census)
: 207-208 (Silliman; catalogs of Docs. Office).
Round table meeting, almost identical, in Library Journal,
39: -'97-298.
1915:248 (resolutions) : 257-260 (Hartwell; on Checklist
classification; abstract; : 288-289 (Godard, chmn.;
docs, round table meeting).
Round table meeting duplicated in Library Journal; abridged
in Public Libraries.
1916: *30i-3i2 (Carter; printing bill) *: 312-319 (Clarke;
library needs, and betterments in system and service
needed) : 444-447 (Godard, chmn.; docs, round table
meeting).
Carter's paper in Library Journal, 41:664-674; and Clarke,
only "Betterments needed," in same, 41:602.
Public Libraries
Public Libraries, i, 1896 : *222-224 (Crandall; work of Docs. Of-
fice and needed legislation) : 263-264 ("Library
Primer"; apx. F: Pub. docs., by Hasse).
2, 1897: 15 (editorial on Doc. Cat., v. l) : 183; 310-311 ; 358;
399 (resolutions, etc., against demotion of Crandall).
3,1898:46, 84, 85 (editorials favoring transfer of Docs. Of-
fice; urging bill) : 86 (summary of Crandall's pro-
posed bill) : 295, 302 (A. L. A. action on transfer of
Docs. Office, etc.).
4, 1899: 145 (examination for position in Docs. Office) : 248
(Voge; classification for Congressional set) : 257
(resolutions) *: 405-407 (Mann; govt, docs., descrip-
tive, etc.) : 455 (arrangement in series or by subject,
especially state docs.).
5, 1900 : 83-87 (Reinick : arrangement and cataloging) : 297
(pub. docs, committee report noticed) : 433-434 (Ohio
Library Assoc; report, abstract) : 449 (Indiana Li-
brary Assoc; conference, notice).
6, 1901 : *28-34 (Hasse; before Nat. Assoc, of State Libra-
rians) : 625 (course at Wise summer school an-
nounced).
Articles in Public Libraries 287
Miss Hasse's article differs in phraseology only from same
in Library Journal, 26:8-13.
7,1902:32 (Mann; course at University of Illinois school)
: 33-35 (Falkner; Library of Congress policy in col-
lection of official publications) : 66 (editorial against
library's selling) *: 266-267 (Nebraska university li-
brary; arrangement by subject) : 289-290 (pub. docs,
committee report noticed) *: 355-359 (Hasse; vexed
question of pub. docs.) : 372 (Western library meet-
ing; discussion; : 387 (course at Wisconsin school
described) * : 492 (Parsons; pub. docs, in a non-de-
pository library, at Nebraska meeting, abstract).
Miss Hasse's paper differs very slightly from same in Library
Journal, 27: 815-818.
8, 1903:405-406 (Dewey; against issue of department reports
in collected documents series, especially as in N. Y.
state docs.).
9,1904:182 (description of Docs. Office printed catalog
cards).
10, 1905 : 19 (Watson wants more tlian one card per title
from Docs. Office).
Same in Library Journal, 30: 182.
11,1906:51-53 (Reinick; classifying and cataloging) : 106
(Merrill; leaflet publications of Agric. Dept. ; these
not intended to be sent to libraries) : 115 (shall Cat.
of Title Entries of Copyright Office be continued?)
:5ii-5i3; 514 (Hasse; and Jessie G. Smith; pub. docs,
in small libraries).
12,1907:48-51 (Hasse; Building up a doc. dept.) : 129
(pub. docs, committee meeting announced) : 230-231
(editorial; how to get) : 251-254 (Hasse; distribu-
tion historically and practically considered) : 345-347
(Evans; pub. docs, in small libraries; nine ways to
get).
Page 48-51 identical, except sample cards omitted, with that
in Library Journal, 31:661, 1906. Page 251-254 same as A.
L. A. Papers and proceedings, 1907, P- I32-I35-
13,1908:25 (Stuckey: public documents in small libra-
ries, at Kansas meeting) : 29-30, 107-108, 179-180
(Hasse; cataloging puzzles, individual publications)
: 153-154 (Docs. Office, report, 1906/7, reviewed)
270-271 (Wyer, chmn. ; docs, round table meeting;
Post speaks) : 408 (Roberts; this is "The day of the
doc").
14,1909:30-31 (H. H. Ballard and Carlton before Conn.
Library Assoc.) : 49-51 (Post; "Most essential re-
288 Articles in Public Libraries
form is decrease in distributing agencies ") : 52-53
(Hasbroiick ; small libraries use few pub. docs.; sug-
gestions) : 84-86 (Ballard: verses) : 126; 126-127
(Paddock and Buynitzky; "Make room for the docu-
ment" in the small library) : 316 (Nat. Assoc, of
State Librarians will discuss docs.).
I'ost's address, here much abridged, and P.allard, verses, same
as in Library Journal, 34: 43-48, 91.
15,1910:38 (M. G. Wyer: pub. docs, in the small lil)rary,
abstract) *:i8i-i84 (Tilton; Printed serial entry
cards).
16,1911. Xo material.
17,1912:230 (Economy and Efficiency Commission; list of
reports to date).
18, 1913: *II9-I2i (Mass. Library Club; J. L Wyer; also
treatment at Haverhill, Milton, and Worcester pub.
libraries) ^ 334-335 (Godard. chmn. ; docs, round table
meeting).
Round table meeting without resolutions and abridged from
that in Library Journal, 38: 523-524.
19,1914:355 (Godard, chmn.; docs, round table meeting).
.Abridged from that in Library Journal, 39:297-298.
20, igi5:*io5 (Billingsley : pub. docs, as Christmas gifts)
: 219 ("Uncle Sam's cook book." list) *: 262-265
(Clarke; printing bill) -.2,17 (Godard, chmn.; docs,
round table meeting).
p. 377 is shorter account than that in Library Journal, 40: 595,
and in A. L. \. Papers and proceedings.
21,1916:318 ("The walk-out of the docs.," verses, by
G. S. C).
INDEX
Note. This index does not make entry for each item in
the classified list of publishing bodies beginning page 156, nor
for those in Part V, Bibliography, under headmgs as follows : —
"Government bodies described by themselves"; "Government
bodies' lists of their own publications " ; Government bodies" in-
dexes to their own publications " ; " Bibliography of laws "
"Bibliography of laws: Depositories"; "Articles in the Library
Journal, the A. L. A. Proceedings, and Public Libraries."
A. L. A. Book List helps in se-
lecting publications, 192
A. L. A. Cataloging Rules, fol-
low for corporate bodies,
211; call for personal name
references for official heads,
213; main entry defined, 215.
See also Cataloging United
States government publica-
tions
Abridgments of Message and
Documents series, account
of, 74
Agricultural Year Book, see
U. S. Agriculture Depart-
ment, Year Book
Aldrich, Nelson W., reference
from, to his report must find
his name in entry, 224
Alphabetization in catalog,
main entry determines, 215
American Catalogue, 247
American Library Association,
Council against reprinting
executive publications in
Congressional series, 79;
Council advises subject class-
ification of government pub-
lications, 83 ; majority favors
inverted government author
headings, 227 ; Proceedings,
analysis of, 285
Ames, John G., superintendent
of documents, 2>2 ; Index, 23'
40, 249 ; _ serial numbers of
Congressional series devised
by, 71, 123. 5"^^ also U. S.
Documents Division (Inte-
rior Dept. )
Ames, John G., A. R. SpoflFord,
and S. F. Baird, Report re-
garding . . . public docu-
ments, 245
Analytical cataloging of United
States government publica-
tions, brings in many per-
sonal authors, 214; do how
much, 214; substitutes for,
214 ; printed catalog cards
for, 224
Annals of Congress gives early
proceedings of Congress, 126
Asterisk with bill number in
Congressional Record index
denotes bill was acted on,
129
Attorney-general is head of
Justice Department, 114
Author Headings for United
States Public Documents,
243 ; helps m selecting publi-
cations. 54. 191 ; tells for each
body under what higher
body, 156
Author number, see Book num-
ber
Authors, official, see Govern-
ment bodies as authors
Authors, personal, occur how,
67 ; entry for not all, but
those specially needed, 213;
analytical cataloging brings
in many, 214. See also Gov-
ernment bodies as authors
Baird, S. F., see Ames, John
G., A. R. Spofiford, and S. F.
