New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-03-05

REFORMS INAUGURATED UNDER THE III
RECTIOy OF SECRETARY PROCTOR.

Persons unfamiliar with The present orsai''~"''o "
the War Department have little ldea OF inc PVp '
Of its work which relates to strictly civil u"'ce'
committee ON Military Affairs. in late report TO 'he
House stated that work of tins nature idt"oi ''''
the control Of the military establishment ''sen Nv
hccome the larger part Of the work OF the Department
This work consists in the improvement vi r,.' ~
harbors the supervision Of the cOhs'ru'uo" VI '7
over navigable waters the furnishing oi eNiue'e "
nendinr pcusion claims and the administration OF inc
signal service. 1t has a force OF ABOUT LOW ''
besides its other employees. and III ms respect wv
third of the executive departments III slzc-the III
terror and Treasury Departments alone pe'hs 'ae0'
Taking into consideration both us civil d"d '"''
duties there is probably no other Department. cNop'
the Interior Department. whose WORK Is so Nar" III
~ character as that of the War Department ihcse
few words seem in order TO appreciate ''c
,mnor,ance of the work accomplished by Secretary
Proctor within the last year
WORK ACCOMPLISHED FOR THE bl-Nhfii VI
UNION VETERANS
Secretary Proctor's success In bringing up '''e NC
ayed work Of Pension Record investigator j. ""''
an opposltion paper has called " one OF the most
,icorous and radical measures Of practical Admins
,ation accomplished OF late years in the War Once
The War Department is the custodian OF over --'oVo
volumes Of hospital record books ana over ia" a
million rolls and books showing the service reco'uS VI
the veterans Of the late war. There are "'' CLERKS
engaged in the work Of answering calls from The
i
sources alone When Secretary Proctor became t'e
head OF the Department last spring. this 'rE was
greatly In arrears. In the Adjutat HehcraIs once
there were over 10000 cases on mana uhdlSpo>eu "'
There were but few cases which had not been IN u'
Office for more than thirty days aud the bulk OF them
from sixty 10 ninety while there were some wh'h
were known as officer remuster cases" wh'" ia"
been in the Office from to four years. The whole
system under ,ohich the Pension Bureau applied ior
and received information upon these cases was 'ac
lated 70 make rather than save WORK. Inc pcpa't.
ment had unconscously fallen into condition 81
hopelessncss and seemed 10 ocspd" VI 0''"N7 Wv
work mp TO date.
Under such conditions Secretary Proctor assumed
charge OF the Department. He Is di,tnctvcN a
business man and has the reputation OF having
the courage 10 carry ont reform which MS lncS
ment and experience tell HIN to be necessary. III
spite of the opposition and fears OF lesser ohcaS nc
issued an order on July creating the Record ana
Pension Division of the War Department. ard trans
feIrcd thereto all the records OF the Department re
Iatng 10 pension matters from the several bureaus
in which they had previously been Kept 'dWa''
Alnsworth. L. S. A., placed in charge OF the
whole According the reports OF the chiefs OF the
subdivisions there on the morning OF tha' day
40 500 cases undisposed Of in those parts OF Tic
Ad1utant Generals Office so transferred on jug =
there were by actual count 35,J4V cases Oh HAM, WI
the last day Of September there was not case lex
undisposed Of in the Office so much for the intro
ductiOn by Secretary Proctor OF business mc'"'' anu
business energy in his Department
But since the organization OF THIS new bureau
the number OF calls received from the Pension once
has steadily increased, having reached on several
occasions nearly 1000 cases In a single DAY Not
wlthstandng this great increase however In the WORK
OF the Office, ii Is all promptly disposed OF ana hoho
is allowed TO accumulate the bulk of the reports
called for being furnished within twenty four hours
Of the receipt OF the call Very few, and those
nlv MI cat
ond day.
The searches and vcri1cations Of the records are
made with much painstaking as ever Every
effort is made to make them accurate a. possible
All this has been done not only without an In
crease of clerical but by positive reduction Of
IT, On that part Of the work which was So nuch
in arrears a year ago there employed last July
37s clerks Not only has the work In arrears been
brought up, but the current work, double III amount
to that previously received IS being performed now
by only 1917 clerks, and the remainder OF the oid
clerks have been transferred to the work Of pcrTna-
nently transcrbing the records for future use. The
result marked illustration Of the business methods
introduced into the War Department IL will be ap-
precatcd by the country. 1t will be appreciated also
BY the old veterans, the settlement OF whose claims
Is fastened by this reform.
TO meet the difficulty OF preserving the original
records now In a wrctched condition through years
Of more or less negligent handling, and to make the
use the cArd-indcx system has been introduced This
system and It's advantages have been fully described
heretofore in The Tribune. committee OF the sen
ate which carefully investigated the whole matter.
reported that in its opinion II was Z" the
only practical feasible and economical solution Of the
vexed question regard to the preservation Of these
rolls without further and destruction. and the
placing Of the data contained in them In an easily
accessible and convenient condition for without the
handling Of the rolls" There have been practical
tests also OF its accuracy. From January !. 1879,
T. February 30, 1885, period OF nearly ten years,
prior 10 the beginning Of the use OF the card index tho
percentage cf cases in which evidence found
$50. III the first year in which cards used,
namely. from March I. 1898. to February %. 1889.
the percentage OF cases In which evidence found
was I'll. Again, 10 compare the accuracy VI tho
two systems, 1000 briefs Of pension calls. received
before the card index began TO be used and In which
the searchers unable TO find any record what
over. were taken at random, 100 cases being taken
from each Of the ten years A clerk simply turned
70 the present cards to whether they would dis
close any Information or not. In 300 out Of c OO)
or nearly 80 per cent. evidence found immediately
all showing from TO dozen different entries In
different books with reference 10 the claimants treat
mcnt in hospitals.
The Secretary is firm believer In the efficacy Of
the $, stem lie has directed it to be extended to the
entire ohcc rapidly as possible The extra clerks
which lie has been able 10 take of from the current
work by reason VI this reform nave pceh ue'icu lor
this permanent work OF preserving the records In this
form. Secretary Proctor viii thus be able 10 complete
this g'ea. work without asking for special appropria
ton from Congress, and he will thereby millions
| Of dollars to the Government
! THE RECORDS IF THE REBELLION.
The idea OF printing tho official records of the war
OF the Rebellion first preached nearly twenty
years ago, but 1t in 1874 that Congress made tho
nrst appropriation for that purpose The preliminary
|
| ana the first volumes were not issued until 1880 II
was originally contemplated that the entire edition
would finally consist Of four series. of sixty five vol
| umes.
The work contains no original matter whatsoever.