The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-18

tion of the United States. Its organiza- ton embraces stations and centers of
 work located in every city and in many
 local subdivisions of the country It's l gross expenditures amount to nearly $1, 900, 100000 annually. Including the per sonnel of the military and naval estab- flishments, more than 100000 persons are required to do the work imposed by law upon the executive branch of the gov l ernment.
 Magnitude of the Task
 | This vast organization has never been studied in detail as one piece of adminis- 1 trative mechanism. Never have the fotfn-
 dations been laid for a thorough consid-
 eration of the relations of all parts. No l compresensive effort has been made to l list its multifarious activities or to group l them in such a way as to present
 clear picture of what the government is doing. Never has a complete descrip-
 ton been given of the agencies through
 which the activities are performed. At
 no time has the attempt been made to study all of these activities and agencies | with a. view to the assignment of each | activity to the agency best fitted for its l performance. to the avoidance of dupli- | cation of plant and work. to the inte-
 grafton of all administrative agencies of the government, so far as may be l pIdCllCdDic iHlO u ullllltd l for the most effective and economical dispatch of public business.
 First Complete Investigation l Notwithstanding that voluminous re- ports are compiled annually and present. ed to the Congress, no satisfactory state ment has ever been published of the 1 financial transactions of the government as a whole. Provision Is made for due \ accountability for all moneys coming | i,,fa Ike 1O nf offi of ba ment whether as collectors of revenue or disbursng agents, and for insurng that | authorizations for expenditures as made l by law shall not be exceeded. But no general system has ever been devised l for reporting and presenting information regarding the character of the eXpendi- lures made, in such a way as to reveal the actual costs entailed in the operation ! of individual services and in the perform | ance of particular undertakings; nor in such a way as to make possible the eN- ercise of intelligent judgment regarding the discretion displayed in making eX- I penditure and concerning the value of the results obtained when contrasted with the sacrifices required. Although earnest ef- | forts have been put forth by administra- tive officers and though many special l inquiries have been made by the Con gress, no exhaustive investigation has ever before been instituted concerning the methods employed in the transaction I of public business with view 10 the adoption of the practices and procedures 1 best fitted to secure the transaction of such business with a maximum dis ] patch, economy and efficiency.
 With large interests at stake the Con l gress and administration have never had all the information which should be cur rently available if the most intelligent direction is to be given to@the business 1 in hand, kH4 l I am convinced that results which are really worth while can not be secured, | or at least can be secured only in small part. through the prosecution at irregular intervals of special inquiries bearing on l particular services or features of ad- ministration. The benefits thus obtained must be but temporary. The problem of good administration is not one that can be solved at one time. It is contin- uously present one
 Plan of the Work
 1 In accordance with my instructions, the l Commission on Economy and Efficiency, which l organized to aid men in the in- otiry. has directed it's efforts primarily to the formulation of concrete recommen- dations looking to the betterment of the fundamental conditions under which gov ernmehtal operations must be carried on With basis thus laid, if has pro- ceeded to the prosecution of detailed studies of individual services and classes of work, and of particular practices and methods, pushing these studies as far, and covering as many points and ser vices, the resources and tune at Us disposal have permitted.
 In approaching it's task if has divided the work into five fields of inquiry hay ing to do respectively with organization, personnel, business methods, accounting and reporting. and the budget.
 Organization
 | have stated that the Congress, the President and the administrative officers are attempting to discharge the duties with which they are intrusted without full information as to the agencies through which the work of the govern ment is being performed To provide more complete information on this point the commission has submitted to me report on the organization of the gov ernment as it existed July l. l9ll. Thls renort which is transmitted herewith. shows in great detail, by means of out lines. not only the departments commits sjons. bureaus and offices through which the government performs it's various ac- tivities. but also the sections. shops field stations, etc, constituting the SUD ordinate divisions through which the work is actually done. II shoWs TOT 'he services at Washington each such final unit as laboratory. library, shop, and administrative subdivision; and for the services outside of Washington each sta tion and point at which any activity or the government is carried on.
 Outlines of Organization
 From these outlines it is possible to de- termine not only how each department, bureau. and operating unit. suche as navy yard, is organized. but also, by classifying these units by character and geographical location. the number of units of a like Character that exist at Washington. and the number and char acter of services of the government in each city or other point in the United States With this information available,
 it is possible to study any particular ac tivity or the problem of maintaining services at any given city or point
 Information of this character has never been available. Administrative officials have been called upon to discharge their duties without that full Knowledge of the machinery under their direction which is so necessary to the c xercise of effective control much less have they had infor- nation regarding agencies in other ser vices that might be made use of. Under such circumstances each service is com