Baird
Beaman, M. G., see also, as
editor, Index-Analysis of the
Federal Statutes
289
290
Index
Bibliographies in United States
government publications,
many worthy catalogmg, 243
Bibliographies of United States
government publications, list
of, 41 ; Checklist and Month-
ly Catalog as, 146; this work
not a bibliography, 146, 151 ;
executive bodies' lists of their
own publications given free,
192. See also Catalogs and
indexes of United States
government publications ;
Checklist of United States
Public Documents ; Govern-
ment bodies' lists of their
own publications; Greely, A.
W. ; Monthly Catalog
Bibliography, 241
Bills and resolutions of Con-
gress. 133 ; data from Con-
gressional Record on passage
of, 7, 130; supply of, should
be kept to fill demands, 107 ;
tracing passage of, in Con-
gressional Record, 129; ab-
breviations for, in Congres-
sional Record index and
Document Index, 132; begin
how, 133 ; used respectively
for what, 133; quote by four
designations, 134; printed
how often, 134; indexed
where. 134; number vast,
how procured, 135 ; bills and
joint resolutions, procedure
to become laws, 135: private
bill defined, 139; Congres-
sional Report title should in-
clude bill title, 141- See also
Resolutions of Congress
Bills and resolutions of Con-
gress, History of, see Con-
gressional Record
Binders, loose-leaf, supplied by
Government Printing Office,
hearing, 267
Bindings, substitutes for sheep
opposed, 30; for depository
libraries, 103 ; for depository
libraries, publication on,
263
Biographical Congressional Di-
rectory, new editions recur,
MS
Board, term how used, 112.
Sec also Commission
Book number determines shelf
arrangement, 215
Book selection, see Selecting
United States government
publications
Bookbinders in Government
Printing Office, pay for, re-
ports on, 270
Books in paper covers, see Pa-
per-covered books
Bowker, R. R., 247
Brown, Zaidee, on treatment of
pamphlets, 230
Bulletin series, shelve together
by number, and catalog im-
portant single issues, 222
Bureau, term used how. 112
Bureau edition, see Edition,
plain title
Burns, W. S., on stopping re-
printing executive publica-
tions in Congressional Docu-
ments, quoted, 79
Calendar number on Congres-
sional Reports, non-essential
in catalogmg, 143
Call number, sec Book number
Carter, George H., thanks to, 5
Catalog cards, printed, various
issues, 224
Catalog entry standardized
should be used in every rec-
ord of library, 200
Cataloging, chief of. mav dis-
pose of depository shipments.
197 ; should supervise serial
check record. 197, 200
Cataloging main entry deter-
mines arrangement in cata-
log and on shelves, 215
Cataloging United States gov-
ernment publications. 204 ;
government author not to be
omitted. 211 ; make every en-
try likely to be looked for,
212; follow Library of Con-
gress entries. 216: beware
entries supplied to Library
of Congress by other depart-
ments, 216; Library of Con-
gress and Document Catalog
divergences, 225 ; govern-
ment author heading, direct
or inverted, 226; govern-
ment author below bureau
i grade, direct heading or sub-
Index
2gi
head. 228. See also A. L. A.
Catalog Rules ; Authors,
Personal ; Book number ;
Shelves, Library
Cataloging United States gov-
ernment publications : Con-
gressional Documents and
Reports, how treat only one
of publications in volume,
19.3 ; entries for, 205 : series
note, 207; author of each,
207 : grouping by catchword
subhead. 208; catalog not all,
but which. 208; when call
number of each is that of
series. 20Q; plain title and se-
ries editions, combined entry,
2og; titles, especially of Re-
ports, how abridge, 209
Cataloging United States gov-
ernment publications : maps,
directions for, 2,^,2
Cataloging United States gov-
ernment publications : pam-
phlets, catalog by reference
only before binding, 2.SI
Cataloging United States gov-
ernment publications ; serials,
catalog only collected vol-
umes, and refer to check
record for parts. 200. 221 ;
four items and other details,
201. 2ig. bring parts to-
gether in one entry, 218: "li-
brary has " statement, three
forms, 21Q; bulletin series,
shelve together and catalog
singly, 222 ; small annual re-
ports may be cataloged be-
fore they make a volume,
22;^ : editions often recurring,
catalog like serials, 22;^ ;
changed title or government
author, 22;^, ; show connection
of reference with entry, 224;
printed catalog cards for.
various issues. 224: serials
indexed in periodical in-
dexes, note in entry, 225 ;
document and whole number
of department, no series en-
trv for, 225 ; make title brief,
218
Catalogs and indexes of
United States government
publications, description. .-^8 ;
list, 41. See also Ames,
John G. ; Document Catalog ;
Document Index ; Indexes to
their own publications by
go\ ernment bodies ; Monthly-
Catalog ; Poore, B. P.; Ta-
bles and Index
Cattle, Diseases of, see Dis-
eases of Cattle
Check record of serials, see
Serial check record
Checklist classification, classifi-
cation marks are substitute
for numbers of Congres-
sional series, 58, 89, 102 ; dis-
advantages of, for library-
use. 238
Checklist of United States
Public Documents, 247 ; a
model bibliography. 21, 40;
cost of, 5,3; use of, 54; se-
rial numbers in second edi-
tion, 71 ; list of sessions of
Congress and Presidents in,
121 ; gives list of publica-
tions. 151 ; four groupings of
publications in, 132; fountain
head of information about
publications, 191
Church, A. W., and H. H.
Smith, Tables . . of the . . .
Annals of Congress, Con-
gressional Debates fete], 249
Clarke. E. E.. more liberal dis-
tribution to libraries needed,
54 ; for uniformity favors di-
rect form of government au-
thor heading, 22J
Classed list of government
publishing bodies. 156
Classification marks assigned
by Documents Office to each
non-Congressional publica-
tion, see Checklist classifica-
tion
Classification of government
publications, 233 : by subject
advised, 83 ; see also Govern-
ment bodies as authors ; of
pamphlets. 231; of maps. 232.
See also Checklist classifica-
tion : Decimal classification
Gassification of state and for-
eign government publica-
tions, to be segregated if
those of the United States
are. 240
Classifiers in libraries, classed
292
Index
list of publishing bodies may
help. 150
Commerce Reports, see Consu-
lar Reports, .Monthly
Commissions, non-permanent,
publications of, 56; non-per-
manent, described, iio; term
how used, 112; publications
of, treated with executive
publications, 14^
Committee, sec Commission
Committee Reports, see U. S.
Congress: Reports of com-
mittees
Committees of Congress, term
of appointment. 2.^ ; libraries
by pending bill to receive
publications of: 107, 139; de-
scribed, no; publications in-
accessible, i.^g. See also U.
S. Congress : Reports of
committees
Compositors in Go\ernment
Printing Office, Reports on
pay for. 270
Concurrent resolutions. see
Resolutions of Congress
Congressional Directory, plain
title edition justified, 76; list
of sessions of Congress in,
121, 244
Congressional Documents, see
U. S. Congress : Documents ;
Congressional series
Congressional Globe gives
early proceedings of Con-
gress, 126
Congressional Record, 126;
data from, on passage of bill
into law, 7, 130: reprints
from. 22 . distribution of, S7 ;
should be supplied to libra-
ries by Documents Office, 57,
107; supersedes for use Jour-
nals of Senate and House,
75, 126 ; pending bill requires
daily table of contents, 107;
description and use. 126;
three predecessors named,
126; debates in Congress
about, references, 126; what
material not in it, 127-. leave
to print in. 127: History of
Bills and Resolutions de-
scribed, 128: action in Con-
gress, how traced in. i.^o;
Record and predecessors,
genuine Congressional publi-
cations, 145; editions un-
bound and bound, 194 : class
where, 2SS '■ exchange for
Canadian Hansard, Report,
268; cost of edition tor pub-
lic sale, reference, 260, 267
Congressional Record . index,
subject references faulty. 65.
