Hoover's Report

There is no more esteemed confection in the Executive Department of the Government than the word economy. It rolls with a quiver of delight on the tongue of the President. It rolls and rolls again on the tongue of the Director of the Budget. The Cabinet munch it at their meetings. Only last week, Secretary Hoover offered the dainty morsel again for the President's tasting in the annual report of the Department of Commerce.

This desire to eliminate waste has taken the Secretary of Commerce into strange fields and into many different problems. His Department has struggled with such questions as unemployment, seasonal construction in building, coal mining, super-power possibilities, standardization of products, cooperative marketing and the reduction of housing costs. Even trade association activities and street and highway safety have not gone unregarded.

In the elimination of waste, Mr. Hoover sees the possibility not only of better government, but also of decreased business costs and increased profits. Although much of his program above outlined has of necessity been theoretical, practical accomplishment has also marked his endeavors, particularly in the effort to lessen the seasonal ups and downs in the building industry, which were found owing to "custom, not climate" as had previously been supposed. "For most types of construction," Mr. Hoover remarks, "it is now possible to build the year round in all parts of the United States."