Evening star., 1925-09-14
Note-This is the first of sir ar
tictes by Mr.. Helm shoScino hoIC,
By direction of President Coolidge.
economies amounting to millions Of
dollars hare been effected.

ticIes By Mr. Helm shosoino ho1C,
by direction of President Coolidge.
economies amounting to millions Of
dollars hare been effected.
Uncle Sans professional money
savers at Washington, hired for the
sole purpose of busting of the Treas
ury's dollars and injecting 100 cents
worth of efficiency into each one. have
listed approximately 5000 individual
economies in the Federal service sdur-
ing the fiscal year 1925, which closed
June 80 last. The record has been
made available to this writer.
1t contains the sum total, so far
as can be recalled, of the effort TO
put more business in Government.
On its tangible side, it tells Of great
savings and small, OF economy to the
point of pettiness and of impressive
savings that loom large in blazing
the way to the next tax cut. On one
page there is written the story of a
single clerks discharge to save few
dollars on each semi-monthiy pay
roll; on the next is recorded an act
of business ingenuity that has swept
double eagles in a golden pile back
into the Federal Treasury.
For what 1t is, the record in its
highlights and shadows is presented
here. Upon it has been spread no
glamour in the telling. Those things
that the critics of Calvin Coolidge
will call cheese-paring and niggard
are given along with those other
things which his admirers will rank
as great and statesma mike. Those
who are for him and those who are
against him alike will find in the rec
ord much to their manner Of liking.
Done in Presidents Name.
Whatever has been done has been
done In his name. He himself
knows one.tenth, perhaps, of all
the economies, true or false, which
have been wrought through his dele
gated authority. They are but de.
tails Of the picture; in studying the
completed canvas, Calvin Coolidge
probably viii be as much surprised
by them as any other spectator.
Perhaps one OF the most spectacu-
lar economy moves Of the fiscal year
was the one which tied together the
Governments lines Of teleSraphic and
radio communication into a single
compact branch OF the service. That
act, while il by no means tops the
list of economies, has resulted in a
saving of 100000 year on telegraph
tolls alone.
The Federal Government, it should
be explained, owns thousands OF miles
of telegraph and telephone lines. The
Army and Navy have extensive sys-
TENS reaching into many sections
the Coast. Guard has strung its, cop
per strands along the entire Atlantic
littoraI and for many miles AlonE the
Pacific. The Department OF Agricul.
ture operates leased wire service
that connects, In insta r1taneous~ COM
munication, the; chief cities important
to the AGRICULTURAL trade. And other
branches have other systems.
Some of these Government-owned
wires operated on an S-hour basis
daily. some were open for IL hours
some for "a. Here and there a wire
sagged under a heavy trafYic burden
elsewhere the wires were idle for
minutes or for hours at time. And
all the while the busy bureaus of the
Government were giving employment
to scores of operators in the .pri-
vately owned telegraph companies.
Scattered Links United.
Under the direction of the Govern
ment's professional. money-sayers,
headed by Col. H. C. Smither, CHIEF
co-ordinator, Bureau Of the Budget
these scattered links In the Fedora
| system were almost literally united
| The wires which had hitherto beer
operated for single departments were
| thrown open to the business of al
departments. Those which had beer
| idle for hours at a time ware giyer
| work to do-work diverted from tho
| Western Union and the Postal Tele
| graph companies, with little. II any
] additional cost to the Governr.snt.