Evening star., 1962-08-31
Government Masters

Noted your e ditorial on
Government MASTERS" and,
as chairman of the Govern
ment Activities Subcommittee,
which performed the watch
dog" role you cited, 1 want to
thank you for your interest.
1t is most heartening to see
editorial support for tough,
often unappreciated work re-
quired to dig out and bring
up for public inspection evi-
dence Of waste and other
duplication in the F e d eral
bureaucracy.
The Governments COM
plexity, as you say. means
there are bound to be some
cases Of one hand not know
ing what the other is up to-"
Our task is to wade through
the maze Of Federal hands
and try to coordinate a few
of them and show VIII ere
those which aren't carrying a
necessary load can be Topped
off.
Savings of more than SlOO
million should be made as a
result of disclosures made
thus far in our series of hear
lngs aimed at finding new
ways to accomplish major
economies for the Nations
taxpayers. You we're ever so
right when you said, "Un-
fortunately, the taxpayer still
has to foot the bill for these
overlaps." We m m b ers of
the subcommittee think of
ourselves first as taxpay-
ers who want a dollars worth
OF good Government service
for every dollar we and our
fellow citizens pay each year
IN taxes. That's a large order
but we're trying to do our
part and encourage a broader
demand for this criteria.
Thanking you a again for
your encouragement of our
efforts, I remain.
Jack Brooks
Representative from Texas
The appalling ignorance
displayed by your editorial,
&c overnme ent MASTERS"
leaves one to wonder what.
II any, research goes into
your writings.
= There are to be sure. num-
erous agencies engaged in
map-making and co-ordina-
tion to avoid duplication is a
necessity, but to indicate that
these agencies are "cranking
out maps" without regard to
each other is very mislead-
ing. This is particularly true
in the case of the Coast and
Geodetic Survey, one of the
agencies mentioned.
The C&GS is a COM
paratively small Government
agency of dedicated carto-
graphers, engineers and SCI
entiStS in various fields
charged with the RESPONSE
bility of producing and main
tanning accurate up-to-date
nautical charts for mariners
and aeronautical charts for
pilots of commercial and
private aircraft along with
the publishing of other SCI
entific data such as tidal in
formation, earthquake epic
center reports, oceanographic
data and basic control in
formation for ground surveys
conducted by engineers
throughout the United States.
A list of our divisions and
branches is enough to indi-
cate the activities and serv-
ices of this agency to the
United States and the tax
payer: Tides and Currents,
Nautical Charts, Small Boat
Charts. Geodesy, Geophysics,
Photogrammetry. Oceanogra-
ply. photographic Surveys,
Airport Surveys, and Aero
nautical Charts among them.
Map compilation is but a
small part of our RESPONSE
bilities. Certainly, we are
constantly revising and up
dating the ever-changing
coastline and aids to naviga-
tion on our nautical charts,
recompiling runways, guild
ance facilities, etc. on our
aeronautical charts and COM
piling special maps or charts
such as a recently completed
survey of the Chesapeake Bay
purchased by and produced
for the Maryland TideWater
Fisheries.
In summary, the C&GS is
engaged in accommodating,
compiling and publishing
needed scientific data and
required charts for air and
sea navigation, not crank
ing out maps" already pub
liShed by other agencies.
J. p. Battley, Jr.
Editors note: Nothing in
the editorial coIIld he cop-