Evening journal., 1911-03-27
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Postmaster General
Who Was Ordered to
"Sign Thar
BY "HOlIand."

gina, organization expert, a graduate
of West Point. an officer in one of the
regiments serving in the Spanish War,
and later prominently associated with
Vice-President julius Kruttschnitt of
the Union Pacific Railroad system,
was called to Washington some months
ago to work out a plan for the re-
organization Of the various depart
ments upon a symmetrical and econo-
mic basis. Major Hine was assigned a
room in the White House and after
thorough study Of the matter he pre-
pared his report. which has not yet
been acted upon.
One of the evils in the departments
Of Washington is the custom of long
standing and far reaching practice
which permits chief clerks, or even
subordinate clerks. to sign documents
or communications purporting to have
been read and approved by superior
officers, even Cabinet members. II was
Major Hines purpose completely to
eliminate this method and to perfect
an organization which would make it.
possible. or i'm fact inevitable. that
every superior officer should know the
contents of any paper requiring his
approval and should sign his own
name 10 IT,
When Robert j. Wynne Of Pennsyl-
vania was appointed Postmaster Gem
+, eral I'm President Roosevelts first. ad-
mnistratiOn. he had an experience Of
which he was very forcibly reminded
when he heard what Major Hines in
tentions We're. For many years Mr..
! Wynne was "A newspaper cOrrespOn-
dent at Washington. He knew Wash
ington life political and public as
thoroughly as it is possible for any
man to know It. He gained a very high
reputation for integrity and for sound
ness of Judgment. These were the
qualifications which justified his ap-
pointment as private secretary to
Charles Foster, Secretary of the Trea-
sury i'm Harrison's administration and
later as Postmaster General.
Towards the close of office hours
of the day after I qualified for and re-
ceived my commission as Postmaster
General" said Mr. Wynne. "a clerk
came into my office with a mass of
documents about a foot thick, l should
think, and put them upon the desk
before he. I took up the first paper
ran my eye over it, put it to one side
and said ! would look It over later in
the day, or some time the next day
Then ] took up the second document
and did the same thing with It.
AT last it. struck me that here was
an appalling mass of documents each
one of which | was expected to ex-
anime and then sign. | realized that It.
would take me practically an entire
business day-perhaps longer-to do
that one thing, and | also realized that
there was something wrong with the
system that made this necessary.
LAS / sat pondering the matter over,
wondering what I should do about it.
/ the clerk advanced to the desk, took a
pen. dipped it into the ink, and then,
having unfolded the first document
and so arranged it that the last page
was before me. he handed me the pen
at the same time putting his finger
upon a blank space at the bottom ol
the document Then he looked at me
sternly, as one having authority. and
calculated:
Sign thari'
Mechanically I signed thar and
then he unfolded another document,
went through the same motions. look
ed at me again with authority and
/ said once more.
Sign tharl'
II did so: and in that automatic man
ner |, the new Postmaster General,
signed thar my name to thirty or
forty documents of the contents Of
which I had not the slightest idea
Later | was able to improvise a
method by which | had an abstract Of
the documents ! was expected to sign
| placed before me. so that ! could get
some idea of what the documents con-
/ tanned"
| Copyright 1911. by p. J. Edwards. All
Rights Reserved)
Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards viii tell Of
"The Garland VindicatiOn That Was
Never Published"