Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1891-08-13
CARRIERS A SUCCESS.
The Montana Man Making a Good Record an
Commissioner of the Land Office.
Work Being Cleared UP and
Clerks Made to Earn the Their Salaries.

The Pioneer Press Washington
correspondent writes: Hon. Thomas
ii. Carter is making a good record as
commissioner OF the general land
office. For many years past the po-
sition OF commissioner has been re-
garded as one of the hardest places to
fill OF almost any similar Office in the
government. There have been very
few commissioners that made a sue
cess of the place 1t is an Office that
has been interfered with by the secre-
tary OF the interior to the extent that
it. was fast becoming a chief clerkship
to that cabinet officer Commissioner
Carter has changed that state of af-
fairs materially. When he was first
offered the place he was discussing the
matter with a friend here in Washing
ton who had considerable knowledge
of the working of the Office and the
many perils that lay in the way of
any man who was determined to 60
ahead and make a good commission
er. This friend told Mr.. Carter that
if he became commissioner he should
have an underst anding from the start
that he was running that Office, and
that he would run it himself or get
out. 1t is not known whether such an
understanding was arrived at or not,
but it is certain that Mr.. Carter is the
first commissioner that has been in
the position that has not been har-
assed and bedeviled by the secretary
of the interior until he had to give up
his own individuality and let the Office
drift along as best it would.
Every commissioner who has gone
into the office with the determination
to do something, to clear the decks,
to get out the business, to catch up
with current work, to give the settlers
their patents, to settle the contests,
to dispose of the fraud cases, in short
to put the office upon a business-like
basis, has met with powerful opposi-
tion in his own department. Men
who have long been there, and other
lazy clerks who never cared to get any
work done and had no further ambi-
ton than to draw their salaries, al
ways
THwARTED THE COMMISSIONERS.
They told him certain work could not
be done any faster. They were not
afraid of dismissal because they could
go to the secretary, and the secretary
exercised supervision over the men
and their tenure of Office. Ii a man
was to be dismissed the secretary
must hear all the particulars, and he
would decide between the commits
sioner and the commissioners sub
ordinate. 1t was thus that the diSci-
pline Of the land office was broken up.
That is not the way business is done
now. If Mr.. Carter tells clerk he
wants something in a certain time and
the clerk of his chief says the work
cannot be done in that time, and the
commissioner says he will find man
who will do it and do it properly in q
reasonable time, the clerk does not
appeal to the secretary. He does the
work or he gives way to some man
who can do the work. A few exam
Piles have sufficed to show the people
in the Office that the commissioner
knows something about it's business,
and as q result the work is being
caught up rapidly. When Mr.. Carter
came in the Office was from three
months to three years behind on va
rious classes of work. Now the Office
Is up to date on q great deal OF the
business, and the balance is being
pushed with vigor that will soon
bring 1T along equally as far. There
are a class of clerks who do not like
to see this, as it may reduce the work
ing force OF the office, and the drones,
of course, will have to go, but they are
Obliged to carry out the commission
er's Instructions.
An instance of the work that is be-
ing done is shown in the correspond
ence division. 1t formerly took from
ten to thirty days to get a letter in
and answered. 1t would be stacked
up with all the other mail, and per-
haps it would be reached in one day
and perhapsit would be buried deeper
the next day by another avalanche OF
mail being dumped upon it. Mr..
Carter made an investigation. He
said that a letter to the land Office
upon ordinary routine matters would
have to be answered and the answer
sent out within three days from the
time of it's receipt. at can't he done, ~
said a number of clerks. at is inn
possible" said others. The commits
sioner quietly said that it
WOULD HAVE TO BE DONE,
or he would get men that could do it.
Now all the mail is attended to with
promptness and regularity, and the
people i'm the division do not have TO
work but very little harder than be-
fore. A little straight talk did that.
In such divisions where the work
has been brought up to date and there
are more clerks than can be utilized,
the commissioner has transferred
them to the divisions where the work
is behind, and is pushing it forward
rapidly. The result is that the office
is constantly gaining on the accumu-
lated work. There is more brisk air
about the place. 1t is observed that
something is being done. There is
not as much loating in the halls and
corridors as formerly. There is an
actual appearance OF briskness that
might be observed in a business estab-
| lishment.
There is no friction between the
commissioner and the secretary, and
there never will be as long as matters
move along as they do now. The
commissioner attends to the land
matters and to the details of his Office,
ami is not interfered with by the sec
retary. There is not the amount OF
tale-bearing from the land office to
the secretary's office that was noticed
i'm former administrations. There is
| no system Oi eeIioutSe oii the cohi
| missioner that is said to have existed
in times past. The present commits
| sioner would stand nothing OF that
kind, and the clerk that should be
caught carrying tales or spying upon
| the commissioner would be dismissed,
and if he was retained by the secretary
there would be rupture Immediately
1t was never demonstrated with SO
| ,,,noh f,rco in he nraSent in ar a nre
that it is wisdom to place an import
ant bureau like the land office under
the control of the man who is at the
head of it, providing that the man is
L GO that Lind Of Q