The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1898-01-20
TIME NO OBJECT.
Therefore European state OmoiAls Are In
No Hurry.

No Hurry.
"There is no hurrying in the de- /
buildings in Europe,
observed a recently returned Ameri- |
can, a department official, to a re-
porter, "and such a thing as 'spe- /
cial' is not known. No matter or
business can be made special or
rushed through. To get an answer
TO the simplest question requires
from one to FIVE days, oftener the
latter than the smaller number. /
suppose if any one in high official
position should personally interest
himself in case he could have II
disposed of out OF order, but even
then there would be some delay
about il, simply for the reason that
the system operates slowly. In our
departmental business a case can be
and is frequently received and dis
posed of in less than an hour, though
in some instances il has 10 go
through a couple and even more di-
visions for action and note before il
can be acted upon by the head OF
the department. Such cases are
known as red card or blue card cases
and are special They have the
right of way, and routine matters
are temporarily laid aside while
they are being considered and acted
upon. These specials are made so
on request, and il does not require a
very heavy request either to &C
complish il. There is no depart
ment that does not have a great
many of them in each day. On the
other side of the ocean things are
run less in railroad fashion and
there is absolutely no interference
or interruption with the way the
wheels go around. In the public
/ buildings, as far as l could observe,
business is transacted as II Is in the
departments here.
"a certain number of papers out
of the newly arrived mail is handed
around to the divisions to which
they belong and by the chiefs of the
divisions, in turn, assigned 20 the
various clerks for action and record
When the work is finished, it i:
turned in, examined, signed anC
mailed, but everything has 10 e
through this order. In Berlin haC
a postal matter to look after. Or
inquiring at the proper office for in
formation / was told that no per
sonal requests for information coul'
be considered. and would have I,
reduce my request to writing. Thi
did. / was then told that the an
swer would be sent me in abou
three days. / argued that as tn
information l desired was a mat
ter of brief record il could be fun
nished me in five minutes, and
could save that much time. but tn
argument didn't go, and had I
wait.
The answer came in exactly thre
days. / could have obtained simila
information at any of the depar'
ments here in an hour at the ful
thest, for il was a matter that an
clerk could answer, as il did not n
quire the action of the head of th
department. When the answer di
come, il was very apparent thi
there was a misunderstanding somi
where, for the answer did not mt m
, question. Knowing that / wrote m
request somewhat in a hurry,
thought that possibly the error wa
on my side. and j again called @
y the official and explained, and aske
: to see my letter, to ascertain if
Il had properly stated my request.
e was agsin told to put my request
,. writing and that would have q
n answer in three days By this tin
Il / was downright mad, but kickiI
" did no good, and bad to wait Il
full time. When the answer d
come, found that the request al
the answer were correct as far
they went. but that had not ask
as much information as require
Then | filed another request, Al
. got the information in exactly tv
days a"-Waskington Star.