Evening Star Newspaper, June 11, 1922, Page 41

EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL ARTICLES , EDITORIAL SECTION The Sundwy Star, Society News Part 2—12 Pages CONGRESS ADJOURNMENT PROBLEM FOR. LEADERS Hopes for Early Quitting Depend on Sen- ate’s Speed on Tariff and Bonus. Shall House Recess? ISSENGER. as the and becomes frazzled. will enough vexatlons and con- |course will not be while this bill is | tentfons questions hefore it to cause pending. 1t to long for that late summer ad-| yiay Push Soldiers’ Bonus Journment which the lead N 20 Ahead of Tarim BiIL moment of temporary optimism of mind—have promised. While balfef of those higher up that Con 2 they dog ays]e men’s temper have the rank and flle do not share the fond | sured, and the farmers’ bloc will wel “one more in the affirma- e on all propositions which come up jwhen he enters the Senate, which of | With the soldfers’ bonus bill formally | before the Senate, the next question is Ito get it up for consideration and ac- ition. The chatrman of the committee "“'-‘«'fl l"’l’(“ rl‘*' o h"' ““"]'""_ roue |07 finance, Niving charge of both the ,“‘;‘;:1! u’"" oy 5:\»{:“‘:“»"’0::“ e the |tarff and the bonus bills. can at any Ty has when the gavel falls 1 [Ume move to displace the tarift bill Bt Bounes which now has the right of way, and In the H ton o] sider the bonus bill, and has Intl- [ mated L may soon do so. :‘:;‘m“" w.nl o] There is said to le no doubt that the : ot et whote | Denus Bill will pass by a large majortty. Ll et it the | WWHAU i to hap to it. after the con- erees composs the differences between Houze should take t day Teetss e two houses and send it to the Pres thus bringing the attention of 0 G0 o0 qenaiure ta confectural, for Buiaiisen: jurp HiE “"”{“f"' N 1S ated in The Star last week rumors are :_‘r;:k';‘;‘y“‘"“\j':""i‘:f‘ “';\‘s‘*‘"‘ '« sy 10| Persistent that President Harding will e REERRS i | veto it in the general form now con- bas been often shown in the past that { (B0 UE the Senate can do busine ‘" | The Senate ana the House are con- marvelous dispatch and celerity i and that it might when it wants to, be a good thing for the House tol? show that it is willing to knock O White House. The effect - and let the country take it out on| -~ . 3 pEge gucest el et g the | Cential veto. it one is to come, must 4 % {rest In the laps of the political fates tariff and bonus legisi { e % | The legislators say they wil have done Other leaders, W contend | ? , | their duty, and will stand on that. that the (ongress Is bad™ with N i | Senator Underwood, the democratic the country and that it 3 : e Tk ittt Roata ader, who is regarded as politically TRIghE mot ok iy mm'" the | Vi in his day and generation. said in } g g sl badu Ao, e ious | e Senate he would like to sce action ouse has clewn ) a marveious . House ha uidup: @ at n the bill postponed until after the mass of legislatior tect S0 as to zet, if that be pos- Democrats Charged hle, some Indication of the temper of jvinced that it will be fatal in all the cumstances, if Congress does not send ome legisiation on the subject to the the country at large on the bonus. With Delaying Tarif. He Tt is a fact, us experience has |Pointed out that it would not help the demonstrated, that o ‘he Senate ! sSoidiers any more to pass the bill this makes up its mind to do so, it can|month than in next December, because Qo & lot of work In short order. Why | the resultant effect of the bill will not Goes it mot do <o in this tnstance, and | ® accomplisted until next year. is answers clean up the ta asked. There to that qu tnterested ng in o Frequently made impatient re s are delay n on the bill in order to bring about its en actment into law just prior to the November elections. The democrats are supposed to be obsessed with the fdea that this bill is the very worst tariff legislation ever proposed and that the country, when it finds out its e full iniquity, will rise in wrath and smite the republicans hip and thigh But the democrats blandly and with an expression of injured feelings utteriy deny such uiterior d signs and c that their on terest is to that such important measure roceives the sideration due Farm Bloc Independence Caunes Complications. With a farm bloc holding the bal- ance of power, and thereby cutting fnto the solidarity of the rep organization in the Senate, C McCumber s finding difficulties in ly hushing the tariff bill which some of his predecessors in handling tariff hills were spared. In the past nees were few in the Senate when the committee in charge of the tariff bill was overruled, but the commit- tee has been run over by a combined {majority four times already in the \voting on the bill. in- The spirit of independence. once aroused, seems to increase. and the chairman of the committee never knows what a day will bring forth in order of