322 DEPARTMENTAL KEPORTS. 



owiug to the lack of suitable quarters and sufficient room, and the 

 efficienc}' with which the work was done reflects great credit upon 

 Mr. Frank Wallace, the foreman, and deserves acknowledgment. 

 One of the most serious consequences resulting from inadequate 

 quarters is the impossibility of increasing and perfecting the eqiiip- 

 ment of the office. The Public Printer has several times professed 

 his entire willingness to give to this office an equipment sufficient to 

 make it a model of its kind and to very greatly extend its facilities 

 for work, provided suitable quarters were furnished. 



In this respect the branch office shares in the many and great incon- 

 veniences suffered equally in the editorial department of our work 

 and by the document section. The Division of Publications now 

 occuj)ies various portions of five different buildings, and in no one of 

 these are the accommodations afforded to it ample as to room or 

 adapted to the work it has to do. It is impossible to make reference 

 to this matter without commending in the strongest terms the mem- 

 bers of my force for the efficiency of their work and the cheerful 

 patience with which it is performed under the most trying conditions. 



INDEXING DEPARTMENT PUBLICATIONS. 



I have frequently and strongly urged the necessity of undertaking 

 in this office a complete index of all the department iiublications. 

 The value of such an index is beyond question, and the need of it 

 becomes greater each day. Heretofore the Avant of sufficient assist- 

 ance has made such an undertaking impossible. For the current 

 year, however, the appropriations provide for sufficient additional 

 assistance to undertake the work, but unfortunately we now find our- 

 selves so embarrassed for lack of room that it lias been utterly- impos- 

 sible for me to take advantage of the liberality of Congress and obtain 

 the appointment of the editorial clerk provided for, with whose assist- 

 ance we had hoped to undertake this indexing work. It seems truly 

 deplorable that urgently needed work should liave to be abandoned, 

 after suitable provision has been made therefor bv Congress, owing to 

 lack of space in which to carry it on. 



THE YEARBOOK. 



The first delivery of the Yearbook for 1901 Avas made June 27, 1902, 

 and while the volume is somewhat larger than desired, it nevertheless 

 has the merit of containing more and shorter articles than most of 

 its predecessors. The distribution by the Department was somewhat 

 delayed because the quotas of Senators, Representatives, and Dele- 

 gates in Congress were delivered to them at the Capitol by the Public 

 Printer in advance of the completion of the delivery of the allotment 

 for the use of the Department. In this connection, I beg earnestly 

 to renew the recommendation made in i)revious reports of this Division 

 that the number of coj)ies of the Yearbook printed for the use of the 

 Department be increased to 50,000, as the present quota of 30,000 

 copies is inadequate to meet the actual requirements for distribution 

 to correspondents and others to whom the Department is under spe- 

 cial obligation. With the present allotment it is necessary to refer 

 all miscellaneous applicants to Members of Congress. 



