New-York tribune., 1906-03-24
PRESIDENT ON RED TAPE
KEEP COMBUSTION WORK.
Tribute Paid to Tits EfortS-Out-
line of Results Hoped.

Washington, March 23-President Roosevelt
had an informal meeting last Tuesday evening
at the home Of Clifford Pinchot, chief of the
Division OF Forestry, with the members Of the
Keep Commission. The commission was ap-
pointed a year ago to study the business meth
ods Of the departments of the government, with
view to systematizing the work and reducing
the amount Of red tape" to a minimum.
After discussing the work of the commission
and its achievements up to this time, the Presi-
dent delivered an address to the members, in
which he paid tribute to them for their disin-
terested efforts to improve the government ser
vice His remarks were made public to-day at
the White House. In part the President said:
1 wish to express my very great appreciation
oL @ Ihe work that you are doing. 1t would be
Soou lhlhg Tor certain critics Of our govern
hent TO realize the amount of hard, disinter-
eSted work for the government represented by
this gathering to which 1 am now speaking-a
work which must in the immense majority of
cases be its own reward, and therefore an ample
reward, for there is nothing pleasanter than
the consciousness of having done we'll a bit of
work we'll worth doing
A year ago I appointed the Keep Commission
because had become convinced that the bus-
ness methodS or our government were by no
means abreast of the times. While 1 think there
is comparatively little corruption in the national
governmental service, and while that little l
intend to cut or have cut out through other
agencies than yours, it yet remains true that
there is a good deal of duplication of work a
good deal Of clumsiness Of work, and, above all,
the inevitable tendency toward mere bureau
cratic methods, against which every government
official should be perpetually on his guard-the
tendency 10 regard not the case, but the papers
in the case, the all important matter with
which to deal and to feel proud sense Of duty
performed II all those papers are appropriately
dOcketed and referred and minutes made about
them, and then referred back without regard
to what has become Of the real fact at ISSUE
WORK OF THE COMMISSION.
Referring to the work of the commission, the
President said:
do not want a diagnosis of the case. want
a recommendation how to reach the case;
do not want merely to know that things are
bad; / want to know what is bad and what is
to be done to make 1t better; that If legis-
!aLoh IS necessary can recommend II, so that
If, as 1 hope will be true in the enormous ma
jority of cases the matter can be reached by
executive regulation, can see that that regula-
ton Is Issued. 1 want to say right here gentle
men, that l shall value the reports that ] re-
Ceive largely, not exclusively at all, but largely
in proportion as they do not call for legislation
There Is nothing easier. as all Of you know,
than to draw up elaborate minute to show
did something different. I want you, so far
Is possible, to recommend something that I can
do something that the heads Of the departments
can oo so that we can ourselves put stop to
much at least Of the evil that exists, remedy
much at least of the shortcomings that exist
AS nave said, your particular effectiveness
lies IN the fact that you are dealing at first hand
with work with which you are thoroughly ia
miliar You not outsiders You are not
engaged in constructing a parlor theory Of how
the work should be done; you are engaged in
recommendations to better the business which
you are yourselves to carry through and
made better when those recommendations have
been adopted You have literally unparalleled
opportunity for useful work. AS far 1
aware there has never before been made In this
country, indeed, in any country, such compre-
hensive, systematic effort to put the countrys
Housekeeping in order. need not say to you
that it is urgent. A great deal of our govern
ment work has become proverbial for the red
tape involved OF course, much OF the outside
criticism upon red tape is due to forgetfulness
of the fact that you and are responsible to
Congress for every dollar we spend and for
every dollars worth Of work that we do, while
the outsider is responsible only to himself or
those interested with him, so that we not only
have to do what is right and efficient but have
to be able to snow mat What we nave done Is
right and efficient; and this inevitably means
that there must be certain forms observed which
the unthinking outsider is apt to stigmatize as
red tape Nevertheless il is true that there is
always a tendency in government work to run
to needless red tape.
KINDS OF WORK NEEDED.
The most magnificent architecture that our
race has ever been able to produce-the great
Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages-were
made, not b. any known architect, not even by
any number Of architects whose names have
ever been recorded. We do not know the name
Of an architect builder connected with those
great masterpieces. Each made by a num-
Der Of men, architects and builders, each or
whom felt amply rewarded by the mere fact that
he was able to put all the best that there was In
him into his work He did not care TO have his
name known, he did not desire to be immortal
lied In connection with the work; he cared only
20 make the work itself the best that ii could
possibly be made. There never was an army
that amounted to anything in campaign or in
battle unless the average soldier had in him the
spirit which made him regard the winning Of
the campaign the winning of the battle, as in
itself the end and his service, If good enough,
S I'm itself the reward. He might wish other
rewards If they happened to come; but If they
did not, well and good The doing the duty is
of itself a sufficient reward for any man. So it
has to be If the work of the government is really
we'll done.
Of course. gentlemen, when you come to make
your recommendations you will have to deal
government business, but those broad princt-
pies must be supported by definite plans ready
to be given immediate effect. 1 believe in broad
principles, but do not want them so broad that
they viii not apply to any given case. want
q. general scheme, but also way to make that
general scheme effective in each department,
each bureau, each section and subdivision
touched by your committee I do not want you
in any case to recommend a change simply for
the sake Of making a change; nothing could be
in basine your recommendations upon the con-
dtions actually found and the best way to meet
them no matter how radical may be the depart
ure from established methods required.
Good team work is as much needed in the
executive Civil Service as it can possibly be
anywhere else. And it is the only way to pre-
vent duplication of work. Your own work is
most important but it covers only half Of the
field To put the departments on the best and
most economical working basis, the President,
power to transfer any part Of the work Of a
deDartment TO another department, as was done
I'm the case of the Department of Commerce and
Labor.
WILL SUPPORT SENATE.