Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-03

Continuation of the interdepart-
mental board of the Council of Ma
honaf Defense is to be urged upon the
congressional committee on reorgan-
ization of the government service
to function
In the interdepartmental board the
the federal service possesses a
unique Dictionary of activities" which
is being found invalub BILE by the
various bureaus Of the government in
the disposition OF their own business.
Tucked away in one of the tenn
porary structures at the foot of 18th
street, the interdepartmental board
has kept strictly up to date the ac-
count of the various activities on
which all departments and their bu-
reaus are embarked.
It's work. it is said. constitutes the
best argument against those jealous
reformers who continually shout of
the duplication" in government effort
and Of the great necessity for it's
reform.
While all in the government service
are willing to admit that the com
mittee on reorganization is about 20
begin upon a. good work, and that
duplication of effort. to some extent,
does exist, many efficient administra-
tive officers of the government deplore
the extent to which claims OF general
inefficiency have gone.
Not Duplication. Is Claim.
That many bureaus seem, at first
glance. to be duplicating the work of
other bureaus. is no less certain than
that a second glance will show that
the work is in no sense duplication.
but only the necessary approach OF
angles, they say.
1t is just this fact that is revealed
in the great index of activities kept
by the interdepartmental board of the
Council of National Defense. Here
an admi nistrator may go when he
wants to find out what some other
bureau or what the government as a
whole is doing in connection with any
problem that arises.
This index is revised every day. so
that the very latest, as well as the
oldest. studies are revealed to the
searcher. This service is at the dis
posal Of all the departments. and it
is constantly being used. although its
work has not been much heralded.
Thus, if any bureau wants to find
out what the government is doing in
the investigation of oil. application to
the interdepartmental board may
show that the Interior Department is
conducting one line of invest cation,
Inc cOSI 6l SOIIilIlSSiou all
other and the Department of Labor
another. All may be at work in the
oil fields, but the respective fnvesti-
gators in no sense are duplicating the
work of each other
Difficulty in COmprehending.
This is declared to be one of the
hardest things to make superficial
Investigators comprehend, that al
though two or more government
agencies may at the same time be at
work upon a particular subject, in no
sense Is there any real duplication of
effort involved.
One set of investigators. in such a
case as mentioned, may be looking
into the yields of oil, another group
into the legal aspects involved in the
business methods concerning the sale
of the product and the third may be
investigating labor conditions and wages.
All are at work in the oil fields, but
each government agency is after a
certain set Of facts. Generally the
facts desired are secured much more
expeditiously by this method of work
than if some one bureau had tried to
get all the facts from all the angles
Another curious government finding,
difficult to make some people compre-
bend, is involved here.
way private businesses are conducted,
it is declared. When. an inyestigator.
from a certain government bureau
approaches the head of a great busi-
ness concern to get certain facts he