Evening Star Newspaper, December 2, 1923, Page 41

EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPEC Part 2—20 Pages BILLIONS OF TO FORCE IAL ARTICLES PARCELS MAIL CHANGE Problem of = Handling 12,000,000,000 Letters Sure to Bring Two Postal Divisions. BY JOHN H. BARTLETT. First Assistant Postmaster General and For- mer Governor of New Hampshire. HE parcel post business of the post office service must be completely and absolutely di- vorced from the “mail of communication” before we will have a perfect postal system. The Postmaster General is already embarked upon a pollcy of effectu- ating such a division of the service; in fact he has gone a considerable distance upon that road. Parcel post has been in operation about ten years and it has grown from nothing to about two billion parcels a year, which is five times as much as the largest express company handles, During this phenomenal growth up until a comparatively recent period, valuable letters, or I might gy let- ters beyond value, have received their dispatch in company with farm pro- duce, one-day old chickens, bricks, and every variety and description of merchandise, until at present when the bulk of parcel post far exceeds the bulk of all other mail. The post office service last dled about twelve: billion lette All Mail Increasing. ear han- Both classes of mail, in fact 1 may say all classes of mail, are increas- ing rapldly. Such increase is wide- spread and universal and indicates prosperity. But its augmentation i also extraordinary and unprecedent- ed in spots. Some cities show an In- crease of 30 and 40 per cent_over last year. The srowth and develop- ment of mail order houses is phe- nomenal. They are constantly spring- ing up In new sections of the coun- try. There need be no concealment of the fact that the Post Office Depart- ment has its ingenuity taxed to the nth degree to keep pace not only with the growth of the service, but with its sensational changes. On October 1, through the consent of the budget and President Coolidge. the department, having scientifically budgeted its needs for the balance of the year, put into service about 7,000 additional clerks and carriers fn or- der to keep full pace with the mew demands. Generally speaking, over the coun- try we are not only having good postal service, but having it at a cost which is the envy of every other kind of business known . Tt should be borne in mind also that the department is not losing very much money. Our deficit last year was about thirty millions in a “total of six hundred millions. In other words, we got back 95 cents for every dollar we spent. ‘Work for Other Departments, And that is not the whole story. For that 5 cents which we did not get back, or let me say for that thirty millions, we did work for the Treasury Department which could not be done by any other agency for less than ten million dollars. Wealso carvied free of postage all franked mail of the departments and all federal governmental business every- where, which would probably amount to fifteen million dollars, for a rough all sguess. In addition to this we took a census of hogs for farmers for the Agricultural Department. We gath- ered statistics for the Department of Commerce. We did certain work for the Department of the Interior. In short, our 52,000 post offices were at the entire service ®f every other de- partment of the government, as well as being the accommodating agency of the Red Cross and other beneficent organizations. It would not be far from correct to say that the Post Office Department is self-sustaining, although this does not take Into account the ownership of post offices. New Rates Are Ponsible. Parcel post business, as 1 said be- fore, must be practically divorced from the letter mall and its handling become more systematized and more “safetylzed,” if I may coin an expres- sion. There is a great field for study along this line, andy it probably will result, eventually, in a reconstruction of rates, but no one need be fright- ened about parcel post rates, because 1 cent on a parcel will give us about $20,000,000, which is almost enough to wipe out our deficit. In order to handle parcel post sepa- rate from other mail, we are erect- ing, under the lease method, great factories adjoining depots. These factories are filled with conveyor ma- chinery and other devices, that the parcel post is very rapidly as- sorted and dispatched. We now are buflding such stations at Detroit, Buffalo, San Francisco, and have completed such stations at Chicago, Kansas City, Cincinnati and several other large centers. ‘This process of segregation must go on. Billion-Dollar Bu: Inside of ten years Postmaster Gen- eral New predicts that the post office business of the country will be a bil- ! tion-dollar business, meaning that we will pay a billion dollars to carry it on, and, I trust, receive a billion dol- lars in return. One of the big drives we are now making is to handle