Evening star., 1922-09-03

| NOT that much. Inc special Ap-
| propriation-"
"Oh. yes. But the overhead is not
| figured there. What was the cost Of
your printing bill at the government
press? What about the theoretical
rent of your occupied space?"
THE government owns the build
ing. my good friend" Pulver said.
But it also rents space and builds
| new space for departments and bu-
feaus which might be where you are,
or where dozens Of useless bureaus are
| taking up the space"
You talk as if the bureau was a
kind of inhuman machine. You for
get that it is the expression Of per-
sons-even more than one Of your cor
| porations can ever be-"
Yes. I was going to speak of that"
the other said, consulting his memo
| randum sheets. your bureau has a
| chief. an assistant. a secretary, three
| stenographers and typists. and four
| travelling investigators with a per
| diem expense account. That's nearly
dozen human beings who ought to
| be engaged in productive labor. Most
| of them look like good stun to me-
good character. good industry, good
brains. You ought not to be keeping
| them out of the nations productive
| activity, anyhow. From their own
! points Of view. why condemn those
souls to work for the salaries they get.
with no particular chance Of getting
| promoted to really big-league jobs Of
| any kind?"
! ho hryro vxyao h.
| in. He said in a cold, hard voice:
| You apparently have included me in
the list, but 1 prefer to speak for the
others. They give their service to
their country. That is a high ideal,
my business friend"
"It is, my foot" snorted McAll.
| DULVER was speechless; he regarded
the practical, cold-blooded busi-
!, ness man with contempt and scorn.
! "oh. If the work is useful. then a
| man who does it for good service is
| doing the finest thing in the world"
| the man from Omaha said, putting
both his strong fists on the white table
at its edge. Paste that in your hat
I've seen men here who work for the
government. and do 1t patiently and
humbly, and I've seen women, too.
| There are hundreds who ought to
have their statues put up along the
corridors. / know that I'll even in
clude you, Jenkins Pulver. because
| whatever else they may say Of your
| building up the bureau and bleeding
| the taxpayers of the country, they've
got to say that you believed in what
you were doing"
"It was indispensable" said Pulver.
Everybody thinks his work Is in-
dispensable," McAll replied. That's
almost the truth, and it's the tragedy.
There are about a hundred thousand
| in washington who think their work
| is indispensable. Well. let me tell you.
| rye asked twenty-nine people in three
days, right here in Washington, whore
your bureau is, and no one Of the
| twenty-nine ever heard Of II"
Have you finishedr' the govern
ment ofiicial asked. white, not daring
| to trust his tongue.
"Just let mo drink my co6ee,S the
! other man said. He drank. Nov
| listen, Pulver," he said. "thsre are
my facts-these sheets They show
| what you spend. They show the ways
| in which most Of your work IL being
| duplicated In places much more At to
deal with it. They show what actu-
| ally becomes Of your literature. They
| show the facts about how many In
| quiries reach you and what the in
quirers DO when they have your infor-
nation and your service, as you call
II, They show how absurd atsts TO
have your bureau under the DEPART
n,enf which now acts as its mamma. =