128, 130, requires trained in-
dexer, 107 ; to daily issues
will not verify for bound vol-
umes, 127; indexes and sup-
plies what, lu ; abbreviations
for bills and resolutions. 132
Congressional series, free dis-
tribution by members of
Congress fosters, 58: class
marks of Documents Office
substitute for numbering of.
58: number arrangement re-
gardless of subiect, source
or size. 6g ; numbered how.
70; bound how, 70; gaps in,
as sent to libraries. 72 : ex-
clusion of executive publica-
tions, opposition to. 72 : con-
sists of four series and Jour-
nals. 75. 122; nine groups of
genuine Congressional Docu-
ments. 75, 144; Congressional
and non-Congressional, dis-
tinction inconsistently ap-
plied. 75. 83 ; library to keep
intact, disadvantages, 83. 236;
law of Mar. i. 1907, excludes
executive publications from,
86: law of Jan. 1.5, IQ08. re-
stores executive publications
to, 86; distribution as unit
an absurdity, 86; affords
cover for undesirable pub-
lishing, 87 ; advantages of
numbering and voluming,
89; charges for non-Con-
gressional publications in.
how shared. 89; publications
now in series, now out. 90;
now broken and unrepresen-
tative. 90; early, no differen-
tiation in, 122; order of ar-
rangement of series and
Journals in. 123; shelf list
sole record of. 204; catalog
entries for volumes. 205 :
class where, 235 : shelve in
remote part of library, 236.
Index
293
See also Serial numbers of
the Congressional series : U.
S. Congress : Documents ; U.
S. Congress: Memorial ad-
dresses. U. S. Congress:
Publications
Consular Reports, Monthly,
changes in title and govern-
ment author, 22,? ; Checklist
classification shelves in three
places, 2^8
Contested Congressional elec-
tion cases are genuinely Con-
gressional Documents. 75
Contributions from the United
States National Herbarium,
change in government au-
thor. 22;^
Cornell University library,
thanks to. 5
Corporate authors, see Govern-
ment bodies as authors
Court decisions, who is author,
67
Court reports, defined, 113:
"Decisions" better title, 113
Crandall, F. A., first head of
Documents Office, 34: against
reprinting executive publica-
tions in Congressional series.
79; arguments for inverting
government author, refer-
ence, 226
Criminal Code. 137
Dash, oblique, indicates inclu-
sive years covered by one
publication, 201
Decimal classification, govern-
ment publishing bodies
classed by, 154
Demand and supply, see Edi-
tions, size of
Department, term used how,
112
Department edition, see Edi-
tion, plain title
Department Methods Commit-
tee, see U. S. Department
Methods Committee
Department publications, see
Executive bodies : publica-
tions
Departments, executive, see
Executive departments
Depositorv libraries, 43: desig-
nation bv Documents Office,
44, 107: designations should
be permanent, 44, 107: selec-
tion of pubhcations allowed
to, by pending bill, 45, 46;
publications not sent to, 47;
Documents Office supplies,
.t3 : shipments to, disposal of,
197; laws on. 276 See also
Geological depository libra-
ries . Patent Gazette deposi-
tory libraries
Descriptive Catalogue of the
Government Publications of
the United States, 1774-1881,
see Poo re. B. P.
Dewey, Melvil, against New
York state documents in col-
lected series, reference. 78
Diplomatic correspondence in
State Department report. 152
Diseases of Cattle, edition and
distribution. 31
Diseases of the Horse, edition
and distribution. 31
Distriliution. free, of govern-
ment publications, to all li-
braries a necessary reform.
53. 54. 57. 107: by publishing
office its riglit. 55, 106; by
members of Congress. 57: by
members of Congress, valu-
ation plan, 59. 270; by mem-
bers of Congress, abolish-
ment of. needed. 106: to be
only by publishing office, a
necessarv reform. 106: due
to all libraries. 107 . valua-
tion plan should embrace
every publication, 106
Distribution of government
publications, 52 ; for pub-
lishing bodies is done
through Documents Office.
55 ; Documents Office's stock
of current publications,
whence derived, 57 ; ulti-
mately to be on sales basis,
59; centralization of. not yet
reached, 61 : separately, im-
possible if bound in volumes
of Congressional Documents.
88: editorial board needed,
99: to individuals bv sale and
from Documents Office only,
a necessary reform, 107. cen-
tralization of. recommended
by Economy and Efficiency
294
Index
Commission, 267 ; valuation
plan, statements of distribu-
tion. 270. Sec also Dupli-
cates; International exchange
of goverinnent publications;
Reserve, members' ; Reserve
number ; Valuation plan
District of Columbia smking
fund, see U. S. Treasurer
Division, term how used, 112;
in cataloging, as direct head-
ing or bubbead. 228
Document Catalog, 249; de-
scribed, 38: change in system
would be disastrous, 7,8; list
of government authors in,
54: refers to Statutes at
Large under committee Re-
ports, 1,^8; title in entries for
committee Reports. 142. 210:
complete and quick guide to
all publications, 152; gives
higher body under which
each government author be-
longs. 1-6; makes personal
name references. 2r.^: usage
differs from Library of Con-
gress. 22^ : inverts govern-
ment author headings, 226 :
makes body below bureau
grade direct heading, 228.
See also Catalogs and indexes
of United States government
publications
Document departments in libra-
ries, this work not adapted
for. 8; directions for library
practice not addressed to, 197
Document Index, 249; de
scribed, 39: well made, 66;
indexes and supplies what,
1,1,2 : abbreviations used for
bills and resolutions. 1.^2 : use
to hnd subject material in
Congressional series. 206.
See also Catalogs and in-
dexes of L'nited States g9v-
ernment publications
Document Index : Schedule of
Volumes, type distinguishes
Congressional from non-
Congressional Documents, 72,
7S, 83 : library must note in,
call number of Congressional
ser-es volume shelved by sub-
ject. 207
Document librarian may dis-
pose of depositorv shipments,
197
Document numbering given by
publislimg body, its purpose
and iiow to treat. 115; make
no series entry for, 116, 225
Documentary History of the
Constitution of tlie United
States, editions of, 19;?
Documents, use of term by
archivist, 9
Documents library, see U. S.
Documents Office
Documents of Senate and
House, see U. S. Congress :
Documents
Documents of the United
States, see U. .S. govern-
ment publications
Donatli. August, against re-
printing executive pulilica-
tions in Congressional series,
7Q
Duplicates, free, unless use re-
quires, should be refused to
libraries, 56. 2;^7
Earle, M. T., A disinterested
publisher, reference. 243
Economic changes have muiti
plied goxernment functions
and publications. 149
Economy and Efficiency Com-
mission, see U. S. Economy
and Efficiency Commission
Edition, plain title, defined, 76;
sent to depository libraries,
how bound, 76: report on
providing, for libraries, 260
" Edition plan." see Editions
according to estimate
Edition reprinting, see Reprint-
ing plain title edition in
series edition
Editions, two meanings of, 73,
84 : knowing about, and se-
lection of, 193; frequently
recurring, catalog like seri-
als, 22^
Editions according to estimate,
explained. 50. 85 : law for.
102; committee Report on,
261 ; regulations for, 1906,
261 ; same, 1909, 264 ; same,
19 1 4, 269
Editions; size of. l^ws for. 48;
editions, distribution and ex-
Index
=^95
tra copies of publications,
reference, 50, 260; incalcula-
ble for valuation plan, 59 ;
now fixed by statutes, 61 ; for
works in series not adjust-
able to demand, S8, 104; edi-
torial board on, needed. 99.
Elections, Congressional, sec
Contested Congressional elec-
tion cases
Elliott's Debates a genuinely
Congressional publication, 145
Envelopes, franked, see U. S.