singly wrapped dally papers from the office of publish- ers with the same expedition that we are handling letters. We are now going through the investigation stage of this work—that is, determining the necessary facts and conditlons. Theo- retically, we are handling them now with the same expedition as letter mail, but it is the practical difficul- ties that must be overcome. These difficulties consist of distinguishing such papers from the other malls—that is preventing their being mixed up with parcel post and third-class matter. Working on this problem, the Postmaster General hay developed a permanent piece of organization, & committee of inspectors. We are gradually putting steps in operation to expedite these dally papers, and we appreciate that it's a matter of con- stant fmprovement and constant dili- gence. Just now we are going through the usual campaign of preparing for a larger Christmas than ever before, and I trust you will permit me, in <o | closing this article, to remind your 1eaders that they should “Shop Early EDITORIAL SECTION The Sunilay Shar. WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 2, 1923. Willingness to Work Has Revived Belgium, First of War Nations, Premier Theunis Says BY DREW PEARSON. HE secret of national prosper- ity is not wealth of raw ma- terfals, or expensive farm lands, or reparations pay- ments, but merely work. That formula was given by Georges | Theunis, prime minister of Belglum | in reply to my question, “Why hol your country prosperous 1 have condensed his answer to three lines. but M. Theunis took an hour to give it, and If he had been speaking from the pulpit his words would have made a great sermon, or if he had used the language of a| poet, he would have produced a great epic. His theme was “work" and his text was taken from the story of Belgium's war recovery. Georges Theunis lites his words. I found him in his office when gov- ernment officials in most countries are still at breakfast 1 was told that 8 o'clock in the evening still found him there. Two years ago. when Belgium grew tired of waiting for German reparations and began, without for- elgn aid, to set her devastated house in order. she looked around for business man to gulde her in her gigantic task. Georges Theunis was ! selected—because he was a worker. Born of a Belgian military leader and educated In Belglum's military college, Theunis early gave up his rank and bécame an electrical engi- neer. As such, he directed the con- struction of Belgium's foremost elec- trical power project at Charleroi and th®n stepped into the manage- ment of Baron Empain's Industrial Bank. which owns and operates steam and electric railways from Damascus and Astrakhan to Parls and Peru. Now, in his fiftieth vear, he is prime minister of Belgium. Secret of Presperity. I had asked M. Theunis one ques- tion. Belgium, I had pointed out, was one of the smallest countries in Europe, had the densest population in the world, had been ravished b the war, and yet was most prosper- ous. What was the secret? And M. Theunls had replied very simply: “We like to work.” And smiling. he continued. “Why shouldn't we? What greater joy Is there in life? “Perhaps it is because we had to work all of our lives. If you g0 back in our history vou will find that we have been conquered by this country and that—the Dutch, the Germane, Napoleon—traded back and forth—kept under foreign yoke. It has sharpened our wits. The gov- ernment has always been the peo- ple's enemy, and even now, with a government of their own, they still grumble—as I have cause to know He grinned ruefully, and then added in more optimistic tone, “But per- haps it is a good thing. Criticism | makes us government officials more efficient.” M. Theunis hesitated. “You will excuse me if I do not answer this question—how do you say in English—suddenly. This Is the first time it was asked of me. But I think also our prosperity is due to our position as a nerve center to Europe. We are central—between France, Holland, Germany, with England just across the channel. Trade enters our ports and passes through our cangls to Europe. We feed the rich Hhine valley, south Germany, northern France and even have i 1d Mail Early.” World Aspects of Coal Situation Will Come Before Congress HEN the coal problem is brought up again in Con- gress, the international phase and what the coal trade of Europe means to American | business will be given much more se- rious consideration than ever before. This is brought out by Francis R. Wadleigh, former federal fuel distrib- utor, and now chief of the coal division, Tnited States Department of Com- imerce. Several members of Congress al- ready are urging legislation to put an embargo on coal exports from the United States; still others have been aroused to the fact that British in- terests are preparing to exploit the Amerlcan resources. Advices from Trade Commissioner Alexander V. Dye, in London, call attention that American