Omaha daily bee., 1905-06-17
SHOT At The BUREAUCRATS
President Appoints Commission to Revise
Business Methods Of Departments.
HE SAYS TOO MANY LETTERS ARE WRITTEN
Requires Economical and Effective
Work in the Light of best
Modern Commercial
Practice,

WASHINGTON, JUNE 16,-The president
has appointed a committee of five to re-
port to him on improved methods of doing
the public business in the various bureaus
and departments
In a letter addressed to Charles II. Keep,
assistant secretary OK the treasury, Prcsi-
dent Roosevelt says
You are hereby designated as chairman
of a committee to consist, in addition to
yourself, of the following four gentlemen:
Frank H.. Hitchcock, assistant postmaster
general Lawrence o. Murray, assistant
secretary of commerce and labor; James
r. Garfield. commissioner of corporations,
and Clifford Pinchot, forester in the De-
partment of Agriculture, who are to in
vesugate and find out what changes are
needed to place the conduct of the executive
pranches on the most economical and eff
fective basis in the light of the best mod
ern business practice.
salaries should be commensurate with
the character and market value of the ser
vice performed and uniform for similar
service in all departments.
Ihe existence of any method, standard,
custom or practice is no reason for its con-
tinpance rh when better is offered:
There should be systematic interdepart
mental cooperation in the use of expert
or technical knowledge. The business
methods of the different departments should
be substantially uniform: In the adoption
of methods and the performance OF work
Every ee Sbe Ste9 which i5 not clearly indispensa
Too Much Letter writing.
A resolute effort should be made to Sc
euro brevity in correspondence and the
elimination of useless letter writing. There
Is type of bureaucrat who believes that
his entire work, and that the entire work
or the government should be the collecting
of papers in reference to q case, comment
ing with eager minuteness on each and cor
responding with other officials in reference
thereto. These people really care nothing
In the case. In all branches of the gov
ernment there is a tendency greatly to in-
crease unnecessary and largely perfume
tory letter writing. In the army and navy
the Increase of paper work Is a serious
menace to the efficiency of fighting officers,
who are often required by bureaucrats to
spend time In making reports which they
should spend in increasing the efficiency
Of the battleships or regiments under
them. AS regards this matter you will
please confer with the assistant secretaries
of the war and navy departments and re-
quest them to submit to me a scheme for
doing away with the evils referred to. In
the civil departments the abuse of letter
writing amounts not merely to the waste
of time of the government servant re-
sponstbe for it. but also the impeding of
public business
Please consider also the matter of en-
forcing accountability for property.
1t is pointed out that the committees
work is not to discover Irregularities or to
criticise the business Of any Office or in
dividual, but to examine business methods
as outlined.
Governor Magoon in a cablegram to the
Isthmian Canal commission reports three
new cases of yellow fever and one death on
the sthmus, as follows:
Matias MatomoIa, aged "a, laborer, Pan
anna; Michael Brosnan, American, aged 35,
timekeeper, Empire; b. J. Yallaby Amer
lean, aged "a, Rodman, La Boca. Edsten-
ring, heretofore reported i'll, died June
Is
An official communication from Governor
Magoon to Colonel Gorgas, chief sanitary
officer on the canal zones assures the lat
ter of every possible assistance in the eff
fort to improve sanitary conditions on the
isthmus and to render the zone more
healthful. He says:
know / voice the earnest conviction OF
the president and the secretary of war in
saying that yellow fever must be eradicated
and proper sanitation accomplished If It is
Money, means and men to the extent of the
commisstons s ability to supply them are at
your you dis disposal we rely on you to ascer-
We l mean the president the secretary
Of war, the commission and the people OF
/ do not consider the present situation un-
duly alarming, but think the present hazard
much less than at several previous periods.
Remains of John Paul Jones.
The following statement was issued at the
Navy department late today regarding the
removal to this country of the remains of
John Paul Jones:
Rear Admiral Sigsbee has been ordered to
coal and be ready to proceed to Cherbourg
France, for the purpose of bringing to this
country the remains of the late John Paul
transfer of the remains will probably take
place in Paris on July or and the squad
ron will sail for Chesapeake bay on July s.
on Sunday or Monday.