Congress : Members, frank-
ing privileges of
Everbart, E., Handbook of
United States public docu-
ments, 244 ; cliaracterizes
publications in a general
way, requires verilication,
152
Exchange, international, of
government publications, see
International exchange of
government publications
Executive bodies, terminology
and grades, 112; intricate or-
ganization and work of,
where described, 149; twenty-
two of independent grade
named, 153. See also Gov-
ernment bodies as authors
Executive bodies : publications,
147 ; law of Mar. i, 1907.
sends plain title edition to
libraries, 71, 8j!, 102; same,
committee Report on, refer-
ence, 262; opposition to ex-
clusion from Congressional
series, 72; as Documents of
Senate and House, titles,
numbering, etc., 76, 77 : as
sent to libraries, how bound,
76 ; as Documents, number
ratio to genuine Congres-
sional publications, 27, 80,
144, 150: as Documents,
charges for, adjustment of,
89, 102 ; same, Report on,
261 ; examples of, intermit-
tently or never Congres-
sional Documents, 90; ad-
visory committees on, or-
dered, 100; same, reference.
260; not to be Congressional
Documents, law passed. 102 ;
to be again Congressional
Documents, law passed, 102 ;
not to be Congressional Doc-
uments, a necessary reform,
106; terminology, etc., of,
III ; variety in size and sub-
jects, 150; first hand ac-
quaintance with each work
necessary. 151 ; reprinting as
Documents confuses, 151 ;
lists of, found where, 151.
See also Editions : size of ;
Printing, charges for ; Re-
printing plain title edition in
series edition
Executive bodies : reports, re-
printing subreports in iiigher
reports, bad effects of. 91 ;
same, summary. 95 ; helps
for users of. 92; reprinting
subreports, usage of dift'er-
ent departments compared,
9,^ ; subreports should be
printed detached from, 94;
swollen by subreports, exam-
ples of, 94; order to reduce
size of. 95, 100. 2(X); subre-
ports made Congressional
Documents increase duplica-
tion, 95 ; Document edition
sent to libraries to be bound
as plain title edition, 103 ;
pending bill prints as Con-
gressional Documents only,
103 : certain bodies report to
Congress, 109; contents ad-
missible, 113; reports to be
made to Congress, list
where, 152 : separate edition
of report of chief, how treat,
194; run July i to June 30,
217; small annual, catalog
before issues make volume,
223. See also Reports ; Re-
printing subreports in higher
reports
Executive departments, ten
named, 113. See also Execu-
tive bodies : Government
bodies as authors
Executive Documents, see U. S.
Congress : Documents
Experiment Station Record,
editions bound and unbound,
194
Falkner, R. P.. asks for
" librarv edition " of execu-
296
Index
tive publications, "q: list of
bibliographies, reference. 230
Ferrell, L. C. against reprintmg
executive piil)lications as
Congressional Uocuinents. 79
Finding List to Important
Serial Documents, locates an-
nual reports in Congressional
series, reference. 2<x). 248
Fiscal year, sec Year. Fiscal
Fisher, Irving. National vital-
ity by, distributed as Con-
gressional Document. 145
Folding room of House of
Representatives, see U. S.
Congress. House of Repre-
sentatives : Folding room
Folding room of Senate, sec U.
S. Congress, Senate: Fold-
ing room
Ford. P. L. Some materials
for a bibliography ... of the
Continental Congress. 247
Foreign relations of the United
States, see Diplomatic corre-
spondence
Forestry, publications on, kept
apart by Checklist classifica-
tion. 23Q
Franks. Congressional, see U.
S. Congress : Members,
franking privileges of
Friedenwald, Herbert, Journals
and papers of the Continental
Congress. 247
Geological depository libraries,
47
Government bodies as authors,
identification of, 54: free dis-
tribution of their own publi-
cations their right, 55, 106;
difficulties in understanding.
66; acquaintance with, needed
to use their publications, 68:
charges for publications that
are Congressional Docu-
ments, how adjusted, 89, 102;
lists of, where found, 108;
list of, classed according to
Decimal classification, 154;
not to be omitted in catalog-
ing, 21 T : public becoming ac-
quainted with, 211 : as catalog
headings, direct or inverted.
226 : below bureau grade, di-
rect heading or subhead. 228;
publications describing them-
selves, 250: lists of their own
publications, 251 ; indexes to
their own publications. 255.
See also Authors, Personal
Executive bodies : Judicial
branch of the United States
government
Government bodies described
by themselves. 250
Government bodies' lists of
their own publications, 251
Government of the United
States, see U. S. Government
Government printing, see Print-
ing of the United States gov-
ernment
Government Printing Office, see
U. S. Government Printing
Office
Government publications, are
record of nation's life, 17;
of foreign countries com-
pared with those of the
United States, 64: of foreign
countries, to be segregated, if
those of United States are,
240
Government publications of the
United States, see U. S. gov-
ernment publications
Government, strong centralized,
feared earlier. 149
Greely. A W.. Public docu-
ments of the early Con-
gresses, 247
Hartwell, I\I. A., thanks to. 5.
See also, as editor. Checklist
of United States Public
Documents
Haskin. F. J., American gov-
ernment. 244
Hasse, A. R., The nation's rec-
ords, 243 : United States gov-
ernment publications. 244; list
of bibliographies. 250
Havenner. Geo. C. see U. S.
Printing and Publications Di-
vision (Commerce Dept. )
Hickcox, J. H. United States
government publications, a
monthly catalog. 247
Hinds, A. C. Precedents, is
genuine Congressional Docu-
Index
297
ment, 75 ; better in plain title
than Document edition, 76,
80; new editions recur, 144
History of bills and resolu-
tions, see Congressional Rec-
ord
Horse, Diseases of the, see Dis-
eases of the Horse
House of Representatives, sec
U. S. Congress. House of
Representatives
Index — Analysis of the Fed-
eral Statutes, use with Stat-
utes at Large, 137
Index and Review, 248
Indexes to periodicals, sec
Periodical indexes
Indexes to their own publica-
tions by government bodies,
255
Indexes to United States gov-
ernment publications. sec
Catalogs and indexes of
United States government
publications
Indian depredation claims, re-
port on. general distribution
uncalled for. 86
International exchange of gov-
ernment publications. 246
International relations, sec
Diplomatic correspondence
Jefferson's Bible distributed as
Congressional Document, 145
Jeflferson's ^lanual, sec U. S.
Congress. House of Repre-
sentatives : Constitution, Jef-
ferson's manual, and rules
Joint Committee on Printing,
sec U. S. Congress : Printing
Joint Committee ^
Joint Committee on the Li-
brary, sec U. S. Congress :
Library Joint Committee
Joint resolutions, see Resolu-
tions of Congress
Journals of Senate and House,
see v. S. Congress : Journals
of Senate and House: U. S.
Congress. Senate: Journals
Judges, federal, sec Court deci-
sions ; Court reports : Ju-
dicial branch of the United
States government
Judicial branch of the United
States government, court offi-
cials and Justice Department
not included in. 109; publica-
tions of, not included in this
work, 109. Sec also Legal
publications of the United
States government
Judicial Code. 137
Judicial decisions, see Court
decisions
Judicial reports, see Court re-
ports
Keep Commission, see \5. S.
Department Methods Com-
mittee
Kerr, R. W., History of the
United States Government
Printing Office. 245
Kroeger, A. B.. Guide to . . .
reference books, 247
Land Office map of the United
States, see U. S. Land Office,
General
Lane. L. P., Aids in the use of
United States government
publications, 250
Laws of the United States,
Rolls and Library Bureau
prints and distributes, 121 ;
slip law described, 136 ; libra-
ries receive in what form and
how treat, 137 : slip laws in-
dexed where, 138; how quote,
138. ^t't' also Bills and reso-
lutions of Congress ; Criminal
Code ; Judicial Code ; Resolu-
tions of Congress ; Revised
Statutes : Session Laws ;
Statutes at Large
Laws of the United States on
government printing, see
Printing laws
Lee, G. W., Sponsors for
knowledge, copied in classed
list of government publishing
bodies, 154
Legal publications of the
United States government,
only those of courts and gov-
ernment attorneys are gov-
ernment publications, 109;
not included in this work, 109
Legislative branch of the
298
Index
United States government in-
cludes three administrative
bodies, 109
Legislative publications, sec U.
