Evening star., 1928-02-18
ROlADAY;:ASSA|LS
THREE: OFFICIALS
Ba|Iou, Harris and Recorder
of Deeds Accused of Inef-
ficiency in House.

Dissatisfaction with the conduct Of
. the Offices of municipal architect and
recorder of deeds and the school system
Of the District was expressed by Repre-
sentative Holiday. Republican, of 1lli-
nois. member Of the District suocom-
rittee Of the House appropriations
committee, when the District appropria-
ton bill for the fiscal year 1929 was
taken I'D for debate in the House late
YESTERDAY. He was interrupted by Rep
resentstives Casey Of Pennsylvania and
Griffin Of New York. minority members
of the subcommittee. who stated that
NJ, Holaday was expressing MS own
personal opinions and not any conclu-
! sions Of The subcommittee.
Mr.. Griffin said that in his own
cpin,on the school system Of the city
of WASHINGTON is one Of the best IN the
country-economical! and capaoly
managed"
Government In General Praised.
Mr. Hoiadsv told his colleagues that
eve are warranted IN saying as genera!
proposition that the public affairs OF the
District Of Columbia are being efhcient-
II and economically administered" He
then mentioned specifically few OF the
ceoartn,ents where he believed those IN
charge are entitled TO public commend
alton for their good work. He headed
the lis; with the Fire Department. say
Ing that under Chief Watson it is be-
ing efficiently and economically admin
istered so that the city Of Washington
is receiving adequate protection" Con-
tilluing his conlrnendation of particular
District officials Mr.. Holiday mentioned
Dr.. ". c. Fowler in charge OF the
Health Department.: Daniel J. Donovan,
the District auditor: NJ. NJ. Barnard. in
charge of the penal institutions; VIII
liam P. Richards. the assessor: j. B.
Gordon, in charge of the sewer division.
In making his criticism Of the three
units Of the municipal government, Mr..
Holiday said:
The first department with which !
have not been satisfied is the Office Of
the municipal architect. It is not my
purpose TO 60 into details with refer
ence 10 that Office, as there Is another
committee Of this House that is now
investigating his Office. I do not want
to prejudice their work. and presume
that n due time they will report to
this House, with recommendations as
20 what Congress should do. and as u
what other agencies of the Government
should do. should the facts warrant
action by Congress.
Cites Brick Purchase.
Let me call your attention to this
specifc instance: The District of CO.
lunhia is manufacturing brick at the
OccoQuan Workhouse. The evidence
shows that brick can be delivered by
the workhouse on the wharf at Wasli-
ington for Sil per thousand, or per-
haps less. The evidence shows tha.
with 2,0O0, 900 brick on the yards at the
vorkhouse the architect went TO pri-
vate individual and purchased brick
and paid sls per thousand.
It am not satisfied with the ONCE OF
the recorder of deeds. There the COM
nittee has made certain changes and
We have had certain Understandings
with the present recorder which hope
viii bring about more efncient and
satisfactory service. II in another year
II is found that conditions have not
been changed or remedied. then it viii
be necessary to consider further steps
with reference 70 the conduct OF that
The third department to which
find objections is the pubic school sys-
tenn Of this District. We are spending
annually for the public-school system
In the District some sI2 900. ! be-
iieve that on the whole ve have Q fairly
eHhcient school system in the District
II, perhaps, viii compare fairly favor
ably with the schools Of other cities,
but We are paying more IN the District
for our schools than other cities are
paying.
The only reason there can be for
the condition that exists Is inefficient
management in our public schools. Let
Il be understood At the outset that !
except from that criticism Mr.. VIII
k;cson. who is the head Of the colorec
schools Of this District.
Not Satisfied With System.
81 experienced great difficulty in Sc
curing accurate and complete inforna-
tion from Dr.. Ballou. the superintendent
@. the schools.
i have not been satisfied with the
administration OF school affairs from
an educational standpoint, and yet
realize that IL LIS difficult matter for
Gre who is not an educator 10 under
take 20 criticize the methods Of the
teaching administration
The Bureau 0! Efficiency points out
certain criticisms along this line. Or.
Ea.aou admits there is some merit In
these criticisms ard that he Is making
efforts 70 remedy 2ch conditions. Some
changes viii be made In the coming
year. and ne expects 10 make further
changes u the years 10 come
On the whole am happy 10 be able
- say 70 you that believe the affairs
C! TIE District o. Columbia are being
as eLcleat.y and as economically ad-
r.ic4gtsrec aS are the public affairs In
otEe. American cities. II making this
statement ! take considerable pride In
TIE oel1e. that Congress is entitled 10