Chapter CLV. *to expedite and regulate the Printing of Public Documents, and for other Purposes.* June 25, 1864. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That hereafter, instead of furnishing Heads of departments to send annual reports to s
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Chap. CLV.— An Act *to expedite and regulate the Printing of Public Documents, and for other Purposes.* June 25, 1864. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That hereafter, instead of furnishing Heads of departments to send annual reports to superintendent of public printing before, &c.Number of copies.manuscript copies of the documents usually accompanying their annual reports to each house of congress, the heads of the several departments of government shall transmit them, on or before the first day of November in each year, to the superintendent of public printing, who shall cause to be printed the usual number, and, in addition thereto, one thousand copies for the use of the Senate and two thousand copies for the use of the House of Representatives; and that it shall be the duty of the joint committee on printing to appoint some competent person, who Editor to beshall edit and select such portions of the documents so placed in theirTHIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 155. 1864.185 hands as shall, in the judgment of the committee, be desirable for popularselected to prepare volumes for popular distribution, &c. distribution, and to prepare an alphabetical index to the same. Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted*, That the Secretary of War be,Editing of official reports of army. and he is hereby, authorized to appoint some competent person to edit the printing of the official reports of the operations of the armies of the United States.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted*, That it shall he the duty of theHeads of departments, when to furnish copy of reports. heads of the several departments of government to furnish the superintendent of public printing with copies of their respective reports, on or before the third Monday in November in each year. Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted*, That it shall be the duty of theSuperintendent of public printing to print message and documents, &c. superintendent of public printing to print the President’s message, the reports of the heads of departments, and the abridgment of accompanying documents prepared under the direction of the joint committee on public printing, suitably bound; and that, in addition to the number now required by law, and unless otherwise ordered by either house of congress, it shall be his duty to print ten thousand copies of the same for the use ofNumber of copies of several reports. the Senate, and twenty-five thousand copies for the use of the House, and to deliver the same to the proper officer of each house, respectively, on or before the third Wednesday in December following the assembling of congress, or as soon thereafter as practicable; and further, it shall also be the duty of the said superintendent to cause to be printed and stitched in paper covers twenty-five hundred copies of the annual reports of the executive departments for the use of said departments, respectively; and also one thousand copies of the reports of the commissioner of the general land-office, commissioner of pensions, commissioner of the internal revenue, and such number of the report of the commissioner of Indian affairs, to be bound, not exceeding three thousand copies, as may be directed by the Secretary of the Interior, for their use, respectively; and also five hundred copies of the reports of the superintendent of the Washington aqueduct, architect of the capitol extension, metropolitan police board, third auditor of the treasury, and of the Insane Asylum, Columbia Institute, and commissioner of public buildings, respectively, for their use, and one hundred copies of the report of the bureau of engineers, for the use of said bureau.
And he shall not print any greater number of said reports unless otherwise directed by either house of congress. Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted*, That seven thousand copies of the“Commercial Relations,” how distributed. “Commercial Relations,” annually prepared under the direction of the Secretary of State, be printed and distributed as follows, viz: the usual number (one thousand five hundred and fifty), for the houses of congress; four hundred and fifty for the state department; two thousand for the use of the members of the Senate; and three thousand for the use of the members of the House.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted*, That the annual report of theOffers and contracts for conveying mails not to be printed unless, &c. Postmaster-General of offers received and contracts for conveying the mails, in compliance with the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth sections of the act of congress approved July two, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, be no longer printed, unless specially ordered by either house of congress; and that such portion of the above-mentioned act as authorized the said publication be, and the same is hereby, repealed.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted*, That from and after the passage ofLaws and resolutions. this act it shall be the duty of the secretary of the Senate to furnish the superintendent of public printing with correct copies of all laws and joint resolutions as soon as possible after their approval by the President of the United States, and that the superintendent shall immediately cause to be printed, separately, the usual number for the use of the two houses of congress; and, in addition thereto, he shall cause to be printed and bound, at the close of each session of congress, three thousand copiesNumber of copies. thereof for the use of the Senate and ten thousand copies for the use of186 Index.the House, with a complete alphabetical index, prepared under the direction of the joint committee on public printing.
Sec. 8. Advertisement for proposals for paper for printing.Vol. xii. p. 118.*And be it further enacted*, That section seven of the joint resolution in relation to the public printing, approved June twenty-three, eighteen hundred and sixty, be so amended as to require the superintendent of public printing to advertise only in two newspapers, published in the cities of New York, Cincinnati, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, for thirty days prior to the first day of November of each year, for proposals for furnishing the paper necessary for the execution of the public printing.
Sec. 9. Lithographing and engraving to be awarded to lowest bidder, if. &c.*And be it further enacted*, That all lithographing and engraving, where the probable total cost of the maps or plates illustrating or accompanying any one work exceeds two hundred and fifty dollars, shall be awarded to the lowest and best bidder for the interests of the government, due regard being paid to the execution of the work, after due advertisement by the superintendent of public printing, under the Proviso.direction of the joint committee on printing: *Provided*, That the joint committee on public printing be authorized to empower the superintendent of public printing to make immediate contracts for engraving, whenever, in their opinion, the exigencies of the public service will not justify waiting for advertisement and award.
Sec. 10. Extra copies of documents.*And be it further enacted*, That whenever any person may desire extra copies of any document printed at the government printing office by authority of law, and shall notify the superintendent of public printing of the number of copies desired previous to its being put to press, and shall pay, in advance, the estimated cost thereof to said superintendent, the superintendent shall be authorized, under the direction of the joint Proceeds of sales of documents, &c.committee on public printing, to furnish such extra copies; and the money so received, together with moneys received by him from the sales of paper shavings and imperfections, shall be deposited in the treasury of the United States to the credit of the appropriations for public printing, binding, and paper, respectively, as designated by said superintendent; and, further, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to cause the moneys heretofore deposited by said superintendent in the treasury of the United States, being the proceeds of sales of paper shavings and imperfections, to be placed to the credit of the appropriations aforesaid, which said several sums of money shall be subject to the requisition of said superintendent in the manner now prescribed by law.
Sec. 11. Papers relating to foreign affairs.*And be it further enacted*, That whenever papers relating to foreign affairs shall be communicated to congress accompanying the annual message of the President, it shall be the duty of the superintendent of public printing to cause to be printed and bound, in addition to the Number of copies.usual number, four thousand copies for the use of the members of the Senate, seven thousand copies for the use of the members of the House of Representatives, and such number for the executive department as the President shall direct.
Sec. 12. Form and style of printing and binding.*And be it further enacted*, That the forms and style in which the printing or binding ordered by any of the departments shall be executed, the materials and size of type to be used, shall be determined by the superintendent of public printing, having proper regard to economy, workmanship, and the purposes for which the work is needed. Sec. 13. Repealing clause.*And be it further enacted*, That all laws, or parts of laws, joint resolutions, or parts of joint resolutions, conflicting with the above provisions, be, and they are hereby, repealed.
Approved, June 25, 1864.