Mr. BINGHAM. That covers your back recommendations as well as your present recommendations?

Mr. PUTNAM. Yes. If I should lose this particular man I could not possibly get a proper man for this position for less than $3,000.

ASSISTANT, READING ROOM FOR THE BLIND.

Mr. PUTNAM. There is one position that you may drop out. On page 48, at the top, you will find, "one assistant (reading room for the blind), $1,200." That work for the blind is chiefly for the benefit of the residents of the District; it is proper work for the municipal library.

Mr. BINGHAM. That is not new?

Mr. PUTNAM. No, sir; that is a position that has been on my roll. It is now being taken over by the Public Library.

Mr. BINGHAM. The Carnegie Library?

Mr. PUTNAM. Yes. It is proper that the District should bear its share of that work; it is chiefly for the blind of the District, and it is more properly done down there. So a similar item appears in the estimates of the trustees of the Public Library; if it is provided there, it drops out here. We transferred the assistant to them.

AUTOMOBILE.

[Also pages 19, 21.]

Mr. PUTNAM. Now, the superintendent of building and grounds has included in his estimates a provision for taking care of our automobile delivery service. We have an automobile; we have had at times a horse and wagon.

Mr. GILLETT. How do you find the relative expense of an automobile and a horse and wagon?

Mr. PUTNAM. Well, we had $900 a year for a horse and wagon.
Mr. GILLETT. You mean furnished by some stable?

Mr. PUTNAM. Two horses and a wagon furnished by a stable. We had a checkered experience

Mr. BINGHAM. You were allowed that?

Mr. PUTNAM. No, sir; we took it out of contingent expenses, which provides for all transportation. Now, we have had, as I say, a checkered experience with our delivery. We got an automobile some years ago which proved inefficient. We used it four years and then had to give it up; it was a cheap one. Then we used two horses and a wagon, but they could not cover the territory. Then we managed to get another automobile.

Mr. BINGHAM. What do you do with an automobile?

Mr. PUTNAM. It makes four trips a day to the post-office, handling all incoming and outgoing mail matter.

Mr. BINGHAM. That is your own mail?

Mr. PUTNAM. Yes; including the work of the copyright office. Last year there were over 200,000 articles that came in for copyright alone. That is the post-office work. And in addition to that there is the delivery of books to Senators and Members and their families and to the departments. That has been increasing in volume somewhat, but it has increased still more in the area to be covered. Senators and Representatives have moved to farther points. And it is quite obvious that even with the very efficient automobile-and we have one

now—we must occasionally send a messenger. The automobile that we now have is an electric machine, which of course is charged at our own plant. It is much better to have all of that service under the superintendent, who has electricians and mechanics under him. So I have asked him to take it over.

Mr. GILLETT. How did you buy it?

Mr. PUTNAM. We bought that out of the contingent fund.
Mr. GILLETT. What did it cost, if you remember?

Mr. PUTNAM. This one cost $1,900, or a little over that-about $2,000. But we had to split the payments.

Mr. BINGHAM. Your contingent fund allows that, does it?

Mr. PUTNAM. It covers all transportation; otherwise I would have come in and asked for a special appropriation or an additional allowance. However, we squeezed and pared down on our stationery and supplies and managed to squeeze out part of the money last year and part at the beginning of this year. We bought half of the machine at the end of the last year and the other half at the beginning of this year. Now that we have the machine we want the superintendent to run it, and he has applied for two additional skilled laborers, one of whom will be entirely needed for it, and part of the service of the other. He has also added to his estimates for supplies, and so on, $500 on this account.

Mr. GILLETT. But he will explain that.

Mr. PUTNAM. He will explain that. It is only this that concerns me-whether that shall mean a corresponding diminution of my appropriation because he is taking over the work. I wish to explain that as he has added $500 to his supply item to cover repairs, and perhaps new tires, and so on, on the automobile, if it should be necessary we could get along for the coming year with $500 less on our contingent-expense item. We would have to ask for it again, probably, the following year, however, because the amount of supplies and stationery we are needing is increasing with our work, and other things are being thrown upon that account; and if you drop it off this coming year it might be difficult for me to get it back. Of course I should be very sorry to have it go.

