The recent publication of tlie annual report by the supervising 

 architect of the Treasury Department serves to call attention to 

 the fact that the government is a large builder, and necessarily a 

 large purchaser of building material. 



The Treasury Department is only one branch or part of the 

 government, and does not have charge of all the building opera- 

 tions; yet its activities for the year 1913 give a good idea of 

 what is going on in the several other departments and bureaus 

 which have their headquarters in Washington. 



The architect's report fills a book of 419 pages and deals with 

 the work carried on by himself and associates during the past 

 year. Its scope is necessarily broad in order to cover the many 

 items to bo considered. 



Yearly Expenditures 



During the year under consideration the architect's office ex- 

 pended $22,000,000 for sites, construction of new buildings, repair 

 of old, and in the care of buildings already completed. For exam- 

 ple, the services of 4,000 janitors, engineers, and elevator men 

 are required to keep the various buildings in condition for business. 



The structures of different kinds in the country, under the 

 Treasury Department, number over SOO, and consist chiefly of cus- 

 toms houses, hospitals and postoffices. The aggregate cost of their 

 construction exceeded $175,000,000. 



The supervising architect has a force of 356 assistants in Wash- 

 ington, and in the field. In this instance the "field" includes 

 every part of the world where the government has buildings or is 

 likely to have any. 



The architect's activities are apparent from the figures which 

 follow, for the year 1913. Eighty-four buildings and eleven exten- 

 sions were completed. The extensions in many cases were nearly 

 equivalent to new structures. Sixty-three buildings and sixteen 

 extensions were placed under contract, while at the close of the 

 year 113 buildings and nineteen extensions were in course of con- 

 .struction. The future had still greater things in view, for 508 

 buildings had been authorized by law which had not yet been 

 placed under contract. The whole number of buildings completed, 

 under contract, or authorized by law, was 1,545 at the close of 

 1913, all under the direction of one supervising architect. 

 Along Other Lines 



The government's building operations follow many lines. All 

 of its structures are not granite, marble, Steele, and stucco. It 

 builds large numbers of log cabins. It began their construction 

 135 years ago at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, as shelters for 

 Washington's ragged army during that memorable winter which 

 historians and Fourth of July orators are accustomed to call 

 ' ' the darkest hour. ' ' 



The government is erecting more log houses today that at any 

 period in the past. The houses, cabins, and huts are among remote 

 mountains, in valleys, on prairies, or buried in wildernesses. Most 

 of them are occupied by guards and rangers of the Forest Service. 

 Many of those cabins have doors and floors of lumber, roofs of 

 shingles or shakes, and walls of logs cut from the primeval forest 

 and made ready for use by a few blows from an ax. It may be 

 supposed that the Forest Service has a monopoly of houses built 

 of somewhat crude material and in out-of-the-way places; and it 

 perhaps has a majority, but by no means a monopoly. 



WE.A.THER BUKEAU STATIONS 



The Weather Bureau has its stations wherever freaks or fashions 

 of nature are to be watched. The snow observers who travel on 

 skiis in midwinter among the frozen ranges of the Sierra Nevadas 

 and the Rocky Mountains must have their places of refuge among 

 the wintery peaks. The experts who are 'studying evaporation on 

 the Arizona mesas, or in the Sinks of the Humboldt, or by the 

 Sdlton Sea, need shelter from the merciless heat of the desert, from 

 the sandstorms, and the clouds of salt and alkili which swirl along 

 the ground. 



the clouds and below the level of the sea the government 

 is providing houses for its workers. Some are little more than 

 sheds, but they serve the purpose for which they were built. In 

 some of these houses which are so crude that a Pennsylvania 

 farmer would not use them for barns, some of the government's 

 best work is being done. The botanist and meteorologist solve 

 problems in the light of a four-pane window which could be 

 worked out no better in the finest laboratories of the country. 

 Army Posts 



Army posts are established and shelters are provided for men 

 and stores. Huts, houses and barracks are needed. These may be 

 found on the frozen coasts of Alaska, in the tropic swamps of 

 Panama, and among the volcanoes of Mindoro. 



It is not necessary to run over the whole category of govern- 

 ment building operations. Everybody knows that the schedule is 

 long and well carried out. The important point for the lumber- 

 man and the dealer in forest products is that tfie government is 

 a large user of wood. Another important point is, the govern- 

 ment is not prejudiced against wood. No contractor is put to 

 the trouble of educing elaborate arguments to convince the gov- 

 ernment officials that wood is a good thing. That fact is known, 

 and has always been recognized in letting government contracts. 



Some have criticized federal specifications for insisting on 

 grades of lumber which are better than necessary. That is a 

 good fault. Why not get the best that can be had? Those who 

 make up specifications for the government are usually men who 

 know the woods well, and it is natural that they should choose 

 the best in their reach. At the same time, they are always willing 

 to try out a new wood if it seems likely to be valuable. Recent 

 navy specifications called for California laurel which has made 

 good in other places. 



The government is one of the best customers the lumberman 

 has. Wherever a structure is being erected by Uncle Sam, it may 

 be taken for granted that somebody is selling first-class lumber 

 or other forest products. 



Government Co-operation Probable 



Conflicting opinions are expressed at Washington regarding 

 the steps that lumber companies may take to protect them- 

 selves in the face of the European situation. Previously the 

 Department of Justice had discouraged any efforts toward combina- 

 tions which tended to raise prices in foreign countries. Just 

 whether it constitutes an offense to boost prices on the foreigner 

 is a debated question. In the face of the present emergency 

 there is likely to be a different view taken of such a matter 

 than would be the case under ordinary circumstances. 



Some believe that a pooling arrangement is possible wherein 

 export lumber stored under specified conditions could be made the 

 basis of loans. While such an operation would have to be eon- 

 ducted with a good wide margin, it would enable many mills to 

 prevent heavy losses from enforced shut downs. 



The question has been raised in Congress by Representatives 

 Percy E. Quin and Byron P. Harrison, of the southern districts 

 of Mississippi, as to the protective measures to which lumber is 

 entitled. If cotton is to receive what amounts to direct aid from 

 the government cannot this provision making warehouse certifi- 

 cates commercial paper, or at least negotiable documents, be made 

 to apply to receipts covering lumber in storage? In southern Mis- 

 sissippi many sawmills have been forced to close owing to the 

 war and the impossibility of securing vessels for transporting 

 orders to countries to which shipping is open. Thousands of men 

 have been thrown out of employment, railroad tonnage has fallen 

 off decidedly, ports are congested and a general demoralization of 

 the industry has taken place. It is a very vital question in the 

 lumber producing regions of the country and more active steps are 

 to be taken by congressmen within the next few days, it is un- 

 derstood. 



