The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-04-10
'TAFT'S MESSAGE
ON EFFICIENCY
! And ECONOMY
President Sends a Second State.
ment to Congress on the
Work Of Special
Commission

carry Them Out-Sees Increased Ef-
fieisney and Saving Of Many Millions
of Dollars of Public Funds-Uruss
Further Appropriation TO Carry on tho
Commissions Work.
TO the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives:
On the 18th of January last l sent
message to the congress describing the
work of the commission appointed by
me under authority of the acts Of June
%, 1910. and March 3, 1911, granting
appropriations to enable me to inquire
into the methods OF transacting the
public business of the various execu-
tive departments and other govern
mental establishments and to make re-
port as to improved efficiency and
greater economy to be obtained in the
expenditure of money for the mainte-
nance of the government. By way of
illustrating the utility Of the commits
sion and the work which they were
engaged upon l referred to number
of reports which they had filed, recon-
mending changes in organization of
the departments and bureaus of the
government, the avoidance of duplica-
ton Of functions and services and the
installation of labor saving devices and
improved Office methods. All of the
recommendations looked to savings of
considerable amounts. With the mes
sage of Feb. s, 1912, transmitted to
the congress the reports on the central
ization of distribution of government
documents, on the use Of window en-
velopes and on tue use of a photo
graphic process for copying records
A number of the reports Of the COM
mission had not then been commented
en- by the heads of the departments
that would be affected by the changes
recommended, and therefore | did not
feel justified at that time in recon-
mending to the congress the statutory
amendments necessary to carry out the
recommendations of the commission.
Since then, however, / have received
the recommendations of the heads of
sage for the purpose of expressing my
approval of the changes recommended
by the commission and Of laying be-
fore the congress the reports prepared
by the commission.
Local Offices Should Be In the cIassi-
fled SerVice-Postoffices
have several times called attention
to the advantages to be derived from
placing in the classified service the To-
cal officers under the departments of
the treasury, of the postoffice, of JUS
tice, of the interior and of commerce
and labor. In my message submitted
to the congress on Jan. II referred
to the loss Occasioned to the govern
ment because of the fact that in many
cases two persons are paid for doing
work that could easily be done by one.
In the meantime ! have caused an in
quiry to be made as to the amount in
money of this loss. The results of this
inquiry are that the loss amounts to at
least $10.000,000 annually. For exam
pie, it appears that a very substantial
economy would result from putting eX.
perienced and trained officers in charge
of the first and second class postoffices
instead of selecting the postmasters in
accordance with the present practice
As the annual operating expenses of
the first and second class Offices aggre-
gate the enormous sum of more than
$S0,000,0O0. undoubtedly if the post
masters Of these offices were embraced
In the classified service and required to
devote all their time to the public serv-
ice the annual savings would eventu-
ally represent many millions of dollars.
The saving in salaries alone, not taking
into account any saving due to increas-
ed efficiency Of operation, would
amount to about $4,5OO,OOO. At the
present time the salaries of postmas-
ters Of the first and second class
amount to SG0769O0, while the salaries
Of assistant postmasters of the same
siasses amount to $2,S20,O00. If the
position Of postmaster were placed in
the classified service and those officers
were given salaries equal to 20 per
sent more than the salaries now given
10 the assistant postmasters. the latter
POoAAAOh bNiLB ilO lOhENl lhNAC
would be saving in salaries to the
government OF $4,512,9OO. In the case
Of postmasters at offices of the third
siass a large annual saving could be
made.
Pension Agencies.
An annual saving Of nearly $4,000
could be made If the position of pen
sion agent were placed In the classified
service, since the work now done by
. pension agent at a salary of $4,000 |
and chief clerk at a salary ranging
between $1,4O0 and S2,250 could easily |
be done by one person in the perma-
nent classified service at a salary vary
ing from $2,100 to $1,000 Greater I
sconomy and efficiency would result
fom the abolition of the pension agen-
sies and from the adoption of a plan