The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-07-31
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HASkIN. Direc1Or.
Washington, ID. @.
BUSINESS METHODS IN
GOVERNMENT.

lion QOlldT congress Dy SLdIlL6 llidI
this is a billion dollar country" and
then adding that this country is a hell
of a success" 1t is IDuch larger now.
1t has not grown as ordinary bust
ness establishments grow by the APP
plication CT strictly business methods
and principles, however. 1t is not
monument to deficiency rules and
or financial institution that had at
tanned such proportions would owe its
success to astute and careful manage
ment and would be so organized that
it would function like a SWISS watch.
Not so with the United States govern
ment. 1t has grown to its present size
simply because nothing could stop or
retard its growth and in spite-of I'M
businesshke methods that would have
wrecked a private enterprise before
it got fairly started.
But now all this is being changed.
At last government has come to be
regarded as a business and an earnest
effort is being made to put the con-
duct of public affairs on a basis COM
parable TO that which earns dividends,
in the every day commercial world.
Moreover, the effort is getting results
that can be measured IN dollars and
cents.
Reorganization of the administra-
tive branch of the government was
promised and undertaken months ago.
but II has been delayed by contro-
versies between department and bu-
feau heads. This would not seem to
augur well for the new order of things
and has discouraged some of the ar
dent advocates of up-to-date business
methods in government. However.
real progress has been made in the
desired direction thru series of ex-
ecutive orders requiring coordination
and cooperation among officials and
between agencies that heretofore have
acted independently.
TrrS+ n q ms a
of the budget system there was no CO.
ordination in estimating and very little
in appropriating, there was little or
no coordination in expanding public
funds. As an illustration the DISPOSE
ton made of surplus property may be
cited. Each bureau or holding agency
was carrying on this work in it's own
way and amazing as it may seem it is
actually true that at one place the
government was selling at sacrifice
supplies that it was buying at current
market prices at another.
Chance for Sharp Practices.
Thus it was possible for those who
engagein sharp practices to buy some
thing from one governmental agency
at a price below production cost and
turn around and sell it to another,
governmental agency at a substantial
profit. Again, instances have been
known in which one department
would purchase desks and other Of
flee furniture while another depart
ment had a surplus supply of the iden-
teal equipment that vas going to
wreck and ruin in storage.
This sort of thing was stopped by
the creation of a liquidation board to
coordinate the sale of all surplus
property, to provide for transfers be-
tween various governmental agencies,
to weld the sales activities of the sew
eral departments into a federal bust
ness association and to install prac-
teal business methods. a total of
500, 000,0 600 was turned into the treas
ury during the fiscal year just closed
from the sale of supplies and it is esti--
mated that a sum almost as large Will
be realized during the current year
But this is only part of the story.
The lighthouse service of the depart
ment of commerce was about to spend
S1,5O0,00o for lighthouse tenders.
Nine planters purchased during the
war which were idle and practically
valueless were made over into tenders
and the million and a half was saved.
Dredges that would have cost S349, 500
were required by the, engineer branch
of the army. Surplus vessels were
transferred from the Quartermaster
Corps. There arc numerous other eSc-
amples of similar economies that
come under the head of commonsense
business and the aggregate saving to
Uncle Sam runs into large figures.
Even more important, perhaps. 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 department
are being consolidated and organized
on an efficiency basis and the same
thing has already been done with g
such agencies in the department of
agriculture. In fact, there was need
for reform in this line in all the de-
partments except the navy, where the
buying has been done in a thoroly 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 estate
and rental problem. Necessarily the
government owns a vast amount OF
realty, wharves, warehouses. storage
buildings, etc, but UP to the present
time there has never been a CONSOLE
dated list of such property One of
the results of this deficiency, which is
now being remedied, has been that in
the same cities one government agency
had property that was not being util-
lied, while another rented less desira-
Bile and less suitable space.
For example, army depots in Brook
lyn and Boston afforded storage space
that was not being used, while the
government was paying S275,OOO an
nually for places in which to store
seized liquor in those cities. A bit of
coordination and that snug little rem
tai item was saved. Again, in Chi
cago it was found possible to cancel
leases costing 100000 every year by
available northumberland property
that was standing, idle, and sSbstan-
tial savings are being accomplished in
almost every other large city in the
country. This is. just what the real
estate department of any large corpor-
alton would be doing and there is
nothing new or startling about it ex-
cept that the government hasn't been
doing it for the last 40 or so years.
Other co-ordfnating activities now