The Washington herald., 1908-01-02
STILLINGS' WEAK POINT.
Lacks the Ability TO Get the Best out
OF the Employees.


Lacks the Ability TO Get the Best Ont
of the Employees.
A representative of The Washington
Herald yesterday talked with gentle
man Of prominence in the organization OF
which most printers under the direction
of Mr.. Sulllngs are members, and this
veterans views seem so comprehensive,
so clearly reflex Of the general senti-
ment on the part of the rank and file
in the nations printing house, that it
may add to the situation to reproduce
them in a concise form.
/ Il do not join" said he, in the hos
| tile comments concerning Mr.. Stillings
| that have Of late marked the labor press
Of the land. Mr. stillings is not, in my
opinion, hostile to organized labor He
/ Is more disposed, believe, to treat that
element kindly than otherwise I give
him credit. moreover. for high ideals. for
an honorable ambition to make a record
| as a successful administrator of the trust
| that the President placed in his hands,
/ He is a young man. endowed with Wig
orOus mind and body, and certainly does
not spare himself In the work Of so
called reorganization that he has deemed
! essential.
/ His aims, as I say, are in my judg
ment COmmendable. But some of the
/ means ne has adopted 10 the end in view
/ I deem ill-advised. To begin with. he
seems 10 lack the faculty to bring out
| the best that is in the men and women
| employed In the Office. His many orders,
/ the tone that peTvades those orders,
| seem 10 indicate that he regards them
simply as hands as so many atoms In
/ the great machine. having no more sense
/ of personal dignity than inauimate OBJ
/ jects. There has been no indication IN
| these orders that he believes his subOrdi-
mates endowed in the performance Of
| their respective tasks, with such at
! tributes as self-respect. determination 10
/ do faithful work with incentive other
/ than the fear of punishment, and as a
! result. the best that IS in these people Is
/ not secured by the methods that the
/ Public Printer has adopted as his own.
Cost Of Printing Higher.
When asked what he thought of the
/ savings accomplished by the Public
/ Printer he said: Il deny that the pres
/ ent administration Of the public print
/ ing office achieves like results at the same
cost, not 70 speak OF less expense. than
/ did Mr.. Palmer. The President was per-
emptory In ordering reduction in volume
/ Of al the reports submitted by the execu-
/ tive departments. The Committee on
| Printing heartily seconded this effort 10
( reduce the cost of the public printing
/ And Congress heSlJated not 10 enact such
+ laws as would reduce the redundancy
/ that resulted In the accumulation Of use
( less printing TO an extent that storage
I room for all such trash was AZ a pre-
/ MUM. OF course. the public printing
must cost less than formerly. so long as
I this course is pursued How can 81 be
otherwise AS matter Of fact. the rel
ative cost % the public printing is now
/ considerably in excess OF what it has
/ been A large number OF officials. with
/ titles and functions never heretofore
( deemed necessary, are drawing generous
/ salaries that in the aggregate swallow
/ up the larger portion Of the so-CaHed
/ saving accomplished by reducing the
/ volume OF printing. A number Of these
/ high-priced men are utterly unnecessary
20 the proper transaction Of the business
Of the national printing IL is extrav3-
/ gance, pure and simple. It does not serve
/ the proper purposes Ir. StiIIings has In
/ view"
Regarding the very elaborate and ap-
parently expensive Audit System he
would only say that while it seemed to
/ him and other employees cumbersome and
wasteful. il might be that the System
I would earn what II had cost in produc-
! ing q system OF accountability that per-
maps in the free and easy past had been
/ wanting.
Political Phase of Case.
I do not think Mr.. Stillings should be
dismissed. He was called upon to under
/ take work far more arduous than most
men realize. I believe he was given GER
tain instructions that he has faithfully
/ striven 10 obey / further believe that in
/ doing SO. or attempting TO do so. he has
made grave mistakes, for some Of which
/ the Republican party is going 10 suffer
/ He has permitted himself to be Influenced
in his official action in such way that one
faction of one of the labor organizations
whose principal membership is employed
/ by him has had revenge in personal
/ feuds on another faction. The under dog
| in this fight, which was none of Mr..
/ Stillings' business. has In turn opened
| batteries on the Public Printer that will
| keep on firing from now until the next
| President is elected, to the detriment Of
| the party that keeps Mr.. Stillings in his
present position. Under these CiTCum-
/ staAces, were I a Republican, should
| advise the President to transfer the Pub
| JIG Printer TO another field, where his
! energy, his worthy ambition to do things
/ would find ample scope without rubbing
| against the peculiar element whose good
will or reverse has decided more than one
/ Presidential election since I cast my first
| ballot in the State of New York"