The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1912-01-19

the coming in OF the report, such offices
as may be found useless and can be abol-
ished will be so treated by executive or
der.
Classification of Local Officers.
In nv recent message to the congress
l urged consideration of the necessity OF
placing in the classified service all OF the
local officers under the departments OF
the treasury, the interior. postotnce ana
commerce and labor
The next step which must be taken Is
to REQUIRE of heads of bureaus In the de-
partments 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 ana
needed reimbursement of salaries VIII nave
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 the 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 or
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,
but that 1t is very large cannot be denied,
when 1t is remembered how numerous
are the local officers in the postal. Gus
TOMS internal revenue, public lands, ana
other field services of the government
In the third place, so long as local Of
icers are within the sphere of political
patronage 1t Is difficult to consider the
question of the establishment or discon-
tinuance of local offices apart from the
effect upon local political situations.
Finally, the view that these various
Offices are to be filled as a result OF
political considerations has for It's con
sequence the necessity that the president
and members of congress devote to mat
tiers of patronage time which they should
devote to questions of policy and admin
istration.
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 establishment of such a plan
shall be taken with caution. l instructed
the commission TO make an inquiry first
into the conditions at Washington. This
inquiry has been directed to the ascer-
tainment of the extent to which super
annuaton 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 county 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
. same time make reasonable provision 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-
biities within this field may be found in
the results of the inquiry into the meth
DDS of handling ard fling 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 brieting all correspon-
dence: some do not. Some have tiat
files; others fold all papers before fling.
Some use press copies; others retain only
carbon copies.
Need for Labcr-saving Office Devices
The use Of labor-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 ecolomiZins
labor TO the same extent as are efficiently
managed private enterprises. A study
has been made OF the extent to which
devices OF this character are now being
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-
planes that were thought TO be especial I
~ adapted To this Kind OF government |
work. Following these demonstrations |
methods OF copying were introduced |
which have brought about saving OF |
over IS per cent. in offices where used |
for six months. This change in one small |
cross-secton of Office practice will more |
than Offset the whole cost Of my inquiry |
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 4
nlent documents. This IS a 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 10 |
the department: here the books or pam /
pllets are wrapped and addressed; then /
are then sent 10 the postnffice: there they /
are assorted and prepared for shipment 1
through the mails; from the postoffce /
which IS only a few steps from the gov /
eminent printing office when they /
started. The results e this laborious and 4
cIrcuitous method Is TO make the use Of /
the best mechanical equipment imp~actic-
able and to waste each year not less than /
q quarter Of million dollars " govern /
ment funds In useless handling. 10 saw /
nothing Of the indirect loss due 20 lack /
of proper coordination.
WastefuI Use Of Properties and Equip /
rent.
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 4
electric lighting The government pays I
over seao co per year for electric current 1
II has made large capital OUTLAWS for WI /