coal exports are becoming intrenched in the south of Europe and are taking some markets formerly considered as British preserves. He also advises that a number of large British coal exporters, seeing the trend of trade, are opening offices in New York in order that they may be. in a position to handle American coal n markets where they cannot sell the British product. Means Much to Business. The coal trade of Europe means much to the American business man, Mr. Wadlelgh explains, because the cost of coal is an important factor in determining not only the buying and selling power of Europe, but also its power to distribute its manufac- tures in the markets of the world. Much of the goods which humanity uses must undergo some form of manufacture, or (in the case of food- stuffs) be transported over consid- erable distances, and in both in- stances this must be done by the ap- plication of power. Coal.still remains the dominant driv- ing force of the world. Of the 177,- 600,000 horsepower obtained in 1919 trom the only practical sources on a commercial scale—coul, petroleum, natural gas and water—coal furnished 160,600,000, in sbite of the recent in- crease in the i Of petroleum. .inother reason why coal should in- terest the average business man is be- cause about 90 per cent of the world's coal comes from only two areas which, while large in themselves, are very small compared with the total surface of the earth. One of these areas embraces the coal flelds of the eastern part of the United States and the other includes Great Britain, Ger- many, Belgium and northern France, Likewise the greater portion of the world's commerce moves to and from these two areas or back and forth within them. Europe Supplies Half. The European area supplies about 50 per cent of the world's coal and about 40 per cent comes from the United States fleld, although these proportions are rapidly changing. The coal trade was developed much ear- lier in the European area as an in- tegral part of the development of stgam power and manufactures. In fact, as late as 1860 Great Britaln alone: produced four-fifths of the world's coal, and while British output increased ‘steadily until in 1913 it reached its peak with a production of 287,000,000 tons. Its proportion of the world's production sank steadily from 80 per cent in 1860 to 21 per cent in 1913, Side by side with this change in proportion of total output, there has been a steady decline in the output per man in Europe and an increase in the output per man in the United States. At the present time, generally speaking, one coal worker in the United States produces about three times as much coal in a vear as a European worker. This is due to many reasons, among which may be stated that, in the first place, the coal seams in America are closer to the earth’'s surface and are flaiter and thicker. Labor-saving machinery is used to a far greater extent in Amer- ica, about 60 per cent of AmeNcan coal being mined by machinery and only about 15 per cent of European coal. In Germany, France and Belgium the sitwation is much the same as in Great Britain, The small ouiput per man makes the price of cosl high for manufacturing purposes, so that Eu- rope cannot sell cheaply enough to dispose of its goods and thus obtai money to buy more American raw material. The result is that coma merce is slowed down at tho starp Czechoslovakla and Austria. Antwerp ranks third among the ports of the world—next to New York and London.” M. Theunis was talking eagerly, earnestly, using short, punchy sen- tences, “So we are a nerve center—but that {s all. We have not much else. orges Theunis, Prime Minister of Belgium says: “Belgium has won back prosperity because the Belgians like to work.” * ok ok % “Belgium is like the cat—it always lands on four feet.” * K kK K “The politicians, from Lloyd George to Clemenceau, made promises which meant nothing. America gave more than promises—she gave food and credit.” * % ok ¥ “We did not wait for reparations. \We went to work and now 97 per cent of our devastated farmlands are re- stored and planted.” * ok ok K “Trade is good. We have no unemployment and our standard of living is much higher than before the war,” * ok k% “The eight-hour day is not popular in Belgium. Our business men do not go to work at 10 and stop for tea at 4.” * % ok ¥ “We can outbid France and we can outbid England. The secret is not low wages, for there is little difference. The secret is work.” God gave your country many raw materials. To Belgium He gave lit- tle—some coal, soil to grow flax, much rock and a great deal of sand. With these we do what we can. From the sand we make glass, which we sell to you. From the rock we make cement, which we sell to France and Holland. From the flax we make linen which we sell to most of Europe. And with our coal and the iron ore imported from Sweden we make iron and steel, which we 1l to England, to South America and to the orient. “Everything