State

Jonuary 20, 1934 THE STATE Page Eleven FAGTS ABOUT OUR STATE GOVERNMENT No. 11 —Division of Purchase and Contract (This is the eleventh of a scries of articles appearing in Tin: Statf. por¬ traying for the benefit of Xorth Caro¬ linians the manner in which the twenty- one major departments of their state government are operated.) By W. J. SADLER ★ The 1 >i vision of Purchase and Con¬ tract is the baby "f the various depart meats of North < ’uroliim's state govern¬ ment, but it is a lusty youngster, already earning its keep, and more, and giving brilliant promise of developing into an I" agency of incalculable value to the citi¬ zens of Tar Heelia. Brought into existence by the Gen¬ eral Assembly of 1931, the department, which is directed by Л. S. Brower, authorizes expenditures of many mil¬ lions of dollars annually for supplies ranging from a paper of pins and wash tubs to automobiles and tractors. Spends Many Millions The division each year, just to men¬ tion a few items, contracts for more than a million dollars worth of gasoline for highway operations and school bus transportation; $750.000 for groceries for the various state institutions, edu rational, penal and others; 150,000 tons of coal as fuel for those institution* and schools, and huge quantities of other supplies needed to keep the Old North State in line fettle. More than 300 different articles are listed in the division's brochure of supplies. I hiring l lie first yonr of its opera¬ tion, when authorization was given for expending approximately $8.000.000, the division saved the taxpayers of the state a sum estimated at almost $1,000.- 000 through a system of purchasing needed supplies on a basis of competi¬ tive bidding. Preference Given State Whenever possible, North Carolina industrial and business establishments are given preference in awarding con¬ tracts, which increases the benefits citi¬ zens of the state are deriving from the division’s methods "f transacting Ьим ness. Textile, paper and automobile tire manufacturers of North Carolina have been the recipients of contracts from the division for huge quantities of their products. All printing con- A. S. BROWER - ★ - tracts are awarded to North Carolina print-shops. "North Carolina’s centralized pur¬ chasing plan is somewhat unique," said Mr. Brower, “in that it is the only one in the United States that not only lias su|K‘rvision of the purchases of all state departments and institutions, but also Krchascs the requirements for the pub- schools. We were one of the la-t states to adopt centralized purchasing, but when we did we made it more in¬ tensive in its application than in any of the other states. Mony Activities "Few of us realize how large is the state's business. The State of North Carolina 0)4irates, owns and supports twelve educational institutions for the white and colored races, it has three hospitals for the insane, it maintains two schools for the deaf and blind and one for indigent children, it provides a hospital for the treatment of orthopedic diseases and a large sanatorium for the tubercular, it has five training schools for unfortunates, a home for both the Confederate soldiers and women, and in addition maintains a large prison and nearly one hundred prison camps. Fur¬ thermore, the state supports the entire public school system, provides trnns- Cortntion each day for more than two undred thousand children, operates four thousand school busses and must beat and clean and keep in repair some twenty thousand school rooms. In the institutions there are ubout eighteen thousand people that must 1* put to bed at night, clothed bv day and have furnished them medical, social and even religious attention. Further, the -late must serve some seventy-five thou¬ sand meals a day, and operate* more than seven thousand pieces of motor equipment consisting of school busses, highway trucks and other types of motor vehicles. Enormous Family Fed “Some idea of the volume of food- -tuffs required can be imagined if one think.- of setting out to assemble each day groceries for breakfast, dinner and •upper for a family of twenty-five thou¬ sand mouths, or when it is realized that to begin the day and start off each of the school busses and trucks by filling each of the some seven thousand hungry tanks, a total of seven carloads of gaso¬ line is required. To heat and provide power for the institutions and public schools each year sixty trains of half a hundred cars each are necessary to move the coal required. “But not nil quantities are quite so awe-inspiring. Fortunately there is quite a refreshing variety. Purchase* run almost the whole gamut of thing* required for modern human existence. The Division within the space of on*' short day may be called upon to provide nursing bottles for the infant and shrouds in which to bury the dead, snuff and chewing tobacco, which a kindly law requires be issued to the insane and penal wards of the state, or carefully sclented table delicacies that must please the discriminating taste of tho school girl* . „ . Potience Required "It is an interesting panorama," con¬ tinued Mr. Brower, “and about the most valuable assets one charged with •he duty of keeping the wheel* moving can have are a sense of humor anti an infinite amount of patience, because it requires the exercise of ju-t about a- much ingenuity ami tael to please and satisfy the stenographer whose Inst sheet of carbon paper was a little too soft and smutty, or the fellow who habitual¬ ly waits until the day lie needs a thing and then chafes under the normal delay, as it does to contract for fifty trainloads of coal, or make available the ten mil¬ lion gallon* of gasoline required for a year’s operation. ( Continued on page twenty-six)