The Washington herald., 1920-02-18

the price we can contract for de-
livery q year of two hence. thus
making the sovernnsnt . reservoir
for contiguous construction.
I'VE could thus stabilize buildins
industry to some degree and also
bring the American-owned feet
into better balance II, as the gov.
eminent sold three or four emers-
ency constructed cargo vessels it
gave an order for one ship Of .
better and faster type. This would
mike reduction in our ship build
ing steadier ana would give the
country the type Of ships we need.
Problem Of Public works.
"our joint engineering committees
have examined with a great deal Of
care into organization Of and our
expenditure on public works and
technical services. These commit
tees have consistently and strongly
urged the appalling inefficiency In
the government organization of
these matters. They report to you
that the annual expenditure on such
works and services now amounts to
over s250,000.000 per annum. and
that they are carried out today In
nine different governmental depart
ments. They report that there IL o
great waste by lack Of national
policy of coordination. In over
tapping with different departments.
In competition with each other Id
the purchase Of supplies and ma
terials and the support Of many en-
gineering stats.
They recommend the solution
that almost every other civilized
government has long since adopted.
that Is. the coordination of these
measures into one department un-
der which all such undertakings
should be conducted and controlled
AS a measure practical to our gov
ernment, they have advocated that
all such bureaus should be trans
ferred to the Interior Department.
and all the bureaus not relating to
these matters should be transferred
from the Interior to other DEPART
ments. The committee concludes
that no properly organised and d.
rected saving in public works can
DC Iiduc uHlIl suCn = Ft-BTOupihE
and consolidation is carried out. and
that all OF the cheese pairing that
normally goes on in the honest effort
of Congressional committees TO con-
troll departmental expenditure is but
tithe of that which could be ef-
fected IL there were some concen-
tration of administration along the
lines long since demonstrated as
necessary to the success of private
business.
A National Budget.
Another matter of government
organization to which our engineers
have given adhesion 10 In the mat
ter of the national budget To minds
charged with the primary necessity
Of advance planning. coordination.
provision OF synchronizing parts in
organization. the whole notion Of
our hit-or-mlss system is repug-
nant. A budget system Is not the
remedy for all administrative ills;
1t provides a basis Of organization
that at least does not parslyze ad-
ministrative efficiency as our sys-
tenn does today. Through IL, the CO.
ordination Of expenditure in govern
ment departments. the prevention
Of waste and overlapping in gov
eminent bureaus. the exposure OF
the pork barrel. and the balancing
of the relative Importance of differ
ent national activities in the alloea-
tion OF our national income can all
be greatly promoted. Legislation
would also be expedited. No budget
that does not cover all government
expenditure is worth enactment.
Furthermore. without such reorga-
nization as the grouping of con-
struction departments. the proper
formulation of a budget would be
hopeless. The budget system in
some form Is SO universal in civiliz-
ed governments and in competently
conducted business enterprise. and
has been adopted in thirty OF our
States. that its absence in our Fed
erRI government is most extraordi-
nary. 1t is, however. but q further
testimony that 1t is always a far
cry of our citiEens from the eff
cheney in their business to interest
in the efficiency OF their govern
ment.
Relation of Employer and Empleye.
Another great national problem
to which every engineer in the Unit
ed States is giving earnest thought.
and with which he comes in daily
contact. is that of the relationship y
of employer and employe in indus
try. In this. as in many other ma
tional problems today. we are faced
with a realization that the science
of economics has altered from a
human relationships to wealth. We
have gone on for many years throw
ing the greatest of our ingenuity
and ability into the improvement OF
processes and tools of production.
We have until recently greatly
neglected the human factor that, is
so large an element in our very pro-
ductivity. The development of vast
repetition in the process of industry
has deadened the sense of crafts
manship and the great extension OF
industry has divorced the employer
and his employe from that contact
that carried responsibility for the
human problem. This neglect of the
human factor has accumulated much
of the discomfort and unrest
throughout our great industrial pop
ulation and has reacted in a de-
crease of production. Yet our very
standards of living are dependent
on a maximum productivity up to
the total necessities of our popula-
tion.
Another economic result is. or will
be yet, repercussion upon the
fundamental industry of the United
States, that is. agriculture. For the
farmer will be unable to maintain
his production in the face of a con-
slant increase in the cost of his sup
plies and labor through shrinkage
in productivity in other industries.
The penalty of this disparity Of ef-