Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-01-25
Classification of Local officers.


der.
Classification of Local Officers.
In my recent message 10 the congress
I urged consideration Of the necessity OF
placing in the classified service all OF the
local officers under the departments Of
the treasury, the interior, postoffice and
commerce and labor.
The next step which must be taken is
to require Of heads Of bureaus in the de-
partmeuts at Washington. and Of most Of
the local officers under the departments,
qualifications Of capacity similar TO those
now required Of certain heads Of bureaus
and Of local officers. The extension Of
the merit system TO these officers and a
needed readjustment Of salaries viii have
important effects IN securing greater
economy and efficiency.
In the first place, the possession by the
incumbents OF these positions Of requisite
qualifications must in itself prmOte eff
cheney.
In tine second place, the removal of 10
cal officers from the realm Of political
patronage in many cases would reduce
the pay roll Of the field services. At the
present time the incumbents Of many Of
these positions leave the actual perform
ance Of many Of their duties to deputies
and assistants. The government often
pays two persons for doing work that
could easily be done by one. What IS the
loss TO the government cannot be stated,
out that it is very large cannot be denied,
when il is remembered how mum erOus
are the local officers in the postal. Gus
toms. internal revenue, public lands, and
other field services Of the government
In the third place so long as local Of
fceTs are within the sphere of political
patronage it IS difficult to consider the
question Of the establishment or discon-
tnuauce OF local offices apart from the
effect upon local political situations.
Finally, the view that these various
offices are TO be filed as a result Of
political considerations has for its con
sequence the necessity that the president
and members OF congress devote to mat
ters Of patronage time which they should
devote to questions Of policy and admin
istratlon.
superannuation.
Attention has been directed in recent
years to the need Of a suitable plan of
retiring the superannuated employees in
the executive civil service. In the be
lief that it is desirable that any steps to-
ward the esta blishment of such a plan
shall be taken with caution. I instructed
the commission TO make an inquiry first
into the conditions at Washington This
inquiry has been directed to the ascer-
annuatiOn now exists and to the con
sideratiOn Of the availability of the vari-
GUS plans which either have been pro-
posed for adoption in this country or have
actually been adopted in other countries
! shall submit, in the near future, for
the consideration Of the congress a plan
for the retirement of aged employees in
the civil service which will safeguard the
interests of the government and at the
q ali for
the needs Of those who have given the
best part of their lives to the service Of
the state.
Business Methods.
In every case where technical pro-
Cesses have been studied it has been dem
onstrated beyond question that large eco
Monies may be effected. The subjects
first approached were those which lie
close to each administrator. viz, office
practices. An illustration of the posi-
bilites within this field may be found in
the results of the inquiry into the meth
DDS of handling and filing correspondence.
Every office in the government has re-
ported its methods to the commission.
These reports brought to light the fact
that present methods were quite in he
reverse of uniform. Some Offices follow
the practice of briefing all correspOn-
dence; some do not Some have fiat
files; others fold all papers before filing.
Some use press copies; others retain only
carbon copies.
Need for Labor-Saving Office Devices.
The use Of Iabor-saving office devices in
the service has been made the subject 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 enterprises. A study
has been made Of the extent to which
employed in the several branches of the
government and the opportunities that
exist for their more general use.
The efforts of the commission resulted
also in the adoption by several bureaus or
departments Of improved methods of do
ing copying. The amount of copy work
heretofore done by hand each year in the
many offices is estimated to aggregate
several hundred thousand dollars. The
commission exhibited, at its offices, ap-
pliances that were thought to be especial
Iy adapted to this kind of government
work. Following these demonstrations
methods of copying were introduced
which have brought about a saving Of
over IS per cent. in offices where used
for six months. This change in one small
cross-section of office practice will more
,
Waste in the Distribution of Public
Documents.
Going outside the office, one of the
business processes which have been in
vestigated is the distribution of depart
ment documents This is q subject with
which both the congress and admins
tration heads are familiar. The prevail
ing practice in handling departmental
publications is to have them manufaC-
tured at the government printing office;
each job when completed is delivered to
the department. here the books or pam
phlets are wrapped and addressed; then
are then sent to the pOstOffce; there they
are assorted and prepared for shipment
through the malls. from the postoffce
they are sent to the railroad station.
which is only a few steps from the gov
eminent printing office, when they
started. The results of this Iaborious and
cirCUitous method is to make thu use OF
the best mechanical equipment impraCtic-
able and to waste each year not less than
a quarter of a million dollars of govern
ment funds in useless handling, to say
nothing Of the indirect loss due to lack
of proper coordination.
Wasteful Use of Properties and Equip
ment.
The use of equipment is a matter which
also has been investigated Up TO the
present time this investigation has been
in the main confined to the subject of
electric lighting. The government pays
over S6OO.0O0 per year for electric current;
it has made large capital OUTLAWS for wiz
ing and fixtures. With the increasing de-
mands in many buildings the present
equipment is taxed to its limit and if
the present methods are continued much
of this wiring must be done over: in
many places employees are working at a
great physical disadvantage, due to in
adequate and improper lighting, and
thereby with reduced efficiency. In every
place where the inquiry has been con
Quoted it appears that there is large
waste: that without the cost of rewir-
ing. simply by giving proper attention to
location of lights and the use of proper
lamps and refectors. the light efficiency
at points where needed may be much in
creased and the cost of current reduced
from so to 90 per cent. Other inquiries
into the use which is being made of prop
critics and equipment are contemplated
which promise even larger results.
Lack of Specifications.
The Importance of establishing and
maintaining standard specifications is