Reductions of (v_3) configurations

Cubic bipartite graphs with girth at least 6 correspond to symmetric combinatorial (v_3) configurations. In 1887 V. Martinetti described a simple reduction method which enables one to reduce each combinatorial (v_3) configuration to one from the infinite set of so-called irreducible configurations. The aim of this paper is to show that a slightly extended set of reductions enables one to reduce each combinatorial (v_3) configuration either to the Fano configuration or to the Pappus configuration.