Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-04-04

tence, which would include lodging, Il
scale Of per diem allowances be estab-
lished by the president for the several
classes Of officers and employees 1t is
also recommended by the commission
that all accounts for reimbursement OF
travelling expenses shall be certified as
to correctness in lieu of the require
ment Of law in many cases that the
yeri1cation be made by affidavit. The
latter procedure is troublesome and ex-
pensive, and the penalty for false
| certificatiOn is fully as valuable In It's
deterrent effect as the penalty for
making a false affidavit
| With the report are the comments of
! the war and navy departments, made
at my request The report Of the COM
mission has my approval, and the sug-
gestions therein for change In the
! law on the subject are submitted with
a request for action in accordance
! Herewith.
Handling and Filing Of Correspondence
| The handling and filing of cores
pondence constitutes one OF the busl-
ness processes of the government 70
| which, as pointed out in my message OF
January II, the commission has paid
, especial attention. The Investigations
| of existing conditions have brought
out clearly that in many cases. present
! methods are inefficient and entail large
unnecessary costs. The features OF
! present practices which stand out most
prominently as entailing large, unnec-
essary labor and expense pertain to the
briefing, press copying, and recording
and indexing Of communications. "A
statement has been prepared giving the
results Of an investigation OF the salary
cost entailed in performing these oper-
ations in the several departments at
Washington. 1t is the opinion of the
| commission that the operations or
be entirely eliminated, and that tho
recording and indeXing OF incoming and
outgoing letters can be reduced at least
fifty per cent.
Though the commission is making in
dependent Investigations of methods
followed in handling and filing cores
pondence in certain bureaus and serv-
ices, the results Of which will be en-
bodied in reports describing such
methods, pointing out wherein they are
defective. and recommending changes
to make them conform to the most APP
proved practices, the general policy
pursued is that of working in close CO.
operation with the departments and
services through the means of joint
committees might all work as nearly as
possible along uniform lines. and that
the departments and establishments
might have before them the conclusions
reached by the commission relative to
fundamental principles and the best
practices in respect to the performance
of this class Of work, the commission
has prepared, and I have sent to the
heads Of departments memorandum
% orincin1oS
should govern in the matter of handl-
ing and filing of correspondence. This
memorandum also contains sugges-
tons for the use Of labor-saving de-
vices in preparing and mailing letters.
I am transmitting herewith a copy Of
this memorandum (Appendix No. ~
On the basis Of this memorandum &C
tive efforts are now being made In all
of the departments for the improve
ment of the methods of handling and
filing of correspondence. These efforts
have res Ilted in radical changes In ex-
listing methods and the effecting of
large economies. The flat-f1ling system
has been substituted for the old cum
brous folded and Endorsement system.
Carbon copies Of letters have been sub
stituted for press copies The briefing
of documents has been entirely dis
continued in a number Of services, and
in others the maintenance of book rec
ords of incoming and outgoing COM
municationS has been discontinued; The
effort is being made to make CORES
pondence files self-indexing, and thus
avoid the necessity for making and
using secondary finding devices. This
work can only be intelligently prose- :
cuted as the result of painstaking and
detail investigation Of the special con-
ditions to be met in each particular
service. Many months will, therefore.
be required to carry out this work
throughout the entire government. 1t is
of the utmost Importance that the work
should be prosecuted under a general
nished by the present commission.
Distribution Of Governenmt Documents
Attention is called to the report Of
the commission, transmitted to the
congress with my message of February
5, and to the supplementary statement
sent herewith (Appendix No 81 on the
Capitalization of distribution Of gov
eminent publications. BY adopting this
it is conservatively
estimated that $4,000 can be saved.
This is exclusive of the saving which
could be made by handling the congress
sional documents in the same manner.
An account kept for 81 days with the
volume of this business of handling
documents showed an
average or Il tons per day. IneSe doc
were first taken from the
printing office to the capitol, then from
the capitol to the post office. then haul
ed back to the union station. the latter
being but short distance from the
office. An up-to-date plant at
the printing office which could handle
all this would entail an increased cap |
ital outlay for permanent equipment !
of only about $4,000. The recommen |
TT Sex-
of documents from the departments. if |
acted on, will affect the appropriations |
Of seven departments, Ave independent
establishments and the Washington /,
post office.
NAV say in connection with this re-
port and recommendation that the
house Of representatives in passing the
agricultural appropriation bill for the |
fiscal year 1918. instead of reducing the |
coef If distributing ooverDmeOf n,1b1i-