THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4198, 3 September 1874, Page 3

THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

A report was presented to Parliament, at tie instance of Mr. Creighton, "of the character and value of the work done at the Government Printing Office. It comprises three portions, which were compiled by Dr. Kuight, Mr. J. G. Anderson, of the Audit Office, and Mr. T. McKenzie. Owing to there not having been a stock-taking in the office prior to the year 187.2, _no information of an. accurate character could be obtained as to what was the state" of things in the office at any earlier period. But, so far "as the report goes, it is very satisfactory. The estimate of the value of the work done showed that £5267 16s. Bd. had been saved to tho Colony by the Government printing, everything , that was required for the public service. This, every one must admit, is most satisfactory. ; There is such a general opinion ; that Governments "keep more cats than catch mice,".that it is pleasing to find one very important branch' of the public service free from suspicion of this kind. Dr. Knight incidentally mentioned that a thorough inspection had. convinced one of the gentlemen who assisted thereat, that an impression he had to the above effect was an erroneous one. After reading the report, we came to the conclusion that a walk through a building which contained so many.branches of the Baine one roof, as it were, would give a' better idea of what was being done than studying the- balanoe-sheet" appended ; and by the courtesy of the . Government Printer, Mr. Didsbury,thi3 was permitted. There is a completeness about the establishment which reminds one of what maybe seen in English factories, where, by the combination of labor - required.-,. in . the production of various articles, these are supplied at prices that would be impossible if the goods had to be travelled about from one place of business to another. xVery nearly a hundred • persons are regularly employed, and, of,, course, if these worked in different-houses, the cost of: supervision would be greatly increased.' > ;.. The general feeliiig of -the visitor on walking through the building will be one of surprise at. the quantity and'excellence of the work, turned out of premises sbyirianifestly inadequateto the" requirements of the services carried o» in them. Dr. Knight speaks of the 'Stamp,Department. . as follows :—" Alterations have , been :made; in the buildings that render it almost impossible for the printers of stamps to perform, their work satisfactorily, from the want of sufficient light. It is scarcely to express in too strong terms one's condemnation of the" defective arrangements for this important branch of the printing' establishment.', The" loss oOihiej' the annoyance to' the workmen, and the'irnpossibility of doing the work, creditably, are really deplorable, arid, I must "add, "quite discreditable to any establishmeht, however mean. Indeed, throughout -the-printing offices,-j[ noticed a most extraordinary want of attention to secure good diffused light by whitewashing the ceilings of; .the; rooms," Notwithstanding this, which, applies to robnis in which many other operations are carried an, some very creditable work is done in all. On the same subject, Mr. Anderson' wrote:—"The printer' complains of the accommodation as barely sufficient for'present requirements. The rooms are much crowded, and whep thCgas is lighted the air becomes very oppressive and Unhealthy/ The buildings have been patched ; from time to time, and the rooms are badly arranged for the purposes required. The binding-room is much too small, and has a bad access to it. It is low-roofed and inconveniently crowded. There is no room available for, surplus stores. , Every. foot of space, outside and inside, seemßJtO; be, occupied—the whole block lof buildings, Public "Works, Government Stored and Printing Office being crowded together." Somewhat in apposition to this, but concurring in the general excellence of the * Work' produced, Mr. McKenzie reported ;—"Altogether, the office: appeared to me to be well conducted, the several branches have all the necessary convenience, for- performing their, -work, with■ efficiency and "despatch, and the work produced is excellent." The -composing rooms, however, he considered , too i small for the number of hands employed., The- Government Printer would appear to have hit the nail on' the head when ho added, in a supplied at the request of the Colonial Secretary, "I notice by the Employment of Females Bill, as originally introduced, one of the sections provided that the workrooms ahould be-1 of a size sufficient;to allow at least 800 Cubic feet ot air, to reach rperson. ; If that space, is: considered necessary rin properly ventilated' rooms, the space allotted: to the compositors, it wilLbcobserved,. ia.littleanore than-haif ,th»t quantity, and a large* portion of, the air even in that spaceis rendered unfit for breathing by the number of "gas-llghta required to boused."

