Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-19
The Hnskin Letter


Washington, D. c., Dec. lit has
often been said that the United States
government is the biggest institution in
the world. It has also been said that
it is the worst. The first assertion
tends to make us swell with national
pride. The second reduces the swell
ing.
Both assertions are substantially
true. There can be no doubt about
the size of the business establishment
conducted by Uncle Sam, and there
have been SO many revelations as to
the wasteful and inefficient manner in
whcih he does business that nothing in
that sort shocks anybody any more. 1t
is all the more interesting, according
ly, to learn that something has actual
" been accomplished in the way of in
jecting real business methods into
government affairs.
One such step in that direction was
the creation of a federal specified
tons board with DIR. s. w. Stratton.
head of the bureau Of standardsN as
chairman, and now q second has been
taken through the appointment by the
American engineering standards COM
mittee of a standing committee on CO
operation with the federal specifica-
tons board. This will give the gov
eminent the best brains and talent at
the command of the 200 industrial or
| CARNATIONS that are cooperating in the
work Of the American engineering
standards committee.
The members of the committee who
are to work with DIR. STATIONS board
are: Chairman: A. II. Hall, assistant
treasurer and superintendent Of dis
tribution, Central Union Gas cem.
pany, New York; John A. Capp, chief
of testing laboratory, General Elec-
trio company, Schenectady; and Suiil-
| van w. Jones, chairman of the struc-
tural service committee, American In
stitute of Architects, New York.
In commercial circles it has long been
q common saying that it costs 10 per
cent more to do business with the gov
eminent thar with other customers.
This waste-and surely unnecessary
expense must be so termed-has been
due largely to a lack of uniformity in
| government specifications covering ar
ticles to be purchased by various gov
(ernmental agencies and to the fact that
the government specifications were
rarely if ever identical with those of
ordinary commercial concerns.
Standardization Difficult
/. This has meant that an individual or
a corporation that wanted to sell a
certain article &c the government has
found differing specifications issued by
various departments or bureaus. none
of which conformed exactly with the
specifications which must be met III
dealing with private buyers. Thus 1t
has been practically impossible to pro-
duce a standard article that would
meet all ordinary requirements, gov
ernmental and commercial.
DIR. STATIONS board aims to bring
into line with the best commercial prac-
tice, not only the specifications which
are to be approved by the board in
the future but also those which have
already been approved. OF the latter
there are about 40 and these will be
revised at intervals of about one year.
The specifications which have al
ready been submitted to the American
engineering standards committee under
the new cooperative arrangement
cover the following: Hose for various
industrial purposes, wood screws, ster-
ilizing equipment, cotton duck. phos-
phor tin, silicon copper and pig lead,
1t is the unanimous opinion of fed
eral officials and the officers of the
American engineering standards com
~tnittee that this cooperation between
manufacturing industries, the govern
ment and other consumers will result
in a widening OF the source of supply
for all government requirements and
in important economies not only TO
the government but to the 9th
err consumers of those products
which are also required by the govern
ment departments. 1t is expected that