Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-29
STIPULATIONS BY CONGRESS
Contracts Must Be Made by Secre-
tary Of Treasury-Why Require
ment Should Not Apply Locally.

and judicial act, approved June II, 1910.
| provided in q long paragraph that "All
supplies Of fuel. ice. stationery and mis-
cellaneous supplies for the executive de-
| partments and other government estab-
| lshments in Washington. when the public
exigencies do not require the immediate
delivery Of the article. shall be adver-
| tised and contracted for by the Secretary
of the Treasury" In the same act a sup
| ply committee was created-a sort Of pur-
chasing department. composed OF heads
OF various government departments.
1t is asking whether or not these COM
mitteemen are to do the Districts buying
| or not that Daniel E. Donovan has been
| closeted for a fortnight digging up laws
| and debating the long letter which was
approved by Auditor Tweedale and final
| ly sent out by the Commissioners.
The legal side of the letter MAKES the
ordinary head ache to read 1t, but delves
| into the question Of whether or not the
District is government department. The
Commissioners hold that 1t is not, and of
this the communication has this much to
| say:
Status Of the District.
''The District is under its present form
of government neither a sovereignty, q
| territory or a department Of the United
| States government: 1t is merely a mu-
nicipal corporation with such powers and
| liabilities as are common to municipal
| corporations in general, except SO far as
II may be affected by the Congress OF the
United States. AS such corporation 1t
may contract, be contracted with, plead
and be impleaded. have a seal and ex-
ercise all other powers Of a municipal
corporation not inconsistent with the Con-
stitution Of tie United States"
question asked is whether the District
L OF Columbia be bound nv a contract
| made by the Treasury Department. II
| the District, In Its corporate capacity, is
| distinct legal entity, as the Supreme
| Court has held, then Auditor Tweedale
| ury would not be binding on the District
1 nor on the contractors, as he holds the
| District would not be party to the con-
| tracts.
Question Of Administration.
But the great protest is going to be
made by the Commissioners from an adj
| ministrative standpoint Buying the mil
lions of small articles necessary for the
District through the Treasury Depart
ment would mean, according to the Com
missioners. that there would be great de-
lay and insurmountable difficulties in dis
tributing the stuff to the hundreds OF
schools and Offices and institutions under
\ the District of Columbia.
The Commissioners buy supplies now
| In such way that IL necessary the con-
/ tractor can send one lead pencil to one
teacher in one school. Under the supply
| committee plan the general scheme would
| be to send a carload Of pencils to a CEN
| trail point and let the distribution be
i made from there The District has no
| supply storage house, it is explained, and
this method would be cumbersome.
| The letter explains:
| The present supply schedule of the
District is divided into twenty-one classes
with an aggregate OF about 1900 items.
| Should the Secretary Of the Treasury
contract for supplies for the use Of the
| District which are common to one or
/ more departments or government estab-
/ lishments. representing approximately
i only 1,5CO articles which are used In the
i District, 1t would still be necessary for
the Commissioners to invite proposals for
| the remaining 4,JOO items on schedules
prepared by the District.
Delivery Of Supplies.
The letter says: "The delivery of sup
plies for the use Of the District govern
ment would be an important element to
| be considered by the bidders in submit
ting their prices for the District sup
This is due to the fact that District OF
/ Columbia supplies are delivered through
| out the entire District OF Columbia IN
several school buildings, police stations,
/ fire-engine houses and charitable and re-
formatory institutions. numbering In all
about 257 separate points Of delivery.
| The District has no central storage
plan whereby supplies could be purchased
| in bulk with but one point OF delivery
| for the contract, but ii is doubtful IL with
| one the supplies could be distributed Dy
the District itself as economically as ny
having deliveries made by the contractor.
with a central storage plant 1t would
be necessary to pay rent for a building.
| employ labor and clerical assistance ana
purchase and maintain means OF trans
| portation. AS an element OF cost the
| amount necessary for this purpose would
probably represent a larger expenditure
from that appropriation than would the
added prices submitted by bidders Tor
furnishing supplies to the District on &C
liveries through widely distributed ter
ritory.
Not Represented on Committee.
Another serious objection would be
that the District. not being represented
on the general supply committee,
would have no say as to the kind and
!; quality Of articles to be contracted
for. The District would be placed In
the position Of having to accept and
use. whether suitable for the several
branches Of the local government OF
not. the articles selected by a purely
federal committee in no ways acquaint-
ed with the needs Of the public
schools, police stations, hospitals. chill
dren's institutions and charitable and
reformatory institutions, embraced
within the government Of the District
! II would also probably happen that a
large number Of the contractors with
the Secretary Of the Treasury would
have their offices and supply stations
scattered throughout the states. AS the
District supplies could not be ordered in
buik, but would have to be delivered In
quantities from time to time In many in
stances. on account OF delay in not OBJ
tanning stock deliveries from out Of town
contractors, embarrassment would be caus-
cd local service. 1t was because OF the
trouble encountered with out-of-town
contractors that the Commissioners, some
years. ago. limited the awards Of con-