The Washington herald., 1909-02-07
Reform in The Navy Yards

AEiDtm III tAE NAVY fdrGSs
Secretary Newberry's plan for reform
ing the administration Of the navy yards
was described by him al hearing before
the Senate Naval Committee on Febru-
airy L On that day an order went into
force abrOgating the divided bureau con-
troll Of navy yard administration. and
Substituting therefor unified control
modelled after that Of a large industrial
plant Bureau administration within each
yard has. therefore, been terminated.
What has been put in its place is thus
outlined b. the Secretary:
The entire working force n each yard is consoii-
dated into manufacturing force. in which the com
uandznt who Is the military and e5rH head Of the
yard IS IN the position o. the president Of q cor
UoEatiou, and the EauufacraTiuE is done b. his
Technical assistant. Eho Is a naval constructor. and
MS assistants and the inspection OF the wurk o. The
Earig1s yards is under Ire officers who are experts
10 ordnance and II electrical work and IN ma
-hinery- That force being consolidated tbev are
5lt On one pay rou, and the terms within the yard
Il this department and that department have been
eliminated.
Nothing short Of a revolution viii De
accomplished By THIS order in the con
duct Of the navy yards. Under the old
regime each bureau had an independent
series Of plants at each yard, conducted
without reference 10 the like plants of
other bureaus. There were four or five
carpenter shops-we are following Mr..
Newberry's statement-three or four pat
tern shops, three or four foundries. four
OF i've paint shops. and three or four.
and in one case i've. paint shops. A
year ago Mr. Newberry began consoI-
dating these shops. beginning with the
carpenter shops. so that at the tine the
new order was issued only the machine
shops were operated separately. These
Viii now be consolidated as rapidly as
possible. The consolidation Of power
plants. authorized several years ago by
Congress. has been nearly completed. and
where there used To be three or four Of
these plants there viii be but one when
the work Of unihcation is complete. All
Of this. to quote the substance Of Mr..
Newberry's opinion. viii save a great
deal Of money, besides making the yards
more efficient. both from business and
a military standpoint Industrial works
under military control is The Secretary's
idea Of what the navy yards should be.
Study great manufacturing plants is his
advice to navy yard commandments and
their technical assistants. and endesvor
10 promote the highest efficiency Of the
manufacturing department Of the yard.
practical and sensible notions. which we
hope Mr. Newberry and his successor
may be able to enforce throughout the
whole naval administration.
Politics in naval administration. and
particularly in the creation and main
tenance Of useless navy yards. was care
fully avoided at the hearing. though We
notice a cautious inquiry from Senator
Gailinger whether Mr. NewbeFrys re-
forms contemplated any considerable de-
crease in the navy yard working force.
Happily, Mr.. Newberry was able 20 saE
that the working force was now at very
low point 50 that there would be no
decrease except in the number Of men
10 Dc hereafter employed Mr.. Newberry
asked FOR Congressional approval Of what
he had done. and II remains to &c seen
What VIII be granted on that score. Sen
stor Hale thought the consolidation Of