CHAPTER XXIV

"SUBSIDIARY" INDUSTRIES

IN the INTRODUCTION (page xviii) we discussed briefly the question of "SUBSIDIARY INDUSTRIES," pointing out that governments enter into many industrial activities as merely subsidiary to other governmental functions. In such instances it can not be said that the government has entered into a new industrial activity unless it produces a large part of the total product and enters into the new business beyond its original purpose of supplying itself with some needed article. To illustrate, we give a list of government railway shops in practically all of which the construction of locomotives, cars, and so forth takes place, as well as repairs. It is evident that it is the rule rather than the exception for governments to pass on from governmental operation of railways to governmental construction of railway material. But they do not stop there. We have also mentioned in the INTRODUCTION the fact that the Hungarian Governmental Iron Works export not only cars but other products, and we give a further selection in the present chapter showing that the Japanese Governmental Iron and Steel Works also enter into the iron business generally. It is because of their railways that so many governments of the world have entered into coal mining and seem likely to proceed very soon as far as a monopoly-the process having been greatly hastened by the war. Moreover, it is not surprising that the railways, which necessarily absorb a large part of every nation's capital, should lead governments into the iron and steel business-so that it seems not at all improbable that before many years they will control the iron and steel industry and iron mines. This process will be greatly accelerated by governmental construction of ships for naval purposes-and possibly also by the active interest of governments in the construction of the ships for passengers and freight. We must, further, take into account the development of subsidiary industries in con

nection with other large undertakings such as irrigation and canal construction; for example, cement works [see Chapter V].

THE UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT AS PRINTER

AND PUBLISHER

[Official advertisement of U. S. Superintendent of Documents.] The Government of the United States is the greatest of all publishers of scientific works. It employs thousands of scientists, who are engaged the year round in making researches and investigations in all branches of agriculture, in geology, in mining, in electricity, in chemistry, in astronomy, in engineering, in aviation, in preventive medicine, in forestry, in irrigation, and almost all other branches of scientific inquiry. The arts of war as well as those of peace are also actively cultivated. The greatest art of all, that of free government, is strenuously carried on by President, Cabinet, Senators, and Representatives.

The results of all these activities of the most comprehensive and effective organization ever known are constantly reduced to print and poured out in an incessant flood from the largest printing works in the world.

These publications of the Government Printing Office at Washington constitute the Public Documents of the United States.

The greater number of them are sold by the Superintendent of Documents, located in the Government Printing Office. The Government did not establish this sales office for purposes of profit, but as a public convenience. The prices charged cover only paper and printing, no charge being made for the services of the statesmen and scientists who are the authors of the astonishingly varied books, pamphlets, periodicals, and maps, and no commissions being allowed to anybody. The documents even have the freedom of the mails and are sent without cost.

The only condition is that payment be made in advance of shipment. The Superintendent of Documents is not authorized to supply free copies, and it is useless to ask him to do so.

The Government Printing Office is the largest printing plant in the world, and a limit to its capacity has never been reached, although it is necessary to make constant adjustments and rearrangements in methods of production in order to meet the demands for work, which are at times enormous.

The output consists of every conceivable class of printing and binding, ranging from envelopes, cards, and similar small work to

the most sumptuously illustrated and bound volumes. Evidence of the vast increase in the work of this office in recent years is shown by the fact that the number of blanks, envelopes, cards, etc. (not including over a billion postal cards), printed in one year now runs to about 2 billion copies, which exceeds the output of 1880 by over 1,200 per cent. Book work has increased in the same proportion, and the yearly output is now over 4 billion printed pages. The average production in the book-composing divisions is 7 million ems of type per day, and it is estimated that if necessity demanded it a publication of 1,800 pages could be set up, proof read, printed, and copies bound in one day.