S. Congress: Publications
Librarians, this work addressed
to, 8
Libraries, free supply of publi-
cations to all, needed, 53, 59,
107; supply to, of publica-
tion not adequate. S3' 61, 62;
inconvenienced l^y manj- edi-
tions, 82. Sec also Deposi-
tory libraries : Document de-
partments in libraries ; State
libraries
Library administration, see Li-
brary practice
Library buildings should in-
clude map rooms, 2;^^^
Library economy, see Library
practice
Library Joint Committee, see
U. S. Congress : Library
Joint Committee
Library Journal, articles in,
references, 279
Library of Congress, see U. S.
Library of Congress
Library practice, section on,
189; section on, added on re-
quest, 11; section on, ad-
dressed to what types of
library, 91, 197; to be same
for governmental as for non-
governmental publications,
196; efificiency in, consists in
what, 196
Library school, documents
course in, basis of this work,
7 ; students at, this work ad-
dressed to, 8
Library shelves, see Shelves,
library
Lists of their publications by
government bodies, 251
Mann, James R., criticizes in-
dexing of Statutes at Large,
138
Map of the United States of
the Land Office, see U. S.
Land Office, General
Maps and atlases. United States
government, how treat in
libraries, 232 ; get which, 232 ;
library buildings should in-
clude map rtjonis, 2;^^^ ; cata-
loging of, Library vi Con-
gress's directions for. 2ji,2
Members of Congress, see U. S.
Congress: Members
Members' reserve, see Reserve,
members'
Message and Documents series,
account of, ~;^
Miscellaneous Documents, see
U. S. Congress : Documents
]\Ionthly Catalog, 249: de-
scribed, 39 ; examine for re-
cent publications, 54. 206;
unbound issues can not be re-
placed. 194: use index to find
subject material. 206. See
also Catalogs and indexes of
United States government
publications
IMudge, L G, Guide to . . .
reference books, 247
National progress, shown in
national publications, 17
Xew York State Library, Selec-
tion of cataloguers reference
books, 247
New York state official publica-
tions, bad publication meth-
ods in, 64
Non-Congressional publica-
tions, see Executive bodies :
Publications
Obituary addresses in Con-
gress, sec V. S. Congress :
Memorial addresses
Office, term used how, 1 12
Official authors, sec Govern-
ment bodies as authors
Official Records of the Union
and the Confederate Navies,
edition and distribution. 30
Official Records of the War of
the Rebellion, edition and dis-
tribution, 30
Official Register, see U. S. Cen-
sus Bureau
Orders to print form of, 22
Ordway. Albert. General index
of the Journals of Congress,
ist-T6th, 248: General per-
sonal index of the Journals
of Congress, ist-i6th. 248
Index
299
Pamphlet Laws, sec Session
Laws
Pamphlets, paper-covered books
not same as, 19S, 230: defini-
tion of, 230 ; how treat in
hbrary. 230
Pan American Union, Monthly
bulletin, 245 ; serial of which
type, 217
Paper-covered books not same
as pamphlets, 198, 230. See
also Pamphlets
Paper purchases of Govern-
ment Printing Office, cost of,
25 ; prices in ten years, refer-
ence, 267
Parliamentary practice, see
Hinds, A. C, Precedents
Patent Gazette depository
libraries, account of, 47
Periodical indexes, consult for
government material, 225
Persons as authors, see Au-
thors, personal
Philippine Islands, governor of.
United States government
publications to be sent to,
264
Phillips, P. Lee, see U. S. Li-
brary of Congress, Notes on
the cataloging of maps and
atlases
Plain title edition, see Edition,
plain title
Poore, B. P., Descriptive cata-
logue of the government pub-
lications of the United States
. . . 1774- . . . 1881, 41, 249
Post, W. L., Address on work
of Office of Superintendent
of Documents, 245
Postage, LTnited States govern-
ment publications sent free
of, 62; stamps not accepted
by United States government
publishing bodies, 62
Precedents of parliamentary
practice, see Hinds, A. C.
Pressmen in the Government
Printing Office, pay of, hear-
ing, 267
Printing bill, pending, described
in this work, 7 ; shape in
which it will pass problemati-
cal, 7, 23 : gives Printing
Joint Committee continuous
control, 25: depository libra-
ries in, 44, 45, 46; by it Docu-
ments Office to supply Con-
gressional Record to deposi-
tories, 57, 107 ; valuation plan
in, 59 ; distribution of Senate
and House Journals by, 72;
style of printing, how agreed
upon in, 99: requires publica-
tions division in each depart-
ment, 99 ; framing and prog-
ress of, loi ; requires depart-
ment reports to be printed as
Congressional Documents
only, 103, 106; reenacts re-
form laws passed by Printing
Investigation Commission,
105 ; requires superintendent
of documents to be appointed
by President, 106: requires
Congressional Record to have
daily table of contents, 107;
words in, expressing total of
government bodies, 114; re-
stores Journals to libraries,
125 : gives Senate Executive
Journals to libraries, 125;
limits franking privileges of
members of Congress, 127;
restricts reprinting by mem-
bers of Congress, 127; dis-
tributes rivers and harbors
bills like private bills, 139;
provides committee publica-
tions for libraries, 139 ; bi-U
number in each Congress,
259 : comparison with exist-
ing laws, reference, 276
Printing, charges for, for de-
partment publications as Con-
gressional Documents, how
shared, 89, 102 : same. Report
on, reference, 261
Printing Committee, House, see
U. S. Congress. House of
Representatives : Printing
Committee
Printing Committee. Senate, see
U. S. Congress : Senate
Printing Committee
Printing for Congress, see U.
S. Congress : Printing
Printing Investigation Commis-
sion, see \J. S. Printing In-
vestigation Commission
Prmting Joint Committee, see
300
Index
U. S. Congress ; Printing
Joint Committee
Printing law of 1895. present
printing administration based
on, 34; limits distribution of
Senate and House Journals,
72; purposes stated, 97
Printing law of Mar. i, 1907.
abolished Congressional Doc-
ument edition of department
publications, 71
Printing laws, bibliography of,
272. See also Printing bill,
pending: Printing law of
1895; Printing law of Mar. i,
1907
Printing of the United States
government, amount done for
Congress compared with
amount done for depart-
ments, 27: expenses of,
doubled, 1895-1905, 97. See
also U. S. government publi-
cations
Printing of the United States
government : administration,
this work on, 8; needs man-
agement like private publish-
ing business, 9, 12 ; present
trend of, 11; general laws
for, 22 ; should be model for
states to follow, 90; investi-
gations of, results unknown
to later Congresses, 91 ;
recommendations on, drawn
from official publications. 91 ;
representative board of direc-
tors best form of control. 98;
publishing expert needed for,
99 ; program of reforms
needed, 105 ; Reed Smoot,
speech on, reference, 268.
