The Washington times., 1913-12-30

The building OF an aquarium ior
the Bureau Of Fisheries, near the
proposed Commerce building on the
five squares south of 18th street and
Pennsylvania avenue, Is advocated
by Secretary Of Commerce Redfeld
as part Of the building program
which he .will urge upon Congress.
This program tho Secretary regards
as business economy that will bring
greater efficiency at less cost
Government departments In WASH
inston have always been too big Tor
the quarters provided. and in past
years departments given new build
inxs, have outgrown the new struc-
lures before they were ready for oc-
cupancy. This system has cost the
Government millions Of dollars in
rentals in a city where it enjoys title
to vast tracts Of tax free land.
SDCRETARY'S PLAN UPON
A DIFFERENT SCALE
Secretary Redfeld's building plans
are upon a different scale. He be-
lieves the scattering of departmental
bureaus in reEtsd buildings Is not
only expensive to the Government,
but 1t hurts efficiency and makes
maintenance costs high.
Criginal plans called for the erec-
.ion of three departmental buildings
on the five squares; ono Of them for
the Department Of Commerce and
Labor. Since then this department
has been diviied-that is. 1t Ii two
distinct departments. Specifications
for the original building called for q
structure that would house but part
of the old department, leaving on
the outside, the bureaus that were In
Government-owned structures Sec
rotary Redfield does not approve this
plan.
He has the largest half of the old
dcbartment under his wing and VIII
get the new building. He wants the
plans revised TO bring in the Census
Onice Bureau OF Fisheries in It's ad-
Ininistratiye branches, the Coast and
Geodetic Survey and others Ihere
viii be room, the Secretary believes.
in view Of the fact that provision
was made in the original plans for
bun eaus that are now IN the Depart
ment Of Labor.
I: the Secretary's ideas carry
every bureau ard office OF the de-
partinent, with the exception OF the
Bureau Of Standards win be under
Cne roof on .he Mall. The Bureau
az STANDARD. because of the delicate
instruments it houses, must be away
from city congestion and hustle and
trafYfc. It is now houses in Govern
ment buildings on Pierce Mill road,
huilt especially for the purpose.
HIS RECOMMENDATIONS
TO THE CONGRESS.
In his recommendations to Con-
cfess on the subject Secretary Red
field says:
The office OF the Secretary and
FIVE bureaus have been concentrated
since October l in the Commerce
building, Pennsylvania avenue and
Nineteenth street northwest. The
Bureau Of Standards. Bureau Of the
Cersus, Bureau of Fisheries. and tho
, 'oast and Geodetic Survey are in
separate buildings in various parts
of Washington, all Of which, save
that occupied by the Census, are
owned by the Government. It Is
hoped to unite during the current
year. the Bureau Of the Census with
the rest Of the department by an ad-
dition to the Commerce building.
This would save annually a large
sGn, because the rented building
which the Census Bureau now occu-
pies Is very costly to maintain 1t
Is also intolera5ly hot in the sum-
rrer season. insanitary, and of such
as to expose to constant
risk from fire the invaluable papers
stored therein.
The rental paid by the department
for the two privately owned build
ings which IL occupies, together with
that paid for a small stable, amounts
to $l0.SO0 per annum, equal to the
interest on s., $4,000 at per cent.
There is a constant element of
cheney in the separation Of the Gen.
sus Bureau, the Bureau of Fisheries,
and the Coast and Geodetic Survey
from the rest Of the department. The
work of the Bureau of Standards is
Of such q character as to require
that 1t be placed at a distance from
the built-up portions Of the city. No
such condition affects these other
bureaus, two Of which are near the
Capitol, one on the Mall, and all so
placed as to produce the minimum of
efficiency in results Furthermore,
the buildings in which the Coast and
Ieodetic Survey and the Bureau Of
F1sheries are located are as i'll adap-
ed for their purposes as is that oc-
cupied by the Census. !;
Indeed. 1t would be hard to find
TWO buildings worse suited for the
Uses to which they are put than are
hose in which these two important