Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-03
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING

I UuAl LUZ uUIU
Omcials Of the United States Tariff
Commission contend that the appoint
ment Of the COM
Work Of the Tariff mission by Con-
gress on q per-
Comm1SN0n. manent basis was
evidence Of a desire for securing and
arranging information regarding tariff
subjects in such manner as to be con-
tinuously on file for consultation. The
| commission is working to that end.
While the commission is now giving
| immediate attention to problems con-
nected with the war, other problems
will demand attention after the close
of the war and after the resumption OF
more normal industrial conditions. The
most important permanent function OF
the commission is that of having at
the command of Congress, on all
phases of the tariff question, informa-
ton which will facilitate careful and
sion accordingly has undertaken to
establish a catalogue of tariff informa-
| ton, somewhat in the nature of an en-
cyclopedia- 1t Is planned by officials
article enumerated in our tariff acts
| the available pertinent information.
For each article there will be, SO far
as possible, data concerning importa-
ton and expectation, domestic produc-
ton. prices and cost of production, the
conditions of competition between the
domestic and imported quotas OF sup
| ply, and references to sources from
which further and more extended in
formation can be obtained.
part of the plan of the commits
sion is the establishment of a tariff
| library. In this will be kept books,
pamphlets, articles and clippings from
periodicals, letters from producers and
| importers and other manuscript matter,
classified and arranged for ready con-
sultation in connection with the cat
alogue.
| 1t is hardly necessary to say that this
| Is task of great magnitude. and one
which cannot be completed in a short
| time. A considerable staff must be
| collection of the desired Information.
| At best, on some subjects it will not
prove feasible to get everything that
| would be pertinent, more particularly
as regards conditions in foreign coun-
| tries But whatever can be got to-
gether will be so arranged as to be at
| the ready disposal of Congress and its
committees. It is the intention of the
commission not only to construct this
| catalogue or encyclopedia, but to keep
| it continuously up to date.
X
officers in charge of the work of the
photographic Office of the Navy De-
partment are of the
Hydrographic opinion. and quite
rs... correctly, that the
An1ormatlon. United States has
passed the period when it can afford
for its vital Information. This office,
especially, has consistently pursued it's
policy of rendering itself and the Navy
| Independent Of foreign sources for
| charts and sailing directions, and it
has accomplished a great deal toward
this end during the past year.
The photographic office provides the
Navy with charts and nautical books
produced by its own officers. The func-
| ton of the office is purely to obtain
| all parts of the world and to embody
this in charts and sailing directions
| and issue it to the Navy and the mer-
chant marine.
| is well on its way toward providing
accurate charts and pilots. of the entire
foreign waters of the world. Some of
this is from our own original surveys,
! which are published by foreign gov
ernments for their own use, there be-
| ing no copyright. In return, the Office
reproduces for its own use the charts
and pilots Of foreign governments,
practical reciprocity. The practice of
utilizing foreign surveys which is fol-
lowed by the photographic offices of
all the great maritime nations. not only
serves as preparation for possible
times of national peril, but is also in
the interest of economy. Were this
mr. afIfI oA rNt rfa1 4
out by the experts that it would al
ways be necessary to purchase many of
our navigational charts from foreign
nations-a source of supply which
| would be closed to us in time of war
and, when purchased, the corrections
made necessary by newly discovered
dangers and changes in buoyage. light
houses, ranges, etc, would have to be
plotted by hand, method which is
much more expensive than that of max
from which the chart is produced.
The function of the photographic
office comprises % the collection of
the necessary information from all
consideration and publication of these
data: 60 the distribution of the re-
sultfng charts, sailing directions and
other navigational publications to the
to the merchant marine. The charts
and sailing directions issued by the
Office are based on original surveys and
reports or upon reproduction of sim
liar publications issued by foreign
photographic offices.
This office not only collects infor-
nation from which to make the orig
inal publications of charts and sailing
directions, but is constantly collecting
| the information necessary to keep such
! charts and sailing directions corrected
! and accurate to date. In order to carry
out this duty it receives. scans and
utilizes charts, sailing directions,
notices to mariners and such other
photographic reports as may be issued
by foreign offices.
Lunchrooms, like emergency hospi-
tails, belong properly among the more
| essential features of
Industrial industrial betterment,
say officials of the De-
0"AeAiooIis. partment of Labor
who have recently completed a study
of the housing and welfare work
among some of the largest Industrial
plants in this country. This is SO, they