Evening star., 1939-11-29
District Public Golf
Courses Defended
Leoffler Denies Thut Excessive
Profits Are Made by
Operating Agency

Profits Are Made by
Operating Agency
To the Editor Of The Star:
I desire to submit the following state
ments for publication in The Star in
answer to the recent attacks by your Mr..
McCallum on the operation of the public
golf courses in the District by the S. G.
Leoffler Operating Co.
Mr.. McCallum has made number Of
misstatements of fact, and In addition
has given only part of the story. The
result Is a distorted and untrue picture
of the operation.
The most important of Mr. McCallum's
misstatements is to the effect that the
profits OF this organization for the year
1888 were in excess of $4,000. This Is
utterly untrue. This was not net profit,
but included many items of expenditure.
The net profit which the organization
made from its operation In 1888 was but
small fraction of the figure given and
large percentage of that came from the
swimming pool receipts.
The other glaring misstatement in Mr..
McCallums article is that am "the pub
lie links czar OF the city, the undisputed
king of public links golf within the Dis
trict of Columbia" Mr.. McCallum con-
veniently ignores the fact that my con-
tract with the park service fixes the
prices to be charged for golf, and that
prices for everything else which is sold
and for everything that is done on the
golf courses is subject to the approval Of
the park service in all the detail that
Government contracts usually contain.
I submit that under such circumstances
I am far from being "cZar."
In discussing the matter of operation,
fairer picture had he given the following
facts:
l. The courses were located and laid
out by the park service and we had MOTH
ing to do with the arrangement of them.
q The condition of the soil especially
at East Potomac) and the long dry spells
from which we suffer during the playing
season, make it difficult, if not impos-
sible, to maintain the fairways and green's
in f1rst-class shape, especially in view of
the tremendous number of users OF the
courses
g. At the public courses referred to by
Mr. McCallum in other cities, the fees are
four and five times the amount charged
in the District.
4. Under the Economy Act of 1882,
Restriction on Construction and Rental
of Buildings and Property no part Of
the rental can be used to make perma-
nent improvements in the courses or the
buildings.
S. Under Government operation as ad-
vocated by Mr.. McCallum every cent re-
ceived would have to go to the United
States Treasury, and maintenance and
upkeep would be dependent on direct
appropriations by Congress. This rem
ders municipal operation even more I'M
practical than it would otherwise be.
6. Our organization has. during the
past years. spent many thousands Of
dollars of our own money improving the
buildings and providing the equipment
necessary for operation. This latter item
alone (equipment involves an invest
ment of over $4,000.
The above items are the most impor-
tent of Mr.. McCallum's misstatements
and omissions. Space does not permit
complete review
I would have expected paper of the
standing of The Star to have checked
the facts with me prior to publication,
gotten my side Of the story, and not to
have suppressed the favorable items If
fair review was intended. Your action
is especially surprising since no later
than January 3, 1889, Mr.. McCallum
wrote, and you published. most lauda-
tory article Of our operation. 1t was
head-lined "Leoffler Turning in Swell
Job as Public Links Boss" and stated that
golf was cheap, but good" washington
has better and cheaper public links golf
than you can get in almost any city IF
Leof1er had his way, he would have
similar statements.
In view of the foregoing, believe that
it is a fair conclusion that Mr.. Mccall
lum's latest series was inspired solely and
entirely by desire to anticipate the
recommendations of the Wagner -Sauers
report, and in his eagerness so to do, he
entirely lost sight of the necessity for
fair play.
No doubt the operation of these courses
is capable of some improvement and I
will make every effort to take advantage
Of the suggestions that have been made
by your correspondents. However, can
not but feel that if the real purpose of
The Star was the improvement of the
public golf courses and their operation,
it could have been accomplished by more
care in determining all the facts included
in Mr.. McCallums articles.
In view of the obvious injustice of
these articles it is my earnest request
that, in fairness to me and the organi-
zation which I represent, you give as
much publicity to this letter as you gave
Mr.. McCallum's report.
S G. LEOFFIER President