Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-06

A4 i ~
classified service all local Offices under
the Treasury Department, the Depart
ment of Justice. the Post ONCE Depart
ment, the Interior Department. and the
Department of Commerce and Labor. ap-
pOintments to which now require the con-
firmation Of the Senate. and that upon
such classification the advice and con-
sent of the Senate shall cease to be re-
quired in such appointments. BY their
certainty of tenure, dependent on good
service, and by their freedom from the
necessity for political activity, these local
officers would be induced to become more
eflcient public servants.
The civil service law is an attempt to
solve the problem Of the proper selection
Of those who enter the service. A better
system under that law for promotions
ought to be devised, but. given the Sc
lected employee. there remains still the
question of promoting his efficiency and
his usefulness to the government. and
that can be brought about only by a
careful comparison Of unit work done by
the Individual and pointing out Of the
necessity for improvement in this regard
where Improvement is possible.
Economy and Efficiency.
The increase in the activities and in
the annual expenditures OF the federal
government has been so rapid and so
great that the time has come to check
the expansion of government activities
in new directions until we have tested the
economy and efficiency with which the
government of today is being carried Oh.
The responsibility rests upon the head
of the administration. He is held &C.
countable by the public. cand properly so.
Despite the unselflsh and patriotic efforts
OF the heads Of departments and others
charged with responsibility of govern
ment, there has grown up In this country
conviction that the expenses OF govern
ment are too great. The fundamental
reason for the existence undetected OF
waste, duplication and bad management
Is the lack of prompt. accurate informa-
ton. The president of a private corpora
ton doing SO vast a business as the gov
eminent transacts would, through COM
petent specialists, maintain the closest
scrutiny on the comparative efficiency
and the comparative costs in each division
or department Of the business. He would
know precisely what the duties and the
activities Of each bureau or division are
In order to prevent overlapping. No ade-
Quate machinery at present exists fol
supplying the President Of the United
States with such information respecting
the business for which he is responsible
For the first time in the history Of the
government Congress in the last session
supplied this need and made an appropria.
ton to enable the President to inquire
into the economy and efficiency of the
executive departments. and I am now
assembling an organization for the pur.
pose.
At the outset find comparison between
departments and bureaus impossible for
the reason that in no two departments
are the estimates and expenditures dis
played and classified. alike The first
step is to reduce all to a common stand
ard for classification and judgment, and
this work is now being done. When 1t
is completed the foundation will be laid
for businesslike national budget, and
for such just comparison of the econ
omy and efficiency with which the sew
eral bureaus and divisions are conduct
ed as will enable the President and the
heads of departments to detect waste,
eliminate duplication, encourage the. In
telligent and effective civil servants
whose efforts too often 60 unnoticed, and
secure the public service at the lowest
possible cost.
Block to Economy.
The committees on appropriations Of
Congress have diligently worked to re-
duce the expenses of government and
have found their efforts often blocked
by lack Of accurate information contain
ing proper analysis of requirements
and of actual and reasonable costs. The
result of this inquiry should enable the
Executive in his communications to Con-
gress to give information to which Con-
gress Is entitled and which will enable
it to promote economy.
Il have requested the head Of each de-
partment to appoint committees on econ
0my and efficiency in order to secure fun
cooperation in the movement by the
employees of the government themselves
I urge the continuance of the appro-
priation of 100000 requested for the ifs
cal year 1912.
My experience leads me to believe that
while government methods are much
criticised. the bad results-if we do have
bad results-are not due to a lack of
zeal or willingness on the part of the
civil servants. On the contrary, be-
lieve that a fine spirit Of willingness to
work exists in the personnel, which. if
properly encouraged, will produce re-
suits equal to those secured in the best
managed private enterprises. In handling
government expenditure the aim Is not
profit-the aim is the maximum Of public
service at the minimum Of cost. We
wish to reduce the expenditures Of the
government, and we wish to save money
to enable the government to go into
some of the beneficial projects which We
are debarred from taking up now be-
cause we ought not to increase our ex-
penditures.
At a hter date I shall send to Con-
gress a special message on this general
subject.