The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-10-01

all want canned beans. Army and Navy want them for the service, Treasury wants them for the Coast Guard, agricultural wants them for the food stamp plan or for the British. If they all started buying beans at the same time an artificial shortage would be created and prices go up, So the orders are broken up and e timetable worked out. Then the various purchasing officers go back to their own departments, and at intervals come into the market with their orders. There Is no com petition with civilian demand and the price is kept under control. If bids on any of the orders are con- sidered too high, the purchasing of ficers reject all bids, then 90 into the open market and negotiate at what they consider reasonable prices. SCOTCH PURCHASER
 With the advancement of Donald M. Nelson to the directorship of the new Supply, Priorities and Alloca- tons Board, a new boss has Nelson'S old job as director of purchases in OPM. He is Douglas c. MacESeachie, Boston-born Scotchman who was Nelson's deputy director of purchas- es and so stepped into the top purchasing job without batting on eyebrow. It was Nelson, in fact, who brought him into the defense organi- zation originally. Previously Mac- Keachie had been eastern manager of the A. & P. stores, so he knows his groceries.
 No dollar-a-year man, but a regu- larly salaried employe of Uncle Sam, MacKeachie's first job was to tour the country and help the Army set up the buying for the new field rat- ioning plan, under which three principal and % regional marketing offices by co-ordinated buying based on chain store warehouSing methods enables the Army to make we'll balanced and seasonal menus in Washington. Savings that came from his centralized buying simply went to buy better quality foods and more of them. The Army's food bill alone is now near $700,000 0 day, making 1t second largest food buyer In the country. A. & P. is still bigger.
 MacKeachie is such e shy and reserved man that few people in Washington have known he was around. Now in his cary forties, he Is balding, given to dark clothes and conservatism that you'd expect in a Scotch Yankee. He isn't interest In building up @ big organization for himself and he doesn't want any of the credit for anything that has been done.
 The stories that Army hoaduarters and Navy supply officers have been jealous of andIhave fought with the business men advisers ln OPM, Mac- Keachie resents strongly. If mistakes had been made in the procurement program, QM and so officers would have ha dto take the blame. It a good job has been done-and 1t has --MacKeachie feels that Army and Navy men should be given the credit, After ell, they've done all the work building up organizations that tn- stead of buying for peace time forces of 100000 or SO are now buying for 100000.
 COULDN'T STOP
 FOOD PRICE HIKES
 In doing this. buying job some tough problems have been met. Wholesale food prices, for instance arc now nearly 26 per cent higher than q year ago. While that has distressed conscientious purchasing officers with budgets to maintain there has been nothing they have been able to do about 1t in the face of the apparent government policy to permit agricultural prices to climb. Some of the prices were ad- mittedly too low for c fair return to the producers, but the trend must be stopped some place If the cost of the defense effort is not to get clear out of control.
 There have been times, too, when shortages threatened to cause ex- tremely high prices in obtaining gov- ernment supplies. There was, for instance, q shortage of canned goods in gallon containers. Specifications were changed to permit the services to buy irf other sizes, and the short- age was broken.
 Gradually, the old government methods of buying only on competi- tive bidding are being replaced by negotiated contracts. The govern ment gets better prices that way and there is less chance Of having to take whatever bids are offered by cornered markets. What Mac- Keachie'S idea Is in all this reform Is to make the purchasing division of OPM as unnecessary as possible When it's completely unnecessary he'll be able to go home to hia