things created by bloc. The members of tie new the farmers' aze with the committee rates in the 1 And what a shout of glee they set up when the nomination of Col. Brook- hart, republican, for the senatorship in jowa was announced. His election is Commissioner George R. Wales of the civil Service Commission recently’ ou Jined principles he believes should gov- ern In a well rounded system of em- ployment control, either pubiic or pri- vate. As outlined by Commissioner Wales, it is first necessary, in any system of employment control, to know what jobs there are, to examiné them and to find out what each employe is called upon to do. ‘This is known as job description, and inoludes a statement of the duties ot the position as well as the qualifica- {lons, characteristics and aptitudes of the person who can hest perform the dutles. The administrative officer who has oversight of the persons filling the jobs must participate in making the job descriptions, it is held. Next must come examination and classification of all the positions thus described, and the placing of the same kind together. Having discovered what classes of Jobs there are, it will be necessary to sive to those which are common to each other a common name, so that the terminology will be standardized. Equal Pay for Equal Work. The question of pay must be con- |- gtdered. 1f there are discrepancies in the compensations of individuals per- forming ‘dentical tasks, these should that organization take great delight| 1 carrying their point, and demo- ts and republicans alike are deaf| 1o the entreaties of their leaders once the farmers’ bloe starts on the ram- Predicts Veterans Themnelves Will Ultimately Pay Bonus. that he spoke in op- a few democrats and ans, predicted 111 re- ation to be enacted ion for only a few repub from the legis lize,” he said, “that the American are behind the eoldiers. The iers are the heroes of this genera- {tion, and they are entitled to be the | heroes of this generation: but it is now | proposed by senators to bring before the |country a bill that is golng to put a { charge of from four billion to seven bil- lion doliars on the American taxpayers, and if T read the bill aright, it is so framed as to pass on that charge from |the present to the future. So the ! voung men who are going to recelve this bonus, or will receive a certificate for a bonus after the bill shall have been passed, in all probability, If they make good in life, will be the men who must altimately pay this great debt and in |the future carry the great burden ! which it is proposed to put on American | people.” Senator McCumber, in reporting the bill to the Senate, made the briefest | introduction to a proposed legisla- tive measure on record. “In the soldlers compensation bill he said, “we have nothing but an American measure in the same spirit that we voted for appropriations to carry on the war.” | Debate Soon to Open on Ofl Leases. The oll lease controversy is now fairly before the Senate, in the pres- entation of a truckload of reports and data from the Interior Depart- ment, going back over a number of years. President Harding, in plain language, took full responsibility for the action of the Navy and Interior departments in the oil leases and in- tends to stand by the departments. Senator La Follette and a number of democrats are going through the reports, and the debate on the sub- | ject will soon open. President Harding, it is known, in- | vites the fullest discussion, welcomes | the closest scrutiny, and s con-| vinced that when all the facts are laid before the country, the adminis- tration’s course will be approved. Many Factors Involved ' In Employment- Control | be adjusted in the Interest of fairness and justice both to employe and em- ployer. With the inventory of jobs completed ! should come an inventory of personnel |in the form of a service record of each | employe, showing his personal history in considerable detail with his am- bitions and aptitudes. The next step, according to the plan of Mr. Wales, is for a survey at regu- lar intervals of the efiiciency of all the employes. In this way the order of merit of all those engaged upon the same kind of work will be deter- mined and recorded, and the con- clusions placed in the service record of each employe. l Causes for Ineficiency. 