The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-08-14
Uncle Sam's General Store

The biggest department store in the world is located in the city of Wash ington and is owned and conducted by Uncle Sam. At all events. it handles 4 greater quantity and variety of goo1s than any other retail commercial es- tablishment
 The goods are not displayed for sale. There are no counters and no attrac- tively Headed shelves. Indeed, one finds no customers there, and bargain days are unknown.
 This is because the store keeps noth- ing but samples, and its custom IS wholly restricted tD the various de- partments of the government at Wash ington, which. when they want sup plies of any kind, order them from tle lists which the big store furnishes But the big store does not furnish the supplies. which are obtained by writ- ing to the listed contractors.
 Suppose, for instance, that the pat ent office needs a dozen bottles of black writing ink The chief clerk fitls out blank calling for the ink ai.d mails it to the concern that has the contract for supplying that kind of ink to all the departments for the cur rent year. The contract gives the con tractor just so many days in which to make delivery after receiving an or der
 It is the same way with everything else. Many thousands of different articles are on the lists. from which can be supplied everything that an ordinary department store keeps ln stock, and much else besides. Opposite each scheduled item is printed the name of the contractor who has agreed to furnish it. with his address and tte price
 Until within very recent years it was the custom for each branch of the gov ernment at Washington to buy its own supplies. If the land office was both cred by cockroaches. it sent a mes senger to the corner drug store and got a few packages of the bug powder recommended by the apothecary-pre sunably the kind on which there was most profit. The Indian bureau, sim ilarly afflicted purchased another remedy elsewhere at different price.
 This meant waste, enormous in tae aggregate. Today everything is stand ardized. and all the departments must buy from the same lists. each article being duly tested and approved. The paints. for instance are endorsed as satisfactory by the government ex- perts; they are sure to be good
 To secure standard articles at stand ard prices (the latter the lowest ob- ldlndDiet. congress III lSlU put the whole business in the hands of the Sec retary of the Treasury. It further pro- vided for a supply committee (un1er his authority, to be composed of of- ficers, one from eaeh executive depart ment
 This committee makes all the con tracts. advertising for bids annually, Samples aye usually required to be sub- mitted with bids. and the goods fur nshed must correspond to them ir kind and quality. During the last fiscal year more than S10,000. 900 worth of merchandise was bought through the schedule by the depa rtments
 It is really a Washington bushes for the benefit of the departments there located. Thus the postal service lextending throughout the country buys it's supplies independently; bat the Postoffice Department at the cap ital makes it's purchases through the supply committee. The army and navy buy their own supplies, but the War and Navy Departments patronize Uncle Sam's big store.
 Thrift is the object of the system It is a scheme to save money for the government. just as the treasury cam- paign for thrift aims to enable money to be saved for the individual through Thrift Stamps. War Savings Stamrs and Savings Certificates. It saves at least s1.0C0,000 a year for the govern ment and provides a better class of goods than could be obtained unde- other systems
 MRS R. F. JOHNSTON.
 State Director Womans Division
 W. 2. g