Evening star., 1915-12-08
THE EVENING STAR, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1915

THE
| tary Of the Treasury be authorized to fit
the building to the city and not to make
| II Just as imposing as the sum appropri-
ated under the present system will permit.
Mr. McAdoo asked for two cruising cut
ters for the coast guard service on the
! Pacific coast. to cost 100000, harbor
cutter for New York to cost $125,000 and
one lot san Francisco to cost $4,000. He
says that In plans for national defense the
bcoast guard will have important assign
ment and that authorizations for the
service win be valuable from a military
standpoint.
reviewing the oleomargarine and whis-
/ ky frauds Of the year the report again
recommends changes in the oleo law 70
reduce the invitation to commit similar
frauds.
OF Interest to District.
of matters of especial concern in the
nistrict of Columbia discussed in the
report of the Secretary of the Treas
urv the following are abstracts:
The need of additional clerical assist
ance in the public health service is one
that is daily felt. Increased activities
IN the Held have necessarily caused a
large amount of additional supervisory
and routine work for the bureau force.
me important work of collecting and
publishing morbidity statistics, and col
lecting, dlgesting and publishing cur
rent public health legislation also has
taxed the capacity Of the division hav-
ing the task in hand.
Although slight increases in the
clerical force have been allowed for
several years past they have not been
sufficient to handle efficiently the grow
ing volume of administrative detai
Under present conditions, the question
of allowing employees leaves of alb
sence which they have justly earned
is often a difficult one
1T is also desired to renew the recon-
me endation that an additional building
be provided for the hygienic labora-
tory Although the work at this insti-
tuition has been greatly extended since
the passage Of the act of August IA.
1912, and the personnel increased, no
provision In the way of additional lab
oratory or office space has been made.
In the work of an institution of this
character. where accuracy. precision
and system are of paramount impor
ton.
Bids for the proposed central heat
ing. lighting and power plant for pub
lie buildings, authorized by the sundry
civil act of June %. 1913. were opened
on the 18th of November. 1915. The
lowest Of these bids is considerably in
excess of the authorization, and the
whole matter will have to be submit
ted to the Congress for further action
very early in the session.
National Archives Building.
Under the authority contained in
section p of the omnibus public build
ings act approved March 4, 1913, the
supervising architects office is engaged
in he
mates for a fireproof national archives
type of architecture The work is pro
crossing satisfactorily and will be com
pieted In time for submission during
the coming winter for approval by the
commission created by said act.
THE act above referred to provided,
among other things. that before the
said designs and estimates are COM
pleted inspection shall be made under
the direction of the Secretary Of the
Treasury of the best modern national
archive buildings in Europe, and CON
sultation shall be had with the best
authorities in Europe on the construc-
tion and arrangement of archive build
ings.'
Just quoted be repealed. Through the
of the Department of
state and the courtesy of certain for
e1gn governments, this department has
obtained the plans of many of the
best archive buildings in Europe, and
the information which these supply is
deemed sufficient for the purpose.
Committee on Improvement.
September 3. 1915, I appointed the
following committee on improvement
to conduct thorough investigation of
the entire Treasury service. for the
purpose of making recommendations
Tor placing the Treasury Department
on more efficient, economical and
modern business basis: William P. NAL
burn, assistant secretary of the Treas
ury, chairman; w. w. Warwick. con-
troiler of the Treasury; j. l.. Wilmeth,
chief clery. Treasury Department; F. NJ.
Halstead. chief division of customs, and
s. II. Boyd, chief income tax division.
Ny experience in the department
has impressed me with the fact that
there is room for many improvements
and economies in the government serv-
ice. The growth of the Treasury De-
partment has been a process Of years.
and as the structure has reached it's
crept in much duplication of work, as
wen as useless work, and cumbersome
and inefficient methods which impede
business and cause needless expense.
have instructed the committee that it
is my earnest desire to have useless
offices abolished, duplication of work
eliminated and archaic methods re-
placed with the up-to-date methods
that characterize the best modern
business enterprises. The report of
the committee has not yet been re-
ceived. but I hope that as a result of
Its Investigations and efforts. the means
may be found for substantial improve
ments in the Treasury service.
desire to recommend most earnest
ly to the Congress that the salaries of
the assistant secretaries of the Treas
ury be increased from $4,000 to $1,000
per annum. The present compensation
OF $4,000 per annum is wholly made
quate for these important positions 1t
Is great injustice to the able men
who now occupy the positions of as
sistant secretaries Of the Treasury to
be forced to work for Inadequate COM
pensation. They are rendering highly
useful services to the country of far
greater value than the pay they re-
ce1ve. 1t is not every assistant secre-
tary who has Independent means to
help him support himself in a position
for which the government compensates
SO poorly. We must keep men of abil-
ity in these positions. 1t would ad-
vantage the government in every way
to pay the assistant secretaries the
small increase l have suggested. in