1t it is found on any such periodi- cal survey that an employe is below a proper standard of efficieney, the cause should be ‘investigated and ap- propriate action taken. Commissioner Wales states that there are ‘various causes of inefficiency aside from shirking or incompetency. The cause of such inefficiency, as well as the fact, would be looked into, and such action taken as would tend to remove the cause. This would not necessarily mean the removal of the employe—it might mean a change in bis assignment, S WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 11, 1922 WHAT AMERICA IS WILLING TO DO TO AID IN EUROPE’S RESTORATION BY SHELDON 8. CLIN. HERE {s growing recognition sumers, and they will be ous of the trade in this country that American assistance must De extended to Europe in some form if a®complete breakdown of clvilization fn the old world is to be averted; and there Is entire willingness to extend the needed ald. The difficulty is to know how it can be extend- ed most helpfully; or, in fact, how it can be extended in a way that will help at all. There has been widespread propaganda to make it appear that it is as vitally necessary to the United States as it is to Europe that the European situation should be saved. That is not true, and Americans should not be mis- led by it. With Europe It Is literally a matter of life and death. Tt is not a matter of life and death to the United States. We would suffer severely from g -European collapse, but we would recover from it and adjust our eco- nomles to the new conditions. This country Is so nearly self-sustaining that Americans could confine their buying and selling within national boundaries ahd still he well fejl and clothed, and reasonably happy. Coffee, tea and rubber are the chief commodities we lack, and it is worth remembering that for none of these do we look to Europe. * * %k X So at the very beginning we can dismiss as unsound the European hypothesls that the interests of thd two continents are so inter- twined that chaos and anarchy in Furope would necessarily bhe followed by chaos and anarchy in the United States. It is as un- sound and untrhe as was the contention that the liberties of Amerlca were as certainly menaced by the German armles as were the 1iberties of the European allles. We went to war primarlly because our national rights had been disregarded and out- raged by the Germans, and secondarily be- cause Americans could not endure to sit iy by and see the enlightened and liberty-loving nations of Europe perish by the sword. * % *x * And as it was & combination of self-Interest and altrulsm which led us to send two million men to France, and to pour out our wealth without stint or reckoning, o a like combina- tion prompts us today to go to the rescue of a Europe which s In as deadly peril as it ever was from German armed force. But it should be clear in our own minds, and should be made clear to Furope, that It is not with us a matter of self-preservation. The mooner and clearer this fact Is understood on both side of the At- 1antic. the greater the possibility that sane and hopeful conditions for the extending of needed help can be arrived at. As a starting point, when it comes to dis- cussing ways and means of helping. it must he reallzed that Europe cannot be saved by any minor operation or operations. Charity, as necessary as it is to relieve personal suffer- ings, will do no permanent good. Loans, un- less hedged about by remedlal restrictions, will do no good. Temporary or Indefinite sus- pension of the payment of money due from Europe to America will not effect a cure. * % % X Charity will not avall, because already there has been extended more charity than was good for Europe. It has brought about a condition where will-to-produce is not equal to desire- to-consume, and that condition is one of the most serious of Europe's ills. Loans will not effect cure, for already Europe 8 80 heavily in debt that it is hopelees to think she ever can pay even interest on her borrowings. The external debts of the European countries which were belligerent in the late war, not counting reparations, are estimated at $25,000,000,000, with an annual interest charge at b per cent of $1,250,000,000. In addition to this staggering total there are internal loans estimated at $155.000,000,000, to say nothing of the uncountable billions of fiat money which are direct obligations of the governments issuing it. To pour the proceeds of loans Into such a financial maelstrom with- out there being basic reformations would be sheerest folly and would serve only to ag- gravate the situation. * % * % Europe appears to believe, and is trying to make us believe, that cancellation of the inter- allled war debt, and particularly the debt to America, is the one thing necessary to bring about balancing of budgets, a stabilization of exchange and the resumption of productivity. Where that argument is not founded on de- lusion it is an attempt at deception. Pro- vislons for payment on the debt owed the Unlted States have not helped unbalance Eu- ropean budgets for the simple reason that no provisions for such payments, except in rare lustances and for minor amounts. have yet entered into European budget calcula- lions. The same thing applies to exchange. Exchange is not unbalanced because of debt- paylng operations, because no such operations have been undertaken or are