See also Printing bill, pend-
ing
Printing offices, branch, 28;
hearings on, reference, 265
Printing orders, see Orders to
print
Public documents of the United
States, see U. S. government
publications
Public Libraries, articles in,
references, 286
Public printer, see U. S. Gov-
ernment Printing Office
Public printing, see Printing of
the United States govern-
ment
Publications, government bod-
ies' lists of their own, 251 ;
government bodies" indexes
to their own, 255. See also
U. S. government publica-
tions
Publications divisions, to be es-
tablished in each department,
99: functions of. 99
Publishing bodies, see Govern-
ment bodies as authors
Rebellion Naval Records, edi-
tions of, ,30
Rebellion War Records, edi-
tions of, 30
Reeder, C. W., Government
documents in small libraries,
245
Reference material, for tem-
porary use transfer away
from class, 22^
References, entry or note must
explain, 224
Register of Debates gives early
proceedings of Congress, 126
Reports, list of, to be made to
Congress, 87 ; executive. Con-
gressional, and court, differ-
ence between, 112. See also
Year, fiscal
Reports of committees of Con-
gress, see U. S. Congress ;
Reports of committees
Reports of executive bodies, see
Executive bodies : Reports
Reprinting, authority for, 22 ;
editorial board on, 99
Reprinting from Congressional
Record, etc., for distribution,
22, 127
Reprinting plain title edition in
series edition, bad effects of,
7ji : causes duplication, 79, 81 ;
bibliographical evils of, 79 ;
inconveniences libraries, 82 ;
economic arguments against,
84; law of Mar. i. 1907.
abolished, 86: law of Jan. 15,
1908, restored, 85 ; bad effects
of. summary. 88; causes of
origin, 89; haphazard. Con-
gress cares not, 90 ; subre-
ports reprinted as Docu-
Index
301
ments increase duplication,
95 ; makes executive publica-
tions Congressional Docu-
ments, 144
Reprinting subrcports in higher
reports, bad effects of, 91 ;
same, summarj'. 95
Reserve, members", abolished,
44, 105 ; abolishment of, saves
waste, 85 ; abolishment of,
committee Report on, 265
Reserve number explained, 49
Resolutions of Congress, begin
how, 133 ; used respectively
for what, 133; joint resolu-
tions, procedure to become
law. 135. See also Bills and
resolutions of Congress
Revised Statutes. contains
what, 136: set includes what,
137
Rivers and harbors, bills on,
distribution of, by pending
bill. 139
Rossiter, Wm. S., What shall
we do with public documents,
52, 243 : Problem of the fed-
eral printing, 24. 243 ; Report
on Government Printing
Office. 263
Rules of the House of Repre-
sentatives, see U. S. Con-
gress. House of Representa-
tives : Constitution. Jeffer-
son's manual, and rules
Rules of the Senate, see U. S.
Congress. Senate : Senate
manual
Schedule of Volumes, see Doc-
ument Index : Schedule of
Volumes
Scott. G. W., see. as editor, In-
dex-Analysis of the Federal
Statutes
Section, term used how, 112;
in cataloging, as direct head
or subhead, 228
Selecting United States gov-
ernment publications, helps
in, 191 ; test, discriminate, re-
ject, 192; maps, get which,
232
Senate, see U. S. Congress.
Senate
Separates, printing of, justi-
fied. 79; value and treatment
of, 194
Serial check record, 199; chief
of cataloging to supervise,
197, 200: serves three pur-
poses, 199 ; items to be put on,
200; catalog refers to, for
part of volumes, 200, 219; for
issues each a distinct work
should include author and
title, 201 ; card form for, 202 ;
keep in separate files, 203 ;
bound volumes of Congres-
sional series, do not enter on,
204
Serial government publications,
216: editions unbound and
bound, 193 : check record of,
199 ; each a distinct work, in-
clude author and title on
check record, 201 ; give cata-
loging four items in quoting,
201 : in Congressional series,
Finding list to, 209 ; exclude
what, and three types, 217
Serial numbers of the Congres-
sional series, account of, 71,
123: gaps in, on library
shelves. 90, 124. See also
Congressional series
Serially numbered set, see Con-
gressional series
Serials, indexes to, see Periodi-
cal indexes
Series reprinting, see Reprint-
ing plain title edition in series
edition
Service, term used how, 112
Session Laws, printed when,
contents, 136; discard when
Statutes at Large come, 137,
194
Sheep-bound set, see Congres-
sional series
Shelf list for the Congressional
series, 204
Shelves, library, arrangement
on, book number determines,
215 ; for temporary use,
transfer reference material
on. 22T, ; little used groups,
transfer to remote. 236
Silliman. H. C, thanks to, 5
Smithsonian Institution, see In-
ternational exchange of gov-
ernment publications
302
Index
Smoot, Reed, against reprint-
ing cxccntive iniblioations as
Congressional Documents.
78; estimates expense of
Printing Investigation Com-
mission, loi ; reprintmg, bad
effects of, 104; waste of pul)-
lic documents, 105 , speech,
reference, 2O8
Specialties of government pub-
lishing bodies, classed list of,
154
Spofford, A. R.. Government as
a great publisher, 243. See
also Ames, John G.. A. R.
Spofford, and S. F, Baird
Sponsors for knowledge,
classed list of government
publishing bodies as, 154
Star, see Asterisk
State libraries, this work not
addressed to. 8, 197
State publications, in a library,
shall they be segregated if
federal publications are, 240
States to be independent and
self-sufficient was early doc-
trine, 149
Statutes at Large, indexed
badly, 65, 138; supersede Ses-
sion Laws, 137, 194; when
printed and contents, 137 ; last
issue is, 137; index to, 137;
referred to in Document
Catalog, 138
Superintendent of documents,
see U. S. Superintendent of
documents
Supply and demand, see Edi-
tions, size of
Surplus copies of department
editions, 260
Survey, term used how, 112
Symbols used in United States
government publications, 115
Tables and Index, 40, 249
Tests of .Metals, report on, gen-
eral distribution not war-
ranted, 86
Tilton, A. C, serial entry cards.
reference. 202
Tisdel, A. P.. thanks to. 5
Titles of government publica-
tions, faulty, tS
Townsend, Malcolm, Handbook
of United States political his-
tory. 244
Transference of little used
groups of books to remote
shelves justified, 236; for
temporary use, away from
class, desirable. 22^
Treaties printed where, 136;
not in State Department re-
port, 132
Typesetting machines for Gov-
ernment Printing Office, pur-
chase of, report on, 260
Unbound books, see Paper-
covered books ; Pamphlets
U. S. Agriculture Department,
most technical department,
150 ; issues printed catalog
cards for its publications,
225; form of government
author heading used by. 229
U. S. Agriculture Department:
report, large edition of, de-
manded, 104; catalog entry
for, on printed cards criti-
cized, 218
U. S. Agriculture Department:
Year book, edition and dis-
tribution, 31
U^. S. Botanic Garden, under
Congress, 109
U. S. Census Bureau, Official
register, 244; table of con-
tents gives list of commis-
sions, III
U. S. Coast and Geodetic Sur-
vey, report is on technical
business, 103: publication de-
scribing its work, 250
U. S. Commerce and Labor De-
partment, draft of bill to per-
mit department to sell its
publications, reference, 268
U. S. Commerce Department,
Government Printing Office
recommended to be under,
98 ; publication on its work,
250
U. S. Commission to Revise the
Criminal Laws, 137
U. S. Congress, makes federal
laws, 119: biennial, 119;
sessions of, 120; table of
sessions where, 121 ; debates
and action of, how trace in
Index
303
Congressional Record, 130;
in early days the only con-
spicuous national body, 149;
excluded from classed list of
publishing bodies, 155. See
iilso Bills and resolutions of
Congress ; Committees of
Congress : Legislative branch
of the United States govern-
ment ; Resolutions of Con-
gress.
Documents, 144; quote by
eight designations, 7, 124,
207 ; denoted by capital D,
10; genuine Congressional,
nine groups, 75, 144; consoli-
dation of prior Miscellaneous
and Executive Documents,
122; majority of, are non-
Congressional in origin, 144 ;
serial or recurring in new
editions, 144 ; miscellaneous
single, are of value. 145 ; used
for propaganda, 145 ; bound
and unbound editions of,
194 ; where record call num-
ber of subject classification,
207: subject classification of,
advised, 236. See also Con-
gressional series
Journals of Senate and
House, 125 ; serial numbers
are given to, 71 ; distribution
to libraries now limited, 72,
125 ; superseded in usefulness
by Congressional Record, 75 ;
ignored in discussion here of
Congressional series, 75 ;
pending bill restores to libra-
ries. 125. See also U. S.
