The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-12-18
A Business Proposition for the House.

Congress will have before it again this session the
proposition purchase for Government all the ground
between Pennsylvania and the Mall In the Senate
the consideration given the will consist of report
from committee open discussion the floor free
vote; and the merit of the project being thus given
chance, will carry through In the House. the consd-
eraon that counts will consist of brief conference be-
tween the Speaker the chairman of the Committee APP
preparations, and half dozen other members upon whose
counsel Mr. Cannon disposed to rely Last session and
the session before these gentlemen dsapproved of the
them this statement of the case is
particularly addressed.
For three special today and practical reasons Con
ress should provide for the purchase of this ground
Those reasons are
That all nine of the executive departments suf
ferng in efficiency and being operated with financial waste
because they have not proper quarters.
That sites for such quarters constantly advanc
ing IN value that every year the purchase Of them is
deferred adds thousands of dollars to their cost.
B. That the ground south of Pennsylvania avenue is
only specially suited this use but for the permanent
advantage of the Capital of the United States should be
taken over by the National Govo'nment.
In order to relieve the pressure imposed on the de-
partments by their establishment in converted dwellings,
warehouses and Office buildings widely scattered Congress
has provided for buildings house the Agricultural
Department the Geological Survey bureaus of the
POstohce Department which rented quarters at
cost to the Government of SOL ia year The Interior
Department is located far from Pennsylvania avenue
that its problem may be set apart But the Departments of
State, Justice, Navy, and Commerce and Labor
stricted factory manager would think it profitable to
restrict the several branches of his business nothing what
has been done to relieve their situation and the yearly
outlay for rent $166579-whch suitable buildings would
saverepresents at fair borrowing for the Govern
ment principal of $8,328,900.
How much the Government would gain in money
through the proper accommodation these departments
no UO11I crair o,,ob Ac
careful manager Secretary Metcaf estimated while at
the head Of the Department Of Commerce and Labor that if
given single building adapted to the needs of that one
department, the elimination of teams watchmen lighting
bills heating bills and time spent by employees in pro-
ceedng from bureau to another In scattered buildings
and taking of the rents paid would reduce
expenses by about $4,000 year is certain the loss
in the Department of Justice proporionae
and the Navy Department suffers practically as much
But money is not the only thing Congress must con-
slider. Every year it whholds from the State Depart
1nent accommodations which are worthy of the ma
ton it sacrifices entirely credtabe national pride
There is not "a farmer in Illinois or Minnesota
any other State represented in the Speakers
council who asks that his Government shall receive the
representatives of other governments in flock all in one
room, that his contrys official visitors shall
their business building crowded to the Corridors
that the American Secretary of State shall have
privacy in his Office than the president of many country
bank.
Sooner or later the Government will be forced to build
appropriate houses for not less than of the nine de
partments Today four needed, and needed badly
that governmental enterprise the concerned
its directors would borrow the money to build The United
States does need to borrow But it the course of
good administration not to waste money and every year
the construction of these several departmental buildings
postponed wastes money not only through halnpercd ad
mnistraon but through steady advance in the cost of
ground.
A single illustration will indicate what factor this
increase in values must play i'll Government calculations
Take square go, between the Mall, Thirteenth c. and
Thirteen-and aaf streets plot of ground compare
lively simple in its situation In 1892 it was bought at