in early prospect. The exchange market is influenced by day-to- day transactlons, not by transactions it may t some possibly be called upon to care for & time In the rgmote future. * K K % We hear every day that present conditions in Europe are due to the war and are @ natural result of its destruction. That also s a deluslon. There was no such destruction in the war, elther of manpower or materlals, ap- palling and unprecedented as such wastage was, as would account for the headlong prog- ress Europe has made since the armistice to- ward a fluancial and economic dehacle ‘A nation involved in war so overwhelmingly as were the nations of continental Europe must necessarily live on its fat during the vears of conflict. But since the armistice Eu- rope, as a whole, has kept right on living on its fat—depleting Its stocks, Increasing its debts and inflating Its currencles, until the time has come when there is little niore fat to be eaten, when there can be no further substantial borrowings and currencies have been {nflated almost to the point of worth- lessness. * % ok k& That Europe since the armistice has con- tinued her headlong pace toward ruin s not due to the war, but to the unwisdom of the peace. ,That fact now is a great deal more widely recognized than it is admitted. A few men In Europe have been both sane enough to see and brave enough to speak the truth, but most of her statesmen are either unable to discern the facts or are deterred by pulitical considerations from proclaiming them. Amer- feans, with the better vision which distance glves, not only ought to be able to see the facts, but there i{s no reason why they should be awed to silence in their presence. The two major mistakes of the peace from which Europe is suffering today are the fan- tasy of reparations and the utter disregard of economic boundarles when political boug- daries were established. L So long as the finance ministers of Europe predicate their programs upon the impossible supposition that thirty-three billions of dol- lars are golng to be collected from Germany just so long will it be impossible to start the finances of those countries toward sound Dbases. So long as “self-determination” gives peo- ples political liberty but deprives them of means of earning livelihoods, just so long will those peoples be without economic value to their neighbors, either as producers or con- rection will not now alone solve Europe’s problems, but they are fundamental and must be corrected before other remedies can be hopefully ap- plied. Germany French other hand, were America disposed to readjust the French debt on the basis of France's abil- equation by which Europe lives. Some of them already are so reduced that but for charity they would perish. Others hawe been set back a hundred years or more in their standards of lving and are on their way to the primitive conditions of the dark ages. x X ¥ X Bad conditions have gone so far that cor- of these two blunders of the peace Taking reparations first, the difficulty 1s that France and the other reparations claim- ants will not consent to a reduction of their clalms (and probably it would be -unreason- able to expect them to) without knowing what return compensations they are to receive. example, if France is to be called upon to pay States tireat Britain, her statesmen would not dare, For the $2,650,000,000 she owes the United and the $2,665,000,000 she owes if they wished, consent to a reduction of the $15.000.000,000 of French clalms against But If these debts owed by France to be canceled or reduced, then there might readily be a radical change in the attitude toward reparations. On the were ity to pay, there could be no reasonable gauging of that abllity until 1t had been es- tablished how much from Germany in the way of reparations. France was to collect EE Tt would meem to be futile, therefore, to talk of a reduction in the reparations totals or cancellation or reduction of the interallled debt without the convening of an Interna- tional conference in which these two g tions and many collateral ones migh€ be con- sidered as a whole. With a better understand- ing fu America of how necessary such a read- justment is to the salvation of Furope and of the enormous losses which this country is suffering because of present conditions and the still more enormous losses which would reult from conditions which are threatened, American opinfon might consent to participa- tion In such a conference were political ques- tions eliminated. Europe would 1ike to get America {nto such a conference tomorrow, and it might well be to America's advantage—an advantage in dol- lars and cents—to go into it, were the way clear. will not go into any conference in which the political problems of Europe are to be taken up for solution, and there are political ques- But the way Is not clear. America