The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-11
POSTAL COMMISSION
coNGREssroNAL COMMITTEES HAS MADE THOROUGH INVESTIGATION.
It sx Recommended TAat Control ef Department Re Placed In Hands of . Director for .
 Long Term.


 the last Congress to investigate the meth ods of the postofiice and postal service and recommend legislation to effect changes in their administration.
 The Comniittee. consisting of Sena- tors Penrose. Carter and Clay, and Representatives Cverstreet. Gardner of New Jersey and Moon, points out many objectionable features to the business of both department and service. Chief among the recommendations is a plan to place the actual direction of the postal department and service in the hands of an officer, with necessary as- sistance to be appointed by the Pres- ident, 'by and with the advice and con- sent of the Senate" for long terms so as to insure the continuity of efficient service. Under this plan the Post master General. as member of the cabinet. is chargeabie with general su- pervisory control and the determIna- ton of questions of policy.
 The Committee also recommends that the business of the department be de- centraiized/so as to. avoid the conges- tion at the national capital, which ifn- pairs the efficiency and increases the cost of service. that the bookkeeping. auditing and accounting be simpiified, unified and centralized to secure great CT accuracy. more prompt methods and eliminating of duplication of work, and that the practice of requiring needless detailed reports from small postoffices De discontinued. The moderate appli- cation of the non-accounting system. to small offices will eliminate about 90. 900 or nearly one half of all the postal ac- counts from the complex report and bookkeeping system or would at least greatly simplify the same
 The Commission says: Tt appears. too. obvious to require argument that rraA m4I4 4ntn d.. T excelied as the direction of the busi- ness Is at present instructed to a post master general and assistants selected without special reference to experi- ence and qualifications and subject to frequent change. Under such a system large railroad. commercial or indus- trial business would inevitably Ro into oankrupfcy, and the Postofice Depart ment has averted that fate only be- cause the United States treasury has been able to meet the deficIency."
 submitted with the report of the Commission Is report of considerable volume from two New York accounting firms which were assigned to the in- vestigation of the department last May. This report goes at length into the abo- lition of bureaus, the organization of administrative divisions, the merging of money order and postal accounts, use Of labor saving devices. classification. auditing and accounting and all of inc many branches of the subject.
 It contains an elaborate synoppfs of plan Tor recognizing divisions. It is pointed out that the criticisms are di- rected at methods and not at individ. uals. The following is a summary of the more important suggestions made in the report of the examiners
 That the offices of the first second third and fourth assistant postmaster generals be abolished and that the li- rector of post be appointed at a salary sumcient to attract the best adrninis- trative talent in the country, and must be given sole charge of the opinions of the department and service, subject only to the control in matters of pol icy of the Postmaster General as a Cab met officer that assistant directors be appointed to take charge of the main operating divisions (postohices, trans. portati0u. appointments, fnance.. comm troller, inspections. purchasing agent and supplies) That the comptroIler should be in charge of the whole ac. counting for the department and ser vice, and that the duties of the audi, tor be limited t0T an auditor of all of the accounts in the proper sense of the word; ehat all postofices not doing d money order business. be treated as
 non on-accountipg offices" and that q nxed supply of stamps. etc, be supplied to them to be replenished from neigh boring accounting offices in exchange for cash or it's equivalent, that the district officers be created at convenient points throughout the country, organ ized in miniature in the same lines as the department in Washington. which would supervise the whole of the work in their districts under the direction of responsible officials. that the director of posts and the assistant directors from an advisory board to meet several times a week and discuss important questions as they may arise, and that a similar advisory board be created at each district office; that the postmas- ter's accounts for postal and money order transactions heretofore. kept sep arately be merged. that promotions be based on merit and a scheme devised for retiring many of the older errI- pioyesi that the liability for exceed ing appropriations be strictly defined and limited; that a proper accounting system be installed: that the cost of the several services rendered bv the Postofice Department and postal ser vice should be ascertained In accord ance with methods herein Auggeste either by periodical tests or continu- ously; that the use of labor saving de- vices and machines be largely axtend- ed. particularly adoption of mechan- ical system of auditing money orders; adoption of the use of postal notes not to exceed S1o and elimination of all money or offices not issuing 500 money orders per annum.
 This report classes the cost account ing and auditing ssytem of the Post ofiice Department and service as ex- tremely crude and absolutely lacking in uniformity.
 ''The appointments of postmasters, clerks in postofiices and many other grades of the service" says the re- port, "are still largely affected by po- liticaI influences"