Norwich bulletin., 1912-01-18

esses have been studied 1t has been demonstrated beyond question that large economies may be effected. The subjects first approached were those which lie close to each administrator viz, office practices. An illustration of the possibilities within this field may be found in the results of the inquiry into the methods of handling and filing Every office in the government has reported its methods to the commission. These reports brought to light the fact that present methods were quite the reverse of uni form. Some offices follow the practice of briefng all correspondence; some de not. Some have hat files: OtherB fold all papers before filing. Some use press copies; others retain only carbon cop les.
 Cost of Handling and Filing Corre-
 spondence.
 The reports also show not only very wide range in the methods of doing this comparatively simple part of the government business. but an ex- traordinary range In cost For the handling of incoming mail the aver ages of cost by departments vary from $5.S4 to $S4.4O per 1000. For the han ding of outgoing mail the averages by departments vary from S5.94 to $69.59 per 1000. This does not include the cost of preparation, but is confined merely to the physical side of the work. The variation between indi- vidual offices is many times greater than that shown for averages by de partments.
 It has been found that differences of average cost by departments closely follow differences in method and that the greatest cost is found in the de- partment where the method is most involved. Another fact is of interest," viz, that in the two departments above referred to, which show the lowest averages. orders have been issued which will lead to large saving with out impairing efficiency, It cannot be said what the saving ultimately will be when the attention of officers in all of the departments has been focused on present methods with a view to chang ing them in such manner as to reduce cost to the lowest point compatible with efficient service. It, however, must be a considerable percentage of nearly S5So0OOO, the total estimated cost of handling this part of the gov ernment business at Washington.
 Need For Labor Saving Office Devices,
 The use of labor saving office devices in the service has been made the sub 1ect of special inquiry. An impression prevails that the government Is not making use of mechanical devices for economizing labor to the same extent as are efficiently managed private en- terprises. A study has been made of the extent to which devices Of this character are now being employed in the several branches of the govern. ment and the opportunities that exist for their more general use. In order to secure information as to the various kinds of labor saving devices that are in existence and as to their adapta hil- ity to government work, an exhibition of labor saving office appliances was held in Washington from July 6 to 15, 1911. One hundred and ten manufac- turers and dealers participated, and more than 10000 officers and employees visited the exhibition. There is no doubt that the exhibition served the purpose of bringing to the attention of officers devices which can be employed by them with advantage. The holding of this exhibition was, however. but & step preparatory to the contemplated investigation.
 Unnecessary Cost of Copy Work.
 The efforts of the commission result ed also in the adoption by several bu- reaus or departments of improved methods of doing copying. The amount of copy work therefore done by hand each year in the many offices Is esti- mated to aggregate several hundred thousand dollars. The commission ex- hibited at It's offices appliances that were thought to be especially adapted to this kind of government work. Fol lowing these demonstrations methods of copying were introduced which have brought about saving of over 75 per cent in offices where used for six months. This change in one small cross section of office practice will more than offset the whole cost of my inquiry.
 Waste In Distribution of Public Docu-
 ments.
 Going outside the office, one of the business processes which has been in vestigated is the distribution of depart. mental documents. This is a subject with which both the congress and ad- minisration heads are familiar. The prevailing practice in handling depart mental publications Is to have them manufactured at the government print ing office. Each job when completed is deliv cred to the department. Here the books or pamphlets are wrapped and addressed. They are then sent to the postofice. There they are assorted and prepared for shipment through the mails. From the postofice they are sent to the railroad station, which ia only few steps from the government printing office, whence they started The results of this, laborlous and cir. cuitous method is to make the use of the best mechanical equipment imprae. ticable and to waste each year not less than 6 quarter of million dollars of government funds tn useless handling ka k. .L .