import—75 per cent of our food, and most of it from America. And here is some- thing which should interest you." He ploked up a cumbersome volume of customs reports and ran his fin- ger through the summaries. *Last year we imported from the United States, material—chiefly food—worth 1,615,040,000 francs. On this we charged you a duty of only 1 per cent. M. Theunis paused significantly, and gave me time to ask, “And what aid we charge you for exports sent into our country?” “Ah!" He shrugged his shoulders. “1 prefer to let you figure that for yourself.” M. Theunis was wise. I did try to figure it for myself. and after hours of fruitless poring over tarift schedules, gave it up. I did find, however, that the chief articles of Belgium import into the United States—glass, linen and artificial silk—were charged a duty between 30 and 60 per cent, according to quantity and quality. 1 don’'t know that I am answer- Ing your question,” M. Theunis con- else we 4 carrying | built up tinued, “but I think the secret of our prosperity, if you must call it a secret, as I said, is work. And If I may boast a little, I think we Bel- glans are—I do not know the Eng- ish word—but we are like the cat —always we land on four feet He illustrated with his four fingers upon the top of his desk. Belglans Made Good. \ “I saw it in England during the war.” (M. Theunis had performed a remarkable service for his coun- try as chief buyer of all war sup- plies in England.) “There 1 saw my people, exiled, in a strange land— at first, lost. But not for long. They got jobs. They made good. Some of them established factories for themselves, Some built up trading positions. In the munition factories, especially, they made good. And here again I can illustrate the Bel- gian attitude toward work. When they turned out too many shells, the Eritish workmen said ‘Go slow: make the job last; yow're making it hard for the rest of us.' You that's the difference. When we work, we work. We put all our energy into it. “After the war, Belgium had lost everything. We had been occupled by the enemy and in part destroyed. Also we had lost our trade tacts. We are a commercial nation. And our markets, our agents, our old customers—all were gone. Our country had been a prisoner—and we emerged, at the armistice. like a prisoner, character and health and confidence broken. We were free, but that was all. see, con- “At first we blinked a little at this; to us. with four, new freedom. It was strang But—" he illustrated again his fingers—“we landed on all feet. “The politicighs, from Lloyd George to Clemenceau, made grandiose prom- ises—we have since discovered that they meant nothing—that Belgium should be paid In full. Your coun- try gave more than promises. You gave food and credit. “But we did not wait tions. We went to work for repara- They Like to Work. “We like to work. And today the result is—well, here are some fig- ures. Nine ven per cent of our devastated farm land restored and planted in crops; 1,419 railroad sta- tions or train sheds rebuiit; kilometers of railroad track relatd; our coal production greater than before the war; the railroads now per cent of their pre- war traffic; most of the 100,000 houses, destroved or badly damaged, repairgd or replaced; blast furnaces running at about two-thirds of their pre-war capacity: trade on the whole good; no unemployment. Above all, the standard of living much higher. Taking it altogether, have not done badly. “I hope I am not boasting—but by labor, brains and courage. we have this little country almost to what it was before the war.” The prime minister had been talking in the same manner that he works—rapidly, enthusiastically, throwing gesture, faclal expression, voice-tones into almost every word 1 could not have interrupted even had I wished. Now gave me a chance to “How do you manage iron and st ngland is one of the world's lurgic countries?” “It seems strange. doesn't it?’ M Theunis mused. “England became the workshop of the world during the war. With her merchant marine she kept up her trade contacts. We lost ours. But today she has 1,000,- (Continued on Third Page.) we sk to sell when metal- ve great THE PASSING SHOW IN POLITICS BY, N. 0. MESSENGER. HE Sixty-eighth Congress noon tomorrow and the subsequent proceedings will grow in interest. Proposed legislation of paramount importance to the country is impending. Work on legislation will be shot through N\ with politics. This is inevitable approaching presidential and congressional campaign, which will culminate in the gen- eral elections of November, 1924. will be played, day in and day out, until then. On the republican Senate there is threatened fac likely to cause the leaders many an anxious hour. In both bodies there will be blocs, working to specific legislative ends, The democrats ap- pear to be closely united, pre}enting a com- pact front. They are not disposed to lend assistance to any republican faction merely regardless of politics. to give it an advantage over the fusing to furmish the cat's-paw to pull its chestnuts out of the fire. Kk kK Interest will be lent the legislative action by reason of the close party and factional divisions in House and Senate. House will consist of 225 republicans, 205 independent, democrats, 1 socialist, 1 farmer-labor; vacancies, 2. The majority -in the House will be The republican clear majority in the Senate will remain at six. *.