tions which must be solved before any such financial and economic conference as sug- gest=d above could be productive of good re- sults. Before Europe can be placed In the way of salvation through financial and economic operations the political clauses of the treaty of Versailles must be rewritten, and the Amer- an people are in no temper at present to take a hand in such rewriting. * %k kx ¥ many political questions which There are hear on the prosperity of Europe, such as the =tabilization of peace and the limitatlon of armaments, but solution of most of these ht w seary 1 follow instead of precede basis readjustments. the It is a rea- nec; sonable expectation that thelr solutfon would me naturally and as a logical consequence of the basic solutlons. One of the chief of these hasic problems which must be solved arises from the crea- tion of new states and the dismemberment of old states in such a way that their economies were destroved. liberties which were given these people need This does not mean that the (Continued on Third Page.) Many Complications Faced inEfforts to Bring About Proper Reclassification of Government Employes T looks as if the present session of Congress will close without legislation establishing new standard salary schedules for government employes, absorbing the bonus and giving equal pay for simi- lar kind of work throughout the va- not possible because (1) it only ap- plies to the classified service, leaving the unclassified positions not subject to rating: (2) it could not modify salaries fixed by permanent law or made statutory in appropriation bills, and (3) it couid not waive limitations rious federal establishments, although | upon lump sum® appropriations or such legislation has been promised and “in the works” for several years. Although appeals have been made to him, President Harding has been unwilling to put reclassification into effect by executive order, or to call a conference of the various members of the House and Senate, Who are apparently in a deadlock, each fight- ing for his own particular measure. There seems to be considerable mi understanding in Congress and among the government employes regarding reclassification legislation and what is necessary to establish a new salary schedule for federal workers. The House has passed the Lehlbach reclassification bill establishing grades and groups and rates of pay with the stipulation that the provisions of the bill shall be put into effect by sub-. mission of estimates therefore in the next budget, which would be_effective July 1, 1923 X The Senate committes on civil serv- ice has reported the Lehlbach bill with amendments making it effective fmmediately upon approval The re- ported bill has been referred to the Senate committes on appropriations, where it is now pending. The President October 24, 1921, fa- sued executive order No. 3567, direct- ing fhe establishment of uniform efficiency ratings throughout the fed- eral service in the District of Colum- bia, in accordance with. the provisio: of the act of August 23, 1921. This order under the law could only ex- tend to employes in the classified service. The establishment of a uniform sys- tem of efficlency ratings could not be acomplished without (1) establishing specifications that identify each job and (2) establishing a rate of pay for each job. The full inzuguration of efficiency rating under the order was other restrictions of law- upon the authority of the heads of departments to fix pay. The power of the President to is- sue the order of October 24, 1921, is no doubt ample. The act {tself au- thorizes the bureau of efficiency, with the approval of the President, to es- tablish efficlency ratings. ‘The issuance of a supplemental or- der prescribing grades and groups of positions with maximum and mini- mum rates of pay would have to be a co-ordinating order. The duty of fixing pay, where it is not specifically fixed by law, in most instances Te- poses in the head of the department. For example, the pay of mechanics in the navy yards is fixed by the Sec- retary of the Navy, under the law, to accord with the rates of pay in com- mercial concerns in the same locality. He exercises his wuthority only after careful findings of fact by wage boards. The President could not, by executive order, take away from the head of the department that duty which the law places upon him. The President, however, could, after con- llllul,on with all the heads of de- partments, induce them -to exercise the authority vested in them by law by following a uniform scheduls is- led by him only so far as they could follow it by the exercise of the au- thority vested in them. Such a co- ordinating order standing by itself could not possibly affect a successful reclassification of salaries. It has the ame limitations upon it as those stated above to a full establishment