Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-04-05
Filing 60 Too Expensive.

law on the subject are SUBMITTED with a
| request for action IN accordance there
With
Filing 90 Too Expensive.
The handling and filing Of cores
nondence constitutes one Of the business
processes Of the government to which.
as pointed out in my message of January
II, the commission has paid especial at
tention. The Investigations Of existing
conditions have brought out clearly that.
in many cases. present methods are IN
efficient and entail large, unnecessary
| costs. The features OF present practices
| which stand out most prominently as
entailing large, unnecessary labor and
expense pertain to the briefing. press
copying. and recording and indexing OF
communications. 1t is the opinion Of the
commission that the operations Of brief
ing and press-copying letters can be en-
tlrely eliminated. and that the record
ing and indexing OF incoming and out
per cent.
The flat-filing system has been sub
stituted for the old cumbrous folded and
lndorsement system. Carbon copies of
letters have been substituted for press
copies. The briefing OF documents has
been entirely discontinued In q number
OF services, and In others the MAIN
tenance Of book records OF incoming and
outgoing communications has veen dis
continued. The effort is being made to
make correspondence files self-indexing,
and thus avoid the necessity for max
ing and using secondary finding devices.
This work can only be inteIligently pros
ecuted as the result Of painstakinR ana
detail investigation OF the special con-
ditions to he met in each particular SER
vice. Many months will. therefore, be
required to carry out this work through
out the entire government. Il is Of the
utmost Importance that the work should
be prosecuted under a general supervi-
sion or direction such as is furnished
by the present commission.
Distribution of Documents.
Attention Is called to the report Of
the commission, transmitted to the con-
gress with my message Of February 5,
and to the supplementary statement sent
herewith on the Capitalization Of dis
tribution OF government publications. BY
adopting this recommendation II Is con-
servatively estimated that $4,000 can be
saved. This Is exclusive OF the saving
which could be made by handling the
congressional documents In the same man.
ner An account kept for thirty-one days
with the volume OF this business OF
handling congressional documents showed
an average OF twenty-one tons per day.
These documents were first taken from
the printing office to the capitol, then
from the capitol to the postoffiee. then
hauled back TO the Union station, the
latter being but a short distance from
the printing office. An up-to-date plant
at tho printing office which could handle
all this would entail an increased cap
ital outlay for permanent equipment OF
only about N5.ooD. The recommendation
for centralizing the distribution Of doou-
ments from the departments. II acted
on, will affect the appropriation OF seven
departments. five independent establish
ments. and the Washington postoffice.
Il may say In connection with this re-
port and Recommendation that the house
of representatives. In passing the agri-
cultural appropriation bill for the fiscal
year 1919 instead Of reducing the cost
OF distributing government publications
in the Department OF Agriculture by
tlE 600. has increased to the extent Of
1890 the amount appropriated for SAL
aries for divisions Of publications over
the Appropriation for the current year.
win save Millions.
In submitting these reports, with
recommendation. ] will state that In my
opinion each Of the foregoing recon-
mendations. n acted on. win Contribute
largely 10 increase efficiency. Directly
and indirectly the changes proposed will
result In the saving Of many millions
Of dollars OF public funds. This win
leave tho congress free to deternine |
whether the amount thus saved shall |
be utilized 10 reduce taxation or to pro- |
vide funds with which TO extend activ- !
tiles already carried on and to enter on
beneficial projects which otherwise could |
not be undertaken for lack OF funds.
Again I urge upon the congress the |
OF providing whatever FUNDS |
can be used effectively to carry forward
with all possible vigor the work nov
well begun. The s3oo.ooe required for the
prosecution OF tho inquiry during the
ensuing year, and the xo,eoa estimated /
for tho publication Of results. are incon-
Siderable In comparfs with thu econo.