~ The .office,it add. is under the superintendence of the Government Printer, and any person reading ■ the report would"- agree, Svith Mr. Anderson, that "There can.be, no doubt; that Mr. Didsbury has much more duty devolving, upon: him than he can properly attend to. He' informs me that he feels he is overtaxed with, work, and, in consequence, is prevented from keeping up such a vigilant superintendence as he would desire in the thorough working of so large an establishment." Mr. Anderson adds ;that he" speaks highly of his overseers, but that .he ought to be relieved of attending to the sale of printed papers, and of advertisements, which. involved a large,amount of correspondence and certifying to vouchers. Both of the overseers are also said to be overworked, and under such a state of things it is satisfactory to. find Mr. McKenzie reporting that the machines were of the.i most approved ... construe? tion, and r that the condition in which they weije kept was very creditable to the workmen. The presses,. he. said, were much worn, but: the pressmen,- produced very. good. work with them. That they are worn will not be a matter for surprise when it is found that in Victoria there-are usually from. 750 to 950 Parliamentary papers produced , per annum, whilst in. New Zealand there are about 1350. The buildings and stock in hand, .which were valued in 1872 at £3828, were calculated at £7780 at the present time. The inadequacy of these buildings is shewn by the fact that even the paper on hand cannot be placed under cover, and nearly every foot of land is built upon. We have alluded to the several branches of business carried on in the Printing,Office, and I .a walk through the. establishment will show that considerable artistic ability is in ; the production of some-of the work. 'High intelligence is required in the' lithographist, the photo-lithographist, and the stereotypist ; I and it will be obvious that the superintendent of the whole establishment should possess qualifications of a varied character. We have seen how well the work that is produced is executed, and if was with somei surprise" we read'that the Government Printer," responsible for all this,-is-paid but £370 per annum,-to which ■ a few pounds may be added as being received on the jsale of Gazettes, Parliamentary papers, &ev- Surely 1 this is a case where an increase should be accorded, and the more'especially as he is underpaid in proportion to the salaries such public servants have elsewhere, where actually less work has to be executed. The room in which the process of stereotyping is carried on is the first of interest into which' we'were taken. Here the pulp on which the first impression is taken is prepared, gradually hardened,, and' then the plate, of molten type metal, is cast from it. So hard is it, and though made Of paper pulp, so impervious to the effects'of molten metal, that not'unfrequently a dozen, plates are cast from one model. These, it will be obvious, save great labor and expense in the printing department. All forms are" stereotyped, and then the printing type "is available for other purposes. For the plate'old type is principally-.used, but 'the lead'' from grocers' tea chests is bought at a nominal sum and utilised. When the process of electro-typing has to be resorted to for fine work, such as stamps or cheques, copper is precipitated - in a bath and a fine covering is placed on the leaden casting. The office is .fitted with a plane for giving the castings a shapely appearance; a , circular-saw for cutting the lead ; lathes, and necessary furnaces. From this it will be seen that the process is an interesting one ;' but it is scarcely so much so as the lithographing room, where either a chromo, or a ■ plain drawing, fully equal to a first-rate engraving, can be taken. . The process employed here .is said to depend upon the facility with which rcertain kinds of stone imbibe water and the mutual repulsion which exists between Oils in resinous substances and that fluid. • The drawings are imprinted on_the stone with a resinous or oily ink; it is then wetted, and an- ink roller passed over it. The ink will adhere to the lines constituting• the drawing, but' -will- leave the stone clean, on : account of the repulsive action of the water with which it is soaked. As many impressions can be taken as may be required, and then the stone is rubbed with pumice-stone or sand, and repolished. The best description is brought from Bavaria, but it is to be found in this Colony. By this process drawings of public works are produced, in large quantities, -with ease and rapidity, and also headings to circulars and other forms. The famous treaty of ' Waitangi, ■ which has been photographed, is to be lithographed in order for the publication, during the recess, we believe, of a history of land purchases in, the Northern Island. Its appearance will be looked forward to with interest. The chiefs /who signed it had their names ■ written : by Europeans, and to these signatures they'appended their tattoo marks, which gave the 1 treaty the appearance of being partly written in shorthand and partly in the usual-' way. •In this office, the illustrations to be seen ito /the New Zealand Museum are produced. Of equal interest is. the photo-lithograph room ii| which photo-lithographs,.;according jto any scale of public buildings to be constructed, plans of -railways, with specifications appended, should this'be considered desirable, are first ; taken and- then conveyed to the lithographic department to be printed on 'the stones, after being pieced together in a manner that defies detection. The paper used is prepared' in the office, so as to be peculiarly susceptible- to light ; of a certain shade, when drawings "are madeupon it of great beauty; delicacy of detail,-and accuracy. • '•'- ' '

