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incl Samasa Surplus Salesman | Federal Government Uses Merchandising Methods in Disposing of Immense OON after we declared war on S Germany, the far-seeing mind of the general staff of the army be- -gan a consideration of the ways and means of liquidating surplus supplies which were bound to accumulate. The result of this foresight has been the reclaiming of approximately $1,000,000,- 000 for the treasury, and the saving of several hundred million more. In May, 1918, congress first author- ized the President, in his discretion, to sell such surplus materials as might ac- cumulate. Two months later the presi- dent’s powers in the disposal of surplus property were considetably broadened. These dates are of first importance, be- cause of their indication of the fact that even in the midst of war the de- partment charged with the defense of the nation was preparing for peace. They also indicate the sound judgment dis- played by the war department in antici- pating conditions, which resulted in the so-called ‘buyers’ strike’ in 1920. Early sales made between the date of passage of the first emergency legisla- tion regarding surplus property and Jan- uary, 1919, were supervised by a com- mittee of the war department general staff under General Goethals, and amounted to some $123,000,000. Soon after the signing of the armistice, the amount of business became so_ great that it was impracticable to handle it longer through a committee, and ac- cordingly, in December, 1918, a sales branch was established under an_ official designated as the director of - sales, whose duties may be defined briefly, as follows: To formulate, supervise and co-ordinate the selling of surplus sup- plies, material, equipment, by-products thereof, buildings, plants, factories or lands embraced within the act of con- gress approved July 9, 1918. At the time of the establishment of the office of the director of sales, esti- mates of the probable total amount of surplus that would eventually result from demobilization and the decreased requir- ments of the permanent peace-time mili- tary establishment varied between two and three billion dollars. The surplus consisted of an almost untold variety of articles. The quartermaster corps alone From an address delivered at the invitation of various chambers of commerce and business organizations. Maj. James L. Frink is chief of the sales promotion section of the war depart- ment, Washington. Stocks BY MAJ. JAMES L. FRINK listed more than. 65,000 separate items exclusive of transportation and real es- tate. The grand total of items listed by all services ran over 100,000. Classification of Property Major classification of property in- cluded airplanes and electrical equip- ment; animals; building materials; chem- icals; clothing of every description, in- MAJ. JAMES L. FRINK cluding millions of uniforms, underwear, socks, hats and other articles; soldiers’ equipage, such as canteens, cups, knives and forks, haversacks, tin hats; electri- cal equipment, ranging from small fuses to complete power plants worth a million dollars each; metals, ferrous and non- ferrous; fuel; hardware; land and build- ings; leather; lumber; machinery and° engineering equipment ranging in size from a small pocket compass to the largest cranes built; machine tools; medical and hospital supplies; motor ve- hicles; animal-drawn transport © and equipment; office and household equip- ment; railway materials and _ rolling stock; floating equipment, from small row boats to the largest ships; ammu- nition; foods; textiles and wool. The large quantities of surplus held in these various classifications presented a liquidation problem filled with dif- ficulties and fraught with danger, not only to the public welfare. but to that 148 of War Materials welfare’s never-failing barometer—our national commerce and industry. Vari- ous liquidation plans were put forward, some enthusiastic and well meaning gen- tlemen with limited knowledge of. eco- nomics even going so far as to seriously suggest the entire surplus being dumped into the sea. The folly of any such procedure as this brings to my mind a remark made recently by the secretary of war in an address before the Newark chamber of commerce, in which he stated “the truth is that we must recognize that property is not created for despoilment, but for the welfare of humanity and that it must receive the protection of organized gov- ernments and all classes of citizens or progress will cease.’ While this remark of the secretary’s was not made in rela- tion to surplus property, it shows why the war department would not consider the absolute destruction of such a. large quantity of material. Another plan put forward and which received serious consideration was what is commonly known in commerce as “dumping,” that is, throwing the entire surplus on the market, regardless of price or other consideration. To the minds of those charged with the respon- sibility of the disposal of war surplus, a plan such as this with industry at that particular time carrying its peak load, would have been little short of criminal, a knife thrust in the heart of business. The war department fully recognized its responsibility for the public welfare and took into account every angle of pos- sible ill effect -of such a plan on es- tablished trade and industry. Because of its probable disastrous effect, this plan was eliminated. Store Plan Impracticable Still another plan that suggested it- self as being particularly adaptable for a wide range of materials was the es- tablishment of a number of government- owned, stores. This plan was tried out in a limited way, but found impractic- able. The overhead of these stores soon reached a point which made their further operation unprofitable. The government could not meet private competition, It was impossible to keep complete lines of all items in stock without placing fill-in orders with manufacturers. This would have been outside of the authority of law, and contrary to removing the