%k %k ¥ The democratic national leaders profess to see grave trouble for the republican party and the potential candidates for lican presidential nomination ,in division in Congress. to. be in, said “Instead “of a responsible majority, the side in the House and The democratic na- tional committee, commenting yesterday on the plight which it discerns. the republicans republicans in the Congress about to con- vene will be an aggregation of factions, op- posing the President and fighting each other in behalf of their several candidates for the nomination in 1924. In this competition for delegates it is forecast the administration’s legislative program, if it has one, may fail of adoption. Already there are three rgpub- lican presidential candidates with followers in the new Congress—Mr. Coolidge, Hiram Johnson atd Gov. Pinchot. Senator Watson, it is expected, will make the fourth. “The struggle by these factions to gain political advantage for their respective can- didates will begin, it is felt, with the attempt to organize the House of Representatives. _All the cabals and coteries of the republican party are represented in the House. They will all have to be consulted and placated somehow, since the margin by which the re- publicans exceed the democratic strength is so small that, no element can safely be ignored. Most of the republicans who depre- cate President Coolidge’s candidacy will have an excuse for weakening him'and helping their own favorites by joining the movement to ‘end control by New England’—the slogan of certain republicans from the middle west.” 5 . Lok ok ok % At this point the democratic manage- ment's comment digresses to refer to the financial status of Senator Johnson’s chief supporters and to draw the inference that his campaign will not be short of funds. But let that pass. The comment then proceeds in sarcastic vein as follows: “The President’s recommendations regard- ng taxation—if he offers any; his proposals with reference to the world court—if he con- sents to speak on the subject; his sugges- tions for agricultural relief—if he should communicate them to Congress; and his views on certain purely domestic problems —if they are forthcoming—will, each’ pre= sent to the boosters of other republican opens at from the nation of Politics from now nal strife bipartisan other, re who have Johnson's The new 1 republican seventeen. the repub- this close . Senator Johnson's friend trary, express themselves as quite satisfied with the spirit in which the country received his announcement of candidacy. They are more - confident of success in his present undertaking than they were when he ran for the nomination before. Senator Johnson himself is as happy as a big sunflower and faces what he discerns to be the rjsing sun of his political fortunes. He has a militant organization, headed by one of the master politicians of the country— Frank H. ! ‘men. of ‘substance, . As he said in his speech __in Chicago, 'he js in the fight to a finish— in it to win and befieves he will candidates an opportunity to make capital for Mr. Coolidge's opponents.” * X ok ¥ This direful picture of President Coolidge's political prospects might seem calculated to discourage his friends, but from the way they talk it will apparently not do so. republican leaders, who hold that the nomi- The the President is the one hope of returning the republican party to power and re-electing republicaii senators and rep- resentatives, are entirely confident that he will be nominated as the party’s choice, and that, making allowance for the possible de- fection of some of Senator Johnson's fol- lowers at the polls in November, they still believe he can be elected. At any rate, they feel that if he cannot be elected, no other republican can. %* ¥ %k X Some republican leaders of prominence, been keeping tab through press- clipping bureaus on the reaction to Senator announcement of candidacy, say that they dre not discouraged in their sup? port of President Coolidge’s nomination by the sentiment of the press as indicative of political opinion. * k ¥k Xk on the con- Hitchcock—and is supported by 1,100 | he paused and | she | _ociety News JAM AT PATENT OFFICE BY WiLL P. KENNEDY. ECAUSE applications for pa ents must lie (for about ten months in the patent office before any action is taken upon them, thus impeding the entire industrial life of the United States, and because even, although with an additional force of forty-five iners and forty clerks since