Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-07-31

engage IN sharp pfactlceS 10 Duy
something from II governmental
agency at a price below production
lost and turn around anu sell it to
another governmental agency at a
substantial profit. Again, instances
have been known in which. one de-
partment would purchase desks and
other office furniture while another
department had a surplus of the
identical equipment that was going
to wreck and ruin in storage.
This sort of thing was stopped
by the creation of liquidation board
to coordinate the sale of all surplus
property, to provide for transfers
between various governmental agen-
cies, to weld the sales activities of
the several departments into a fed
eral business association and to in
stall practical business methods. A
total of $90,000,000 vas turned into
the treasury during the fiscal year
just closed from the sale of sup
plies and Vt is estimated that a sum
almost as large will be realized dur
ing the current year.
But this is only part of the story.
The lighthouse service Of the De-
partment of Commerce was about to
spend 81. 500, 900 for lighthouse ten
ders. Mine planters purchased dur
ing the war which were idle and
practically valueless were made
over into tenders and million and
a half was saved. Dredges that
would have cost $349, 500 were re-
quired by the engineer branch of the
army. Surplus vessels were trans
ferred from the Quartermasteis
Corps. There are numerous other
examples Of similar economics that
come under the head of common
sense business and the aggregate
saving to Uncle Sam runs into large
figures. Even more important, per-
haps, is the moral effect on officials
and employees who are seeing that
slipshod, hit or miss methods are
no longer in vogue in the federal
service.
In the matter of government pur-
chasing the work of coordination
has been likewise effective. Twenty
six separate and distinct purchasing
agencies IN the Treasury Depart
ment are being consolidated and or
ganized on an efficiency basis and
the same thing has already been
done with eighteen such agencies
in the Department of Agriculture.
In fact. there vas need for reform
in this line in all the departments
except the navy where the buying
has been done in a thoroughly CO.
ordinated way for some years.
Real Estate Listed
Still another field for the applica-
ton of business methods has been
found in dealing with the real es-
tate and rental problem. Neces-
sarily the government owns a vast
amount of realty, wharves, ware
houses, storage buildings, ETC., but
up to the present time there has
never been a consolidated list oil
such property. One of the results
of this deficiency. which is now be-
| ing remedied, has been that in the
same cities n government had
property that was not being utilized
while another rented less desirable
and less suitable space.
For example, army depots In
Brooklyn and Boston afforded stor'
age space that was not used. while
the government was paying S275,00C
annually for places in which to store
seized liquor in those cities. A bit
of coordination and that snug little
rental item was saved. Again, in
Chicago it was found possible to can
eel leases costing 100000 every
year by making available govern
ment owned property that was
standing idle, and substantial saw
ings are being accomplished in al
most every other large city in the
country. This is just what the real
estate department of any large cor
poration would be doing and there
is nothing new or startling about
it except that the government hasn't
been doing it for the last 40 or SO
years.
Other coordinating activities now
under way include a federal board
of disqualification. a federal specih-
cations board, the restriction and
control of government printing
plants and printing. the organiza-
lions of telephone and cable opera
| tons and a federal traffic board.
The latter agency is especially i'm
portant in view of the fact that the
government pays an annual trans
p~ortation bill of some $50, 100000 in
| addition to the expenditures of the
Postofice Department for the NOV
ing Of the mail This Is . Eemen-