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

such establishment; insofar as they
are Of purely civil character, use
should be made Of services organized
and conducted upon civil basis.
In respect to the distribution OF the
equipment and duties of the revenue.
cutter service among other branches OF
the government, the recommendation
of the commission looks to the trans
fer to the navy department Of the
vessels which are adapted to deep.sea
cruising and the discharge by the
naval establishment of most OF the
duties now performed by the revenue.
cutter service upon the high seas. In
memoranda submitted on the report
of the commission, copies of which are
submitted with such report, on the
one hand the secretary Of navy raises
] the question as to whether these
duties can be performed by the regu-
lar naval establishment without de-
tracing from its military efficiency,
while on the other hand the secretary
Of commerce and labor raises the
question whether certain of these
duties can not performed by the light
house service ifthat service is prov1d-
ed with vessels suitable for the pur-
! pose.
In view of these suggestions rec
| ommend that, in the enactment Of leg
islation providing for the abolition of
the revenue-cutter service, a provision
be made for the transfer of all the
vessels and equipment Of the revenue
cutter service from the treasury depart.
and labor; that the secretary
- no II.
rected to assign such vessels
and equipment to the light
house establishment, bureau of fisher
les, and other services under his jur-
isdiction requiring the use Of vessels,
as. in his Judgment, Is for the best
interest of the public service, and that
authority be given to him to turn over
to the navy such vessels as he may
find, upon investigation, not to be re-
quired by his department and which
by their character are fitted to serve
as useful auxiliaries to the naval
establishment
viii Not Impair Service.
In thus recommending that the
revenue-cutter service as separate
establishment be abolished, desire to
make plain that such action does not
carry with it the discontinuance of the
rendering of any valuable and proper
service now being rendered by that or
ganization. On the contrary, am per-
suaded that all such services will con-
tinue to be performed under the sys-
TEN recommended by me with equal or
greater efficiency.
1t should be noted that the adoption
of the recomm endation here made will
result in bringing under one general
administration all Of the work of the
government having to do with the pro-
lection of life and property at sea.
This will result not only in greatly
increased efficiency, but in large
saving. The lighthouse establishment
is compelled by the nature of the work
to maintain and operate large fleet
Of vessels and supplementary admin
istrative divisions depots. inspection
services, etc, to attend to matters per-
tanning to their business management.
1t is thus fully prepared to take over
and operate the additional vessels that
may be assigned to it and to perform
the additional duties with which 1t
may be instructed al an added expense
that will be small in comparison with !
that now entailed in maintaining an
independent service on military
basis.
A further benefit of no little import |
ance that will also be secured will be !
that of relieving the department of the !
treasury of duties which are In no |,
ways germane to the primary function
Of that department.
Consolidation Of Auditing Offices.
The report upon the organization
and methods OF work of the account |
ing Offices of the treasury (Appendix !
No. a recommends that the Offices OF
the six auditors be consolidated under |
one auditor, and the auditors of GUS |
toms accounts located at the principal !
ports, and known as naval officers, be !
made assistants to the auditors. An
increase in the efficiency of the treas !
TRY audit will be one result Of the
out of these recommendations ,
and the saving of expense when the !
has been fully completed !
will amount to at least 100000 year.
based upon current appropriations
The present organization, under which |
six independent auditors are engaged
in the one work Of final audit Of the
accounts, is certainly one
that can produce only diversity of prac-
tice and procedure, inefficient use OF
personnel and equipment, and delay
and uncertainty of requirements from
which the public as we'll as officers of
The government must suffer.
In my opinion change in law to
carry into effect this recommends
ions of the commission, which have
NY approval, will be in the interest
If the public service.
The Returns Office.
The report upon the returns office
IF the department Of the interior CAP
oendix No 81 recommends the abolition
# wat office and that provision for
public inspection Of government con-
I.L.o Lt nlduc tnIOugn the onice OF
he auditors of the treasury, in which
office the originals Of all contracts are
lied. It also recommends the substitu-
ion Of a certificate for the affidavit
to be attached to the contracts
If the departments Of war. the navv
Ind the interior, and an amendment Of
ne statue winch nov renuits al me
Of those departments to be
n writing I transmit letters from the .
secretaries Of the departments referred