(Witnesses: Melvin, Zappone.)

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; that, of course, the author must be final on. Doctor MELVIN. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you think it is really necessary; this editorial supervision such as you now have?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes; I think it is very necessary.

In addition to this, in that office quite a complete record is kept of the status of the various publications that are issued by the Bureau. The Bureau sends out quite a good many publications. Many applications come to the Bureau for various publications, and these are passed upon in this office and request is made upon the Division of Publications that they be forwarded. That is where the Department has them for distribution. Frequently applicants are referred to the superintendent of public documents or to the Representatives from the districts that they come from.

The CHAIRMAN. Do they have these editors in the other bureaus? Doctor MELVIN. In some of them. I do not know how many there are in the Department.

The CHAIRMAN. How does your Bureau compare with the other bureaus in regard to the publications that are issued by it, in a general way?

Doctor MELVIN. I think that our publications are nearly equal in number to those of any other bureau.

The CHAIRMAN. Are the bureaus practically on a level in that respect? Of course I do not mean absolutely.

Doctor MELVIN. About so, I should think.

The CHAIRMAN. Does not the same necessity exist for the editorial supervision in the other bureaus?

Doctor MELVIN. I think they have editors.

Mr. ZAPPONE. In the large bureaus; you have reference to the large bureaus, have you not?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes; there is quite a difference in the bureaus. Some of them are much larger than others.

The CHAIRMAN. I do not think we ran across that in the Weather Bureau.

Mr. ZAPPONE. No; they have a large printing office, and they are not called editors, but proof readers. May I make a statement in

this connection?

The CHAIRMAN. Certainly.

Mr. ZAPPONE. The duties of an editor, as I understand them, are largely to look over an article as to its style, and boil it down into the most succinct form. I think it is in the interest of economy to have an editor in each bureau. Many of the employees who write articlesthey are not all written by the chief of the Bureau, and he has not time to go over all of them-have neither the time nor the ability to properly edit their articles.

That work must be done by some man who can reduce them to a brief form, and thus save the Department an immense amount of money in the printing of these publications, and also present them to the public in a more readable form.

The CHAIRMAN. Of course the man who writes the article, or some one else, must get an article into the most succinct form.

Mr. ZAPPONE. Yes; and they do not have the literary knowledge to do it. About a year ago the President directed the head of each De

(Witness: Zappone.)

partment to appoint an advisory committee on the subject of printing and publications, with the view of reducing the cost of the same. The order issued by the Secretary of Agriculture reads as follows:

GENERAL ORDER NO. 92.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D. C., January 23, 1906.

The President, under date of January 20, 1906, has issued the following Executive order:

"It is hereby ordered that there shall be appointed by the head of each of the Executive Departments an advisory committee on the subject of printing and publication. The chairman shall be an Assistant Secretary or other qualified official, and at least one member of the committee shall have had practical experience in editing and printing.

"It shall be the duty of such committee, under direction of the head of the Department, to see that unnecessary matter is excluded from reports and publications; to see that copy is carefully edited before rather than after going to the Printing Office; to do away with the publication of unnecessary tables, and to require that statistical matter be published in condensed and intelligible form; to supervise the preparation of blank forms; to require the frequent revision of mailing lists; to prevent duplication of printing by different bureaus; to exclude unnecessary illustrations from Department documents, and to prevent the printing of the maximum edition allowed by law when a smaller edition will suffice; to recommend to the head of the Department, for inclusion in the recommendations contained in his annual reports, needed changes in the statutes governing Department publications.

"The following general principles shall hereafter govern the form of the annual reports of the various bureaus and offices of the Departments:

"(1) Annual reports shall be confined to concise accounts of work done and expenditures incurred during the period covered, with recommendations relating to the future, including plans for work to be undertaken.

"(2) Contributions to knowledge in the form of scientific treatises shall not be included in annual reports.

66 (3) Illustrations in annual reports shall be excluded, except (a) maps and diagrams indispensable to the understanding of the text; (b) views of monuments or important structures begun or erected; (c) views showing conditions in outlying possessions of the United States and relating to work done or recommendations made.