We have now to pay out of that contingent-expense account for all cablegrams and telegrams, and even those connected with the increase of the Library, which formerly we were allowed to charge to the appropriation for increase. Perhaps $200 may have to be spent out of this item that was formerly taken care of by another. Then the amount of our mail matter and the amount of wrapping and packing and unpacking to be done is increasing every year. While the superintendent puts in one additional $720 man, it is going to embarrass us very much if we lose that $720 position out of our mail and delivery.

Mr. BINGHAM. I want to say that the whole proposition that you have submitted will embarrass us very much in explaining it to the House.

Mr. PUTNAM. You mean in regard to there being an addition in one case, and nothing taken away in the other?

Mr. LIVINGSTON. What the House will want to know is this: If you could do without $750 last year and this year out of the contingent expenses, why can you not do without it all the while?

Mr. PUTNAM. Sometimes, you know, it is possible, Mr. Chairman, to temporarily cut down a supply of a particular character. We could manage it this coming year, as I say; but later on, probably the year after, with the growth of the work which uses supplies, we should have to come back for an increase again. But, to be consistent, I wanted to point out that if you put that $500 onto the superintendent's item, it is perfectly logical to cut it out of ours.

Mr. LIVINGSTON. You could cut this item of books for the Supreme Court $750, could you not, if we give that back to you in the ordinary supplies? You have estimated $2,000 additional for the Supreme Court for new books.

Mr. PUTNAM. Yes. I put in that communication from the marshal of the Supreme Court, saying that they wanted to replenish with late editions some of their conference-room sets.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1910.

CUSTODY, CARE, AND MAINTENANCE OF LIBRARY BUILDING AND GROUNDS. STATEMENT OF MR. BERNARD R. GREEN, SUPERINTENDENT OF BUILDING AND GROUNDS.

WATCHMEN.

Mr. BINGHAM. You lift your appropriation under the first paragraph from $76,905 to $83,005. Is that right?

Mr. GREEN. Yes, sir.

Mr. LIVINGSTON. The first change is on page 58, where Mr. Green wants the word "police " inserted instead of "watch."

Mr. GILLETT. Why is that?

Mr. GREEN. If you will read a little farther along, you will see that I want to call the watchmen policemen, and I wish to raise the pay of the men from $720 to $900. I want to raise the so-called watchmen to the rank of policemen. That is what they really are. Mr. GILLETT. Why do you want to do it?

Mr. GREEN. It is more appropriate for the building. They do police duty.

Mr. BINGHAM. It does not make them more efficient, does it?
Mr. GREEN. Why, yes.

Mr. BINGHAM. Does it make them more efficient to be called by another name, or is it a matter of pride in the name of " policeman? Mr. GREEN. No; I do not care what you call them.

Mr. GILLETT. You want the money in any event?

Mr. GREEN. I want to raise their pay to something commensurate with what they have to do. They are a high order of men.

Mr. GILLETT. What do they get now?

Mr. GREEN. Seven hundred and twenty dollars a year, like all watchmen all over the city.

Mr. BINGHAM. You mean in the departments?

Mr. GREEN. In the departments. Most of those men in the departments have nothing to do but to sit at the door and go to sleep.

Mr. GILLETT. They get the same pay as the public buildings and grounds watchmen that guard all the parks in the city.

Mr. GREEN. Yes.

Mr. GILLETT. They certainly have to work as hard as your men, do they not?

Mr. GREEN. I do not think so.

Mr. GILLETT. Why not.

Mr. GREEN. We have very few men, you know; and I have to hold them up to a high standard of efficiency.

Mr. GILLETT. How many have you there?

Mr. GREEN. Sixteen.

Mr. GILLETT. Just for one building?

Mr. GREEN. Yes; for one building. I have them on duty through three watches in the twenty-four hours.

Mr. BINGHAM. You have three watches in the twenty-four hours? Mr. GREEN. Three watches in the twenty-four hours. That would give you a body of only five men on a watch; and they are not on duty all the time, anyway, because of sickness and vacation and one thing and another.

