LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE.

The act of June 17, 1910, provided for the rearrangement of the Lighthouse Service into not exceeding 19 districts, with a lighthouse inspector in charge of each. The act also authorized the President to assign Army and Navy officers to act in lieu of civilian inspectors for a period not to exceed three years, except in the districts including the Mississippi River and its tributaries, in which he was authorized to designate Army engineers to act as inspectors for a period not specified. The Service has been rearranged into districts in accordance with the provisions of this act. No inspectors were appointed during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, as no appropriation was made for the payment of their salaries. An appropriation for 17 inspectors became available on July 1, 1911, since which date civilian inspectors have been gradually supplanting the Navy officers assigned to 16 of the 19 lighthouse districts. At the close of the fiscal year 13 appointments had been made, 12 by the promotion of persons already in the Lighthouse Service and 1 by the transfer of an experienced employee from the Coast and Geodetic Survey. One inspector, appointed for temporary duty as a general inspector, has not been assigned to any particular district. The ninth, eleventh, twelfth, and nineteenth districts were still in charge of Navy officers, while the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth districts, which include the Mississippi River and its tributaries, remain under the supervision of Army engineers.

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES AND EXPOSITION.

During the fiscal year the Department was represented, by invitations from foreign diplomatic representatives, at six international congresses and one international exposition as follows: The Thirteenth Session of the International Statistical Institute, held at The Hague in September, 1911; the Second International Congress of the Applications of Electricity, at Turin, Italy, September 10-17, 1911; the Sixth International Congress of Firemen, held at St. Petersburg, May 25-28, 1912, and the International Exposition of Fire and Salvage, held during six weeks in May and June, 1912, at the same city; the Radio-Telegraphic Congress, held in London, June 4, 1912; the Seventh International Esperanto Congress, held at Antwerp, August 20-27, 1911; and the Twelfth International Congress of Navigation, held at Philadelphia, in May, 1912.

It is now generally recognized that these congresses bring about beneficial results, owing to the interest taken in the work by representative men of various nationalities.

DIVISION OF PUBLICATIONS.

VOLUME AND COST OF PRINTING.

The Department (exclusive of the Bureau of the Census) was allotted the sum of $375,000 for printing and binding for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1912. Of this sum, $374,995.64 was expended, leaving a balance of $4.36 to be covered into the Treasury. The increase in expenditures as compared with the fiscal year 1911 was $4,827.89, or 1.3 per cent.

The following table shows the quantity and cost of each class of work ordered from the Public Printer during the fiscal years 1910, 1911, and 1912:

During the year the Department issued 3,466 requisitions on the Public Printer, as compared with 3,337 in 1911, an increase of 129. There were decreases in the quantities ordered of each of the classes of work enumerated in the foregoing table, except reports, pamphlets, etc. Of this class, which is the most expensive of the several classes enumerated, there was an increase in the number printed of 1,660,000, or 31.46 per cent. Decreases in the quantities of the less expensive items resulted in savings in costs amounting to $13,801.79, but these savings were more than offset by the increase in the cost of publications, which amounted to $18,629.68. It is worthy of note, however, that the increase in the cost of the Department's publications was a little less than 7 per cent, while the increase in the product was more than 30 per cent.

The table following gives the expenditures for printing and binding for each bureau, office, and service (except the Bureau of the

Census) for the fiscal years 1910, 1911, and 1912, and the increase or decrease in 1912 as compared with 1911.

1 of this amount $1,337.43 was for supplies furnished to the Bureau of the Census, which reimbursed the Department's allotment to that extent.

On April 17, 1912, the Public Printer rendered a bill covering an additional charge against the Department on account of the printing and binding for the General Supply Committee for the fiscal year 1911 of $137.53. This explains the difference in the figures here and those published in my annual report for 1911. • Cost of work for Navigation Service carried under the Bureau of Navigation account. "Cost of work for naturalization examiners carried under the Naturalization Service account.

DISTRIBUTION OF PRINTED SUPPLIES.

