Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-26
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT is DOING

which the price is to be determined
after an investigation Of costs.
The recommendations are intended to
be OF suggestive nature. and are to
be used wherever the contract or rules
issued in connection Herewith do not
give full information on costs. They
are intended to suggest to contracting
officers some Of the broad legal and
equitable points involved in war con-
tracts. and to express the preference of
the conference for a straight purchase
and-sale contract at a fixed price, since
it is simpler in terms, easier to work
under. and generally speaking produce
tive of better and quicker results.
1t was found by those who investi-
gated the subject that the British gov
eminent. after several years expert
ence. has discarded the cost-plus con-
tract plan and adopted the straight
contract in every
instance possible.
The conferees went into every phase
of this question of contracts and took
up every possible angle of the ques-
tion. For instance, they took up at
length the words fair terms" They
came to the conclusion that to skimp
fair terms will inevitably tend to cause
contractors to lose interest in produc-
ton and disturb general business con-
diticns. Fair terms can only be deter
HiHcu, luSy came TO the conclusion, by
consideration Of general principles as
well as the special factors that may
apply to the particular production con-
tracted for.
In the determination of costs direct
labor and direct material are easily as
certainable; it is the indirect. charges
to the job. overhead and depreciation.
that present difficulties. It was agreed
by those attending the conference that
to contract to pay proper charge for
overhead and depreciation leaves the
door wide open for endless discussion,
and 1t was suggested that wherever
possible the amount of these items be
tentatively fixed in advance, based on
definite representations of the con-
tractor as to the amount of fixed cap
ital assets to be deprecated and the
estimated overhead.
The medical departments of the Army
and Navy are confronted with varied
and difficult tasks of crit
Health of ical Importance in caring
for the health of our SOL
LUCID. diers and sailors in train
ing and active service, and in aiding
our allies in medical work. From 665
medical officers in the Regular Army
and sos in the Navy when war was de-
clared. the personnel must be recruited
up to at least $1,000 in the Army and
1000 in the Navy. And this must be
done without rendering Intellectual the
work of our hospitals. medical schools
and general medical service at home.
Not only must men be found, but mate
rial must also be provided. and special
problems Of disease prevention and the
training and return to civil life of those
injured in the war must be met.
In the solution of these problems the
chief medical officers of the Army.
Red Cross are assisted by the commit
tee on medicine and surgery of the ad-
visory commission of the Council of
National Defense.
Physicians. graduates of a reputable
medical school. between the ages of
twenty-one and thirty-two. may apply
for examination for provisional commits
sion in the Medical Corps of the Navy. If
this and a physical examination are sue
cessfully passed. four-month course at
the Naval Medical School. in this city.
is required. and If successfully COM
pleted the applicant may be commits
stoned in the Medical Corps. The same
provision is made for the Army serv-
ice. save that the course in the Army
Medical School is normally of eight
duration. This course has been
shortened for the period of the emer-
gency.
The record of the medical service of
the Army is a brilliant one. Through
the Investigations of its members yell
low fever was conquered. typhoid
driven from our own and European
beriberi brought under partial
control in the Philippines. and hook
south. Experts in medical administra-
ton have stated that the work of the
medical service of the Navy, if less
spectacular, is not less sound. and that
the plans for the expansion of the
naval medical service represent a COM
plete grasp of the needs of the emergency
and an ability amply sufficient to meet
them.
In this time of need the facilities of
the public health service have been put
at the disposal Of the military forces.
Its hospitals may be used by the Army
and Navy and its officers and employees
may be detailed for service with the
Army and Navy.
At the lowest estimate $1,000 men,
fully equipped for medical service. are
needed for the Medical Reserve Corps.
Most of these men must be volunteers,
for the number of men who have COM
pleted their training before the age of
thirty-one is negligible.
X
There is no question but that thou
sands of lives are saved every week and
hundreds of thousands of
Fcrecasting dollars are saved In the
Weather. of the weather bureau,
who send broadcast their decisions as
to winds and rains.
Present-day weather forecasters have
blazed the trail for those who will fol-
low in their footsteps. for in the gen
erations to come they will have an easier
time mastering their profession than
the present-day veterans had.
1t muSe be remembered that forecast
ing weather conditions is a compare
lively new science, and in many ways
1t has had greater and more successful
in this country than in any
other country in the world.
The present forecasters have practi-
cally made their own science as they
went along, and while we very frequent
ly hear the remark that the weather
are really sent out with a remarkably
small percentage of error.
While the science of forecasting was
in it's formative stage the personal
aspect of the work was practically the
only one possible, but now, the weather
bureau believes, the work has reached
such an approximation of eXactness that
the working rules may be crystallized
and put in permanent form. 1t is, of
course, expected that there will be con-
slant progress in the details of theory
and technique of forecasting.