GENERAL ORDERS, No. 17. WAR DEPARTMENT, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, February 8, 1865. REGULATIONS RELATIVE TO NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING AND JOB PRINTING. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, January 1, 1865. The regulations of this Department, contained in the circulars dated April 8, May 20, June 20, and September 17, 1864, relative to news- paper advertising and job printing, are republished and modified as follows: Advertising. 1. All advertisements or official newspaper publications of whatever nature, intended to be paid for by the War Department, must be reported to the Assistant Secretary of War in substantially the following form: Chief Q. M.'s Office, Depot of Washington, Washington, D. C., October 17, 1864. Sir: The enclosed advertisement, dated , 186-, inviting proposals for 1,500,000 feet of white pine cullings, &c., has been sent to the fol- lowing named newspapers for publication: Washington "Chronicle," to insert daily till 29th instant. Baltimore "Clipper," " " " " " Philadelphia "Press," " " " 28th " Philadelphia "North American," " ■ » Brig. Gen., and Chief Quartermaster. To , Assistant Secretary of War. A manuscript copy of the advertisement may be enclosed, or the report may be postponed until a copy can be obtained and cut from some newspaper; but any officer who fails to report his advertisements when issued, or immediately after their first publication, will be held to a strict accountability for disobedience of orders. 2 2. Officers are not required to publish their advertisements in all the authorized newspapers of any locality at the same time, unless, in their judgment, the interests of the government require it, or unless they are specially instructed to that effect; but when selecting only a portion of such papers, they will report their reasons therefor, and for advertising in the particular papers in question. 3. All bills for advertising must be submitted to the Assistant Secretary of War for approval prior to being paid. Publishers will first present their bills to the officer who issued the advertisements, who will cause the same to be made out and certified in the following form, upon not less than half a sheet of paper, each advertisement to be charged in a separate item, the nature thereof definitely described, and a copy cut from the same newspaper named in the bills, appended in the order in which they are charged, and in convenient form for examination: The United States, To D. C. Forney, Dr. To insertion of annexed advertisements of Brig. Gen. D. H. Pucker, Depot Quartermaster, in the Daily "Chronicle," published at Wash- ington, D. C., as follows: White pine cullings, &c... §• ■ 3 g & 1 B re E. Date of 1st in- I sertion. No. of squares or | lines. *3 o E No. of insertions charged. No. of insertions ordered. ; Amount charged. ' Amount allowed., [State here the rate per square or line for first and subsequent insertions, and if by the square, the number of lines counted as such.] I certify that the annexed advertisement published by my order in this newspaper for the period stated in the foregoing account, and that necessary for the public service. 3 4. The accounts will then be forwarded directly to the Assistant Secretary of War, with a letter of transmittal describing the enclosures, together with the original bills as rendered by the publishers. 5. Officers are prohibited from making any alterations in the number of squares or lines, the number of insertions, or the amount charged; but will be careful to describe each advertisement so that it can be identified, and to state in the proper column the number of insertions ordered. G. Accounts may in some cases be presented to officers for advertise- ments which they did not order published in the newspaper charging therefor, but which may have been authorized to be inserted therein by the Secretary of War. These are not to be rejected, but will be made out in the form above prescribed, certified to according to the facts, and forwarded in like manner as other accounts to the Assistant Secretary of War. The following forms for certificates will be used in such cases: "I certify that the annexed advertisements were not sent to this newspaper by me, but were published by my order in the [name the paper to which the certifying officer sent them and place] for the period herein stated, and were necessary for the public service." Or, when not ordered published in any paper in the vicinity, city, or town where charged, certify as follows: "I certify that the annexed advertisements were not published by my order in this or any other paper in the city [or town] of . 7. In the event of the death, removal, or resignation of any officer, or of his being transferred to another station, the bills for outstanding advertisements of his office will be made out, certified to, and forwarded by his successor, who is authorized to vary the forms to correspond with the facts. 8. Claims for payment for advertisements copied from other papers without authority from the Secretary of War will not be approved. 