The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-05
Recommendations
 By Taft In His
 Special Message

l Abstract from President Taft's Message on Economy and Eff1ciency) | Abolition of the patronage sys- tenn of appointees as first and
 second class postmasters in the
 pension agencies, land offices, in and transfer of such political jobs to the classified civil service list of the government
 i "In the interest of an efficient and economical administration of the vast business of the government" the Pres- ident summed up, 'I urge the neces- i city for inauguration of this impor- : tant reform and recommend that the necessary amendments be made to the laws governing appointments, such amendments to take effect not later than July 1, 1913, so that there may be secured to the people the benefits to be derived from a conduct of their affairs by officials selected on a, merit basis and devoting their time and tal- I ents solely to their offices
 '.In my opinion each of the forego- : ing recommendations, if acted on, will contribute largely to increased efh- ciency. Directly and indirectly the changes proposed will result in the saving of many millions of dollars l < this will leave Congress free to determine whether the amount thus saved shall be utilized to reduce taxa tion or to provide funds with which to extend activities already carried on | and to enter on beneficial projects which otherwise could not be under ! taken for lack of funds.''
 In the postoffice department, the President declared that investigations of the economic committee indicated that in many cases two persons were paid for doing the work of one.
 "As the annual operating expenses of the first and second class offices reach the enormous sum of more than sSO, 900, ,O0O," the message said. "un- doubtedly if the postmasters of these offices were embraced in the classified service and required to devote all their time to the public service, the annual saving would amount to about $4, ,5OO, ,O00."
 A further similar saving, the mes sage declared, would be effected by abolition of assistant postmasters.
 An annual saving of nearly $62,000 would be made, Taft asserted, If pen- sion agents were put in the civil ser be coupled with economical adminis- ! tration, he said, if the post of receiv- CT at land offices be abolished and the registrar given those duties in addition to his own and put on the classified list.
 salaries for political appointees in in ternal revenue and customs service" the message continued. "In both di- rect saving in salaries and an indirect economy through increased efficiency , would follow the transfer of such of fees to the classified service. ''In the other field services. saw ing which would result from the clas- sification of the local offices under the departments is not as marked but there is no doubt that substantial saving would follow. It Is not to be doubted that where no saving would result the classification would increase the efficiency of the service. It would be desirable also to place all mar shals, deputy marshals and assistant attorneys in the classified service al though but little direct economy would result.''
 Other offices suggested for the civil service were steamboat inspectors and field agents of the bureau of fisheries. Other reforms in the interest of econ omy urged in the message were:
 Consolidation of the lighthouse and life-saving services, estimated saving annually s100.000.
 Consolidation of the revenue cutter service with the department of com merce and labor. Consolidation of the auditing offices of the departments, estimated savings $2O0,0oo yearly.