The Park Governments of Chicago 101 



that the soil has swelled. It is suggested that hereafter 

 payments for soil be based only on calculations made by 

 the park engineers. By running "cross sections" where 

 the filling is to be made it is possible to compute accu- 

 rately the quantity of soil necessary for filling. 



6. Equally important with centralization of buying 

 power is standardization by the Park Boards of the 

 equipment, materials, and supplies purchased by them. 

 Much money is now wasted through lack of standardiza- 

 tion. For example, instead of buying a large number of 

 different grades of lubricating oil, three or four grades 

 should be adopted as standard, each grade being selected 

 for a particular use for which it was proved to be most 

 efficient. Specifications should be drawn describing the 

 standards adopted and on these specifications manufac- 

 turers should be asked to bid. The oil purchases being 

 reduced to a limited number of grades, larger quantities 

 of these would be purchased. The transactions would be 

 made more simple and fair to both dealer and buyer 

 and lower prices secured by the latter. A uniformity of 

 the article purchased is assured under such a method as the 

 specifications afford a basis on which the purchaser may 

 test deliveries. 



7. After a careful study of the situation, supplemented 

 by the opinions of purchasing agents of large private cor- 

 porations in Chicago, the Bureau concludes that if all the 

 Park Boards were consolidated with the city government, 

 the additional buying power thus given the city purchasing 

 agent, if supplemented by proper standardization and 

 efficient methods of purchase and inspection, would enable 

 an average saving of not less than 10 per cent, to be made 

 each year on the total purchases of supplies and materials 

 now made by the Park Boards. These purchases now 

 exceed $1,000,000 annually; a 10 per cent, saving would 

 therefore amount to $100,000 annually. 