9. The heads of the several bureaus of the War Department will furnish to all officers charged with the publication of advertisements, complete lists of newspapers designated for that purpose by the Secre- tary of War. Whenever, in the judgment of any officer, the interest of the service requires that notices should be inserted in any paper not upon the official list, he will make application for special authority in the case. Unauthorized newspapers will not be employed, except w here recruiting officers are temporarily stationed at places where there aie 4 no official newspapers, in which case they will be allowed to select papers for the advertising allowed by the Revised Recruiting Regula- tions; or where, in other cases, the necessity for advertising is impera- tive, and the time too limited to apply for orders. 10. Officers of the army are informed that the publication of military orders in newspapers is unauthorized and will not be paid for, unless it shall appear, upon examination of the bills at the War Department, that the orders charged for were necessary and could not have been made to reach those for whose information or government they were intended through the ordinary military channels. The advertisements recognized as proper charges against the government are those relating to supplies or transportation for the army, the sale of public property, the procurement of labor and material for public works, the notices of provost marshals and other officers relative to the draft and the raising of volunteers. 11. Officers are enjoined to practice all possible economy in adver- tising consistent with the necessities of the service. The publication of blank forms for bids and guarantees is unnecessary, and the practice of ordering notices to be inserted "till day," &c., involves a useless expenditure where the station of the officer is remote from the place of publication. 12. Publishers of newspapers will greatly facilitate the adjustment of their accounts by forwarding to this Department copies of such issues of their respective papers as contain new advertisements published by officers of the army. Newspapers furnished for this purpose will not be paid for, but will be filed for reference as a necessary part of vouchers rendered for advertising. Address as follows: "ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR, "Office of Printing Accounts, " War Department, Washington, D. C." Job Printing. 13. The circular of this Department, dated September 17, 1864, and embodied in General Orders, No. 260, 1864, requiring that all bills for job printing procured by officers of the army should be submitted to the Assistant Secretary of War to be audited prior to being paid, embraces all descriptions of printing aside from newspaper advertising, such as 5 blanks, posters, general and special orders, proceedings of courts martial and similar work, excluding blank books and such stationery as is furnished plain and unprinted. 14. Officers are reminded that, as a general rule, all blanks, books, and printed forms are executed at the Government Printing Office at Washington, and that it is their duty to obtain the same by requisi- tion upon the Adjutant General or the heads of their respective bureaus; and bills for such printing, executed elsewhere, will be dis- approved, unless the same shall have been specially authorized by the Secretary of War, or unless it is clearly shown that the printed matter could not have been procured from the heads of bureaus at Washington in time for use. Such other printing as may be necessary to save clerk hire, or to promote the efficiency of the army, may be procured outside of Washington under the direction of commanding officers, chief quartermasters, chief commissaries of armies, departments, divisions, and districts, medical directors, acting assistant provost marshals general of States, and other supervising officers in the locality where the same is required ; but in case of all printing not expressly allowed by Army Regulations or existing orders, the necessity and propriety of the work must be clearly shown in presenting the vouchers for approval, and, wherever practicable, it is the duty of the officer to apply at the War Department for authority before ordering the work. 15. A sample of the work must accompany each bill. Where the charge is for book or pamphlet printing, general and special orders, proceedings of courts martial, and similar work, the number of copies, amount of matter, number of tokens of press-work, and the rate per 1,000 ems, per quire, and per token must be stated. Vouchers must show the place where and the date when the work is executed, and the printing be so described as to class, amount, and rates, that the com- putations can be readily reviewed. Where the paper is furnished by the printer, that fact must be stated in the voucher, with the number of quires or reams used. .16. The heads of the several bureaus of the War Department will instruct the purchasing officers under their charge to procure supplies of stationery by contract, and to furnish the same to officers entitled thereto upon the proper requisitions; and, wherever practicable, the necessary paper will be furnished to the printer for any work ordered to be done. 17. Bills must first be presented to the officers ordering the work, 6 who will cause them to be made out upon official forms, and attach the usual certificate. 18. Advertisements and job printing, and all items to be paid from different appropriations, must be charged for on separate vouchers, and submitted with separate letters of transmittal. By order of the Secretary of War: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General. Official: Assistant Adjutant General.