The Jersey City news., 1906-04-03
Congressional Economy Is
Of the Kind That Saves At
the spigot and Wastes At
the Bunghole
PENNY WISE POLICY THAT PRE-
VENTS THE GOVERNMENT
FROM OWNING THE OFFICES
IN VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS.

+
| WASHINGTON, April ., 1906-In
some ways Uncle Sam is a mighty poor
fnancier The Congressional economy
Of the kind that saves at the spigot and
! wastes at the bunghole costs the old fell
low lot of money Take the matter of
public buildings. No careful man or
well-managed company pays rent il
money can be borrowed to build Private
citizens on small incomes live better and
save money by going into building and
loan associations, or borrowing from
banks or more fortunate citizens. to build
or buy homes And they save money,
even when they have to pay four, five or
| siv per cent. interest. The government
has unlimited credit at two per cent,
and is the heaviest rent-payer in the
country.
OF course, it costs more for Uncle Sam
to build than it does fer other people
| probably from twenty-five to a hundred
per cent. But that is simply another
phase Of the bad management.
Scattered around the country are sew
eral thousand postotfices in rented build
! ings, for which the government pays con-
1 s;.ioro bl1- N, orc. ront than thov nould he
leased for from private individuals.
| Every postofice building erected by the
government in a country where the rev
enues amount to anything is economy, if
| it is honestly build The economy is the
difference between the two per cent, or
even as low as 1.85 per cent, at which
Uncle Sam can borrow money, and the
eight or ten per cent. the lesses usually
make the leases net them on the cost of
their property.
There is much bumcombe about the
s.pork barrel by Congress. If the build
ing appropriations were based upon rec
concentrations emanating from the de-
partment officials who know the needs of
! the various offices, instead Of being a div
isien of patronage devised mainly to re-
leaders. there would be less ornate mon
4 uments to sagebrush and turnip patch
statesmen at some of the crossroads post
office towns of the country, and better
and more economical facilities for hous-
ing government offices and handling gov
einment busines in the big towns and
cities which now pay high rentals for un-
suitable buildings.
/ Right here in Washington, which some
day, in the dim future, will be a beauti-
ful city, if Congress ever allows if to be
| finished, is seen this penny-wise and
| pound-fooIsh Congressional policy. There
| is only one government department that
is not paying rent for offices in all sorts
| Of buildings. good. bad and Indifferent,
Some Of the most important branches of
| huddled into lean-tos and shacks, in back
| streets and alleys. And for these shacks
the government pays more rent than the
interest would amount to on modern fire.
proof, convenient and imposing struc
lures, that would add to the beauty and
dignity of the capital city.
What this piecemeal legislation, this
hand dto-mouth Congressional way of pro-
| viding for government necessities, Of
economizing in expenditures result
ed in is shown BY the condition Of the
departments today. The government is
paying in Washington alone $350,000 a
year rent for Offices. Here is the way
the departments are scattered around the
District Of Columbia
Treasury Department. six buildings:
War Department, nine buildings; Post
office Department, FIVE buildings; Agri-
cultural Department. twenty buildings;
Department of Commerce and Labor six
buildings; Department Of Justice, six
buildings; district government. nine build
ings.
Cabinet officers admit that in addition
to the rent item. it costs about 100000
more for extra help, light and feul 10 run
the Offices in the present way than it
would If each department could he hous-
ed under its own roof.
+ In the Department Of Justice. for in
stance the clerks ana attorneys have 10
walk half a mile between the library anl
their desks.
The money now being spent by the
government III this city for renr and iii
cidentals entailed by the present scalter-
ing Of department. work would pay inter