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150 until September of the following year that would come into direct opposition with domestic grown wools. The depart- ment fully realized the condition of the wool producers of the West, who were in financial distress, owing to the wool break of the summer of 1920, and the quarter- master general offered only low grade wools of South American growth. This was good business for two reasons; first, that it afforded a great measure of relief to our own wool industry; second, the only wool market that existed, worthy of the name, was for low grades, suitable in the carpet trade. Early in the year 1921, the present ad- ministration came into power ‘and _ final authority on wool methods was invested in the assistant secretary of war, Mr. Wainwright. The effects of the emergency tariff in the wool industry became appar- ent in September of that year and wool prices advanced slightly. The government stock of wool of low grades which had been set apart as suitable for carpets, by that time had become depleted, and medi- um to low grades began to be included in the offering. From then on, all wools were offered successfully. The wool auction room in Ford Hall, Boston, was crowded at every sale. There was keen competi- tion for all qualities, with constantly ad- vancing prices. The final sale was held in March, 1922, and the government went out of the wool business. Another instance of the department's desire to co-operate with industry in every possible way consistent with the best in- terests of the government, was in the sale of some 56,000,000 pounds of brass cartridge cases. This sale permitted the absorption of this large amount of metal without disrupting or unsettling market conditions. The government’s plans for the sale were announced, and raised wide- spread interest. Bids were received from a wide range of industrial concerns. The price paid to the government was based on the market value during the month in which the material was moved, as re- ported by three recognized business pa- pers, less a deduction of 2 cents per pound for refining. The terms of sale on which the final award was made provided for the placing of this material on the market over the period of orfe year at prices which varied and were contingent upon market conditions, thus preventing the possibility of the material being used for the purpose of unsettling or unduly in- fluencing the market and eliminating any possible unwarranted speculation. Small Buyers Considered The war department sales campaign has been unique in many respects. The methods of sale adopted have provided for the disposal of stocks at points at which they are located, in such a way as to permit the small buyer, as well as MARINE REVIEW the large buyer, to participate. Every possible precaution has been taken to pre- vent the creation of a monopoly which might enable a purchaser to charge ex- orbitant prices and realize undue profits. The methods adopted have protected the manufacturing industries of the country against ill effect not absolutely unavoid- able in the liquidation of such large stocks and at the same time they have secured for the users, the public, the advantage of low prices, at which they were able to buy commodities readily usable. Few sales have been made on any other than a strictly cash basis, except that in the auction sales bankers’ >ac- ceptances, payable in 90 days, issued by the banks of the federal reserve system, have generally been authorized for ac- ceptance up to 80 per cent of the total purchase price. Prices received have ranged from as low as %4 of 1 per cent of the original cost to as high as 116 per cent. Much of the material sold, especially during the past year, has been of special design, with little, if apy commercial use. Notwithstanding the loss on this class of materials the result to Dec. 15 last was an average return of 41 per cent of: the original wartime cost. This stands as an achievement of which the government may well be proud. Bought at the peak of prices, sold over the scaling down period in their markets, a large portion of special material of little or no value to industry, some reclaimed material, not a nickel’s loss written off on inventories, yet a re- turn of 41 per cent of the original cost. More Offers Received Not a single traveling salesman has been employed, but instead, with the ex- ception of the office of the director of ‘sales, dependence has been placed in gov- ernment agencies already existing, sup- ported by a well defined advertising cam- paign in the newspapers and business pa- pers of the country. This campaign has been national in its scope, embracing every field of industry and has provided the wildest possible publicity. Once every month the war department program of sales is published throughout the country. Supplementing this, every important sale is extensively advertised so that industry and the public may be fully informed as to when and where sales are being held, what is being sold, and how to buy it. The advertising appeal has been directed al- ways toward established business, and not. to the speculator, At every point the greatest difficulties have had to be over- come in the way of hostile propaganda, caused by mistaken ideas of the effects of our policies or a lack of understanding of what is best for the public good. I would like you to realize just what this campaign has done and is doing right now for us. In order that you may get some impression of its actual value, I am April, 1923 going to tell you of a certain incident. - In the latter part of October, 1919, we offered for sale, by sealed bids, about 100 lots of various textiles, which were to be sold as a whole, or by each lot, or in a minimum of 2000 yards of each lot. Bul- letins containing descriptions of the mer- chandise, where stored, and other informa- tion, were sent out to a list of what was thought to be representative, prospective buyers located in various sections of the country. What News articles, not paid advertising, were run in a number of business papers and newspapers, mentioning the date of sale, some of the goods to be sold, and terms. We received the grand total of eight bids, none of them for any considerable quan- tity. About two weeks later when our ad- vertising policy had been approved, prac- tically this same list of goods, for none of the eight bids received was accepted, was made the medium of our first at- tempt to make paid advertising an aid in selling our surplus. I do not recall just exactly how many bids were received, but it took our abstract division two whole days to make an abstract of the bids which we did receive for consideration. Actual sales made amounted to approx- imately $780,000 and bids were rejected amounting to approximately $260,000. In other words, the bids received on the same list of goods which two weeks before had been advertised with only eight offers materializing, produced a total offering of more than $1,000,000, on merchandise which had been appraised at approxi- mately $800,000. More important than this possibly is the fact that our surplus is being sold in practically every state in the union as against the very limited num- ber of buyers prior to the introduction of advertising. This has resulted, I believe, in our ob- taining a greater percentage of returns to the government, of telling everyone every- where what we have to sell when, where and how it will be sold, and removing any cause for complaint by reason of the prospective buyers not knowing of these sales, which condition may easily have prevailed under previous methods. I particularly want to bring this thought to your direct attention, for the reason that I believe advertising to be one of the greatest forces in modern business, wheth- er it be private or governmental, and | am morally certain that it has proven so in our own particular work. Late in 1920 the assistant secretary of war was specifically charged with the sale or other disposition of surplus property, thus placing the office of the director of sales under his supervision. When Mr. Wainwright became assistant secretary, Advertising Accomplished with the advent of the present administra-