Time was when the U.S. bureaucracy measured its girth in red tape. Nowadays the proper measure is paper (only a few yards of red tape are still used each year, mainly to bind treaties). This week a Hoover Commission task force estimated that the Government's paper work is costing the taxpayers $4 billion a year. By economizing in carbon copies, cutting down on gobbledygook and other reforms, the task force reckoned the Government could save a tidy $255 million annually.
Miles of Files. Easily the biggest item in Washington's paper problem is mail. Each working day the Government's typewriters and...