Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-04-20
Mr.. Benedict Tells How the New
System Operates.
CHARACTER OF TEE FORCE EMPLOYED
Difference in Methods Between
Him and His Predecessor.
THE ONLY ASTER


government printing office on the subject
Of the civil service question ard Public
Printer Benedict's talk on that matter, that
appeared in The Star Of Thursday evening,
vas brought to Mr.. Benedict's attention
this morning. He said that the talk was
but sample of many that are being pro-
duced every week from those whom he
termed 1.-The fellows outside" He said he
received by mail frequently just such arti-
cleS, and went on to show that to answer
all the criticisms directed at him it would
be necessary to extend the natural term Of
hours allotted to each day.
There is no task system in the print
ing divisions of this Office" said Mr.. Bene-
dict, referring to the statement that the
printers were obliged to do SO much work
Office are expected to meet the service
here and to do it we'll. They are paid for
such service. 1t is natural that with
large force of men the results of their
LABOR should vary. l pride myself that
this force is COED one; that it is COM
posed of the best of men connected with
the trades employed here 1t would be sur
prising and discouraging if they should
1all 10 meet the demands of the service
which is high. 1t is natural and to be ex-
pected that they should emulate each other
in trying to make the best records, for
they know that If the time should come
for any reason it would be the only posi-
BILE course for me to select for retention
the men who have shown themselves capa-
BILE of giving the best service to the gov
eminent.
How the System Works.
II have here" continued Mr. Benedict,
taking from his desk a document in man
uscript, lone of the regular reports from
my foremen. This. comes from a division
of the typographical department. My fore
man says here that the present plan is
working most admirably. He says that
there Is among the men a spirit of har-
mony and emulation for good results. He
cites two or three sample cases 10 show
that the men are proving themselves to
be worthy of the force. Is that my fault?
Am to be blamed and criticised simply
because by a simple system, such as any
good business man would adopt in his pri-
vate enterprise. ] am getting for the gov
eminent q maximum of results?
THE main point of the criticism You re-
fer TO is that 1 refuse to greatly increase
the force; that l insist upon trying to run
this printing Office with a sufficient force.
When l left this office l had certain
Humber of men employed. They were do
ing the work well. When l returned I
found the force Immensely increased. The
fact was that I and my predecessor had
different views of the way to run the Of
flee. He believed in the half-loaf policy.
After Mr.. Cleveland was inaugurated / did
titled to his views. as l claim to be entitled
to mine. 1t is my theory that 1t is far bet
ter to get together force of men on
whom l can rely, encourage them to do
good work, abandon the furlough system
made necessary by too large a force, thus
giving the men steady employment, and
make 1t possible to promote harmony, unity
and practical results in good work.
1.-The public printer can make no excuses
for failure to do his duty. He must have
his task done on time; the work cannot be
delayed. When the end of the fiscal year
arrives the great supply of blank books
and forms and other matters that are
needed must be in each custom house and
other public offices in the country. The
congressional work must be met. There
can be no delay. The work must be done.
Therefore l must have a force that can be
relied upon to be on time.
The Law Mandatory.
Now, look for a moment at the law
Section ~ of the act Of 1895, the printing
reorganization bill, is as follows: 1T shall
be the duty of the public printer to en-
ploy workmen who are thoroughly skilled
in their respective branches of industry,
shown by trial of their skill under his
direction The law is mandatory. 1t
leaves me with no discretion except as to
what constitutes thorough skill. 1 must
take my own means of finding out the
men whom am to employ under the law.
have therefore sifted my force according
to the showing the men make under my
direction. -..-.,
There were 1852 men on the rolls of
this Office when took charge the last time.
There were on the 18th of this month, as
you will see by this roll. 9, 495 men. Since
my coming in there have been two branches
of work added to the Office that were not
part of the organization before. Thus 1
am today doing a greater amount Of work
with less force. There had to be dis
charges. Who were to go? Why, those
who could be the best spared. Some Of the
w ep-tf otcn Co.
tanning the good men, and say that 1 am
setting a task Let me tell you of the
orly task system in this office. The men
In the bindery. who are skilled men, SPLEEN
did men. are obliged by the rules of their
union to execute certain amount of work
a day. There is a limit below which they
cannot go. If that were all, it would be all
right, but that Is not ALL That same mini
mum limit is also the maximum limit. The
man Is not allowed, under penalty of a
heavy fine, to do more than that much
work. Men pay fines into the treasury of
their organization for working too much.
and 1 know it. That simply means that
these men are to be merely capable of Just
SD much production. II want more books
bound I must hire more men. Here is a
task system and the only one here
THE task master in this office is a labor
organization. 1t is not the public printer
Steady Force Better Than One Fur
Laughed.
Life is really too short to discuss this
matter fully. 1t is something that comes
up every day. every hour. have the mis-
fortune of believing that good work pays.
and that steadily employed force is better
and more easily managed and less trouble
some than great force furloughed half
the time and poorly paid. And let me say
one word about these men who are en-
ployed here. 1 am not afraid to say that
they are the most intelligent, the most in
dustrious the hardest worked and the
poorest paid of any of the employees of the
government. You will find men here work.