The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-08-05
Frederic Haskin's Letter
tsp.saa cor4espondeass a ma
Uncle Sans Buying and Selling.

7 it would be unwise and create baa
! feelings when what he most scots
| is cooperation, to set forth anv NJ
the instances which occurred bv
the hundreds which forced the
| change in system as a step toward
economical running of the govern
l.ment machine. However, many ~
these have come to light.
One waste under the old svstor,
| was the duplication of effort On tbs
part OF many of the department.
Representative Tess of Ohio. onca
pointed out in the house thar in
many cases a dozen bureaus Of the
government were duplicating vorI
and that under the old system con-
gress is called upon to appropriate
money ten or twelve times over for
the same work where it is thus ner-
formed in these dozen different
places. The budget system will
remedy this among many othor
evils when the first budget il nra-
scented TO congress.
Film Fhm-FIam.
A recent instance is known NJ
where one branch of the government
desired to obtain a quantity of NOV
ing picture film. AS the old system
provided no means o fthis denart-
ment's knowing that another de-
paFtment, right here in Washington
had a surplus stock of film and
that an exchange might be effected
the war department seeking the
film went into the open market for
it. A private individual discovering
the excess supply in one depart.
ment and the need for film in the
other, bought the film in his own
name and sold it back to the other
branch of the government, making
a comfortable profit for himself
which was, of course, a dead loss
to the government. Under the new
system, coordinator would have
fixed a fair price for the film, and
the transfer would have been made
from one department to the
other without any delays and bag
Cling over the amount of funds TO
be transferred as a consideration
for the film supply.
Probably the greatest loss in the
matter of sale of supplies is charge
able to the war department 1t was
almost inevitable that the war de-
partment should be Overstocked
with food stuffs at the end of hos
tilitieS and after the American Ex-
peditionary Forces were returned
10 this country and demobilized.
Everyone is familiar with the man
Ter in which the war department
disposed of its excess supplies. and
many families benefited through the
of canned goods and other
surplus stock at very low prices.
War department supplies also in
;luded vast quantities of blankets,
extiles of all sorts, automobiles,
md almost everything else. Thou
,ands and thousands of dollars
worth of this material were sold to
ny purchaser for fractional parts
# their real values. The old
,ugaboo arose of the department
aving the surplus stock demanding
much higher prices from other de-
'artments which needed them than
we're demanded in open sales to the
While all of this was going on
he shipping board, for one example,
vas buying food supplies for the
rews of its ships in the open
market. There is no doubt that
luch of the old war department
took purchased by private individ-
ais for a song was resoId to the
Their branch of the government,
ne shipping board, at prices which
-ere reasonable enough, but rep
asented a handsome profit to the
who bought up quartz
es of war department surplus
took for this very purpose.
This sort of thing is impossible
ow. Each department is to have
director of purchases and
irector of sales, both of whom will
eep in close touch with the chief
Copies OF the surplus
roperty reports of each depart
tent are to be furnished to the
lief coordinator.
General Dawes has emphasized
lat the new agency for the sale
Id exchange of government sup
les is entirely Independent of all
her departments of the govern
ent, just as is his budget bureau.