"(4) Inserted material, written or compiled by persons not connected with the reporting office, and biographical and eulogistical matter relating to the past or present personnel of the office, shall be excluded.

..

(5) Reports of officers who do not report directly to the head of an Executive Department shall not be reported in the annual report of a Department, but where necessary shall be summarized in the reports of the officials to whom such officers do report.

“(6) Tables shall be inserted only when verbal summaries and statements of totals are inadequate, and complete texts of laws and court decisions shall, except in cases of great importance, be excluded.

"(7) Detailed descriptions and lists of methods, processes, purchases, bids, rejections, installations, repairs, specifications, and personnel employed shall be omitted except when required by their unusual importance or by statute." In accordance, therefore, with the first clause of the above Executive order, the following are appointed an advisory committee on the subject of printing and publication :

W. M. Hays, Assistant Secretary, chairman: Willis L. Moore, Chief of the Weather Bureau; George William Hill, Department editor, who shall be secretary.

The attention of all chiefs and editorial assistants is called to the terms of the above Executive order, compliance with which is enjoined upon all persons submitting or supervising matter submitted for publication.

JAMES WILSON, Secretary.

(Witnesses: Melvin, Zappone.)

Mr. SAMUEL. In the promotion of clerks would a clerk of long service have precedence over a more efficient clerk for promotion? Doctor MELVIN. Simply on account of his length of service? Mr. SAMUEL. Yes.

Doctor MELVIN. No; I think not.

The CHAIRMAN. What proportion of your employees in Washington would be called scientific men?

Doctor MELVIN. This difference is fairly expressed by the difference in the statutory salaries and the lump-fund salaries in Washington. Most of the scientific force-I guess all of it is on the lump sum, and the other is on the statutory.

The CHAIRMAN. Why is that distinction necessary?

Doctor MELVIN. Because, in order to obtain a competent and working force in the scientific lines, it is necessary that we should have more discretion with reference to fixing salaries. We have found already that our limitation to $3,000 per annum is a serious detriment in retaining the services of competent scientists.

The CHAIRMAN. That is, if they can get employment elsewhere in their specialty at a rate higher than that the Government pays?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes. Many of them we have in our Bureau today, our men, are now working at a less salary than they have received offers for from the outside.

Mr. ZAPPONE. Was not the former chief of your Bureau, Doctor Salmon, offered a very high salary by one of the South American countries when he separated from the service-$10,000, was it not? Doctor MELVIN. Yes; he was. It was $6,000.

The CHAIRMAN. On pages 62 and 63 the items begin with the chief of the inspection division and end with laboratory assistant, at $80 per month. This all involves scientific work and requires men who have more or less scientific knowledge?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. When you reach page 64, then you get your ordinary laborers?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes; there are a few at the bottom of page 63, but most of them are on page 64.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; page 64 is principally the laborers. How many buildings do you occupy with your Bureau here in Washington? Doctor MELVIN. We have two entire buildings and rooms in an office building.

The CHAIRMAN. These six charwomen are engaged in keeping those buildings clean and in order, I suppose?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. What services do your laborers render? I see you have quite a number of laborers here in Washington. What sort of work do they do? This is on page 64. There are something like 32 laborers there.

Doctor MELVIN. The majority of those laborers are employed at our experiment station near Bethesda, Md., just outside of the District of Columbia. They are used there in caring for animals that are under investigation and experimentation and in taking care of the grounds of the station. It is necessary to have quite a large number, as it is not considered safe from an experimental point of view to have these men taking care of several lots of animals

(Witnesses: Melvin, Zappone.)

where different diseases are being investigated, for fear of carrying the disease.

The CHAIRMAN. For fear of transferring the contagion?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Does that medical fact-if that is the proper way of speaking of it

Doctor MELVIN. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN (continuing). Does that medical fact involve the employment of more than would be otherwise necessary?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes. Their time is utilized as far as possible, when they are not engaged in caring for animals, in the improvement of the grounds. These animals are necessarily confined to small paddocks, and if it is in the summer we feed them green fodder, which we raise on the premises, and these men do that farm work besides taking care of the animals.

