Evening star., 1918-08-18
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT Is DOING


Fifteen hundred home-demonstration
agents of the Department Of Agricul-
ture and the
Booming Potatoes state asri-
for Nations Food. ,ssss started
''eat more potatoes" to every Ameri-
can woman, rural and urban. who
cen be reached. y
They are saying that il potato
consumption is not increased mark
edly within the next few weeks, mil
lions Of bushels will. rot. the wheat
saving effort will not be wholly sue
cessful. and farmers may not plant
enough potatoes at the aext crop
This nationwide effort is the OPEN
ing phase of a whirlwind drive 10
awaken the country to the necessity
of saving the surplus potato crop. As
It means also a saving of wheat. the
combined forces of the food admin
istration and department Of Agr1cui-
ture have undertaken Jointly to
urge these important campaigns.
Now that the potato crop is being
moved and the prices on this product
necessity for cooperation of all fed
eral and state forces in nation
wide potato campaign is impe ative,
federal officials point out.
The home demonstration agents OF
the department and the state agricul-
potato along a well paved way. They
are teaching how to use mashed po-
tatoes as a substitute for wheat -four
in breads and pies and cakes: they
are giving instructions in the making
of potato loaf and scalloped and
baked dishes. They are showing
women how they can train their
three times a day.
In the cities the gospel of potatoes
for patriotism is spread through the
var kitchens. the netghborhood CEN
ters. the clubs, the churches; demon
strations in settlement houses. talks
before Red Cross auxiliaries, etc. Po-
tato booths are being arranged in the
local food shows and in the retail
stores, and the schools and clubs are
being enlisted in the big drive.
In the country the work is not SO
spectacular. but just as telling, for
through the country organizations
and the home me-demonstration agents
voluntary workers. the potato idea is
carried directly to thousands Of
women in their own homes.
X *
The magnitude of the vehicle serv-
ice necessary for the proper handling
of the mails in
Con<roo o<. for the larger cities
produced serious
Mail Wagons. situation. with
which the Post Office Department
would have been unable to cope. ex-
cept by making contracts at exorbi-
tant rates. Competition for vehicle
service in these cities could easily be
stihed by one set of contractors
through the organization of corpora
tions in the various states where the
service was performed. An officer of
one parent organization. which either
had under contract, or had submitted
bids for the service in several of the
most important cities, openly boasted
that he would crush his competitors
and soon gain control of all the, large
contracts.
1t was found that in some instances
when bids were invited for service
in the very large cities the bidder
could obtain a bond from only one
surety company. and. in order to do
SO. it was necessary to disclose to
thereby affordinR further oppor-
tunity for a combination between one
set Of bidders and the bonding COM
pany with the object of compelling
the department to pay eXoroitant
rates for the service required.
Not satisfied with obtaining money
from the department which it was
entitled to receive under its con-
tract, one company succeeded in add
ing many unnecessary trips to the
vehicle schedule, thereby greatly In
creasing it's compensation
The conditions became SO unsatis-
factory that officials of the Post Office
Department asked for legislation that
would permit the department to per-
form the service by government
owned motor equipment This was
allowed, and the service has now
been extended to almost all of the
larger cities in the country.
Oficials say that the installation Of
this character of service has enabled
the department to perform its city
transportation functions without the
Intervention of contractors. the ad-
vantages of which are many. 1t has
also demonstrated that the depart
ment can with its own equipment
transport the mails in much more
efficient manner at less cost than
under the contract system. Notwith-
standing the material extensions and
improvements in the collection and
delivery of mail, and the increase in
the frequency of the service. all OF
which would have added greatly to
the cost under the contract system.
the service today is performed in a
more efficient manner and at much
less cost than was the case prior to
the installation of government-ow
equipment.
Against the appropriation for We
hicle service is charged not only the
expense of purchasing and operating
government-owned motor trucks. but
also the cost of renting equipments
and collection and delivery service.
AS an indication of the efficiency of
this service, officials say that in one
of the cities where 1t was in opera
tion during the entire year. the motor
trucks engaged in the transportation
Of mail between the depot and the
post Office were scheduled to make
3s4. .526 trips, and there were only
132 failures, or one failure to every
2,913 trips.
x X
In any army, unity of command is
absolutely essential to secure prompt
decisions and
Seeking Unity of rapid execution
Army Command. experts e. . i' in the the
War Department. This unity Of COM
mand exists only imperfectly in our
Army, or at least has, up to recently,