Evening star., 1924-12-02
WOULD COORDINATE
INTERIOR BUREAUS
Works Annual Report Tells
of Lost Motion in De-
partment Activity.

with a view to conservation. congress
sion21 action on the new reclamation
program and improvements in the ad-
minfgtration OF the Nations island
possessions were recomrnen ended by
Secretary Work in his annual report,
made public today.
Pointing out that each bureau was
found to be operating as an independ-
ent unit, duplicating many details of
work. Secretary Work said that there
must be more latitude In the admins
tration of the department.
There are two avenues OF admin
istration open to a Secretary of the
Interior--by bureaus Or through bu
reaus." he said in the report. THE
one offering the least resistance Is for
the Secretary to consent to an inde-
pendent administration Of unrelated
activities by its bureau, Independent
of a covering policy. The other alter
native requires the active working
interest Of the Secretary in bureau
and departmental coordination"
Affairs OF Territories.
Establishment of a bureau of pub
lie works under which all the con-
struction and engineering work per-
formed by the Government should be
concentrated was advocated by the
Secretary. He also favored the COW
ering in one department and under
one member Of the cabinet, of the ter
ritorial affairs OF Alaska and Hawaii
instead OF the present system of oper-
ating them through a multiplicity Of
bureaus scattered through the vari-
Gus departments.
Substantial savings in spproprla-
tions for the fiscal years 1924 and
1926 were made, the Secretary said.
The appropriations for the fiscal year
1924 were 1925. .s7.,o7s. For the fiscal
year ending June 80, 1925. they are
$290,473. .724.0e. or q saving Of $685.,
39S, 1894 over the previous year.
Tho appropriations asked for the
fiscal year ended June 80. 1926, are
$267.7S5,5S517, or $22,e8S,127.S9 under
1928 or Ss3,000,O0o under 1922. These
savings" the report said, were made
without impairment of service rem
dered TO the public by this depart
ment, abundant proof In itself that
economy and efficiency are INSOFAR
able"
The Secretary did not discuss the
oil situation at length, but he de-
clared formation OF a commission Of
cabinet members to deal with IL was
IAN urgent necessity"
Need Of LeKisIation.
He likewise touched but briefly on
the new reclamation program which
was worked out by special COM
mission but which failed Of congress
sional approval at the last session
Enactment of the legislation contem-
plated in the program. he said, was
one of the tasks with which the
present session should deal promptly.
The report contained a hint that
-, IL IL
land laws may be recomme nded later
to Congress. Secretary Work said a
special committee was engaged in a
study Of these statutes and added:
1T IL probable that growth of the
country and changed conditions will
warrant some radical departures from
established custom. The question
arises whether the government should
continue the present method of dis
posing Of its public domain.
The present law covering the acqui-
sition of timber and stone lands on
the public domain. passed in 1878.
should be revised to better protect
our vanishing timber in the public
interest"
The results Of the recent reorgani-
zation OF the pension bureau, which
clipped 1850 from the annual pay
roll and enabled the bureau to re-
turn sSs,000 of its appropriation to
the Treasury, were praised by the
Secretary as constituting a measure
both of economy and efficiency. Bet
ter results had been brought about.
he said, despite the fact that 33S po-
sItions In the bureau were eliminated
by the reorganization program.
study of Patent Once.
1t was pointed out that a special
eva hn e;t
tion in the Patent Office, with q view
to bringing that bureaus work up to
date, and that improved methods of
administration In the General Land
Office had effected a saving of about
3s5,000 during the year in its operat-
Ing expenses.
Declaring tho problem of directing
Federal guardianship of 225.000 In
dams Is one Of great concern to him.
the Secretary urged that centralized
authority with decentralized respons-
ibility Is essential in the Indian serv-
ice, because of the distance between
the bureau in Washington and its
wards
States should be impressed he
said. that ultimately the Indian
problem is theirs to solve, and the
Governments participation should
eventually be cooperative rather
tnan 1NlulatlNe III
Describing the growing popularity
OF the national park system-visited
last season by record crowds In spite
Of conditions adverse to travel-Mr.
Work said he hoped Congress would
see At to create an outdoor play
rround, readily accessible to the mill
lions Of persons from densely popu-
lated centers Of the East. He OBJ
served that the Western States so far
have virtually a monopoly on national
parks, the only one in the East being
LAFAYETTE National Park, In Maine. A
committee has inspected proposed
sites for q national park in the
Southern Appalachian Mountain re-
zion, and its recommendation will be
presented to the present Congress.
Work of Mines Bureau.
An outstanding accomplishment in
the Bureau OF Mines during the year
was said by the Secretary to be the
development OF close cooperation
with tho British mines department,
whereby the results Of British ex-
periments and research directed to-
ward greater safety In mining will be
available to American engineers, and
the results Of Bureau of Mines studies
will be available to the English. 1t
was in this connection that he made
his only direct reference TO the oil
situation:
.The production OF oil from the
public lands, exclusive OF the naval
petroleum reserves, amounted to
nearly 100000 barrels during the
year, from which the Government OBJ
tanned enarIy 100000 barrels Of roy
Atty oil, valued at slightly more than
$4,000, 900" no said. "of this sum
90 per cent was returned to the States,
either directly or through the rscla-