Evening star., 1921-07-29
COORDINATION MAY
SOLVE DIFFICULTY
Controller General Wants
Building Surplus Material
May Supply.

Saving of any money in the office Of
the controller general Of the United
States in accordance with the general
retrenchment scheme is well nigh an
impossibility under the present order Of
things. according to Controller General
McCarl
The controller general was discussing
his troubles with representative Of
The Star. pointing out that the disper-
sion of his force among fourteen build
lngS, involving an expensive messenger,
hling and clerical system. made il an
impossibility to comply with the spirit
Of the law. The plan of Budget Director
U'awes for co-ordinating government
Guilty, however"
What do you needT' asked The
Stars representative.
"A fireproof building to house the en-
tire force and the files" replied Mr.. Nc
Why not get Congress to build you
We'll" he answered. ~.that would be
hard at this time on account of the
high cost of building Materials
THAT should not be difficult to 'Over-
come. suggested the reporter. Just
see Gen. Dawes general co-ordinator
and he will furnish the material"
Director Dawes SusEests solution.
The reporter left the controller gem
eral thinking of this situation and went
to see Budget Director Dawes.
General. said The reporter. the
controller general is little down-heart-
& ed because aus he cannot save any money
under the general economy scheme"
why not" asked the general.
Then the reporter outlined the trou-
bles of the controller general
Tell him to get authority for the
building. and We will find he material
he Sc, IA
the general. THE government has
structural material and can transfer it."
When the two officials and Con-
sreSs are brought together the con-
troller general may get his building.
He is going to present his troubles Of
hcially to Congress in short time.
Dispersed In Fourteen Buildings.
Investigations conducted by the con-
troller general to see just where re-
trenchments could be effected showed
him some difficulties. His office is di-
vided among fourteen buildings. scat
tered to various points of the com
pass. Of the fourteen only two OF
the buildings are of fireproof con-
struction. and one of the non-fireproof
buildings contains all of the pay
rolls of all of the soldiers of the late
war. They are priceless and cannot
be replaced. once destroyed.
Capitalization of the force of the
controller general is an absolute ne
cessity in order to carry out the spirit
of the law establishing the controller
generals office. Mr.. McCarl pointed
out. The office requires 197.621 square
feet for the clerks and files of the Of
fee. OF this total. which the office has
at the present time. only 14.600 feet Is
considered fireproof.
The scattering of the clerks and
files of the office in various parts of
the city. not only delays the handling
of cases. but involves very heavy
expense and lost motion for clerks
and messengers going from one Office
to another gathering the various pa
pers and files necessary to reach
decision in any case. If the office were
in one building, this expensive serv-
ice could be done away with. he said.
OF course, he said, some of the files
are what is known az inactive" but
even these have to be visited at least
once a week to get papers Tor some
case that comes up. II these. together
fireproof vaults in one building 1t
would materially cut down the num-
ber of employees.
Tir..e Lost.
Some idea of the time 1T requires
may be obtained from the statement
of Controller General McCarl' that it
takes him an entire day to make
round of the offices under his direc-
tion. To keep in touch with the work.
ings of his Office causes the loss OF
many days in the course OF the year,
with consequent delay in examining
cases requiring his personal attention
and decision.
Effective organization of the con-
troller generals ONCE. he said. can
not be perfected until there is pro.
vision to house it under one roof.
where the work can be watched care
fully by the controller general and
his assistants.
Mr. McCarl has looked around for
space which would help him solve
E the present difficulties. but at pres
ent there is no building now available
where space enough could be found
to centralize his office. He has ex-
amined the Arlington building. but
four floors and an attic there would
give him only $4,000 feet, still a
shortage Of "a, 595 feet.
What is needed. he said, is a build
ing specially built. with couple Of
subbasements. where, the files could
he centralized and be quickly avail