Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-30
PAYMENT BY CHECK
Experiment in Two of the De-
partments Today.
SECRETARY'S DIVISION
IN TREASURY AND HUNDREDS IN
COMMERCE AND LABOR.
Believed by Secretary Shaw to Reduce
Liability Of Defalcation OF
Disbursing officers.

The plan Of paying employees of the gov
ernment service In Washington by check
instead OF by cash was inaugurated at the
treasury today. The beginning was a small
one, however, the plan of Secretary Shaw
to start with the entire Treasury Depart
nient having failed because of the inability
of the disbursng forces to get the checks
ready. The check method. therefore, was
confined today to the Secretarys division
of the department. containing about l,0oo
people. The checks were distributed by the
same method as the cash heretofore. Some
one clerk in each room or division distri-
buted the envelopes containing the checks
to the other employees The envelopes con-
tanning cash were given out this way in the
past. thereby preventing the crowding OF
thousands of employees at one place.
Some Objections.
There were apparently no outward fea-
lures of objection to the check plan, except
in the time lost to employees in going to the
cash room TO get the money for their
rants. Employees inclined to dislike the new
plan pointed this out as an objection which
the government might find an important
one.
Another possible objection was that
when the entire department was paid or
together with other departments. If tho
plan became general, there would be sure
to be a great blocking of entrances and
exits to the treasurer's office, where the
checks must be presented for payment
One way to obviate this was suggested,
and that was that some one employe of
each room division could take all the
checks in his portion of the establishment
and get the cash for them. handing out
the cash envelopes the same he has
done in distributing the envelopes hereto
fore. But even this method would take
rr11lp n < n =
would be required by each cashier In hand
ing out the cash for a dozen or so checks.
which must be disposed of one at a time.
Some of the employees of the treasury
objected today to the checks being made
out to James Jones or bearer, claiming
that the checks ought to be payable to or
der, their loss would enable them TO be
cashed by the finder without trouble. OBJ
jections of this sort however, could easily
be overcome.
AS to the objection that the cashirag of
the checks would take much time away
from employees, it is stated that employees,
in the course of time, would get accus-
toned to cashing their checks at their
tradesmen's establishments and would not
consider 1t necessary to present them Inn
mediately at the treasurers office on re-
ceipt.
Department of Commerce and Labor.
The Department of Commerce and Labor
is understood to have paid off it's several
hundred employees by check today, and the
experiment there will be compared with
that in the treasury. Secretary Shaw FRANK
ly states that the whole thing is an ex-
pertinent, the object being to see If the
check plan can successfully take the place
of the old system of paying of by cash, en-
velopes being used and handed around.
The idea of Secretary Shaw is that If the
check plan can be adopted the risks of de-
falcationS on the part of dsburSing officers
will be reduced to practically nothing.
There have been number of these de-
falcations for good-sized sums in recent
years, and the government has come out a
heavy loser. BY the check method disburs-
ing officers would not handle any cash and
would become mere check handlers and
bookkeepers. Some of the disbursing OFF,
GERS sometimes handle hundreds OF thou
sands more dollars than the face OF the
bonds they give to indemnify any losses
The disbursing officers of the Treasury De-
par arrnent-Messrs. Hobbs and Bartlett-are
frequently responsible for many thousands
of dollars above their bonded liability. So
1t is in every department.
Rush in Cash Room.
In the cash room of the treasurer's office
there is some doubt about handling a rush
of checks without much more help espe-
cially as these checks come about the same
time as the many checks from the District
government and to pensioners of the gov
ernment At some periods of each month
the cashiers Office is invaded and long lines
of people wait their turn for money. When
the public school teachers, fremen. police
men, pensioners and retired army and navy
officers begin appearing to get cash for
their paper there is generally busy time.
To have $4,000 or 80, 900 more checks added
from the different departments would mean
hustle and hustle of the liveliest sort in
the greatest cash room in the world.
The next pay day OF the treasury will
find nearly all the employees being paid on
by check unless the partial experiment OF
TODAY is considered sufficient TO prove the
present system the best one, but it is re-
garded as certain that the check plan will
be given a fair trial and that its merits and
demerits will be laid before the department
tai committee that is considering improve
ments in the methods of conducting the
government establishments.