The Raymer enterprise., 1912-01-18

The nrst series deals with the man.
ner In which The services Of the gov.
ernment should be grouped in depart
ments. This Is matter Of fundament.
al importance. It Ii only after sat.
isfactory solution Of this problem that
many important measures of reform be-
come possible. Only by grouping serv-
Ices according to their character can
substantial progress be made In elm
mating duplication Of work and plant
and proper working relations be es-
tablished between services engaged in
similar activities. Until the head Of
department 10 called upon to deal
exclusively with matters falling in but
one or very few distinct fields, ef-
fective supervision and control is i'm.
possible. As long az the same depart
ment embraces services 30 diverse =
character as those OF life saving and
the management Of public finances,
Standardization Of accounting methods
and Of other business practices 10 ex-
ceedingly difhcult OF attainment.
So dependent are other reforms upon
the proper grouping Of services that
I have instructed the commission to
indicate In It's report the changes
which should be made In the existing
organization and TO proceed In the
same way as would far-seeing archi.
tects or engineers In planning for the
improvement and development OF =
great city. My desire is to secure and
to furnish to the congress a scheme
Of organization that can be used as =
basis OF discussion and action for years
to come.
In the past services have been Gre
ated one by one az e1igencies have
seemed to demand, with little or no
reference to any scheme Of organiza-
tion Of the government as whole. I
am convinced that the time has como
when the government should take
stock Of Its activities and agencies and
formulate a comprehensive plan with
reference to which future changes may
be made. The report Of the commits
sion is being prepared with this idea
In mind. When completed 1t will be
transmitted to congress. The recon.
mendations will be Of such a charac-
ter that they can be acted upon one
by one II they commend themselves
to the congress and as action In re-
gard to any one Of them Is deemed to
be urgent.
Report on Particular Services.
The second and third series Of re-
ports deal, respectively. with the Or
ganization and activities OF particular
services. and the form Of organization
for the performance Of particular busi-
ness operations.
One OF the reports Of the second Sc
ries is upon the revenue cutter service,
which costs the government over two
and half million dollars each year.
In the opinion Of the commission Its
varied activities can be performed with
equal. or greater. advantage by other
services. The commission. therefore.
recommends that It be abolished. 1t
ia estimated that by so doing say.
ing OF not less than 100000 a year
can be made.
Another report Illustrating the Sec
ond series recommends that the light
house and life saving services be ad-
ministered by single bureau. instead
OF as at present by two bureaus To-
Gated In different departments. These
services have much In common. Geo
graphically, they are similarly located:
Enthusiastically. they have many OF
the same problems. 1t Is estimated
that consolidation would result In
saving OF not less than 100000 an.
nually.
General Technical Services.
A third series OF reports is being pre-
pared on those branches Of the organ.
ization which are technical In charac-
ter and which exist for the service OF
the government as whole-branches
which have to do with such matters as
public printing. heating, lighting. the
making OF repairs. the providing Of
transportation. and the compilation Of
statistics where mechanical equipment
is essential.
Abolition Of Local Offices.
Perhaps the part OF the organization
In which the greatest economy in pub.
lie expenditure Is possible is to be
found In the numerous local offices OF
the government. In some instances the
establishment and the discontinuance
Of these local Offices are matters Of ad-
ministratiye discretion. In other In.
stances they are established by per.
manent law In such manner that
their d!scontinuance Is beyond the
power OF the president or that Of any
executive officer. In number Of serv.
Ices these laws were passed nearly
century ago. Changes in economic con.
ditions have taken place which have
had the effect Of rendering certain OF.
fees not only useless. but even worse
than useless In that their very exist.
ence needlessly swells expenditures
and complexities the administrative
system.
The attention Of congress has been
called repeatedly to these conditions.
In some instances the congress has ap.