The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1912-01-25

Ac1ency recoTus IN the various de
partments; and into the condition
Of work in government Offices. Thi
inquiry will help to determine to wha
extent conditions Of work are uniform
In the different departments and how
far uniformity in such conditions will
tend to improve the service. / have
felt that satisfaction with the condi
lions In which they worked was
necessary prerequisite to an ef1lcien,
personnel, and that satisfaction was
not to be expected where conditions
In one department were less favora
BE than In another.
This inquiry has not been complet
ed. When 1t has been ascertained
that evils exist which can be rem.
edied through the exercise Of the pow.
ers now vested in the president,
shall endeavor to remedy those evils.
Where that is not the case, l shall
present for the consideration of the
congress plans which, believe, will
be followed by great improvement in
the service.
Business Methods.
In every case where technical pro
cesses have been studied it has been
demonstrated beyond question that
large economies may be effected. The
subjects first approached were those
which lie close to each administrator,
viz, office practices. An illustration
Of the possibilities within this field
may be found in the results OF the in
quiry into the methods Of handling
and filing correspondence. Every Of
fee in the government has reported
its methods to the commission. These
reports brought to light the fact that
present methods were quite in the re-
verse of uniform. Some Offices fol-
low the practice of brieflng all CORE
sponudence; some do not. Some have
flat files; others fold all papers be-
fore filing. Some use press copies:
others retain only carbon copies.
Unnecessary Cost Of Handling and
Filing Correspondence.
The reports also show not only a
very wide range in the methods Of
doing this comparatively simple part
Of the government business, but an ex-
traordinary range in cost. For the
handling Of incoming mail the aver
ages of cost by departments vary
from 1884 to $S4.40 per loco. For the
handling Of outgoing mail the aver
ages by departments vary from 1894
to $3.50 per 1000. This does not in
clude the cost Of preparation, but is
confined merely to the physical side
OF the work. The variations between
individual offices is many times great
er than that shown for averages by
departments.
It is at once evident either that is
is costing some Of the offices too little
or that others are being run at an
unwarranted expense. Ner are these
variations explained by differences in
character Of work. For. example, there
are two departments which handle
practically the same kind Of business
and in very large volume. The aver
age cost of handling incoming mail to
one was found to be over six times as
great as the cost Of handling incoming
mail to the other. Excluding the cost
Of preparation, the average cost per
1000 for outgoing mail to one was
nearly so per cent. greater than that
for the other.
1t has been found that differences of
average cost by departments closely
follow differences in method and that
a fo tn, In In
partment where the method is most
involved. Another fact is of interest,
viz, that in the two departments
above referred to, which show the low
est averages, orders have been issued
which will lead to large saving with
out impairing efficiency. It cannot be
said what the saving ultimately will
be when the attention Of officers in
all Of the departments has been TO-
cused on present methods with view
to changing them in such manner as
to reduce cost to the lowest point
compatible with efficient service. It,
however, must be a considerable per-
oentage Of nearly $5,o00,000, the total
estimated cost Of handling this part
of the government business at Wash
ington.
Results have already been obtained
which are noteworthy. Mention has
been made of the orders issued by two
departments. OF these the order Of
one is most revolutionary in charac-
ter, since it requires fiat filing, where
before all correspondence was folded;
the doing away with letterpress cop
les; and the discontinuance Of in
dorsements on slips, one of the most
expensive processes and one which In
the other department has been carried
to very great length.
Need for Labor.saving Office Devices.
The use of labor-saving Office de-
vices in the service has been made the
subject of special inquiry. An i'm
preston prevails that the government
is not making use of mechanical de.
vices for economizing labor to the
same extent as are efficiently managed
private enterprises. A study has been
L.