Evening journal., 1903-03-07
UNIQUE FEATURES OF
THE NEW DEPARTMENT
Cortelyou's Staff Chosen With
Great Care Under Civil
Service Rules

commerce, MT. OOTlcllOu hlllSell udS
taken tic situation very calmly, says
tho Washington correspondent Of the
New York Post. His expectation is not
to launch his department in fully or
ganlzed condition-that is, not with a
complete equipment of men, furniture,
supplies, etc.--but to begin in a very
modest way, let die organization grow
out Of tie necessities of the work and
leave in the treasury or turn back into
il all that he does not find himself re-
quired to spend. His estimates were
based on the theory of the business
man who does not care to enter upon
new undertaking in trade without first
assuring himself OF balance in bank
large enough to tide him oveS trou-
blous period II one should come. At
present the department Of commerce
occupies a small corner of one room on
the ground floor of the temporary Office
building adjoining the White House.
It's outfit consists of one desk and three
chairs. The secretary sits I'm one Of the
chairs and uses the desk to write on.
The secretary's new staff, which he
is choosing with great care, will con-
sist Of an assistant secretary, a COM
missioner of corporations, commits
sioner of manufactures, a chief clerk
md an appointment clerk and disburs-
ing officer. Mr.. Garfield was promptly
selected as commissioner of corpora
tiors. The others will be named before
the 1st of July, when the work Of the
department begins. OF the fifteen bu-
reaus which will be included in the de-
partment thirteen are already provid-
cd for In the general appropriation
bills at cost of more than S7,O00,000
AS this Is the only instance in fifty
four years of the creation of a brand
new department. all the others having
been mere developments of plants al
ready existing. 1t is interesting TO note
the process Of constructing 1t. The first
thing Secretary Cortelyou did was to
decide upon the general plan of or
ganization of the bureau Of corpora
tons. AS this was TO prosecute in
quiries and make examinations into
the condition and conduct of stock COM
panies he took for his model the Office
Of the comptroller OF the currency,
whose functions In respect to the ma
tional banks furnish the nearest paral-
lei to the work Of Mr.. Garfeld's bu-
reau. Mr. Garfield will probably begin
work with himself, his private secre-
tary-whom he will have transferred
from the clerical staff of the civil serv-
ice commisslon-and perhaps a clerk
and messenger. AS fast as he needs
examiners for work In the field or
more clerks for his Office he will deslg-
nate them. The bureau of manufac-
lures will begin I'm an equally modest
way, though its clerical force Will
doubtless be recruited from time to
time for emergency tasks, like n census
force, and reduced again as the de-
mond for It's employment subsidies.
The new department viii be updcr
the civil service rules from the outset,
and whatever exceptions experience
may prove advisable will be made by
the president as the cause for each
such change arises. AS for the quarter
Ing OF the bureaus, several Of them will
I doubtless remain where they are for
the present and transact their routine
business with the central administra-
tive Office by messenger and telephone.
In deciding how much floor space will
be required I'm any new building to be
erected later the present space of the
bureaus already organized and running
will be increased only enough to make
their present work more convenient,
with an allowance FOR the ordinary
rate OF expansion. In the case Of the
new bureaus il is assumed that within
q comparatively short period It WIN be
possible to judge fairly well how many
clerks can be proftably employed, and
then an average will be struck OF the
number of square feet of room needed
per clerk In other we'll housed bureaus
doing analogous work, and the rest
Will be a simple example in multiplica-
tion In the bureau Of manufactures,
for instance, which will bear q pretty
close likeness to the census Office, the
employees will probably be crowded
rather close together, like the census
employees, whereas in the bureau OF
corporations they will have more room,
like the clerks in one Of the great &C.
0AANNes LhI HhAUOcC - uloO Al
selecting n site for the new depart
ment building to find one which will
permit Of enlargements by wings or
otherwise as the growth of the depart.
ment may require. without any radical
departures from the original plan of
the ediflce.
The examiners and other field agents
for the bureau of corporations and bu-
reau q manufactures will probably
be paid from lump appropriations, as
they are likely to be Of several differ
ent grades, classified according to the
work each has TO do, and these particu-
lars cannot always be determined in
advance. The tasks set for these bu-
reaus will probably begin with procur-
ing information desired by the presi-
dent to use in his messages to con-
gress. After they are in full running
order they will doubtless be called
upon by congress itself, much as the
census Office and the department Of