Evening star., 1925-10-04

many of which could not be replaced
should they be destroyed. ! believe
that If. for no other reason, consid
Grafton should be promptly given to
the erection Of a fireproof building In
which these records may be placed
with safety to the Government and to
| the taxpayers OF the country.
Adequate f1reproof space to house
| this bureau is, in my opinion, grave
necessity, and l sincerely trust that
| lCunKress will see At to make the nec-
\ essary authorization at the coming
session"
Question Of Service.
The excessive fire risk that has for
so long been dared 10 not tho only
reason for the demand that tho In
ternal Revenue Bureau should be
properly housed. Second only in i'm
portance to safety for the workers
is the question Of efficient service.
Coordination OF activities neces-
sary to successful and economical ad-
| ministration of the internal revenue
| collection system Is impossible under
the present scattered conditions. as
witness:
The Income Tax Unit is found to
| Be working in six buildings-Annex
No. /, Pennsylvania avenue and Mad
| ison place northwest; Annex No. 2,
Fourteenth and b streets northwest;
Building c. Sixth and B streets south.
west: Building No. 6. Twentieth and c
streets northwest; Pettus Building.
Nineteenth street and Virginia ave-
nue. northwest, and Building No. 4S2
Louisiana avenue northwest.
Prohibition Unit Space.
The Prohibition Unit occupies por-
tions of Building c, Sixth and b
streets southwest; OF Building NO
! 1892 Pennsylvania avenue north
west; Of the Graham Building, Four
| teenth and E streets northwest. and
of the Treasury Building. Fifteenth
street and Pennsylvania avenue north
west.
The Miscellaneous Tax Unit, which
| handles the estate tax. capital stock
| tax, sales tax tobacco and miscellane-
Gus taxes, is located also in Build
! ing c.
| The Accounts and Collections Unit
| has quarters in Temporary Building
No. 8, Twentieth and B streets north
west.
The Office OF the Solicitor OF In.
! ternal Revenue has been given place
| in the Interior Department Building,
| Nineteenth and e streets northwest.
| OuCcS LII 1I638ury.
| The ONCE OF the Commissioner Of
Internal Revenue and of Assistant
| Commissioner, and the Intelligence
Unit. the Division OF Supplies and
| Equipment and the Appointment Di-
vision are all located in the Treasury
Building. Fifteenth street and Penn
! sylvanta avenue.
| Commissioner Blair. after wrestling
| with the intricate and vexinG problem
of how to get his work done economic
! ally and efficiently, explains what this
| scattering of the work under many
roofs means to the supervising Of
ficials. to the employees and to tax
| payers who come long distances to
consult with the authorities here. He
says:
| With the various activities OF the
bureau SO widely separated. it natu-
| rally follows that the operating eff
| cheney must be seriously impaired.
| Necessarily. there is some duplication
of work and loss Of time in rehand-
ling and transporting papers from
building to building. The work of the
| different units of the bureau Is SO
1 closely related that it is important
! that supervisory officials be able to
consult frequently and at short notice.
| Under existing conditions this inter
course Is greatly interfered with. In
| snort. IL is very dln1cult to MAINTAIN
an efficient control over our various
activities distributed between 10
buildings.
I'm addition, consideration should be
given to the taxpayers. They come
to Washington to secure a hearing
upon an income tax case. or upon any
other matter properly belonging to the
bureau. In the case Of the income
tax unit we shall cite. for example:
A taxpayer who shall come first to the
| commissioners office. be referred by
the commissioner TO the deputy com.
missioner in charge Of the income tax
unit In Annex No. /, by that official
to Annex No. . for certain informa.
ton, and from that building 1t Is pos
sibie for him to be referred to the
solicitor, located in the Interior Build
/ ing. In other words, the taxpayer, in
stead of learning the true status of
his individual case upon the occasion
of his first call. is sometimes COM
PEELED to visit four or more separate
and distinct buildings in order to OBJ.
tain the information desired
Duty to Employees.
But entirely aside from questions Of
! economy and efficiency Is the mora