Other rooms on the ground floor;are'the two used for publishing, out'"of which all Parliamentary papers, '&'c"4 are issued, 1 and the'engineers' workshojis, ; in' which nearly all necessary repairs in connection with the establishment' are executed:;™ ;.Then"f;hefe"is 'the stamp-room", in which*lia'per' is Used. 'manufacturedexpressly for the purpose,"so that every.stamp bears a "jvater-marK : The priritiflg-press whipli Mused' has an indicator to it for'the'purpose of showing the number of impressions that are, taken, and the stamps, are printed from an electrostereotyped '"plate; prepared iiithe, room before alluded to. There are conveniences for gumming,- drying,' perforating, and .pressing the' .stamps. In this room , also,,the'money-orders printed and and'there is amachine ;that numbers both them, and folios, &c.,'in an ingeniousmariner. "The stock; of 'stationery on hand is immense,"and'further accpmriMation is urgently required, especially as ii has'been p recommended, that, part of the 'establishment should be furnished with'duplicate'machinery,' to prevent a break-down in the case,of fire, or other: accident. In the piinting-office oh the groundfloorare six machines: twoßelleSauvage, two Minerva, a large .Wharfdale one jristvimj'. ported, a cutter, one for printing addresses,; and one for printing envelopes. Most of these are" driven by the 3 J'-horse engine in anadjoining ropni—opq.that'also has 5 to 1 work! the large' cufcterl upstairs. Herb 'is the ; binding roOm, with the folding-machine, and one for ruling paper; in it also? 'A,new' composing room of large proportions has been added,, besides which there are two others arid three reading rooms.; Downstair there is also, pne composing room. •7r We have given a rather-more lengthy sketch of the Government. Printing Office than we usually do of the subject matter of a Parliamentary paper, for JdiveVs reasons.' It will be' admitted :by,those whoso duty it ia to read.| Blue Books, that this institution is: one "of more.' than ordinary importance. There are papers presented to Parliament, and by means of the Press to the public, every year,.that' are of ! no common value. Representatives of the Press, members of Parliament, and gentlemen interested generally in literary and philosophic questions, will bear us But .in, the statement that all receive no ordinary amount of attention and courtesy at the hands of the i Government. Printer. We are not prepared to say that because New Zealand happens to have a .Premier with literary proclivities, ;tho' papers 'presented /to Parliament are of more than usual interest and value ; but the fact'remains that! they are. Nor is this the only department in the Government Printing Office, as now; managed,'which is of great public service.' The' maps, plans, and designs, issued from it are of great excellence.* That'of'the islands in the -Pacißc Ocean is acknowledged' by shipmasters to.bd of. considerable. value. ''Therefore , the use to the community of. the institution is not to be measured by its exact'cost,,' Members, of

the Cabinet know that,there, is ready, to their hands an institution that will print or lithograph whatever they may desire almost at a moment's, notice. Although the direct cost of printing such documents, plans, or maps might not be otherwise wan-anted, the Government, knowing that the Printing Office is. in working order, ,c»n obtain all that is required from it quickly and cheaply. .