| Show Round Merry By DREW PEARSON and ROBERT SALLEN W WASHINGTON WASHINGTON-On On n ti f e sio Fr Franklin Frank Frank- lin un D. D Roosevelt has been elected president of ot the United States despite the vitriolic opposition opposition opposition tion of big business and on a Democratic platform platform plat plat- form which featured attacks on big business and administration the Roosevelt Yet tod today Y far faras faras faras walking hand in as big business are while is concerned as the the defense program ruefully from the sidelines side side- fellow looks on the little theory that this na nation ion The Brandeis lines when business is broken onto into pro prospers pers most the country still scattered over sm small ll parcels the but In practice exists but only in theory engineering firm the the big big We contractor Munitions the government big bit munItions company gets 3 job almost every time the he Roosevelt administration now finds Thus position of having awarded awarded Itself in the unique expenditures durine during during dur- dur third one of all navy army ing ine the past year to exactly six firms Beth- Beth General Steel New York Shipbuilding and News Ship Motors Du Pont Newport CU Curtiss These six firms were given contracts totaling totaling totaling total total- ing nearly ten billion dollars Some of this concentration of orders is necessary necessary nee nee- firms essary because these are specialized Much of it on the other hand is unnecessary but comes about because the big companies have their close friends in the army and navy with whom they have done business for years In the contracting field for instance a half dozen big building firms have frozen out practically practically practically all other competition Speedy and Noiseless Noiseless' There are any number of building projects which could be handled by small firms But nine chances out of ten they dont don't get the jobs All the paths in Washington are greased runaround run as to give the little fellows the speedily and noiselessly as possible Officials are so skilled in this that they do it automat automat- Here for instance is the actual story of ofa ofa ofa a small contractor what happened to him ham in trying to get a government contract Everything Everything Every Every- th thing g printed below is factual except the name If the name was published this contractor wouldn't even get in the thedoor door John Dawson is vice president of a general general general gen gen- eral contracting company with offices in New NewYork NewYork NewYork York has handled jobs as big as 2 millions in the past but is not big enough to have a representative in Washington So Dawson came cameto to Washington himself asked officials whether he ought to retain a representative who could help him bid on projects No indeed he was told You need nobody nobody no no- body here We dont don't want to deal with agents Just write us a letter to s say y what kind of work youve you've done and well we'll get in touch with you Dawson thought he could do even better than writing a letter so he prepared a display book with photographs of work his company had done together with the records of his en en- On May 8 S he filed copies with the navy army engineers public buildings a admin administration min and national defense advisory com corn mission My Iy Hands Are Tied Then he waited Nothing happened After a month he came to Washington again Going to the navy first he told Commander Commander Com Corn mander Spalding that he would like to discuss his company's fitness to handle contracts Sorry but I cant can't discuss' discuss it replied Commander Com Corn mander Spalding My hands hands' are tied And he produced a letter from the secretary of the navy saying there could be no discussion of future projects because it might reveal their location and character to the enemy This sounded fine from the publics public's viewpoint viewpoint viewpoint view view- point but obviously it meant that a contractor had ad no way of getting business unless he happened happened hap hap- to have a friend on the inside Commander Spalding did suggest however that Dawson make the rounds of public works offices handling navy projects a along ong the Atlantic Atlantic At At- lantic coast Dawson followed this suggestion and traveled all the way to Savannah Ga But it turned out to be merely a g will good mission The Vice President President Meanwhile from from a fri friendly source in the army engineers he got a tip that a new air corps project was to be built in New York state So Dawson hustled over to Rome N. N Y to pu put in a bid Sorry my friend he was told on arrival but youre you're about a m month nth late Another contractor had just been brought into the picture and the job was assigned although although al al- though no announcement had been given until untila a few days before Dawson was defeated in Washington lost time in Georgia and missed a contract in in New NewYork York Now he was back in Washington to start the unhappy round merry all over again But meanwhile meanwhile a bright light came to Dawson He decided to get a local agent However contractors are obliged to take an oath that they employ no agents But he had heard of a neat scheme whereby an agent was as given give a title in the company perhaps of vice president Then the agent or vice president president president dent is paid a month and if he lands a contract he gets additional pay amounting to 10 per cent John Dawson sat In his shirt sleeves in a hot hotel room his head in his hands It was typical summer weather in the nations nation's capital capital capi capi- tal and he thought of his family on the coast of Maine So far he had spent three months knocking on government doors and cooling his heels in anterooms Finally Dawson decided I r dont don't like this lobbying business But other people are doing It and signing contracts So Im I'm going to to toem employ employ employ em em- ploy a lobbyist myself When youre you're in Rome do as the Romans do It Note This Note This is not an isolated case Distributed by United Feature Syndicate Syndicat I a. a |