The CHAIRMAN. That is at your experimental station out in Maryland?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you more than one experiment station?
Doctor MELVIN. That is all.

The CHAIRMAN. Has your bureau any stations or offices for demonstration or experimental purposes except in Washington and the one in Maryland that you have been speaking of?

Doctor MELVIN. We have offices in various cities where we have meat-inspection stations, and then we have a number of experiments that are being carried on in connection with State experiment stations. Of course they are carried on upon the premises of the State experiment stations.

The CHAIRMAN. But the only experiment station that your Bureau has for itself, per se, is this one in Maryland?

Doctor MELVIN. That is all.

The CHAIRMAN. When was that constructed?

Doctor MELVIN. About six years ago-six or eight years ago. The CHAIRMAN. Could you state, approximately, about how much of an investment it represents?

Doctor MELVIN. No; I do not remember. I think probably it would be originally in the neighborhood of $15,000 or $20.000; maybe more than that. The first purchase included 20 acres, and a subsequent purchase included 30 additional acres, or 50 acres in all, representing about $30,000.

The CHAIRMAN. About what is the annual cost of maintenance? Doctor MELVIN. Is that given here?

Mr. ZAPPONE. No; it is not given in the projects.

Doctor MELVIN. I think I can get it for you.

Mr. ZAPPONE. It is not here. The expenses of that come in under your general fund.

Doctor MELVIN. It is $29,574.

The CHAIRMAN. That is annual maintenance?

Doctor MELVIN. That was for last year; yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Then approximately it is $30.000?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Does the Government own the land and the build

ings there?

(Witnesses: Melvin, Zappone.)

Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. SAMUEL. Do those laborers receive promotions?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir; we have had to promote them to keep

them.

The CHAIRMAN. When they get promoted they are not called laborers?

Doctor MELVIN. They are promoted as laborers.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you have grades of laborers?

Doctor MELVIN. No; possibly they may receive in the course of a year or two or three years a promotion of $5 a month in pay.

Mr. SAMUEL. What is the difference between the laborers at $30 a month and $40 a month and $50 a month?

Doctor MELVIN. Their skill and efficiency in caring for the animals makes that difference in their pay. That is determined by the superintendent of the experiment station.

Then there is a difference in their class of work. We have some who act as watchmen, night watchmen and day watchmen. Some act as laborers, and others do a little higher class of work. They understand more about the class of experimental work they are engaged in, and can be trusted to do more careful work.

Mr. ZAPPONE. Here is an illustrative case, at the top of page 64, W. F. Pugh. He was a laborer at $50 a month and was promoted to watchman at $60 per month.

Mr. SAMUEL. Do those laborers work every day?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes; Sundays and all.

Mr. SAMUEL. I should imagine so, from the character of the work. Doctor MELVIN. Of course there is a great deal of their work that is dispensed with on Sunday.

Mr. SAMUEL. You make it as light as possible?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes.

Mr. SAMUEL. When a laborer reaches a salary of $50 a month, he is eligible to promotion, then, to some other position besides that of a laborer?

Doctor MELVIN. No, sir; I think not without a civil-service examination. These men the majority of them-are merely laborers and are not capable of a much higher class of work.

Mr. SAMUEL. A large percentage of the employees in Washington are scientific men, are they not?

Doctor MELVIN. On the lump fund?

Mr. SAMUEL. Yes.

Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. ZAPPONE. In fact, outside of the laborers, watchmen, and the messenger force you can very properly say that all the lump sum employees in Washington are scientists or connected with the scientific staff. Am I not correct?

Doctor MELVIN. Yes.

Mr. SAMUEL. I notice that you have two architects. What are their duties?

Doctor MELVIN. One of those was employed but a short time, and we have but one now. This architect was originally obtained by us by transfer from the Treasury Department to supervise the building of some quarantine stations for imported animals that we have at Athenia, N. J. He was returned to Washington and was for some