of efficiency ratings. If such' an order were issued it would have to be supplementsd by|a legislation to do the following: (a) Remove all legal restrictions in appropridtion and other laws so as to permit a full and complsts read- justment of all salaries of civillan employes. (b) Appropriate sufficient money to supplement the existing statutory |and lump-sum appropriations to make the payment of the reclassified sal- aries possible. (c) Provide without modification permanently, or for a definite period of time, of a classifying order. (d) Provide for the continuance of ‘i the ’the temporary bonus to such em- for continuance ployes as it is not possible to classify in time to put the readjusted salaries in effect by July 1, or until such time as the reclassification of units of a department could be effected and have the bonus cease upon the completion of the reclassification of that unit. (e) Authorize the issuance of a sup- plemental order extending the classi- fication to the field service. The $240 bonus, or some fractional extension of that temporary measure, | will be necessary during the fiscal year 1923, no matter what method is adopted to provide for the reclassifi- cation of salaries, and the House sp- propriations committee has already started work on such an appropria- tion bill. If the Lehlbach bill is passed, the bonus would be pecessary (to keep the present salary level) becauss the bill does not take effect until July 1, 1923. If the Sterling amendments are adopted the bonus would be neces- sary for a portion, if not all of the next fiscal year, because the Sterling amendments place the Lehlbach bill in effect upon approval, but the task of reclassifying could not possibly be accomplished by the 1st of July next, and it would probably take the greater part of the next fiscal year to finish the task. The bonus would be necessary until the reclassification was completed, or, at least, until por- tions of it were completed. If an executive order is issued prescribing uniform method to be followed by heads of departments in fixing the salaries insofar as they may go un- ger the restrictions imposed upon them by law, the bonus would be " necessary for employes in the field service outside the District, because of the impossibility of finishing their reclassification in time to make it effective much, if ‘any, before the close of the next fiscal year. The reclassification of those in the District could be made effective by July 1, because of the job specifica- tions and standard salaries set up by the bureau of efficiency under the authority of the executive order of October 24, 1921. The question arises whether it {8 more expedient to continue & bonus for another year, with reclassifica- tion effective the following year, or ‘whether such reclassification it 1s possible to put into effect immediate- 1y should be attempted. Tnder the Sterling and Lehlbach bills it would not be possible to make an effective reclassification before July 1, 1923, The reclassifying agency, named in those bills, is the Civil Service Commission, which has not done any work in this field and would have to build an organization, promulgate job specifications, estab- 1ish standard salaries and proceed to allocate each civilian position in' the service to its proper place in the va- rious groups, subdivisions and pay schedules. The question arises wupon the merits of the reclassification {n the Sterling-Lehlbach bill ‘and, that in the proposed order based on the executive order of October 24, 1921. In the view of many who have studied the problem any reclassifica- tion to be satisfactory and effective must provide: . (1) A grouping of positions that s as simple as possible, yet definite enough to enable any administrative | officer readily to determine the pay status of every employe under his jurisdiction, and yet prevent the building up by the reclassifying agency of a volums of super-imposed decisions which would be more con- trolling than the law and make the allocation of jobs a specialized prac- tice so involved that every adminis- Hoover Plan to BY WILL P. KENNEDY. ; Tremendous economic savings have | been made and the wheels of indus- try speeded up through actual, prac- tical achievements already accom- plished in Secretary Hoover's cam- paign for elimination of waste in in- dustry as one of the fundamental tasks toward making and keeping| the United States prosperous. The first big, general, outstanding result | of this intensive campaign which m..l ordinates all factors in the industrial | and economic life of the country will | be observable befors long in the | bullding industry, meeting the serious | housing problem throughout the| United States. The entire program is ®o big and 20 comprehensive that it takes time to get it all co-ordinated and worked out. and ecan he measured on! through