Evening star., 1924-01-13

almost useless lumber went as
medical supplies" at double it's
weight and three times the proper
rate because it included. a skeleton.
If that happens now something else
will happen
DO not turn back any money TO
the government" one bureau chief
wired subordinate. Spend it all
before the end OF the year.
Discount Omcers Busy Now.
Fire him." Gen. Lord recommended
when he heard of it. 1t was SO or
dered. That sort of thing is gradu-
ally being established as disloyalty
to the government service--almoSt
treason Every business man watches
his discounts. He pays cash--if he has
cash--where he can make a gain by
1t. He never loses money by neg
lecting his discounts, yet that was
the rule in the government service.
Gen. Lords very soul turned over
when he discovered this. Now the
discount officers in the various de-
partments are either on the job or
on the defensive. The War Depart
ment this year saved all the dis
counts it should have saved. less
per cent.
Lord does rot interfere with the
administration OF the various govern
ment offices. That is not his bust
ness. He merely points out. through
the various sections of the bureau Of
the budget, the manner in which
money can be saved If a depart
mental head proves obstreperous, II"
might find some difficulty in pcrsuad-
| ing Congress to give him money TO
waste over Lords opposition. His
position of authority has its base on
the fact that he is the direct repre-
sentative Of the President and the
| fact that he knows what lie is talk
| ing about. He is full of hard facts,
| and is not to he Swayeo by phrases.
! Every one has thrown accusing rocks
at the rivers and harbors pork bar
rel The director of the budget does
| not. The Improvement Of the inland
waterways, he thinks, is good job.
1t should be done. II is merely
question OF how fast we can afford
| 10 make the Improvement.
Diplomat, But ImpregnabIe.
! Lord is d strongly made. gray
toned. energetic man. He gets up at
/! ) o'clock in the morning. He likes
! to fool away his spare hours by walk
ing fifteen or twenty miles. He
chews gum. He is diplomatic, but
! impregnable. He is the embodiment
of common sense. Army officers-and
he gave up the position OF clerk to
! the ways and means committee.
| which official deals entirely with fig
! ures, to become the paymaster OF
/ volunteers during the Spanish Anne ri
| can war-are sometimes charged with
an undue respect for red tape. Lord
| charges right through it when neces-
sary. In 1918, as director of finance.
! he paid off thousands of disabled
| soldiers who We're in hospitals with
| out any papers at all.
J 1t was against the law, but he did
/ it because it was the sensible thing
! to do. He took more than : 900, 006.-
; 600 once to pay off the Army'S debts.
! for which Congress had made no ap-
preparations. That was wholly il
| legal. but it was the sensible thing
to do, so he did il. Time after time
! he has taken responsibilities of that
sort when other officers might have
yielded to the temptation to burst
into tears. When he has time TO look
up from his records of billions he
| sometimes tells a little story. This
one goes far to explain Gen. Herbert
Mayhem Lord:
"A field marshal" he says, .'once
ordered subordinate to do certain
thing. The subordinate was a very
brilliant officer. He made Il careful,
conclusive, convincing explanation of
why it could not be done. The field
marshal nodded his head.
II have been very much i'm
pressed he said. by your superb
marshaling of the reasons why this
thing cannot be done. Now go do it -