Evening star., 1924-02-01

A bill to provide for tho construc-
| ton Of certain public buildings In
the District of Columbia was intro
duced In the Senate last week by
Senator Smoot and will be introduced
in the House by Representative Lang.
ley Of the committee on public build
ings and grounds. 1t authorizes the
public buildings commission to pro.
coed with construction, under GER
tain restrictions. limiting the expend.
itures to maximum OF only $10,.
100000 year. with a total. cost not
exceeding s50.00O.O00 The work
therefore, cannot be accomplished ir
less than five years. but may extend
some time longer.
The buildings covered by this pro-
gram are:
The bureau of internal revenue and
other off1ces Of the Trea sury not now
SUITABLY housed in goverrment-own-
ed buildings.
The Department of Justice
The general accounting office.
The Department Of Agriculture.
The national archives
The general supply committee.
he Department OF Commerce.
AhC OF l<HDOF.
The Interstate Commerce Commits
sion.
Various other indeDendent govern
ment establishments note suitably
housed in government-owned build
inRs
All the above departments are now
In rented quarters badly ADAPTED 10
their needs, overcrowded and costly
in rentals.
i. =. 4 i:
Judging the proposed archives build
ing by the amount Of discussion II
has occa stoned. IL aDnears almost tn
rank in costliness and seriousne ess with
| the digging of the Panama canal or
| the VOYAGE of the Shenandoah across
the polar continent
Public records which are absolutely
irreDlaceable if destroyed are todav
housed in firetraps in various parts
of the city The salvae ee corps might
arrive after a fire alarm in time to
throw tarDaulins over some Of the
records OF the internal revenue bu-
reau. Of which records 20 per cent Is
housed in tinderbox construction The
records Of the census and OF the
ARMY and Navy may be DESTROYED in
an hour. They are not insured, for
the government cannot insure any,
the money value. for they are price
less
4: & + r
There is great deal of interest IT
the fact that the present taxes are
bringing surplus into the Treasury
and one wonders whether the surplus
said to exceed s330Oo0. 900 a year
might not, some day accumulate
enough to Justify the erection of ar
archives building In the Nations Cap
itai. where the public records belong.
ing to the whole nation might b.
safely Stored-where some might he
as safe as the liberty bonds OF citi-
zens are when they are locked ir
safety deposit vaults. How MANY mil.
lions would be necessary to construc,
real archives building?
The Federal Building Commission
answers that the estimate hardly
, reaches the fabulous figures OF Tut.
the public seems TO have gotten such
an impression. The archives building
would cost s550.0o0-no more.
The government might issue bonds
at 41e per cent to erect such a safe
guard for fits treasures. and the en-.
tire cost Of the financing would be
only s24.150 a year. If 1t had to Dor.
row the entire sum. Yet the govern.
ment now rents moor space in scat
tered wooden and brick firetraps fol-
storing In inaccessible form the ar
chives thus risked. and pays more
rent than the interest on such an in.
vestment. II a private business execu-
tive were running such foolish hazards
his bankers would restrict his credits
and insurance companies would can.
Gel his policies-if such a captain OF
industry" even thought OF insurine
his risks.
X < \
The Department OF Agriculture 4.
spread over the city in TWENTY-FIVE