There were received and filled during the past year 9,375 requisitions from the various outside services of the Department calling for 8,097,302 blank forms, as compared with 8,821,689 in 1911, and 315,203 books and pamphlets, as compared with 343,867 in 1911. There were also received and filled during the year from offices and bureaus of the Department in Washington 362 and from the outside services 358 requisitions for printed stationery, a total of 720, as compared with 709 in the preceding year. The 720 requisitions called for 5,400,000 envelopes, 2,110,000 letterheads, 3,023,000 memorandum sheets, 4,800 stenographers' notebooks, 6,300 blank books, 786,000 index and guide cards, 308,000 vertical folders, and 81,000 blank forms.

PUBLICATION WORK.

During the fiscal year 1912 there emanated from the Department, exclusive of the Bureau of the Census, 887 publications, against 796 in the fiscal year 1911, or an increase of 91. Thirty-one of these, against 27 in 1911, were printed in two or more editions, while 51 were reprints of issues of earlier years. These publications contained a total of 54,702 printed pages, as compared with 47,883 in 1911, and there were issued of them for the Department a grand total of 7,144,490 copies, against 5,242,762 in the preceding year.

The publication work of each bureau for the past two fiscal years is summarized in the following table:

Section 8 of the act providing for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, approved August 23, 1912, provides:

That no money appropriated by this or any other Act shall be used after the first day of October, nineteen hundred and twelve, for services in any executive department or other Government establishment at Washington, District of Columbia, in the work of addressing, wrapping, mailing, or otherwise dispatching any publication for public distribution, except maps, weather reports, and weather cards issued by an executive department or other Government establishment at Washington, District of Columbia, or for the purchase of material or supplies to be used in such work; and on and after October first, nineteen hundred and twelve, it shall be the duty of the Public Printer to perform such work at the Government Printing Office. Prior to October first, nineteen hundred and twelve, each executive department and other Government establishment at Washington, District of Columbia, shall transfer to the Public Printer such machines, equipment, and materials as are used in address

ing, wrapping, mailing, or otherwise dispatching publications; and each head of such executive department and other Government establishment at Washington, District of Columbia, shall furnish from time to time to the Public Printer mailing lists, in convenient form, and changes therein, or franked slips, for use in the public distribution of publications issued by such department or establishment; and the Public Printer shall furnish copies of any publication only in accordance with the provisions of law or the instruction of the head of the department or establishment issuing the publication. The employment of all persons in the several executive departments and other Government establishments at Washington, District of Columbia, wholly in connection with the duties herein transferred to the Public Printer, or whose services can be dispensed with or devolved upon another because of such transfer, shall cease and determine on or before the first day of October, nineteen hundred and twelve, and their salaries or compensation shall lapse for the remainder of the fiscal year nineteen hundred and thirteen and be covered into the Treasury. A detailed statement of all machines, equipment, and material transferred to the Government Printing Office by operation of this provision and of all employments discontinued shall be submitted to Congress at its next session by the head of each executive department and other Government establishments at Washington, District of Columbia, in the annual estimates of appropriations: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be construed as applying to orders, instructions, directions, notices, or circulars of information, printed for and issued by any of the executive departments or other Government establishments or to the distribution of public documents by Senators or Members of the House of Representatives or to the folding rooms and documents rooms of the Senate or House of Representatives. During the month of September, 1912, the Division of Publications was busily engaged in carrying out the provisions of the foregoing section of law, the following machines, equipment, and materials used in addressing, wrapping, mailing, or otherwise dispatching publications of the Department being transferred to the Government Printing Office:

1 F. D. Belknap rapid addressing machine No. 351.

1 F. D. Belknap wrapper cutter for cutting wrappers 12 to 24 inches in length.

1 F. D. Belknap wrapper cutter for cutting wrappers 7 to 14 inches in length.

1 canvas cover for F. D. Belknap rapid addressing machine No. 351.

5 paper feed rollers for F. D. Belknap rapid addressing machine No. 351, as follows: 1 for 9-inch paper; 1 for 15-inch paper; 1 for 16-inch paper; 1 for 18-inch paper; 1 for 24-inch paper.

25 metal shafts for composition rollers.

1 wrapper table.

4 wrapper weights.

9 electrotypes for printing "Department of Commerce and Labor" return cards.

2 electrotypes for printing penalty franks for large cutter.

3 electrotypes for printing penalty franks for small cutter.

10 rubber buffs for wrapper cutters.

5 pounds of Jaenecke printing ink.

120 rolls, or about 9,600 pounds, of 9-inch paper for use in mailing the

Daily Consular and Trade Reports.