July 1. the actumulation of some 70,000 case which the office now has In arrears being ecreased at the rate of about 1,000 cases a month—it would take something like five vears to bring the patent office up date with its work—a drive for f is going to be made in Congress The largest manufacturing indus- tries in the country, as well as many small plants, on specialized and ap- pliance work, are deluging members of Congress generally with appeals for relief from this situation in the pat- ent office, which Is “putting the brakes” on the manufacturing indus- | try. This reaches into practicall every home in the country, especially through the employment furnished by these factor] Work Asks Action. Dr. Hubert Work, Secretary of the Interior, under whowse administration the patent office operates, ha urged the necessity for immediate and ade- fauate relief upon Brig. Gen. Herbert M. Lord director of the bureau of the budget, who expected to “Include recommendations to remedy the sit- uation in the budget which will be laid before Congress tomorrow exam- to rel immediately is Secretary Work will also emphasize the need for prompt action by Con- gress in his annual report, which will be made public this week. Rep- resentative Florian Lampert of Wis- consin, chairman of the House pat- ents committee, is prepared to make a vigorous fight islative At action. least needed Remodeling the famous ould by ing on the squares between F and G and 7th and $th streets to provide additional office space for examiners and the building of a first-story steel stack-room for the millions of printed copies ‘of patents in the space now occupied by the large court is rec- ommended at a cost of approximately one million dollars 100 additional examiners Need More Room. In addition, at least one-half of the old land building. which across from the patent fice, should be made immediately available, those who have glven the problem close study advise. At least | fifty more rooms are of vital neces sity and would be a real economy with the existing force, while with an increase of 100 examiners, much more room will be an absolute ne- cessity to permit the patent office to perform the dutles imposed by stat- ute. Every nook and corner in the patent o building riow is used. including the ends of all the halls not used s exits, and also entrance. on 9th nical work of the cannot be efficiently done in such makeshif quarters, and it tremendous waste to pay $2.500,000 annually in salaries and fail to provide room where such technical work can be properly performed, Chairman Lam- pert emphasizes. After a personal inspection of the premises, Secretary Work urged Gen. Lord to approve estimates for these changes saying: “I am so impressed with the vital necessity of relieving the patent of- fice by providing more room to per- stree aminers is a by statute and actually paid for by | inventors that 1 feel compelled to ask that you or your istant, or both, inspect the patent office before next vear's estimates are acted upon by the bureau of the budset. Taxed Beyond Capnelty. “The patent office building is taxed beyond its capacity. Every nook and corner of the building is now used. The main entrance on 9th street and | | the ends of halls are partitionea off and these and open corridors are al- ready used for office purposes. In fact, many clerks and highly paid | technical examiners are occupying space which is not fit for their use. T have carefully considered the tenta- tive plans with Commissioner Robert- son and can not too strongly urge im- provements in the building, which will change halls adaptgd merely for exhibition purposes into modern rooms suitable for offices, provide economically accessible storage space for coples of patents (200,000 being sold for $20,000 cash monthly) and shift the public service facilities from the upper floors to the street floor. “A committee appointed by the su- | perintendent of the State, War and | Navy buildings (having charge of the Patent Office building) has been pre- paring plans and estimates to submit for the changes suggested by the com- missioner.” Reports Each Week. Thomas E. Robertson, commissioner of patents, receives every Monday morning a batch of Teports signed by the chief examiner In each division, showing how many cases each man has cleared over his desk during the week. These reports show the oldest new case and the oldest case returned for action (amended) before each ex aminer. There are more than ffty different patent divisions where spe- cialized consideration Is given to a particular patent,and in each of these divisions there is a chief examiner and a number of assistant examiners. It is manifestly impossible to keep all of these divisions floating along on even dates. For example, the main | radio division (there { cases awaiting as soon as possible | after the House organizes to get leg- | 1d- mit it to perform the duties required | CLOGS NATION’S INDUSTRY