Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-02-04

CORY as the sale of postage stamps
is now, with the exception that the
government will not, in most in
stances, do any guaranteeing of the
product.
What They Must Do
Let's consider for moment what
was done and what !. investment
houses are still expected to do,
for their commission. In the first
place, they must make an exhaus--
tive study of the affairs of prospects
of the corporation issuing the bonds.
Then there must be legal exam
ination to determine if the bonds
really are what they purport to
be. Finally, the banking house I'M
derwriting the issue fixes price,
in agreement with the corporation
issuing the bonds, and guarantees
the sale of all the bonds at that
price.
Then it parcels out the bonds to
the investment houses which sell
direct to bond buyers. Then these
retailers" send out their bond
statesmen to such prospects as they
know about, meanwhile advertising
literally.
The two per cent just ruled as
too high would provide a total return
of $40 on each $1,0O0-bond sold,
which must cover all the expenses
and risks noted above, not men
tioning the danger of going to Jail
if the securities commission finds
there has been any misrepresenta-
ton.
Obviously the stage is set for a
discontinuance of this form of dis
tributing investment securities, es-
pecially as it is almost certain that
the securities commission intends
to cut this commission still fur
Their.
It may be that big corporations
will be obliged to market their own
bonds.
Reorganization
The fundamental difference be-
tween most of the Capitol Hill OPP
ponents of President Roosevelt's
governmental reorganization plan
and its advocates is not so much on
methods as on functions.
Tremendous savings, such as SEN
ator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia and
his followers would like, involve
giving up government functions.
There is very little saving, as the
President has frequently pointed
out in preliminary discussions of
this subject, to be made by trans
ferring employees from one govern
mental agency to another. There
are few instances of real duplica-
ton, but not so many as the aver
age superficial observer would
think.
1t is frequently stated that elev-
en- different agencies are doing this,
or fifteen are doing that. This is
true, but if they were all combined
in one agency the chief saving
would be in demoting present bu-
reau chiefs to slightly lower rank.
The only real saving would be if
the actual work done by these en-
ployees were abolished.
The President himself pointed out
one instance - that of making
studies of projects proposed for the
government to undertake. If one
agency makes such a study, and
then another, paying no attention to
the work done by the first, should
make second study, most of the
time the money spent in making
the second study is wasted.
But this is chicken feed except
where the PWA and the WPA are
concerned. There the cost of studies
frequently runs to two per cent of
the total cost, and when the cost of
projects runs into millions, two per
cent becomes important money.
Here's Real Waste
Incidentally there is nothing like
so much waste in investigation save
in those two agencies, as there is on
Capitol Hill every session, when a
house committee will hold an ex-
haustive hearing on some ques-
ton, calling witnesses from far and
near, frequently paying their ex-
penses to and from Washington
and a small per diem, and running
up expert stenography and print
ing bills like nobody's business
whereupon, sometimes after this is
finished and sometimes without
waiting, senate committee will go
into precisely the same subject with
precisely the same witnesses.
In the battle about to be waged
in congress over this reorganization
plan the President is virtually as
sured in advance of victory in GER
tain particulars-he will be able to
retain all the functions he is in
terested in fighting for The logic
here is simple. If the President
wants a function continued he has
all the normal White House pres
sure and influence to get votes to
prevent that functions being Topped
off. But he also has consider
able element of support among sem
ators and representatives who want
that particular function retained.
Thus frequently it will be found
that Republicans and Democrats,
who happen to be bitterly opposed