Evening star., 1925-10-09

shored up to prevent their collapsing
under the weight Of material.
The general supply committee now
carries only surplus material. The
war surplus material has been dis
posed of and that now on hand repre-
sents only the regular turnover Of the
various Government establishments
desks, chairs. files and about every
thing you can think of. This falls in
two classes. Q) material held for re-
issue and use by the Government
service, and (2) material that has
been declared not disable by the Gov
ernment and which is collected until
there Is a sufficient quantity on hand
to warrant a public sale. This accu-
mulates fast enough, so that a sale
is held about every six weeks. The
material that would be damaged by
exposure to the weather, such as
furniture. is kept on the third floor
of ID Building, where it constitutes d
very serious fire menace.
Old Models Stored.
1t is an all-inclusive collection that
Uncle Sam has in storage here. At
present there are old models from the
Patent Office, running back before
1914, when the British burned the
Capitol.
Legislation is now pending before
Congress, fathered by Representative
VIII r. Wood of Indiana. chairman Of
the Republican congressional commit
tee. directing consolidation and co-or-
dination of Government purchases
and to enlarge the functions of the
general supply committee. This meas.
ure has been under consideration for
at least four years.
The National Association Of Pur-
chasing Agents has for years been
doing considerable propaganda work
looking toward consolidation of pur-
chasing by the Federal Government,
but those who know the peculiarities
of Uncle Sans business, as compared
with private industrial establish
ments. have felt that there would not
be f1eXibility enough in such system
to meet the allembracing dema nds of
Uncle Sans workshop.
1t must be remembered that Il big
industrial plant buys supplies needed
for just that one line of work. while
Uncle Sam must buy all manner of
supplies for his widely diversified ac
tivitieS-flghting rum-runners. forest
fires, icebergs and the boil weevil, as
well as routine office work.
Cooperation Sought.
The general supply committee ant
the Budget Bureau and other such
agencies have. however. been working
on u development Of closer cO-opera
ton in the purchase of supplies.
Whatever may be the ultimate deci
sion of Congress between these two
schools of thought for Improvement
of the Federal purchasing system, the
1reproof warehouse advocated by the
Public Buildings Commission is not
only Il present urgent need. but would
fit in with either system that Congress
might eventually authorize. The Cen.
trail Bureau of Supplies, which is ad
vocated, could use 1T just as adaVn
tageously as could the present gen
eral supply committee.
Representative Wood. who is a very
active member of the House appro
priations committee and thoroughly
familiar with purchasing costS,ii is
confident that he will get his pet
measure passed In the coming ses-
sion Of Congress.
The joint committee on reorganiza
ton. after several years Of study
recommended The creation of a
centralized purchasing agency for
the Government, to be known as the
bureau Of purchase and supply" In
eXpla lining the need for such change
the joint committee called attention
that the executive departments and
the District Of Columbia annually
purchase materials and supplies 10
the value of many millions of dol
lars. The general supply committee
an interdepartmental committee funC-
tioning under the supervision of the
Secretary of the Treasury, acts as a
general contracting agency for the
Government in the case of supplies
in common use by two or more
branches of the service. Its contra cts
are usually made for year for in
definite quantities, and for deliveries
as may be called for by any of the
more than 40 purchasing agencies
The prices fixed are published in a