Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24
Efficiency Bureau Important
To District of Columbia

third agency which has authority TO
go behind the scenes in the District
government and recommend WAYS Of
sweeping up any dust that is found.
y
Herbert d. Brown, chief Of the
Bureau of Efficiency. has become one
Of the most important figures in the
administra zion of affairs in the CAM.
AL And his rise to that position is
the history of a man who watched
for opportunity to knock. and hearing
ths knock, promptly opened the door.
twenty-five years ago, Mr.. Brown
came TO Washington to study law.
He chose Washington because OF the
impression throughout the country
that in Washington one may find
work and time to study at the same
time. He found work, but Mr.. Brown
never had time to complete that law
course. A clerk in an unimportant
position in the Geological Survey, Mr..
Brown became interested in the agita-
ton at the time among Government
employees for some retirement legisla-
ton. He attended meetings at which
the subject was discussed. He sug-
gested points which were not being
considered then by the Government
employees, and he found that his
knowledge of such things acquired as
an insurance man enabled him TO
make worthwhile suggestions. He
appeared before the appropriations
committees of the House and Senate,
where his suggestions were heard with
interest. He was asked to make esti
mates Of a plan for retirement, and
he did. He kept appearing before
appropriations committees of the
House and Senate and when the sug-
gestion arose that the committees of
Congress needed some agency to get
first-hand information on problems
arising between the legislative and
executive branches of the Government
over money matters. Mr.. Brown was
there to fill the bill. He devoted a
year and a half to investigating the
eXorbitant bonds required Of Govern
ment employees and delivered a full
report on the subject which helped to
remedy the condition. This work
made him better acquainted with
members Of Congress and with the
executive departments. He served as
a member of President Taft's COM
mission on economy and efficiency
for two years and a half. and when
that agency went on the rocks. he was
given an appropriation of $4,000 to
continue work along lines attempted
by the commission. For three years
Mr.. Brown worked with a small force
under the Civil Service Commission.
but the relation was not happy one,
and in 1915 the Bureau of Efficiency
was created as an independent agency.
1t started with an annual appropria.
ton Of $4,000 and five employees. Its
annual appropriation is now $40 900.
and there are 10 employees.
X \
Nevertheless, the Bureau of Eff
ficiency is the tool of the legislative
branch of the Government, and 1t
works among the executive branches.
1t has the privilege of going to the
'front.'" with no intermediate stops.
with anything IL has to say. 1t has
been turned loose in the District, with
instructions to go the limit. The dis
advantage Of such procedure lies in an
inevitable decentralization Of author
ity in District matters. The advantage
lies in the expectation that Congress
may believe the Bureau of Efficiency,
when 1t has been inclined in the past,
to be skeptical Of it's own ward, the
orphaned District Of Columbia.