The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-06-01
Frederick | askln's Letter
UNCLE SAM SAVES RENT.

fact that its economy begins at
home It has no crew of steno-
graphers, clerks and messengers.
Three years ago when it started it
was given an initial appropriation
of $4,000 by congress, and it still
has 81 900 to its credit IN the bank.
In three years it has saved The
government more than half mil
lion dollars in rents by moving
bureaus out of rented buildings in
to government-owned offices. Thus
the commission notes that the Vet
Grams bureau personnel is shrink
ing daily and it finds that there is
room in the War Risk building for
Il the entire force of the alien prop
erty custodian. This official and
his staff have been occupying a
six-story apartment house at cost
to the government of $4,000 a year
rent. The commission arranged
with the bureau to move and cred
its itself with saving the country
0,000
Unless there is a sharp reaction
from the present tendency toward
efficiency and economy there will
be no more elaborate monumental
effects in department buildings
Sixteen-foot ceilings, fire-places,J
thick walls, and laboriously carved
room decorations such as are seen
about the State War andc-,Navy
building. and other early govern
ment edifices, are ceKspicuously
absent from recent government
construction.
Time Was No Object.
An example of the old-style pom
derousness which characterized the
first federal buildings is found in
the granite pillars on the treasury
facades. These huge pillars were
quarried in Maine and shipped to
Washington on sailing vessels. 1t
took Is oxen and eight horses to
carry each one of them to the
building. Time was no obstacle in
those days. Seventeen years were
spent in constructing the State
War and Navy building. The new
Navy and Munitions buildings
were run up in five-and-a-half
months.
The State, War and Navy building
cost $10000,000 at time when la
Dor was cheap. The new buildings
average about 100000. They
have Ioais and Doric columns and
they ar, shiningly white, but they
are distinctly businesslike in ap-
peararce. They suggest, rather
than initiate, Athens and Old Eu-
rope.
it is probable that the day of the
beautiful, be-columned marble post
office is past Since 1913 there has
hY4i1 hill RI
vide at one time several hundred
postoffiee buildings for the country.
These bills had very little to do
with economy. It was not uncom-
mon for a town of a few thousand
souls, which was represented kby a
live congressman. to win a $4,000
postoffce. Each congressman vot-
ed for the appropriation bill be-
cause ii contained SONG item in
which he ~ss interested AID
of any Clause -sVas
hitch the whole measure.
Congress was criticised n
sort of pork legislation. Tn
postoffice getters
I'd that a federal building of
md dignity was an inspira
he citizens of a town, anG
rom IhaJ point OF view II
investment. The
)ean war put stop to sucl
nent and to the marble from
'ffices.
A few postoffices are still
constructed from the proVis
he 1913 bill, but no constTF
work for the government is
one in Washington. Nor isl rheTe8
much prospect of any new govern
nent buildings for a year rJmore
he important Archives building
raits only for the word Of con-
ress. Two recent fires lip the
reasury have shown that the old
are not invulnerable, and
hat documents CT great value
tored in them are far from safe.
tut economy is rampant and it will
oubtless be many months before
ongress can be persuaded to spend
lsney for a building program, ev-
n to insure the safety of the ma
onal records.