Dewey County advocate. [volume] (Timber Lake, S.D.) 1910-1913, 1912-01-26


the coming In Of the report, such ofllcss
e may be found useless and can be abol-
ished will Be 20 treated BY executive or
der. g. ~.
Classification u Local oAHeefs.
In my recent message to the congress
I urged consideration Of the necessity OF
placing in the classified service all, Of the
local officers under the departments OF
commerce and labor. 'i ~
The next step which must b taken 10
to require Of heads Of bureaus In the de-
partments 1t Washington, and Of most Of
the local officers under the departments,
qualifications Of capacity similar to those
now required Of certain heads Of bureaus
and of local officers. The extension OF
needed readjustment Of salaries will have
important effects IN securing greater
economy and efficiency. si'!
In the first place, the possession by the
incumbents Of these positions Of requisite
qualifications must Ia itself prmote EN-
cheney
In the second place, the removal Of To-
cal officers from the realm Of political
patronage in many caSes would reduce
the pay roll Of the neld services. At the
present time the incumbents OF many OF
these positions leave the actual perform
ance OF many Of their duties to deputies
ana assistants. The government often
pays two persons for doing work that
could easily be done BY one. What II the
loss to the government cannot be stated.
but that it 10 very large cannot be denied,
when It IL remembered how numerous
are tho local officers In the postal. GUS
toms, internal revenue. public lands. ana
other field serviceSs Of the government.
In the third place, 70 long as local Of
ficers are within the sphere Of political
patronage It ID dfff4tlt to. consider the
ouestion Of the estabilshment or discon-
tinuance Of focal offices apart from the
erect upon local political situations.
Finally. the view that these various
offices are to be filled a. a result OF
political considerations has for its con-
sequence the necessity that the president
and members OF congress devote to mat
tiers Of patronage time which they should
devote to questions Of policy and admin
istration.
approximation.
Attention has been directed In recent
years to the need Of . suitable plan OF
retiring the superannuated employees In
the executive civil service. In the be-
lief that It IL desirable that any steps to-
ward the establishment of such . plan
shall be taken with caution, T Instructed
the commission to make An inquiry nrSt
into the conditions At Washington. This
inquiry has been directed to the ascer-
tainment Of the extent to which super
annuation now exists and to the con-
sideration Of the availability Of the vari-
Gus plans which either have been pro-
posed for adoption In this country or have
actually been adopted In other countries.
I shall submit, in the near future, for
tho consideration OF the congress- plan
for the retirement Of aged employees In
the civil service which win safeguard the
interests Of the government and at the
same time make reasonable provision. for
the needs Of those who have given the
best part Of their lives to the service Of
the state.
Business Methods.
In every case where technical pro-
cesses have been studied It has been dem
onstrated beyond question that large eco
Monies may be effected. The subjects
first approached were those which lie
close to each administrator, viz. office
practices. An illustration Of the possi-
bilities within this field may be found in
the results Of the inquiry into the moth
DDS Of handlinA and Ming correspondence.
Every office II the government has re-
ported it, methods to the commission.
These reports brought to Hight the fact
that present methods were quite in he
reverse Of uniform Some offices follow
the practice Of briedng all correspon-
dence: some do not. Some have nat
illes: others fold all papers before Ming.
Some use press copies: others retain only
carbon copies.
Need for Labor-ssvlng Once Devices.
The use Of labor saving office devices In
the service has been made the subject Of
special inquiry. An impression prevails
that the government 10 not making use
Of mechanical devices for e6ouomizing
labor to the same extent ~ are efficiently
managed private enterprises. A study
has been made Of the extent to which
devices Of this character are now being
employed in the several branches Of the
government and the opportunities that
exist for their more general use.
The efforts of the commission resulted
also in the adoption by several bureaus or
departments Of improved methods Of do
ing copying. Tho amount Of copy work
heretofore done by hand each year IN the
many offices IL estimated to aggregate
several hundred thousand dollars. The
commission exhibited. at its Offices. APP
planes that were thought to be especial
ly adapted to this kind OF government
work. Following these demonstrations
methods Of copying were introduced
Which, novo OHOo6As ooOus S~sANo -
over rs per cent. in offices where used
for six months. This change in one small
cross-section Of office practice Will more
than offset the whole cost Of my inquiry.
Waste In the Distribution Of Public
Documents.
Going outside the office. one Of the
business processes which have been IN
vestigated IL the distribution Of depart
ment documents. This IL q subject with
which both the congress and admins
tration heads are familiar. The prevail
ing practice in handling departmental
publications 10 to have them manufac-
tured at the government printing office:
each Job when completed 10 delivered to
the department; here the books or pam
zphlets are wrapped and addressed: then
are then sent to the postoffice: there they
are assorted and prepared for shipment
through the nails; from the postoffics
they are sent to the railroad station,
which 10 only . few steps from the gov
eminent printing office. when they
started The results Of this laborious and
circuitous method IL to make thesuse Of
the best mechanical equipment impractic-
able and to waste each year not less than
q quarter Of q million dollars OF govern
ment funds in useless handling. to say
nothing Of the indirect loss due to lack
Of proper coordination.
Wastefuf Use Of Properties and Equip.
ment.
The use Of equipment IL q matter which
also has been investigated. Up to the