Mr. BINGHAM. Do they go to different portions of the Library? Mr. GREEN. Yes, sir; they patrol it all the time.

Mr. BINGHAM. Do they do any outside, work, too?

Mr. GREEN. They go outside at night, and go around the building, and patrol throughout the building. They do not do any special duty in connection with our building, any more than any other.

Mr. BINGHAM. They do watch duty on their beats, do they not? Take your building. Does it include a body of so many policemen on regular beats?

Mr. GREEN. Yes, sir; within the building and outside at night. Mr. BINGHAM. I am asking now about the regular police force of the city.

Mr. GREEN. They do not do any more for our building than they do for other buildings in the city.

Mr. BINGHAM. No; but they do for your building the same as they do for other buildings?

Mr. GREEN. Oh, yes.

Mr. BINGHAM. That is what I wanted to get at.

Mr. GREEN. That is, so far as the grounds-the streets- -are concerned.

Mr. BINGHAM. Yes; that is what I mean. You do not propose to increase your force?

Mr. GREEN. No.

Mr. BINGHAM. And the increase of pay to your watch force will amount to what?

Mr. GREEN. To $180 a year.

Mr. GILLETT. For each man?

Mr. GREEN. For each man; that is, it will raise his pay from $720 to $900. Instead of $60 a month, I want to give them $75 a month. I have mentioned this before. The duty in that building is of a high order. They have to buy their own uniforms and keep themselves in good shape.

Mr. GILLETT. All policemen have to do that.

Mr. BINGHAM. They buy their own uniforms, do they?

68081-LEGIS-10-2

Mr. GREEN. Yes, sir. Other policemen get more pay. Watchmen do not buy their uniforms out of their pay usually.

Mr. GILLETT. The park policemen do.

Mr. GREEN. That may be so, but I do not think that is general throughout the city. I think this increase is only just to the men. It has been very much talked of by all of us over there; the watchmen themselves have been continually applying for it; and it seems to be the reasonable thing. Of course you will do as you can in justice to the general situation of the city and of the Government.

CHARWOMEN.

Mr. GILLETT. Why do you want seven more charwomen?

Mr. GREEN. Because we have at least that much more work to do, and have had all along.

Mr. GILLETT. Why more work? How has your work increased? Mr. GREEN. Of course the building is not bigger, but there is a lot more going on in it, and a great deal more ground to cover.

Mr. GILLETT. Why is there more ground to cover?

Mr. BINGHAM. Do you mean that it is more of a general visiting thoroughfare than heretofore?

Mr. GREEN. No; but the work throughout the building has increased enormously since we began there. The whole building is fuller than it ever was before. There is more dirt to be cleaned up, and more ground to be scrubbed up and taken care of than there ever was before.

Mr. GILLETT. Have you not done it always?

Mr. GREEN. Why, no. Of course the front stairway is not any bigger than it was before, and it is not used so very much more, we will say. But the book stacks are larger, the rooms of the building which are occupied for the purposes of the building are more occupied, and we have more material in them and more dirt accumulating all the time to be cleaned up than there ever was before. Mr. GILLETT. This covers the new book stacks, does it?

Mr. GREEN. Yes.

Mr. GILLETT. Did we not give you an increase last year for that? Mr. GREEN. No. You have not increased this force of people. Mr. BINGHAM. Was 45 the original number of your force when you went in?

Mr. GREEN. Not quite; I do not think it was. We had a slight increase some years ago; but it is a long time since we have had any increase at all in the scrubbing force.

SKILLED LABORERS.

Mr. GILLETT. Why do you want two more skilled laborers?
Mr. GREEN. For a similar reason. There is more work to do.
Mr. GILLETT. What do the laborers do?

Mr. GREEN. The laborers do the moving and carrying and cleaning throughout the whole building all the time. There is more general work to be done in that neighborhood than there ever was before; and as you increase the amount of material in it, and the amount of handling, of course, you have to do more cleaning. Two or three times before I have asked for an increase in these forces, but we