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

tincty administrative officers In the de- partments at Washington and in the tielu in the same way as inferior officers have been treated. The time has come when all these officers should be placed in the classified service. The time has also come when those provisions of law which give to these officers a fixed term of years should be repealed. So long as a fxei term is provided by law the question of reappointment of an officer, no matter how efficiently he may have performed his duties, will inevitably be raised period ieally. So long as appointment to these offices must be confirmed by the Senate, and so long as appointments to them must be made every four years just so long will it be impossible to provide force or employees with a reasonably permanent tenure who are qualified by reason of cd ueation and training to do the best worK.
 Superannuation
 Attention has been directed in recent years to the need of a suitable plan or retiring the superannuated employees in the executive civil service. In the belier that 1t is desirable that any steps toward the esta tablishment of such plan shall be taken with caution, l instructed the coln- mission to make an inquiry first into the conditions at Washington. This inquiry has been directed to the entertainment of the extent to which superannuation now exists and to the consideration Of the availability of the various plans which either have been proposed for adoption in this country or have actually been adopted in other countries. l shall sup- init, in the near future, for the eonsidera- ,tion of the Congress, plan for the retire. ment of aged employees in the civil ser vice which will safeguard the interests of the government and at the same time make reasonable provision for the needs of those who have given the best part or their lives to the service of the state.
 Efficiency of Personnel
 have caused inquiry to be made ihto the character Of the appolntees from the point of view of efficiency and competence which has resulted from present methous of appointment; into the present relation of eompensation 10 the character of work done: into the existing methods or pro- motion and the keeping of efficiency rec ords in the various departments; and into the conditions of work in government or fees This inquiry will help to determine to what extent conditions of work are ufi- form in the different departments ana no" far uniformity in such conditions will tend to improve the service ! have feit tilitt satisfaction with the conditions Tn WihcH they worked was necessary prerequisite to an efficient personnel, and tna1 sats- faction was not to be expected where con ditions in one department we're ie99 i'' able than in another,
 This inquiry has not been compieted' When it has been ascertalned that. eVii9 exist which can be remedied tnfoueh tue exercise of the powers now vested III eno President. shall endeavor to remedy those evils. Where that is not the case, I shall present for the consideration oi the Congress plans which, l believe, "lil WI, be followed by great Improvement III 'i'o service.
 Business Methods
 In query case where technical processes have been studied it has been demon strafed beyond question that large ecoho- n,ies may be effected. The subjects hrst annroached were those which lie close to each administrator, viz, office practiees' An illustration of the possibilities withhl this field may be found in the reshi.s oi the inquiry into the methods or hfnpiine and fling correspondence. Every oiiieV -. the government has reported Us nie'iie,'s n',. to the commssion These fepoits pi ioue,,' to licht the fact that present methods ,,.a,o ouite inc reverse of uniform some offioes follow the practice Of brlellng all some do not. some nave eat dles. others fold all papers before filing Some use press coples. ottfrs re- tain only carbon copies Unnecessary Cost of Handling and
 Filing Correspondence
 The reports also show not only a very ,,ida range in the methods of doing this simple part of the gov business, but an extraordinary range in cost. For the handling of. incoin- ing mail the averages of cost by depart lnents vary from S5.s4 to ss44o per 1000. For the handling of outgoing mail the aver ages by departments vary from so.si to ssq So per 1O00. This does not include the cost of preparation, but is confined merely to the physical side of the work. The va ,.ia ,ions between individual offices is many