The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-21

toned and converted into salable
articles.
The United States Harness Company.
with which the contract is made, is
headed by George y. Goetz, identified in
the departments announcement simply
as "of Charlestown, W. Va" He served
during the war as an officer in the
Quartermaster Corps and had charge of
the purchase Of the equipment he Is now
taking over, buying, it is charged, in
most extravagant amounts.
bought From Themselves"
Members of Congress severely criti-
cised the War Department for the prac-
tice Of permitting men Ito buy from
themselves" when the Government was
purchasing supplies. as many of the
dollar-a-year men did, subordinate Off
GERS signing the contracts for the Gov
ernment in order to satisfy the technical
requirements of the law. The depart
ment's justification was that il had to
have men of experience as buyers.
What is regarded by some as an effort
to forestall any such criticism in connec-
ton with the present contract is con-
tanned In the official announcement
wherein 1t is stated, although not men
tioning Mr.. Goetz as such, that:
THE War Department considers itself
peculiarly fortunate in having made
the contract with the men of the stand
ing, experience and capacity possessed
by those representing and guiding the
United States Harness Company. The
majority of the officers of this corpora
tion have had considerable experience
during and subsequent to the war with
the material constituting the subject
matter Of this transaction in connection
with their duties in the Quartermaster
Corps, In purchasing such material, and
supervising its manufacture on behalf
" the Government, and later in their
efforts to induce commercial concerns
to become interested in the buying, re-
modelling and resale of these items"
Paying without Question.
1.-THE system employed, as shown by
the uncontradicted testimony" says
Representative c. f. Reavis of Ne
,braska, chairman of the subcommittee
that investigated the Quartermaster
Corps expenditures, in referring to the
buying methods of the War Depart
ment, was to permit a manufacturer
to recommend to the department the
purchase of his own goods in whatever
quantity he desired and at whatever
price he suggested and the department
executed the contract. purchased the
commodity and paid the price, without
more than a perfunctory investigation.
MANY of the individuals who OPP
Grated in Washington during the war
as "dollar-a-year men" gave to their
country the most distinctive service; to
others, however. the temptation proved
too great. 1t is no wonder that such
a system as this was productive Of many
unnecessary purchases and of great
waste of public funds. Some of the
witnesses who testified before the COM
mittee sought to break the force of the
criticism by saying that most of the
men who so acted We're Republicans. 1t
should be known such men are neither
Republicans nor Democrats"
The investigation conducted by the
Congressional committee showed that
saddles and harness were purchased in
tremendous quantities. The leather re-
QUESTIONED by the War Department for
these articles and for shoes amounted
to 100000 more hides than was ever
produced in America in any one year.
According to data compiled by the