Work Now Five Years Behind, With Million Dollars Needed for Ade- quate Facilities. Seva Tt The now being eral radio divisions) is swamped has 2,607 cases awaiting, oldest case in that division was filad March 1, which shows that this di- vision is practically nine months I hind in its work. On the metalurgi- cal division they have 1.100 awaiting action ani the olicst was filed five and a half months Much Work Caught Up. Chairman Lampert committee fathered year which give the patent offi eighty-five additional empl, a result it 1s now gradual up with its work. On year ago some of th was slxteen months behind. Now no branch is more than ten months be- hind and the eclerical work is more than thirty d. The patent o awaiting wkere at tion case of the House legislation last * technical work not s in arrears, now has action 9 patent 5 the end December last year there were 71,173 cases awaiting action. There now 1,007 design where on the ar there were 2,370 de- Ther fice n hand A of are ction, first of the sign trade-mark awaiting where on the first of the year were 4,155 trade-mark cases This shows that the making progress wi force it has had sentative Lampert points out y cases, are now n, there a office 15 dditional Nevertheless, rapidity possible, with gain énly about 1,000 cases per month. So, with nearly 70,00 it must take f cateh up. ght here it 1 that these patent corner Repre working all patent the with even its 1c cases on hand, ur or five years to ust be s a remembered : the very of American industry.” ative Lampert said stone Cost of Printing. It i Unele stor, gene 3 runs the in the world of patents are try at 10 200,000 known 10-cent ed copies over this eoun- to the It costs 6 ¢ Sam bigge Pri al te apiece number am nts patents, which is biggest jobs done by th government printing office, Public Printer Carter test He says that fifty linotype machines are kept busy eight hours a day all through the { yYear on this work alone. The print- ing for the pate i costs around $1,000.000 a ye ¥ cent of which L with | each to print the one of the comes back into at least $200,000 | additi of patents | 2,000,000 copics istributed to libraries 11 over this cor countries in the patent 50,000,000 in which 2 are o sub, copies of patents, makes this the most valuable store in the city of Washington. These have a cost value to the government of $3,000,000 and a $5,000,000, sale value of ome little ments Chairman L: With the granted rati nakin city, 10-cent store!” rt except r Ha mi since ding adn pies the 1 esentative f sk in Ry Lampert out, emphasizing the proper store room, with steel stacks. the points need for = Fireproof Storage. “One of the prime needs of the patent office is a fire-proof place to store these coples where they will not be subject to fire, but where they can be housed for sale in the quick= est possible manner,” Representative Lampert insists. “They accessible on six different level the basement to the attic,” plains. Suppose a man in De a dozen friends to put up a qua of a million of dollars for manufac turing a device for the automobile industry. After financing the cern over six months while the build- ing is being made veady and the ma- chinery installed, just about the time profits begin to come In he gets a letter from Chicago or Hartford or- dering him to manufacturing that device because it infringes another patent. It is very important for him to get a copy of the patent as soon as possible. For this reason no patent should be allowed- to out of print. Now when he gets a copy of the patent his lawyer may say that it looks as if he might be infringing on the other patent. Then he must have his lawyer make an investigation. It may be found that a device similar to the one he wants to manufacture is shown in some older patent, possibly an ex- pired patent. If what he wants to make is nearer to the expired patent than to the newer patent under which is threatened with suit, it is all important that the manufacturer should get & copy of the expired patent to prevent a judgment against himself. closing his factory. This fllustrates why old patents must not be allowed to get out of print. vV‘ll-t in Suits. It may also be that the patentec is claiming his patent is a basic one when, in fact, it is merely an improvement patent. The patent office has in its archives the original proceedings lead- ing up to the granting of that patent, so that any person threatened with suit may see the original proceedings and get certified copies of them. Frequently these certified copies alone will prevent the patentee from fore ing payment of royalties ‘Within the patent office building, and it is interesting to note that it hepe that Lincoln's ingugural ball was held, is a large courtyard, fifteen feet above the level of 9th street. It is proposed to excavate this courtyard and put in a storage place with sté, (Continued on Third Page.) are now in- from ex roit gets ha con- stop on be he