The Wilmington morning star., 1947-01-19
SPECIAL PROBLEMS
Get SPECIAL AID
StreamIined Department Of
Commerce Voted Funds
For New Services
Bv EVANS, Jr.

- A streamlined, reorganized US.
Department of Commerce stands
ready to solve some of the prob
lens and answer most OF the ques-
tons o. American business, both
great and small,
Congress voted the department a
special appropriation of 81. $50, 600
for the IL months ending July l.,
l947. This money was to set up
II field offices of the department
in principal cities throughout the
U. S.
Today the IT offices are doing
business. All but two states have at
least one.
The field offices are part Of the
reorganization program planned by
former Secretary Henry Wallace
and completed by his successor,
Averell Hartman.
The old Bureau OF Foreign and
Domestic Commerce, that part OF
the department most closely asso-
lated with American business, has
been broken up into seven basic
divisions. The office of field serv-
ice is one of these.
The others are: Office of Inter.
national Trade; Office of Domestic
Commerce.; Office of Small Bust
ness; Office of Information; Office
of Technical Service, and Office Of
Business Economics.
These seven Offices, place at the
disposal of any interested person
statistical and factual data on FOR
eign and domestic commerce and
industry. The information outlets
are the n field offices, to which
the departments Washington head
quarters sends a continual flow OF
facts and figures.
what is the Chilean import
duty on American razor blades?"
Or what are the duty and i'm
port regulations in Mexico on cleo
trio popcorn poppers?" are queries
which commerce field offices can
and do answer.
The statistics and data which
commerce supplies aren't always
compiled by the department itself.
For example, the State depart
ment has access to countless data
on foreign industry and commerce
which the average American can't
get hold of. But it regularly hands
over to the Department of Com
merce summaries of foreign indus
try and commerce activity.
The Commerce department in
turn makes the information avail
able to its field offices.
The offices of small business,
technical service and domestic
commerce are probably used by
the public more than other branch
es of commerce.
These offices do business
primarily with small business own
ers and would be owners. Surveys
of all kinds of retail outfits are
undertaken by the department and
offered to the public in the form of
little booklets. Many young veter-
ans eager to put their wartime
savings in a business of their own
get invaluable statistics and facts.
The booklets, with such titles as
How to own and operate a serv-
ice station" or show to own and
operate a bakery shop" are avail
able for a few pennies. Help in
compiling them comes not only
from case histories but also from
private retail establishments oper-
rated over a period of time.
The office Of small business goes
into intricate detail when advising
prospective small business owners
1t points out, for instance, that a
grocery store should not be placed
next to a parking lot or garage
that housewives don't like to have
to walk across driteways or en-
frances to garages when do
ing their shopping.
= The department is careful not to
conduct its own surveys when pri-
vate enterprise alone can supply
the facts. Overlapping and dupli-
cation is avoided as much as pos
sible.
A problem typical of those the
department. copes with every day
in its II field offices was this one:
A manufacturer had greatly ex.
banded his output during the war.
After the war he found he was
producing more than he could get
rid of in the U. S. so he went to the
Department of Commerce to find
out whether there would be any
chance of exporting his surplus.
He had to know the foreign mar
kets offering the best prospects.
competitive conditions abroad.
tariff, rates, whether his product
was under export control and
countless other pieces Of informa-
ton.
His Commerce department field
office had only to refer to its mass
Of reference material to answer
most of the questions. A publica-
1t was a pair Of gloves with red
reflectors to be used by drivers
on dark nights when indicating a
traffic turn with their hands-oth-
er drivers could detect the red
refle ctors and would know what