Evening star., 1925-10-11

t1 w ILL L hEN
| Ven careful and extensive survey
, of Cnc.s Sans workshop forces this
| amazing indictment-that the biggest
! business in the world, the business Of
! the United States Government is cor
! Quoted under housing conditions that
no sane private business concern could
| tolerate.
President Coolidge has let it be
/ known that he thoroughly appreciates
i the necessity for promptly remedvins
| this deplorable condition and that he
will use his utmost authority and in
! fiuence with re incoming Congress TO
! have an ao@luate public buildings
| bill for the ,'"-tional Capital enacted.
! Cabinet officers, Government Off
cials, the executive officers of the Pub
| lie Buildings Commission. organized
business men and patriotic associa-
! tions, even the proper committees OF
! Congress. all insist that Congress must
! take action as early as possible IN
the coming session to carry out Presi-
! dent CooiidGe's emergency recon-
! mendations for Il $4,000, 900 public
| building proGra.- for Washington.
Sentiment Nation Wide.
| Public sentimen throughout the
! country, aroused by d realization OF
| peril during intensive observance of
Fire Prevention week. will support
| the President, since ii has been shown
! that daily thousands upon thousands
of Government workers. the most
valuable records of the Government
and many millions of dollars worth of
property are hazarded in fire-traps.
! Congress, facing lie duty of saving
/, this Government rom national
scandal. from mora responsibility in
the event that fire or high wind
should sweep one of he fimsy tempo
rary war buildings in which thou
! sands of employees are herded, and
! from an annual waste of hundreds of
! thousands of dollars and to promote
! economy and efficiency, must be i'm
/ pressed by these facts:
0 Uncle sam is paying rent bill
! of 1881 $50 a year in this city. and oc-
/ cupies SO rented buildings, not count
| ing the SO substations OF the post
| Office. only two OF which are in Gov
| ernnlent buildings. To this must I've
! added an increase OF at least $4,000
! year rent on the Department of
: Justice building.
! (2) Though the archives of nation
| are the basis of it's history" and
though the Nation might become liable
! for claims totalinS many billions of
! dollars in the event that some of its
valuable original papers We're destroy
! ed. these records are stacked on open
| wooden shelves in what are known
| to be fire-trapS.
90 Thousands upon thousands Of
| Government employees are working
! daily in buildings of the fiimsiest con-
| struction, dried by age to a tinderlke
| combustibility. which have deterio-
! rated until there is not only a very
t grave fire peril but likelihood of col
lapse in a high wind because of rot
! ted underpinning, while still more en-
! ployes strain their eyes and other
wise undermine their health while
working in cellars and improperly
! lighted or poorly ventilated makeshift
! offices.
! Efficiency Fiouted.
(G Economy and efficiency. which
! should be strict rule and slogan in
| the Federal service, are conspicuously
| Haunted by wide scattering of the
working forces, and businesslike ad-
ministration is made extremely diff
! cult, if not impossible.
(5) Certain departments are scatter
! ed in many buildings. lie. the De
partment of Agriculture In 45. the
Treasury Department in 81. the De.
partment Of Commerce in 33 and the
J SSueIdl <aCOuIlllHs, oli1Ce III Il. ana
| some of the units in these buildings
are up to miles from their admins
trative headquarters.
s. AS the work of various units eX-
pand they have to be given additional
space wherever space can be fouifd.
with constant moving and shifting
to accommodate the various activities
as well as possible for the time being
under existing and veXatious circum-
stances. This has resulted in the Gov
ernment'S work being scrambled in
many buildings. For example, in the
Navy Building we find IL agencies of
the Government, each responsible to a
different administrative head. and in
Temporary Building No. ! we have IL
unrelated agencies
Z. The Government still occupies.
with congestion of employees and most
valuable business and historical docu-
mentS, 13 temporary war Shacks.
which five years ago were officially re-
lported to Congress to be unsafe in
structure and a horrible fire menace
Right now new underpinning, at en-
ceSSive cost. is being placed under one
of these buildings.
s. Carpenter shops. paint shops, ma
chine shops. electrical shops, black
smith shops and shipping rooms are in
frame buildings: infamnable paints
and oils. piles Of lumber. exposed wiz
ling, forges, motors, planning mills. saw
mills and other variety ia :.1''trica'
machinery multiply the fire pe1.-.
Remedy With Congress.
Congress can correct all this by ap-
proving in legislation President Cool
|idge's proposal for a s5o,000,00 public
building program for the National
ICapital. Through this start the busi-
mess of the United States Government
would eventually for the first time
have adequate and suitable housing
which would result in lessening the
burden of taxation on the people
Through saving in rents and through
Iincrea sed efficiency in service.
At least seven new buildings are i'm
perativey needed right now, as has
ibeen shown in detail in preceding arti-
cles in this series-for the Internal
Continued on age 4, Column II