Congress. Senate : Journals
of executive sessions
Library Joint Committee
controls Library of Congress
and Botanic Garden, 109
Members, reprints for. 22,
127 ; under franks distributes
reprints. 22, 127: free distri-
bution by, 57 : same, on valu-
ation plan, 59; pending bill
limits franking privileges,
127 ; presenting committee,
name unimportant in cata-
loging. 143, See also Re-
serve, members'
Memorial addresses are
genuine Congressional Docu-
ments. 7^
Officials, reports of, are
genuine Congressional Docu-
ments, 7S ; claim Congres-
sional series numbers are in-
dispensable, 58, 72, 102
Parliamentary practice, see
Hinds, A. C, Precedents
Printing, amount for Con-
gress compared with amount
for departments, 27, 80, 144,
150; rush and amount ab-
normal. 28, 98
Printing Joint Committee,
functions of, 24; supervises
Government Printing Office,
24, log ; pending bill continues
control between sessions of
Government Printing Office
by, 25 ; a changing politi-
cal body. 98; passes on form
and style of printing, 99;
clerk of. should not adminis-
ter Government Printing Of-
fice, 99, 109; edition regula-
tions, 261, 264, 269; approves
purchases of machinery for
Government Printing Office,
263 : prices of paper, 267 ;
Congressional printing hand-
book, 268; valuation plan,
statements on distribution,
270
Publications, 117; number
of, compared with number of
department publications, 27,
80, 144, 150; early important,
145 ; early government publi-
cations all originated in Con-
gress. 149. •S'rr also Con-
gressional Directory: Con-
gressional Record ; Congres-
sional series ; U. S. Con-
gress : Memorial addresses
Reports of committees,
140 ; on private bills and sim-
ple and concurrent resolu-
tions in lettered volumes and
not sent to libraries. 72, 143;
described, 113, quote by eight
designations, 124. 142, 207;
titles of. should include what,
141 : titles of, used by Docu-
ment Catalog and Library of
Congress catalog. 142, 209;
304
Index
how numbered, 142: calendar
number not essential in cata-
loging, 143 : member of Con-
gress presenting, name not
important in cataloging, 143 ;
edition bound and unbound,
194. See also Congressional
series
U. S. Congress. House of
Representatives, election and
term of representatives, iiQ
Appropriations Committee,
hearing on printing appro-
priations, 261
Constitution, Jefferson's
manual, and rules, 244: a
genuine Congressional pub-
lication, 75 : quoted, 134
Document room, recom-
mendations from, to improve
indexing, etc.. 263
Folding room, expense of,
and now superseded. 60
Library, now superseded by
Library of Congress. 60
Printing Committee, Re-
ports by, 260, 261, 262, 264,
266, 268, 269, 270; hearings
by, 265, 268, 269
Reports of committees, see
U. S. Congress: Reports of
committees
Rules, see U. S. Congress.
House of Representatives :
Constitution, Jefferson's
manual, and rules
Useless Papers and Docu-
ments, Select Committee on,
Report disposing of accumu-
lations in folding room, 265
U. S. Congress, Senate, election
and term of senators, 119;
special session, House not
sitting, 121 ;
Folding room, expense of,
and its usefulness now su-
perseded, 60
Journals of executive ses-
sions,, status and printing,
125 ; libraries by pending bill
are to receive, 125
Library, now superseded
by Library of Congress, 60;
catalog of, includes Finding
List to Important Serial
Documents, 209, 248. See
also Finding List to Impor-
tant Serial Documents
Printing Committee, Re-
ports by, 240, 2()2, 265, 266,
267, 269, 270: hearings, etc.,
by, 262. 265, 266, 2t)7, 2(x)
Reports of committees, see
U. S. Congress : Reports of
committees
Senate manual, 244; a gen-
uine Congressional publica-
tion, 73
U. S. Continental Congress.
Journals, a genuine Con-
gressional publication, 145.
See also Ford, P. L. ; Frie-
denwald, Herbert
U. S. Court of Claims, Find-
ings, bibliographically bad as
Congressional Documents, 80
U. S. Department Metliods
Committee, recommends Gov-
ernment Printing Office to be
under department, and edi-
torial board on publications,
25, 97: personnel of, 97; rec-
ommends to reduce size of
department reports, 100; re-
ports by, 260
L^. S. Documents Division (In-
terior Dept.). Report regard-
ing . . . public documents,
246 ; Special report relative to
public documents, 246. See
also U. S. superintendent of
documents (Interior Dept.)
U. S. Documents Office, 34;
medium for wants of public,
35 ; library of, 35 ; see also
Checklist classification ; pub-
lications of, 40; depository
libraries should be designated
by, 44, 107 ; as storage and
supply house of old publica-
tions, 52; as clearing house,
52 ; as sales agency, 53 ; sup-
plies depository libraries. 53 ;
does distributing for publish-
ing bodies, 55 ; current publi-
cations for distribution,
whence derived. 57 : Congres-
sional Record to be sent to
libraries by. 37, 107 ; distribu-
tion not yet centralized in,
61 : work increased by many
editions, 81 ; should be repre-
Index
305
sented on editorial board,
100; transfer of cataloging to
Library of Congress pro-
posed, 106; distriljution, free
to libraries, by sale to indi-
viduals, should be centralized
in, 107; printed catalog cards,
when issued by. 224; address
on work of, 245 : publications
of, on depository libraries,
245. See also Author Head-
ings for United States Public
Documents; Checklist of
United States Public Docu-
ments; Document Catalog;
Document Index ; Monthly
Catalog; Tables and Index;
U. S. Superintendent of doc-
uments (Government Print-
ing Office)
Bulletins, 245, 248
Classification, see Checklist
classification
Price lists, 249 ; as guide to
subject material, 152; sub-
jects on wliich issued, 191 ;
on government periodicals,
reference, 216; on maps, ref-
erence, 2.32
Reports, 246 ; quoted against
reprinting executive publica-
tions as Congressional Docu-
ments, 78
U. S. Economy and Efficiency
Commission, reports, 267,
268; quoted against reprint-
ing executive publications as
Congressional Documents, 78
U. S. Education Bureau, issues
printed catalog cards for its
publications, 224; Teaching
material in government pub-
lications, reference, 250
Bulletins, how catalog,
214 ; main entry to be series
entry, 218
Report, large edition de-
manded, 104
U. S. Engineer Department,
report, reprinted as Congres-
sional Document, 95
U. S. Ethnology Bureau, publi-
cations, general distribution
not warranted, 86
U. S. foreign relations, see
Diplomatic correspondence
U. S. General Supply Commit-
tee is permanent body, 1 1 1
U. S. Geological Survey, bulle-
tins of, editions bound and
unbound, 193 ; issues printed
cards for its publications, 224
U. S. government, legislative,
executive, and judicial, as
basis for group publishing,
81, 106; organization ex-
plained, 108; lists of govern-
ment bodies, where found,
108; functions enlarged in-
crease publications. 149. See
also Executive bodies; Gov-
ernment bodies as authors;
Judicial branch of the United
States government ; Legisla-
tive branch of the United
States government
U. S. Government Printing Of-
fice, 24; its imprint identifies
a L^nited States government
publication, 20; law requires
all government printing to be
done at, 21, 2S; purchases for,
25 ; administrative control of,
25, 98; recommended putting
under a department, 25, 98;
investigations of manage-
ment, 2j; reforms needed,
28 ; under civil service law,
29; labor-saving machinery
and bindings, opposition to,
30; report of, edition should
suit demand, 104 ; represen-
tative board of directors for,
105; under Congress, 109;
Printing Joint Committee
controls, 109; reports of, 24C;
report on sales edition of
Congressional Record, refer-
ence, 260. See also Book-
binders in Government Print-
ing Office ; Compositors in
Government Printing Office ;
Kerr, R. \V, ; Paper purchases
of Government Printing Of-
fice ; Pressmen in Govern-
ernment Printing Office ;
Printing offices, branch ;
Typesetting machines for
Government Printing Office
U. S. Government publications,
students using, this work
aims to help, 8; treat same
3o6
Index
as other publications. 8, lo;
preferred term, 9; works on,
soon go out of date, 11; to
handle, only way to know
them, 11; printing of. pur-
pose, 18; subjects treated in,
19; definition. 20: authors
of, 20; how identified, 20;
before 1861 printed on con-
tract, 21 ; law requires all to
be printed at Government
Printintr Office. 21. 28: same
publication ordered printed
by both Senate and House,
21 ; authority and laws for,
22: reprints of, 22\ may not
be copyrighted. 2t, ; abuses
and bad methods, 30: large
editions of, 30. 145 ; withheld
from depository shipments.
