Norwich bulletin., 1912-04-05

NSuLAuHEEs
 On the 17th of January last 1 sent a message to the congress describing the work of the commission appointed by me under authority of the acts of June 25, 1910, and March 3, 1911, granting appropriations to enable me to inquire into the methods of transacting the public business of the various execu- tive departments and other govern mental establishments and to make re- port as to improved efficiency and greater economy to be obtained in the expenditure of money for the mainte- nance of the government. By way of Illustrating the utility of the cemmis- sion and the work which they were engaged upon I referred to a number of reports which they had filed, recon meDding changes in organization of the departments and bureaus of the government, the avoidance of duplica- don Of functions and services and the installation of labor saving devices and improved office methods. All of the recommendations looked to savings of considerable amounts With the mes- sage of Feb. 8, 1912, transmitted to the congress the reports on the central Rsat1on of distribution of government documents, on the use of window en- val0pes and on the use of a photo graphic process for copying records.
 A number of the reports of the com SnAsSiOn had not then been commented sn by the heads of the departments chat would be affected by the changes recommended, and therefore did not feel justified at that time in recom- meHding to the congress the statutory amendments necessary to carry out the recommendations of the commission. Since then, however, I have received the recommendations of the heads of departments, and l transmit this mes- sage for the purpose of expressing my approval of the changes recommended by the commission and of laying be- fore the congress the reports prepared by Che commission.
 Lsoai Offices Should Be In the cIassi-
 fed SsrViee-Postofioes.
 \ have several times called attention t0 the advantages to be derived from placing in the classified service the To- cal officers under the departments of the treasury, of the pOstoffice, of jus lice, of the interior and of commerce and labor. In my message submitted ao the congress on Jan. F I referred ED the loss Occasioned to the govern ment because of the fact that in many eases two persons are paid for doing work that could easily be done by one. In the meantime I have caused an in Hufry to be mads as to the amount iH money of this loss. The results of this inquiry are that the loss amounts to at least S10,000O00 annually. For exam pie, it appears that very substantial seOROmy would result from putting ex- 0eFisnced and trained officers in charge uf the first and second class postof1ces instead of selecting the postmasters in accordance with the present practice As the annual operating expenses of She first and second class offices aggre- gate the enormous sum of more than $80.O00,OO0, undoubtedly if the post masters of these offices were embraced in the classified service and required to devote all their time to the public serv- ice the annual savings would eventu- ally represent many millions of dollars. The saving in salaries alone, not taking into account any saving due to increas- ed efficiency of operation, would amount TO about s4,500,OO0 At the present time the salaries of pOstmas- ters of the first and second class amount to S6,076, 300, while the salaries of assistant postmasters of the same classes amount to S2,S2OOO0. If the position of postmaster were placed in ehe classified service and those officers were given salaries equal to 20 per cent more than the salaries now given to the assistant pOstmasters, the latter position being no longer required. there would he a saving fin salaries to the government of $4,512,90O In the case e pOstmasters at offices of the third class large annual saving could be made.
 Pension Agencies.
 An annual saving of nearly S62. 1000 could be made if the position of pen sion agent were placed in the classified service, since. the work now done by q pension agent at salary of S4,00O and q chief clerk at a salary ranging between $1, 400 and 2,250 could easily be done by one person in the perma- nent classified service at salary vary ing from $2,1O0 to $3,0OO. Greater economy and efficiency would result from the abolition of the pension agen- cies and from the adoption of a plan tn accordance with which pensions would be paid by the pension odice in Washington.
 District Land Offices.
 What is true in the matter of pay ment of pensions is also true in the service under the general land office. The field service of this office could be more efficiently and economically oper- ated If it were provided by law that the office of receiver of district land offices be abolished and the duties transferred to the register, assisted by . bonded clerk and the register placed