The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-12-31
ORGANIZATION IS COMPROMISE.
Best Features of Departmental and
Divisional Systems Are Adopted.

The new Employees Magazine of the
AtchisOn, Topeka 81 Santa he prints
the organization chart Of the system
1t is reproduced in the Railway Gaz-
cite, with the following comment: Like
that OF most of the great American
railroad systems, the Santa Fe Organi-
cation cannot be classed as being either
clearly departmental or divisional, but
it is mixture of the two, with jurts-
dictiOns sometimes interviewer. Take
the case of the chief engineer He is
departmental officer on the chart shown,
reporting his forces to the president and
not to the operating department, as, for
example, in the remarkable divisional
organization of the Illinois Central
where the chief engineer reports to~the
assistant general manager. But from
the fact that he is chief engineer of the
entire system, his work must neces-
sarily border on that of the consulting
engineer who is staff officer without
a department" strictly speaking; re-
porting also to the president. The sub
ordinate chief engineers, presumably
directly responsible for field work,
come also under the jurisdiction of the
operating department-as it is right and
natural that they should-together with
their assistants, including the bridge
engineer of the system. In the Penn
sylvania organization (RailrOad Gazette,
July 10, 1906l which may be taken as 4
type of the divisional. the general man
ayers jurisdiction does not extend over
the chief engineer nor the chief of mo-
tive power, both OF these officials being
staff officers to. the second vice Dresi-
dent direct But the Pennsylvania
general manager has authority over the
general superintendent of motive power
(the active head as differentiated from
the chief Of motive power, Responsible
for design over the chief engineer of
maintenance Of way with whom he is
directly concerned, and, through his
general superinteudents, all the
help" needed to keep. mis- railroai IN
order, as well as to operate Il.
The question whether a given organi-
zation is departmental or divisional
resolves itself, at the last analysis, into
rect to the general manager and his
superintendents, in comparison with
those who are staff officers reporting
to the president or to vice president
PENNSYLVANIA lodges the greatest
amount of control in the hands Of the
general manager and general supeT-n-
fendent the Santa Fe takes a midway
position, while the Rock Island UTgaTi-
cation tends to carry authority III spec
ial fields past the general manager, so
far as possible. As. regards the super
intendent of transportation supcrin-
tendent of telegraph and the master
mechanics, the Santa Fe organization,
is however, the most strongly depart
mental of the three If the position OF
the division engineer be accepted as
the test=and it makes 4 very good one
it will be seen that this part of the
Pennsylvania organization is straight
divisional; OF the santa re mixed, ana
of the 1904 Rock Island, straight de-
partmental
Although the respective arguments
for the two types of organization have
often been discussed in the RAILROAD
Gazette, it may be we'll 10 repeat. in
brief summary, that the position Of ire
departmentalists is based IN the belief
that, In a great system embracing eight
or ten thousand miles of linz, no one
man can be found able to handle in an
expert manner such diverse Jrohiems
az those relating to motive power, road
maintenance. and train operation.