Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-07-27

serve no good purpose and add not ont
jot to the ability which Is at the presi
dents command. He has the power u
| summon to his assistance any man o.
any set of men in America, in congress
or out. He must be given the right tt
| decide when and whom to call.
BUSINESS IN WAR TIME.
One Of the commendable things tina,
the senate has done-for 1t has done
several commendable things in spite o.
its waste Of time and the delay tt
which it and the house have subjected
much important war egislation-was
the defeat of the McKeiler-Kenyor
group which sought to disrupt the
council of national defense.
The adoption Of the Pomerene
amendment in place Of the proposed
McKeller amendment to the food bill
was an indication of sanity which al
least is reassuring. This amendment
applies the saving light of publicity tc
contracts between the government and
firms in which members Of the council
are interested The McKeller amend
ment proposed to bar members of the
council from participating in any gov
eminent contracts, step which would
have robbed the government of the
services of the council Of national de.
tense as at present constituted. Wheth
er they would have preferred to re.
sign or not, these men would have
been forced to sever their relations
with the government, in several in.
stances, so the government could buy
from their firms as we'll as others in.
stead of endeavoring to purchase in a
restricted market.
In bulletin issued recently by the
Chamber of Commerce Of the United
States, some concrete instances of the
assistance the council and its commit
tees are giving the government are
cited. Business principles have been
substituted for the archaic and prefer
entail systems which prevailed in
many governmental activities in peace
time, and instead of commercial trick
cry such as Senator Kenyon and his
coterie seemed to fear, there is sound
policy based on practical common
sense.
The following paragraphs are taken
from the bulletin:
In the purchase Of shoes the
method ordinarily pursued by the
war department is as follows:
100000 shoes are bought at one
time, and each Of the depot quar-
termasters at Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, Chicago. st. Louis
and San Francisco advertised for
bids for the entire quantity. The
lowest satisfactory bid of all sub
mitted, whether In San Francisco
or New York. is accepted. This
procedure. however satisfactory
for 100000 shoes. might not be
the best for securing four to five
million shoes, and on its recent
purchases the quartermaster's de-
partment consulted the supply
committee of the council OF nation
al defense for advice on the new
problem. Investigation immedt-
ately developed that of the requir-
ed GRADES there was not enough
leather in the country for such an
- order. Obviously. to have shoe
manufacturers competing one with
another to secure options on this
limited stock OF leather, would
SHARPLY advance leather prices
ard make the government pay
more for shoes.
Conferences were then held with
the manufacturers Of leather who
agreed that when the shoe manu-
facturer came to buy leather the
prices on leather should be no
higher than when the war began,
which prices also were lower than
those prevailing when the confer
ences were held. Similar prices
were also secured on Innings, eye
lets, tacks, nails, thread, etc.
The bacon specifications requir-
ed a cut and quality better than
the best packers furnished under
their best brands. It was prompt
ly admitted by the army and navy
officers that the best grade of COM
mercial bacon would be satisfac-
tory for the army and navy.
The cuts of fresh beef were re-
CURED of trimming and weight
not easily possible with the kind Of
cattle going to market in these
DAYS of high-priced foods. These
requirements were therefore mod
ised to meet the usual practice Of
today.
The following is an interesting
instance Of what comes from such
conferences. The army has re-
CURED can of corned beef to
weigh 80 ounces. To supply this
a snecial can has been manufac-
tured by hand at great expense
and in limited quantities. The
commercial can contains "a ounces
and is made in large quantities by
machinery at low cost. The assis-
| lance rendered by the supply COM
mi.tee consisted in bringing out
/ the facts. The army promptly
recognized the desirability Of &C
cepting 24-ounce cans.
1t is regrettable that men engaged
/ in such important work for their gov
! eminent and doing it in a patriotic
and self-sacrificing spirit must pause
/ in their labors to defend themselye:
against attacks launched by ofic.
holding politicians who lose sight O.