The Washington times., 1909-08-27
New Methods Said to Be
Working in Contrary
Directions.
BENNETT OPTIMISTIC
OVER THE OUTCOME
Commissioner Hopeful That by
Forced Work Department
May Catch Up.

That the General Land Office is in
a dernoralized condition, three months
behind in its work, and hopelessly en-
tangled in an effort to work out a COM
pick card system to replace the old
ledger system is the claim made BY
many Washington attorneys doing bus
mess with the office. and supported by
Inc statements of Government en-
ployes.
The office is declared to be In bal
shape, with clerks refusing to work
! nsnts when ordered to bv chiefs u-ho
! are making a desperate effort to vhip
lne snarled records Of the Government
j4nd grants into shape.
The heads Of the bureau have been
making every effort 70 keep secret the
exact state Of affairs. while every exDe-
oient that could be thought OF has been
employed to remedy. il posSible. the
system and make it practica bl.
Fred Dennett, CommissioneE Of the
Land Office. admitt45 tiis afternoon
that the Office was saving much diff
Guilty. but vas optimistic Of the out
come.
We have very difficult task on our
hands, he said. The Keep comnis-
sion made certain recommendation re-
garding the methods OF business at the
Land Office, as a result OF which For
Nor Secretary Garfield retained a New
, ork firm Of business experts TO plan a
new system It is the working out OF
this system that is causing the trouble.
just as the Introduction Of any new
method VIII cause more or less con-
fusion"
The work OF putting Ia the new card
irdex system began before Mr. Dennett
| took charge. and he. as well as the
su5cr isnates. is working night and day
trying TO straighten out the tangle.
IEdtcations are that shaking up is
ccss at hand in the edice. due to the
c6u iiti0ns in that office quite apart
from sr.y matters that may arise in con-
lice len with the Alaska coal cases.
1t : cnar ged that the business Of th8
Ger sral Land Onice is not only running
llenild. but that i is far in arrears. It
IS alleged that the effect Of this Is 70
work hardship TO homesteaders and
others to whom the quick dispatch OF
business in this part Of the Interior De-
parta.ent is important.
ReIistie information is TO the effect
that the new methods are working ia
two directions; first, it is increasing
largely the cost Of running the office;
second. II is not operating To facilitate
the hsndling OF the cases before the
General Land Ofhce, but has tended 10
throw things into confusion.
New System Is Costly.
Instead OF bringing order out of chaos,
il appears the new system thus far
has worked chiefly to eat a hole into
Uncle Sans pocket. It is said 10 have
cost the Government from $4,000 to S50,-
600 to put into operation. and some es-
Inmates put the cost much beyond that
figure. The new system IS one Of hand
ling the bulk of the cases before the
Land Office by a system Of seFializa-
ton. instead of by the system of card.
indeXingr based on numerals and on
names which was formerly in effect.
Attorneys doing business bcfor5 the
Land Office are besieged with letters
from clients making urgent requests
that their claims receive early action
When the General Land Office officials
are asked about such cases the attor-
neys are told that the work Of the Of
nee Is largely in arrears on account OF
the new business methods. Before the
new system was installed, the CfehereI
Land Office was practically current 10
all the needs of the public, and there
was reasonably early adjudication OF
claims.
Employees Are Disorganized.
Strict orders have been issued 10 the
clerks in the General Land Oface 10
say nothing to outsiders about the con-
dition of things in the Office. Good
ground exists for believing that the en-
ployes are in a disorganized and demor-
allied state The new serial method
of Ming was installed by the represen-
tatives OF a New York fling concern.
II was inaugurated with the idea that
the office was in need of more up-to-
date business methods The same sys-
tenn was installed in the Patent Ofhce.
So far as can be learned, il mas worked
well there, but the demands in the two
offices are not the same. The Cen
eral Land Office. through a series or
years, has built and established a chain
OF records which run into the hundreds
Of thousands and TO which the Office
had a complete record. Now, il Is
charged that attorneys are finding it
takes hours to find cases which had The
misfortune to get into the mill Of serial
iZation.
one of the troubles in the General
Land once has arisen from an effort to
get clerks to work nights. IN the ef-
fort to get the new system Strengthened
out a number of the clerks are working
nights. Others have been asked to do
so and have refused.
AS an Indication OF the Increased. ex-
pense OF the new system, IL appears
the number Of clerks in what is known
as division ID. which has charge os the
mails and nles. has increased from
about twenty-five 20 eighty. This Is one
source OF increased expense. Another
Aource is an elaborate system OF fling
cascs
It is charged that it has been found
necessary for clerks frequently to be
sent from the Washington office 20 the
local land Offices TO straighten them OUT
with respect 70 the new system.