illustrative units. For ample, the first move of the division of simplified practice which Secretary Hoover organized with William A} Durgin as chief, to work with the| tndividual industries in having stand- ard sizes adopted, was to simpli the basic materials in the® building | industry, to expedite quantity pro- duction to meet the unprecedented housing need. The brick manufacturers, in con- ference with this agency of the gov- ernment, agrted upon a reduction from sixty-six to cleven in the styles | and sizes of vitrified brick, and then | |were so happy over what they had done that on March 27 they made an- | other cut from eleven to seven. Found Bedn Made in Over 200 Sizes, Another big actual accompiishment was in the bed, mattress and spring industry. Varlous sizes of beds and various sizes of mattresses and vari- ous sizes of springs had complicated business terribly all along the line from factory to the sleeper. A sur- vey showed a variety in lengths and widths of more than 200 in the four general classes of beds—wood, metal, Institutional and cots. It was found | that the so-called six-foot bed meant | anything from five feet six six feet four inches. A peculiar thing brought out in the statistical studles, | gleaned from insurance data, was that 1o accommodate the mormal| length man a bed's inside measure- | ment had to be six feet two inches | long. 1If a bed is not that long about 40 per cent of the people cannot use it comfortably. 8o an agreement has been reached by which all beds are to be made one standard length—six feet two inches inside measurement. There are to be four standard widths of metal beds, two widths in wooden beds and one each in cots and institutional beds. The reduction in styles and sizes of | bricks and beds has been given mere- | Iy as illustrations of what is being done in seventy-six different and | widely separated fields of commod:- | ties. { Standardization of packing boxes| | has been one problem studled In con-| i junction with the standardization of| | lumber, because it will facilitate the | | utilization of a vast quantity of lum- | ber that is now scrapped at the mills | —burned under the boilers, because there {8 no market for short lengths, The national lumber conference which | | met here several weeks ago definitely agreed to work out standardization of nomenclature, grades and sizes. Com- mittees were appointed representing all the elements in the lumber industry to sponsor such standardation. An expert in lumber is about to be ap- pointed to work at the Department of Commerce in correlating all lumber interests. Another lumber conference 18 to be called later to ratify the stand- ardization these committees work out, ex- Far-Reaching Effects in Uses of Wood. The lumber people have been very responsive to Secretary Hoover's sug- gestion and the effect will be far reaching, affecting every conceivable user of lumber—the box manufactur- er, the maker of box cars, houses, rail- telegraph poles, etc. An off-shoot is the standardization of sash and millwork. Preliminary contacts have been made and a sur- vey is about to be made as to the actual varieties and sizes. A casual survey shows that there are 470 vari- ations in sizes of sash. The window glass manufacturers are waiting on this standardization of sash to complete their plans for making standard sizes. Also, the bullding stone quarries have found | that they can eliminate many wastes if they can know the standard sizes of window openings. They can then cut the lintels in their own plant instead of shipping them in the rough to be chiseled to fit on each particu- lar job. The building hardware and paint, oll and varnish people are also co- ordinating their production to this general scheme of standardization. In those. two fields so closely iden- tifled with the building industry there has been an unbelievable variety of products which has been a particular hardship on the retailer, who has been forced to carry big stocks, with heavy money investment and slow turnover. They are now studying to soe just how much can be eliminated and a conference is to be held earix this fall to announce the standard varieties. JAnbther {llustration of how the program Is being worked out: There has been a tremendous va- riety in engineering specifications for road building. This has caused the manufacturers of metal culverts to appreciate the wastes entalled. They have asked the Department of Com- TRADE STANDARDS BRING U. S. TREMENDOUS SAVING Scores of Industries Already Applying Eliminate Waste in Time and Money. tzatlon of their products. A cam- palgn has been started among high- way engineers to show how the cost of road construction is heing made unnecessarily high. It hits the taz- payers because of the economic waste hrough needless varietics of culverts and other road construction materiais