Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-12-31
MIR. Hanley Shows in a Graphic
Way What the Department
Saved and What 1t Cost PeO-
pie of Vermont.
FA5 S AVID F|GUREs
One of the New Departures of
the State during the Fletcher
Administration Was the Es-
tablishing Of a State Purchas-
ing Agent.

The first report of Dewey r. Han
ley, the purchasing agent, covering
1sl printed pages, is devoted to pro-
posals for state printing, printing
contracts. proposals for coal in state
institutions, coal contracts miscella-
neous contracts, records of orders in
printing and stationery, records or
payments in state institutions, cash
statement and an inventory Of state
property
The cost of this department for the
year ending June 80 1914 was ss,6S1.-
SIS and the year previous s4,60S.94. that
being the year the department was
getting started. The salary of the rur-
chasirl. agent is $4,000 n year and
there was paid for clerk hire $$.007.S9.
The report says:
on assuming the duties of this Of
fee Immediately went to the State
institutions for such statistical in
formation as they had at hand along
the lines of purchasing supplies and
at once started to build up for this
department a set of files as complete
and reliable as possible of the manu-
facturers. wholesalers and jobbers
along the many lines covering the
purchases of this office I am pleased
TO report that l now have over 1900
concerns fully indexed. covering sub
stantially all of the different purchases
required Of this office, and I found
the manufacturers, wholesalers and
iobbers anxious to sell the state Of
Vermont at best prices and terms
CONSTITUTION BIDS AND CON
TRACTS.
The method adopted by this office In
making purchases has been largely
that of competitive bidding. taking ad =
vantage of market conditions. al
though on certain items contracts
have been made.
In all purchases quality has had
first consideration and special effort
has been made to combine our require
monts along the different lines in or
der to get the advantage of purchasing
1 in large quantities, which aids to a
certain extent, in obtaining uniform
| quality and service. and amounts to a
material saving to the State.
This office has furnished the sew
eral State institutions with summary
monthly lists covering the diferen,
purchases required. These summary
lists are supplemented with detailed
information, describing fully the arti.
cles to be requisitioned in each month
and whether 1t is to cover a monthly
quarterly, semi annual or annual sup.
ply. This enables the contract for. OIL
purchase Of all commodities in guam.
tity and at periods to take advantag,
of the market.
LARGE SAVING IN PRINTED MAT
TER
The purchase OF letterhea envelopes
ruled and printed blanks, etc, cover:
many items and has resulted by far il
the largest per cent. of saving to tn,
State The acquisitions under this &C
count have been more numerous than wa:
necessary and considerable work has beer
done to lessen their number, and the mat
ter is rghtinG itself and will soon be on
business basis.
Stock for the large Jobs has been pur
chased direct and this plan has WORKED
out to advantage in both quality ant
price. Had the different State officers
boards and commissions been In pos!
ton to fully anticipate their wants th
office would have had the time to com
plete the Standardization along these line
which has already been commenced
Proposals for State printing covered b,
section t2Sl of the public statutes AM
3 amendments thereto, covering the perio,
1 August J. 1914, 10 August l. 1916 were sen
= out according to law and contracst award
s ed as shown on pages to p, both nclu
e siVe OF this report
Y SAVING IN CUTTING DOWN BIJLK
Several changes have been made in tn
= number of copies furnished and the styl
of binding, and certain superiuous matte
has been eliminated from many Of the RI
ports.
/ The most notable change is in the r,
port of the board of health Their repor
u covering the years l9l0-l9ll is bound
II two volumes containing 1894 pages and b
: eliminating certain superfiuous matt,
e their report covering the years l9l2-l9
y contains only +59 pages. thus effecting
y saving OF between $500 and $4,000 to II
- State and believe that much along tn
e line still remains to be done on oth'
: State reports.
- Section 62Sl of the public statutes ar
amendments thereto should be amende
20 changing the dates for furnishing copy f.
- the State reports and | recommend thu
, the State officers be given until Septen
Der 10 for furnishing copy and the prln
y ers be allowed until December 10 for maj
-, ing deliveries,
.. FUEL IN 10000 TON LOTS.
o. Fuel: This very important article, whi'
* Ia the largest single item of expense at u
s different State institutions. has been give
al careful consideration. Several grades al
kinds of coal have been tried out and Il
coal best suited to the different plan
purchased A guaranteed analysis Of &
u coal Is included In each contract and Z
- price Is governed by the guaranteed Br
lsh Thermal Heat Units which the CO
OF Will produce, and feel sure that mat
g. rial saving to the State has been made
as this method of purchasing. The tot
n amount Of coal purchased yearly aggr
IT, gates about 10000 tons
f. Meats: The item of meats for I
he different State institutions Is a We
nd large one and we have been buyi