Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1919-01-09
E DIT I A L
THE Cost PLUS" SYSTEM.

a Watertown bov. a former employee of The Saturday News, who
returned from a southern camp last year, where he had been en-
gagged as a carpenter. fold the paper many things concerning the
operation Of the.'Scost plus system, as shown by the work OF con
struction at the various military camps.
OF course, the government was anxious to have the camps ready
for the boys called into the service Of their country. Prices Oh ma
temas were soaring. No contractor could determine with any de
gree of certainty how much he would have to pay for lumber tomor
row, or for nails the day after; so the tcost plus" method was gen
orally introduced to facilitate preparations. IL was the result oil q
great emergency and served it's purpose, albeit it was somewhat eN-
pensiye for the government.
An incident was cited which indicated the wastcfuIness Of The
contractors. 1T was found necessary, frequently, to clay of" while
awaiting the arrival of material. 1t was noticeable, said this Wafer
town lad, that the contractor managed, whenever and wherever con
yenient, to waste as much time as possible at the expense Of the gov
eTnmens
Te incident IN question related to the construction OF a small
cottage, which, in Waterfowl in the early part Of 1917, would haze
cost, complete, about fifteen hundred dollars. The foreman put as
many men at work on this cottage as could be packed around and
inside of it, fguraively speaking. They We're in one another's way.
About half Of them were waiting for the other half to make room.
But the contractor, all the while, was drawing his ten per cent. net
profit on the pay roll The result was. declared the Watertown young
man, that the bill returned for labor alone for the building of this
cottage amounted to fourteen hundred dollars, and the contractors
profit on the labor was one hundred and forty dollars.
The acost plus system is all right il properly managed-if
Fnder the control Of conscientious, aggressive and progressive mon.
Otherwise it is worse than wasteful; it is akin to criminaHty. This
southern contractor, erecting this cottage, 10 all intents and purposes,
vas robMng the government, and the inspector FOR, or supervisor in be
aalf g, the government, was obviously N eahoots with him. Both de-
served punishment. Each, III effect, was guilty of theft, a term which
has been softened into & graft when applied to public works. II is
8 matter OF record that IN numerous recent cases the representative
of the government connived with the contractors upon Il basis Of
sdisvy' 7-a.diyision Of the sum Of the profits involved in the graft.
The greater the percentage Of net profit the greater becomes the
incentive to graft and the greater the incentive the more liable is
human nature to yield to temptations of the sort.
Graft has been revealed in practically all departments Of the
government involving financial disbursements Ithas entered into the
transactlonsfo Tor the furnishing OF clothing, for supplies and especially
meats, for munitions and army equipment, in the. arplane service, in
the shlp.bulding department and so on.
81 IS true, perhaps, that, in proportion to the large amounts an
Nolveds grating has not been exceptionally notorious, but has e1
isted, and ~ has required constant vigilance on the part Of the heads
az The departments to prevent its becoming more Of a a national scandal
than III has been.
Therein lies the danger to the public interest from the cost
Plus system Business men who have been fairly well satisfied
with reasonable margin Of profit, feeling HE stimulating influences
Spf extraordinary times and knowing that profteering has character
Sized IS large share Of both public and private business, have not been
AbaekWara ~ numerous stances III aafnanding q greater ratio Of pro
ft than during normal times. tits regrettabes that in many eases
Toe men Occupying public positions have yielded to temptations Il