Conference of Officers in Charge of Government Hospitals Serving Veterans of the World War

by Unknown

I repeat you must have that bird’s-eye view of the necessities of the Government as a whole, which alone you can secure through the authority of the President as exercised through the Coordinator of the Board you have here. It is absolutely necessary that there should be no withholding of the spirit of cooperation and loyalty to your Coordinator. There should be no feeling that your independent jurisdiction is going to be unnecessarily curtailed and interfered with. There is the right of appeal, and it is just as important to the proper functioning of the whole governmental business machine that you have courageous defense of the department unit as you have courageous defense of the policies of coordination.

There is no proper room for friction; and so far as the Budget Bureau is concerned and the coordinating agencies headed by Colonel Smithers, we have had a minimum of friction with the departments. There have been transferred over $112,000,000 dollars worth of property between these departments within the last six months. $100,000 per year is being saved in the comparatively small thing right here in the District of Motor transportation.

Anybody who stands against the principle of this thing is a man, in the first place, who is not intelligent. He is a man in the second place who is not loyal; and he is a man, in the third place, who is in danger, in view of the accomplishments of this coordinating work. What excuses are there for anyone not to give his loyal cooperation to the President of the United States, who, for the first time, has undertaken to be responsible for a correct system of routine business?

One other thing in connection with the spirit of economy:—the President of the United States has asked it. He asked it here in the first meeting of the Govt. business organization last June at which some of you were present. That request of his has received response. I find over the country that for the first time in government, economy has become fashionable, and extravagance dangerous; and all over the country, in the post office service, the Army service—in all Govt. activities. There is the spirit of loyal cooperation under the leadership of the President in the matter of economy.

We know, too, what you have been trying to do in that way in your own service is resulting in an immense saving to the Government.

What we need are men in authority to help us find out where savings can be made. We have only scratched the surface, but it is possible now, as we get the business of the Government in the proper, organized shape, to determine where the limit of economy is. We do not know yet, because our reorganization of routine business methods has not gone on long enough. We have only been in operation four or five months. It will be a year or two possibly before the extent of economies can be determined.

But in directing the prevention of duplication, etc., in the general attitude of being desirous to save, as opposed to the old attitude of being desirous to spend,—all that means that the Government of the United States can be run more economically than at present provided the President of the United States gives his attention to the business organization and he will.”

General Dawes concluded his remarks, and as he walked from the stage General Ireland made a suggestion that he say something in connection with coordination within the limits of a department itself. General Dawes then said:

“General Ireland asks that I speak about a most important matter. We cannot get general coordination among the departments unless each department is coordinated within itself. For instance, we found that in the Treasury Department there were about eighteen separate points of purchasing activity. No one man was in touch with all these agencies. The representative of the Treasury department on the coordinating board, therefore, could not speak for the eighteen agencies. Therefore, each institution must coordinate within itself in order that its representative can properly speak for it on the coordinating board, to say nothing about the desirability of coordination from the standpoint of the business of that particular department. Therefore, get your units coordinated.

In connection with this whole matter of hospitalization, the eyes of the country are on you, who are charged with this great responsibility. No body of men in Government service has more complexing situations to meet than you have. You are surrounded by every embarrassment. In these days, when the pinhead demagogues are flourishing; when the mere politician is willing to capitalize anything, even a wounded soldier, to catch votes, you know that you are liable to have your constructive work unjustly attacked. To get into the lime-light many men will sacrifice right principles, and it is distressing to see the antics of the puny men in public life seeking to ingratiate themselves in public favor in connection with soldier relief. The demagogue has no hesitation in attacking those things which are right only provided they happen to be unpopular. His mind, unlike yours, is not on the real good of the soldier. He is thinking what the newspapers may say about him.