that could be standardized. If there is less variety and more uniform in specifications, =o that culverts and other materfals can be manufactured in quanti the taxpayer is going to get a few more miles of good roads for his money. Farm Implement) 1o Be Standardized. Again, the agricultural enginecrs and farm equipment manufacturres are co-operating in a survey of the implement ficld with the purpose of effecting ther elimination of strles. During the war under pres- sure of the conservation division 6f the war industries bureau some cur- tailment was made and these manu- facturers have best weathered tue financial depression which has hit the farm implement Lusiness harder than most others Take the case of the manufacturers of household refrigerators and of ar- tifictal fce. Standard sizes are being worked out so that the artificial fee cake will cut nicely to fit the standard sized refrigerator with a consequent =aving not or of expense to the housew!fe of having the block of iee cLipped to get it Into the refrigera- tor, but 1o her nerves as well. A survey of the stuve Industry is being made, The tent and awning manufacturers have suffered through a wide range of more than 700 kinds of awning stripes. The variations in sizes of windows and doors have forced them to hand-tallor their product to fit each particular job instead of allowing them to bend their frames to stand- ard sizes. So the standard sizes of doors end windows will effect eco- nomic saving on the awning, and screen business, Manufacturers of flags and ensigns now have to make an endless variet slzes. While there is a cer true proportion as to length a width there have been no stand sizes. The new standard sizes wlil allow them to manufacture in Quan- tity for stock. Grocers and canners, box manufac- turers, express companies, railrosd companies, warehouses, etc., are all interested in the standardization of containers for food products, bottles, boxes, cans, etc. Each experiences certain waste In storage, labor, equipment for handling, etc., because of the lack of uniformity. of Electrical Appliances Have Varlety of Connectiol In the electrical industry, while there has been a standardization of lamp bases, with a big convenienc to dealers and users, they have mot cet standardized what is called tic appliance end of the cord. The are making the socket =o that standard bulb wiil fit, but With hun- dreds of different Kinds of attach ments there are as many different sizes and kinds of connections. With the increasing popularity of elec- trical appliances each manufactur is making his own kind of connec- tion. This section on simplified practice of the Department of Commerce has asked the American enffineering standards committee to canvass the various technical bodles for sugges- tions as to various practical and commerclal simplifications that will eliminate waste in many industries while at the same time preserving American standards of living and a llving wage. Trade associations rep- resenting the various industries are also called in, 8o that the standardi- zation worked out is not something “high brow” proposed by the scicu- tists, but represents the best thought of the technical men and industrial engineers and the practical every- day users. Something of the rasnifications and the spread of the economic Eaving through the campaign of standardi- zation can be visioned when one stops to think that whenever You simplify the styles and sizes of any product you also lead to & simplifi- cation of the processes by which it 1s produced. The possibilities of sim- plifying the machine tool industry is a good example. Yet another sidelight is shown in the appearance, a couple of days ago, of W. A. Durgin, chief of the aivision of simplified practice, be- ! fore the chamber of commerce of the music industries in New York at their request. He explained how this simplification campaign works in with their own efforts to put more music into the homes—since it has been proved that simplifications in the manufacture of musical instru- ments can be effected without de- stroying artistry or tonal qualities. The first big general public result of this campaign of standardization will be shown before long in the building industry. There is another division of Hoover's organization, known as the ‘division on building and housing, of which John M. Gries is chief. This division seeks to carry into practical, working, effect in the building industry the standards worked out through the other div sion under Mr. Durgin. Two main committees co-operate with the divi- sion of building and housing. The advisory committee on bullding codes, with & subcommittes on plumbing, has drafted & bullding code for small houses which was sent to more than 900 persons for criticisem, and it is now being revised in the light ef those constructive criticisma,