Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-09-27
for. the amounts needed were forthcoming
in absolutely every instance.

for. the amounts needed were forthcoming
in absolutely every instance.
Moreover, it was assumed that there
would be much money wasted. This was
unacceptable. The swiftness with which the
government had to work made 1t necessary
to spend money with a lavish hand, and it
was so expended. Only an isolated critic
here and there protested against the out
lays, the vast majority of the people Of tho
country accepting the view Of Vice-Presi-
dent Marshall. who. in discussing tho ex-
travagance involved, remarked that when
his wife was i'll and needed a quick opera
,tion. he did not hagglc with the surgeons as
to the cost. He ordered them to go ahead,
to save the life in their keeping, and to
do it without delay. He would talk about
the price afterward, he said.
That fairly represented the view Of the
country during the period Of the conflict,
but once the war was ended, once victory
was achieved and once the time for liquida-
ton arrived, the nation expected, and had
every right to expect, its government to
avoid waste, to salvage every enterprise
that could be salvaged. to save money wher-
ever it might be saved and to plug up every
rat hole that could be discovered, high or
low.
But this has not been done. Nobody even
claims that it has been done. Millions of
dollars worth of property, perhaps hun
dreds OF millions, have been sacrificed for
one cause or another, and most OF that
sacrifice is without any Justification what
ever. To support this view it is only neces-
sary to recall Il few OF tho moro nagrant in
stances of waste. When the armistice came,
for example, there were thousands of auto
mobiles and trucks at various motor trans
port depots along the Atlantic Coast await
ing shipment to France. Very few of these
machines were needed for the army, but
instead of putting them on the market i'm
mediately the War Department listened to
the pleadings Of automobile manufacturers.
held the cars off the market, and today liter
ally thousands Of them are still standing in
the. weather at Camp Holabird and else
where, ruined beyond all hope of repair.
Another case which has just come to light
is that OF the great liner Leviathun, one of
the four largest passenger ships afoat, In
stead of selling it to some commercial line
or OF putting it into service as Il govern
m~ent-owncd ocean carrier, the Shipping
Board, since the army surrendered it, has
allowed it to lie in the mud at Hoboken
until it has deteriorated almost beyond the
hope of salraging. 1t is estimated that it
would now cost nearly $4,000 900 to put
it again in commission, and no private enter
prise now wants the ship or would buy it
at any reasonable price.
Hundreds of other government-owned
merchantmen also lie at anchor in Hampton
Roads, in the Puget Sound and elsewhere,
and are gradually going to ruin. How much
there is OF this war property that has been
allowed TO go TO waste during the past
twenty-five months nobody knows, but there
is enough of it to shame the government for
its policy. The people readily forgive the
extravaganza that was practiced during the
war, but they will not forgive the waste That
has been practiced since the war ended.