Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-10
BUYING
BUREAU MODEL
OF EFFICIENCY
Purchasing Agency, Headed
by Admiral MCGOWAN,
Proves Worth
SIMPLICITY THE KEYNOTE
Personality of Chief Reflected in
Operation of Bureau of Sup
plies and Accounts
By WILLIAM ATHERToN DU PUY

The Council OF National Defense has
marshaled the efficiency experts of the
tion and worked out, through its War In
dustries Board the most competent meth
ods of making purchases that the business
men OF the country can devise They have
recommended that all Government pur-
chases be made through the War Industries
Board by an application Of these efficiency
methods
All Goverrr~cnt agencies have said
'thank you AID acquiesced-all but one.
IN the Navy Department there already ex-
isted purchasing agency. which merely
asked that il be examined before it was
.scrapped" for something new II has been
examined by private and public efficiency
experts, by the very persons who created
the War Industries Board They have pro-
nounced IT the most efficient thing of its
kind In existence. II has been allowed 20
go on its way. spending its little three mill
lion dollars day without interference from
mobilized industry in its attempts to point
the road i'm this time Of need.
This purchasing agency Of the Navy De-
partment Is the Bureau Of Supplies and
Accounts. It is presided over by a pay
master general with the rank of rear ad-
miral. At this time Admiral Samuel Nc
Gowan occupies this post and is the inspira-
tion out Of which has grown this example of
Government efficiency that is just now at
tracing much attention in Washington.
The conventional duties assigned to the
Bureau Of Supplies and Accounts are. ac-
cording to departmental definition. the pur-
chase and reissue Of supplies for the navy.
including everything that is bought for that
far-1ung machine the world around and
the payment Of each of the 100000 men
who serve therein. This means that, in
addition to being paymaster, the chief Of
this bureau is the storekeeper for all the
navy
There was a question as to whether. un-
der governmental red tape. this store
.s,,ar Iaf, -,1I 10
followed the methods of big business. Ad-
miral McGowan asked professional eX-
perts to have a look. julius Rosenwald,
OF the Council of National Defense and
the head Of one Of the biggest merchandise
ing establishments of the nation, went
into the McGowan methods.
Soth the experts and Mr.. Rosenwald rec
commended that the navy purchasing
agency be left undisturbed and asked that
they be given the privilege Of learning its
methods
SO it would seem that this Office was
worthy Of study. one asks for look into
its methods In the first place he is shown
a string Of dozen rooms in the Navy
Department building. There is staff of
something more than 500 men and women
conducting this bllion-dollar-a-year busi-
ness. 1t challenges the nation to find. an
other group of 1000 employees handling a
similar business. 1t is because o. them
That there socks for sailors on the
destroyers in the North Sea. coal for gun
boats in Chinese waters, minCe pie for the
naval training station on the Great Lakes
Admiral McGowan used 10 be a newspa-
per reporter in South Carolina and came
of the Fighting" McGow ms of the days
of the Confederacy. He became pay
master in the navy in which capacity
he was the housewife of a batteship and
did it's shopping. He worked up in the
service until he became paymaster general
He is a strapping block of a man. with q
forty-four-inch chest and thirty-siN-incf
waist who bears on his course like a dread
nought Genialty. directness, immediate
action are his dominating qualifications.
MCGOWAN wanted the navy to do iu
Bookkeeping in the simplest and most direc
way. His first step toward accomplishing
this was to issue an order that all supplies
should be bought direct from the producer
He figured that there was reason why
the Government should not deal direct viii
the factory and thus obviate the detail ant
the profit Of the middeman. He did no
know how to accomplish this, but he Chos'
experts put them on the task and held then
responsible for working out this new detail
of navy buying. The simplicity of TN
thing worked. II has been working in IN
navy for two years.
MAKING PRICES FAIR
Then the Admiral had another idea 10
simplifying purchases in such way tina
the Government would pay fair price an
no more. If he wanted Hour Tor next yea
he realized that the miller could not MAX
A price that he was sure would be fai
because he did not know what the price q
wheat would be. He therefore made
price that would be safe If wheat went az
The Government paid the price even
wheat went down. McGowan's idea obv
Rted this possibly unfair price
He said TO the miller You make M
. price for the milling that may ad
20 the price OF wheat at the time I war
my flour"
Upon this basis the millers bid The
would charge so much for converting whes
into -four and the Government would pa
the current price for wheat. This is calle
a 'cost plus price.
IL may be applied TO bacon or anchor
or uniforms. Admiral McGowan made a
interesting application of the cost plus
prime pie to the problem Of contracting Il
uniforms.
Before he was ready TO advertise Z,
great numbers OF uniforms he went int
tie wool market and bought options G
all the wool that was offered. Thus
knew what was the proper price OF Il
wool, and thus could he offer to flirnis
the wool and ask figure for manufa
turing only. Thus could he prevent h
order running up the price of wool. I
was In a position TO know just the mea
ing OF his competitive bids. He got BIZ
on the basis OF service rendered 10 Il
Government by the producer. He simp
nod the business OF buying by reducing