Evening star., 1901-12-23
PURCHASE OF SUPPLIES
BOARD OF CHARITIES RECOMMEN-
DATION TO THE COMMISSIONERS.
should BE Bought Under Contract
Through District officer.

The board of charities has informed the
District Commissioners that it is of the
opinion there Is a lack of economy in the
system of purchasing supplies and dis
bursement of moneys that now obtain in
the case of several institutions under its
supervision .
These institutions" says the board
purchase their supplies in the open mar
ket at such rates as they can secure. and
the average prices paid are very consider
ably more than prices paid for like articles
under the contract system of the District
government. 1t is alleged by some that
supplies obtained by the contract system,
especially food supplies, are not of as good
quality those obtained in the open
market The board has made 1t point to
examine the food supplies of various insti-
tutions and compare those purchased under
the District supply system with those pur-
chased in the open market, and It is con-
vfnced beyond a doubt that lower prices for
the same goods are secured under the Dis
trist supply system, and il any supplies
are received which are not up to the STAN
dard, it is the fault of the steward or other
officials whose duty 1t is to receipt for such
supplies. since the contracts call for arti-
cles of a certain definite grade. First-class
goods can be obtained under the contract
system of the District government as the
board has found by an examination of the
supplies in many institutions that purchase
tnelr supplies through tnlS system.
Disbursement of Funds.
With reference to the disbursement of
moneys the usual system of disbursement,
through the auditor and the disbursing Of
ticer of the District, obtains in most of our
public institutions, but several institutions
still have their own disbursing officers, and,
in most cases, these officers receive a salary
varying from $500 to 5000 per annum. The
accounts of these officers, when paid, must
pass through the District auditors office
and then go to the office of the auditor for
the State and other departments at the
United States treasury, the same in the
case of accounts settled by the disbursing
officer of the District, and the fact that
these institutions have their disburs-
Ing officers does not seem to tighten the
labors OF the auditing department to any
appreciable extent The fact is that about
$1,000 is thus paid out to disbursing officers
for disbursing something like $120,0O0 or
sio0"o annually of government funds,
while the District disbursing office which 1t
costs about 81, ,0O annually to maintain, dis
burSeS about $1,000, 600.
In the interest of economy, therefore,
the board recommends that in future all
appropriations for District charities and
reformatOrieS be diSburSed directly by the
disbursing officer of the District of Column
bia, and all supplies purchased from such
appropriations be purchased under the Dis
trict supply system which obtains in other
departments of the District government
If this recommendation is adopted it will
enable institutions to secure more for the
money than has been the case heretofore
and will relieve them of the necessity of
paying money for a treasurer or disbursing
officer. 1t is sometimes urged in defense of
these payments that because a treasurer
diSburses United States funds he must be
bonded officer, and it costs something for
a bond, and the system of bookkeeping re-
quired by the Treasury Department is so
complicated as to entail considerable labor
on the part of disbursing officers.
Will Cut OFF Salaries.
IF the above recommendation is adopted
the treasurers of charitable institutions
will not be obliged to handle public funds,
and the board believes that under such cir
cumstances there will be no occasion for
the payment of treasurers for such insti-
tutions. There is no doubt that the office
OF treasurer, or that of secretary, of some
of our larger charitable institutions entails
some sacrifice on the part of those who ac-
cept such offices, but the very idea of char
1ty itself implies sacrifice, and there is no
doubt that lots of good people can be found
to fill these offices without financial COM
pensation. Most such officials in the Dis
trict of Columbia are now serving without
and doubtless all would be
so serving but for the fact that heretofore
many of them have been disbursing public
funds