Evening star., 1925-11-04
Shaving Uncle Sans Dollars
And Saving His Dimes
BY WILLIAM p. HELM, JR.

satisfactory all around. that they
wanted more Coast Guard business.
This was very gratifying to US,
because, as you know, it Is not always
the attitude that business men have
toward Government business. They
were particularly impressed, appar-
entity, with the fact that under the
new contract form and through the
prompt and efficient action OF our
office. they received their payments
promptly, as all business men dealing
with the Government should"
X
This is not all, of course. that the
board expects to accomplish. In the
words OF Chairman Ramsay:
Il have referred to the new public
contract law as drafted by a com
mittee Of the board. The draft Of this
proposed contract law, entitled "A bill
10 establish uniform procedure in the
making OF Government contracts was
submitted to the heads Of departments
ana Establishments for comment and
suggested amendments, and 1t is ex-
Dected that the revised draft of this
bill Will be ready for submission to
congress at its opening session In
December.
There are approximately 225 stat
Ites relating to Government contracts,
an accumulation of years of legisla-
ion, prescribing different formalities
ana different methods of procedure TO
be complied with by the various de-
partments and establishments of the
Government, thus rendering uni
formity of contract procedure impos
SIDE In many cases. This proposed
bill con ngsts Of "a sections and IS de-
signed 10 simplify and make uniform
government contract procedure while
retaining such safeguards as expert
ence has shown to be necessary.
The necessity and Importance of
legislation Of this character to estab-
lsh UNIFORM contract procedure and
sui further to improve the Govern
ments contractual relations cannot
be oVeremphaslzed."
+ >; X
Mr.. Ramsay, in his memorandum to
the Bureau OF the Budget, has this to
say concerning the new standard con-
tract forms listed above:
ne board first prepared tentative
drafts or the construction and supply
contract forms with instructions to
bidders and submitted them to lead
ing contractors, architects and engi,
neerS, and to the heads of Govern.
ment departments and establishments.
Tor comment and constructive criti-
cism, and the work of the board dur
ing the past year has been chiefly de-
voted TO a revision Of those tentative
forms in the light OF the criticism re-
ceived
1t is confidently believed that the
substitution Of these standard forms
for the hundreds of similar forms now
IN use will greatly improve the Gov
ernments Contractual relations. as
indicated by the comments of CON
tractors.
In an earlier report to the Bureau
or the Budget l stated that If business
men, through a betterment of CON
tract conditions by the adoption of
more simple and equitable contract
along the lines of business procedure,
can be induced to do more business
with their Government, there will be
more bids and better competition. re-
sulting in lower contract prices and
substantial savings.
I'm drafting these forms the board
has simplified the language, eliminated
many of the unfair and inequitable
provisions Of existing Government
contract forms, and endeavored to fol-
low commercial practice so far as the
law permits. The wisdom Of this
policy has been demonstrated by the
United States Coast Guard in the con
struction OF it's patrol fleet
fCopyrtght 1928