47; condemned and disposed
of as waste paper, 47, 52. 61 ;
steps to obtain, 54 : libraries
should get free, S2>^ 54- 57.
107; to be ultimately on sales
basis to individuals, 59 ; sent
free of postage. 62; 7 diffi-
culties presented by. 63 ; tech-
nical in subject and poorly
edited. 64 ; indexes poor, 65 :
should be distinct according
to three coordinate branches
of government, 81. 106: sub-
ject classification of, advised,
Si ; series numbers of what
use, 89; administration of.
should be model for states,
90; editorial board on. rec-
ommended, 98, 106 ; forms
and style of, how agreed
upon, 99; summary of re-
forms needed, 105 ; each
should appear in one edition
only. 106 ; early, all originated
in Congress, 149; multiplied
as government functions en-
larged, 149; helps in f elec-
tion, 191 : depository ship-
ments of, heterogeneous. 197 ;
how keep up with currently,
206: Tables of. printed at in-
tervals, showing extra and
usual number and distribu-
tions, reference, 248. See
also Bibliographies of United
States government publica-
tions : Catalogs and indexes
of United States government
publications ; Executive bod-
ies : publications ; Executive
bodies: reports: Greely, A.
W. : International exchange
of government publications:
Legal publications of the
United States government ;
Maps and atlases, United
States government ; Pam-
phlets: Printing. charges
for: Printing of the United
States government: admin-
istration ; Reports ; Selecting
United States government
publications : Serial govern-
ment publications: Titles of
government publications ; U.
S. Congress: publications
U. S. Government Publications,
a Monthly Catalog, see Hick-
cox, J. H.
U. _ S. House of Representa-
tives, see U. S. Congress.
House of Representatives
U. S. Hygienic Laboratory,
bulletins, general distribution
not warranted, 86
U. S. Immigration Commission,
report, better in plain title
than Document edition, 80
U. S. Indian Affairs Office, re-
port. 1894. confusing title of
Document edition, yy ; dis-
tribution of report should be
to those interested only, 86
U. S. Interior Department, re-
port, printing of subreports
in, 93
U. S. Justice Department, in
executive branch of govern-
ment, 109 : attorney general
is head, 114
U. S. Keep Commission, see
U. S. Department Methods
Committee
U. S. Labor Bureau, separated
by Checklist classification. 238
U. S. Land Office. General, wall
map of United States, dis-
tribution of. 31
U. S. Library of Congress, su-
persedes Senate and House
libraries, 60: supplies refer-
ence use of government pub-
Index
307
lications, 87 ; librarian of, to
be on editorial board on gov-
ernment publications, 98;
transfer to, of Documents
Office cataloging, 106; under
Congress, 109; catalog title
for Congressional Reports,
142, 210; follow in catalog-
ing, 216; beware catalog en-
tries supplied to, by other
departments, 216 : Handbook
of Card Distribution of,
gives departments supplying
catalog entries to, 216; use
printed catalog cards of, 224;
for printed catalog cards for
anaiyticals, see List of Series
of Publications for Which
Cards Are in Stock by, 224;
catalog entries of, how differ
from Document Catalog, 225 ;
uses direct form of govern-
ment author heading, 22"] ;
makes subhead of govern-
ment author below bureau
grade, 22S ; Notes on the
Cataloguing ... of Maps and
Atlases by, 232. See also
Index-Analysis of the Fed-
eral Statutes ; International
exchange of government pub-
lications
U. S. National Academy of
Sciences, memoirs, distribu-
tion should be to those inter-
ested onlJ^ 86
U. S. National Herbarium, see
Contributions from the
United States National Her-
barium
U. S. National Home for Dis-
abled Volunteer Soldiers, re-
port of, small edition de-
manded, 104 ; independent in
rank but of slight interest,
U. S. Naval Observatory, re-
port is on technical business,
103
U. S. Office of Superintendent
of Documents, see U. S. Doc-
uments Office
U. S. Ordnance Bureau
(Navy), report should go to
those interested only. 86
U. S. Ordnance Department,
report is on technical busi-
ness, 103. See also Tests of
Metals
U. S. Philippine Committee on
Geographical Names is per-
manent body, III
U. S. Postal Savings Sys-
tem only government body
termed system, 112
U. S. President, Messages and
papers, editions of, 31 ; mes-
sages of, to Congress are
genuine Congressional Doc-
uments, 75 : better in plain
title than Document edition.
76, 80; messages of, where
printed, 127 ; proclamations
of, where printed, 136; mes-
sages of, class where, 235
( Roosevelt j, order to re-
duce size of department re-
ports. 95, 100; against extrav-
agance in the public printing,
97, 260; order for advisory
committees on printing in de-
partments, TOO
U. S. printing administration,
see Printing of the United
States government: adminis-
tration
U. S. Printing and Publications
Division (Commerce Dept.),
report on printing costs for
departments, 263
U. S Printing Investigation
Commission, appointment and
term, loi ; laws secured by,
102: laws creating and con-
tinuing, references, 25.9; re-
ports by, 260, 261, 262, 263,
264, 266; hearings, etc., by,
260, 263, 265
U. S. public documents, see U.
S. government publications
U. S. Reclamation Service, re-
port, edition should suit de-
mand from those interested
only, 86, 104
U. S. Rolls and Library Bureau
prints and distributes laws,
121. See also Documentary
History of the Constitution
of the United States
U. S. Senate, see U. S. Con-
gress : Senate
U. S. Standards Bureau, report
3o8
Index
IS on technical business, 103
U. S. State Department, report
contains only diplomatic cor-
respondence, 152; communi-
cation relative to . . . inter-
national bureau of exchanj^es
(of government publications],
246
U. S. Superintendent of docu-
ments (Government Printmg
Oflice), qualifications needed
by, 36, 106; apponitment of,
how made, 36. See also
Crandall, F. A. ; Donath, Au-
gust ; Ferreli, L. C. : Post, W.
L. ; U. S. Documents Office :
Wallace, F. C.
U. S. Superintendent of docu-
ments (Interior Dept.), office
abolished when Documents
Office was established, 34.
See also Ames, John G.
U. S. Treasurer, report on
sinking fund of District of
Columbia, general distribu-
tion not warranted, 86; small
edition demanded, 104
U. S. Treasury Department,
reports, department, not per-
son, is author of, 67 ; reprint-
ing subreports in reports, 93 ;
report is made to Congress,
109
U. S. War Department, reports
swollen by reprinting subre-
ports, 95 ; terms its larger
branches departments, 112
Up number explained. 49
Usual number explained, 48;
obligatory for every publica-
tion of Congressional series
under 100 pages, 84
Valuation plan of giving gov-
ernment publications to mem-
bers of Congress, 54; hear-
ings on, 265 ; statements on,
reference, 270
Van Tyne, C. H., and W. G.
Leland, Guide to the archives
of the government, 243
Wallace, F. C, against re-
printing executive publica-
tions as Congressional Docu-
ments, 79
Waste paper, government pub-
lications as, statistics, 47, 52,
61. See also U. S. Congress,
House of Representatives:
Useless Papers and Docu-
ments. Select Committee on
Whelpley, J. D., Nation's print
shop, 24, 243
" Whole number " given by
publishing body, its purpose
and how to treat, 115: make
no series entry for, in cata-
log. 116, 22t
Wiley. H. W'., chief of U. S.
Chemistry Bureau, as author,
67
Willoughby. W. F., Statistical
publications of the United
States government. 250
Wroth. L. C., Description of
federal public documents, 245
Wyer, J. I., United States gov-
ernment documents in small
libraries, 244; use same in
selecting publications, 191,
against dictum of, to omit
government author in cata-
loging, 211; United States
government documents, 244
Year Book of the Agriculture
Department, see U. S. Agri-
culture Department
Year, fiscal, of the United
States government, runs July
I to June 30, 217
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