The principal items of production during a year are as follows: Jackets written, 54,000; job work orders, 30,000; ems of type set, 2,300,000,000; square inches of electrotyping and stereotyping, 12,600,000; sheets folded by machine, 150,000,000; signatures gathered by machine, 106,000,000; copies wire stitched, 36,000,000; signatures sewed, 95,000,000; sheets ruled, 25,000,000. In addition, there are printed for the Patent Office about 45,000 different patents, designs, and trade-marks, with from 50 to 100 copies of each. During the sessions of Congress there is a daily issue of the Congressional Record, ranging in size from four to several hundred pages. Copy for the Record generally comes in late at night, some of it at times as late as 2 A. M.; the type must be set, plates made, and 34,000 copies printed, folded, gathered, wire stitched, and addressed for mailing in time to catch the early morning mail. Fifteen million copies of Farmers' Bulletins are printed for the Agriculture Department; in some years about 25,000,000 copies of speeches are printed for members of Congress and paid for by them; 500,000 copies of Agriculture Yearbook are printed annually, making 600 pages, profusely illustrated; over 1 billion postal cards are printed and shipped to points designated by Post Office Department; about 100 million money order blanks are printed, bound in books of from 50 to 200 copies each, and shipped to points designated by Post Office Department; the bound Congressional Record, covering entire proceedings of a session of Congress, at times makes as high as 19 volumes, in which case the total number of copies is about 120,000.

The total yearly expense of the Government Printing Office is approximately $6,500,000, and this amount is divided and allotted between Congress, the Executive Departments, and the various bureaus of the Government, in accordance with their size and necessity for printing, each being allowed printing and binding only to

the amount of allotment. Existing law requires this printing and binding be done at cost, and charges, based upon a fixed scale of prices regulated by a system of costs, are rendered for each piece of work produced. About 70,000 bills are rendered annually. The approximate amount of paper used in one year for printing and binding is 32,000,000 pounds, with 65,000 pounds of ink.

Employees work eight hours a day, receive a compensation comparing favorably with union wages throughout the country, and are allowed 30 days' vacation with pay each year. Some divisions of the office run night forces throughout the year, and others only during sessions of Congress. Employees working at night receive a 20 per cent advance over day rates of pay.

The Division of Public Documents is a central distributing agency for all Government publications, and receives copies of all public documents printed. A specified number of these documents are distributed to certain designated depository libraries throughout the country, and other copies are sold at cost to the public, no more than one copy to any one person. Approximately 47 million copies of documents are sent out by this Division in one year, and the mailing list contains 850,000 names.

About 4,000 persons are employed in the Government Printing Office, and the entire plant is under the personal supervision of the Public Printer, who is appointed by the President.

RAILROAD EQUIPMENT

We read in Davies [op. cit.]:

The Hungarian State railway workshops employ round about 18,000 men. Some years ago, when there was not enough to keep these men employed on ordinary repairs and the manufacture of locomotives, etc., rather than dismiss the workers the Administration commenced to manufacture ploughs and other agricultural implements.

The Japanese Government has large steel works, which, when they are not fully engaged on Government orders, supply the requirements of private consumers, and the following is an extract from the British Consular Report (No. 5161 Annual Series) on Japan for the year 1912 with reference to these works:

"The output of the Government Steel Works amounted to about 180,000 tons all told, but with their new extensions they will soon be in a position to produce some 300,000 tons, so that in times when Government requirements are not very large, the competition

of this foundry, which enjoys considerable protection, must be taken into consideration."

[SOURCE: United States Special Consular Report, No. 60, "Foreign Markets for Railway Supplies and Equipment," pp. 12, 15, 37, 215, 233, 787.]

The locomotive and car-building works of the [Hungarian] State railways, the various other State-owned shops, and the GanzDanubius works turn out a grade of standard railway equipment so high that the demand from abroad and the consequent exportation is increasing. It is said that the State locomotive works are to be considerably enlarged.

In view of the law referred to above and the excellence of home industry, as far as standard railway equipment is concerned, it is doubtful whether any business can be done except in such novelties and machine tools as are unobtainable in Hungary.

The Austrian State railways have large repair and construction shops in Vienna; also repair shops in Linz, Innsbruck, Villach, Trieste, Pilsen, Prague, Olmutz, Krakau, Lemberg, Stanislau, and Czernowitz.

Repair and construction shops of the Prussian railways are located mostly in the principal city of each railway district; for instance, in Berlin and suburbs there are 10 shops, each in charge of an engineer.

Rapid increases in both passenger and freight traffic [of Australia] in 1910 and 1911 brought out the fact that not only was the amount of rolling stock inadequate but that the capacity of the railway's shops for new construction was not great enough to supply the locomotives and cars that were needed.

The Government has large construction works in different parts of the Dominion, and much of the rolling stock and other railroad supplies are made in New Zealand. [Our italics.]