Evening star., 1947-01-27
Baldwin Urges
u. 5. Cafeteria
Reorganization
Declares One Agency
Should Be in Charge
Of All Operations
By Joseph Young

~ SNs SFSsSAsShS
By Joseph Young
The present system of operating
the SIS Federal cafeterias here ap-
pears to be unsatisfactory in many
respects and is in great need of re-
organization, it was declared today
by Chairman Baldwin of the Senate
Civil Service Subcommittee investi-
eating the operation Of Government
eating places.
Senator Baldwin expressed his
views after the group completed its
first day of open hearings on the
subject. For the past two weeks the
subcommitte has been conducting its
executive session.
Although emphasizing that the
study was just getting under way"
and that neither he nor the COM
mite had reached definite, final
conclusion, Senator Baldwin said
he thought that one particular Gov
ernment agency should have COM
plete responsibility for the opera
ton of the cafeterias.
No Complete Responsibility.
At the present time, he said, there
is no Federal agency which has COM
plete responsibility in supervising
the cafeterias' operation by two pri-
vate corporations - Government
Services, Inc, and the National Food
Corp.
"The way 1t is, the operation is
everybody's child but nobody's dar-
ling" Senator Baldwin declared, re-
ferring to the testimony of General
Accounting Office witnesses that the
Governments responsibility and
Jurisdiction in the matter never has
been determined legally.
Senator Baldwin said the aim of
his group would be to determine the
best system whereby Government
employees will get the best type of
food service for the least amount of
money"
To Seek Best System.
The Senator did not say whether
he favored removing the cafeterias
from Government Services and Ma
tional Food Control. He emphasized
that his group will interest itself
only In determining what would be
the best possible system of serving
food in public buildings here.
During today's hearing, the other
two members of the committee,
Senators Flanders, Republican, of
Vermont and johnson, Democrat, of
South Dakota, closely questioned
GAO witnesses on the Governments
role in the cafeterias operation. /
At another point, employe repre-
sentatives of the Department of
Labor and the Internal Revenue Bu-
reau testified that some workers
were not satisfied with the food
eervice rendered at the cafeterias
there.
Complaints on Service Heard.
Mrs. Mae Gross, who identified
herself as the assistant to the chief
of the training division Of the In
ternal Revenue Bureau, said two
employees had complained to her
about the length of time it took
them to be served at the cafeteria.
They told me it took them half
hour from the time they first en-
tered the line until they had their
trays checked and paid the cashier"
Mrs. Gross said.
Mrs. Gross said that one of the
reasons for the half hour wait in
line was the reduced number of food
checkers used by Government Serv-
ices, Inc.
Says Quality Is Just Fair
Another witness, Miss Norah C..
Lane, an employe service officer OF
the Labor Department, said de-
partment employees had similar ex-
periences in the cafeteria there.
She said she received number of
complaints about that condition and
also about the food served.
Some of the food is cold by the
time 1t is served to us and the por-
tions seem smaller than they used
to be-" she said.
What about the quality of the
food?" asked Senator Baldwin.
Just fair" replied Miss Lane.
Both Miss Lane and Mrs. Gross
said that in many instances they felt
the prices were higher than those
charged in commercially run cafe
terias. Many a la carte lunches
have run from IS to rs cents, Miss
Lane said. Regular lunches, consist
ing of two vegetables, meat course
and beverage, are priced at 38 to,
40 cents, the committee was told.
Agree to Price Comparison. .
The committee agreed to the sug-
gestion of Senator Flanders that
prices be compared with privately
run cafeteriaS.
troller General, sketched for the
Fred Weitzel, assistant to the Con-
committee the past history OF Fed
eral cafeterias here and the prob
lens it presented.
Mr.. Weitzel said the point has
been repeatedly raised in the past
regarding the validity of Govern
ment Service and National Food
contractual relations with the Gov
ernment. Controller General Lind
say Warren, on the basis of ths
present system, regards the opera
tors as private commercial firms,
Mr.. Weitzel said. Consequently they
are not subject to regular Govern
ment audits, although the GAO
does a commercial-type checking OF
the books, the committee was told.
Under questioning by Senator
Johnston the witness said the con-
tract with the Government provides
that Government Services splits its