The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1914-07-01
MILLIONS WASTED
IN ?. 0. EXPENSES
Which BurIeson Expects
To Save.
MONEY IS NEtOlESSLY Spent
In Handling Mails-Will LOp
off S10,000.000 or
S2O,000,0O0.
WANT EXPENSES KEPT DOWN

Washington, June 27.--Postmas-
ter-General Burleson has completed
plans which he expects will reduce
| Uncle Sans bill for delivering mail
from $1O,O00,O0O to S20,000,OOO
annually and increase the efficiency
of the service about rs per cent. In
putting the postal service on bust
ness basis, he proposes to cut of
enormous expenses entailed because
| the department has been used as
much for political as business pur-
poses. and he hopes to build up an
efficient working organization.
Several days ago he started out
squad of efficiency experts with or
ders to investigate twelve or fifteen
of the big post-oflices and to ascer-
tain just where the money is being
wasted.
Agents of the department have
already reported that thousands OF
men and women are drawing sala-
ries who are not needed and who
are an actual impeachment to the ma
chinery of the organization.
Many of these men and women
have been on the pay-rolls for twen-
ty, thirty and forty cars. Getting
their jobs first through politics, they
have stayed on the payroll though
their services have deprecated in
value annually.
The first cut made in line with
Mr. Burleson's plan was announced
several weeks ago, when Otto Prae-
ger, the Washington Postmaster, an
nounced that he proposed to dismiss
ffty-three men and women on June
80 because their services are not
needed in the local Office. Mr.. Prae-
ger reported that the work these
ffty-three were supposed to do could
be done easily by the other clerks.
In inspecting the local sub-sta-
lions Mr.. Praeger found that there
was an average of three clerks to
sell stamps, money orders and han
die the general delivery mail.
After watching these clerks sew
eral days he found that one man
could handle the three windows
without trouble. He estimated that
the three clerks We're occupied on an
average of one and one-half hours a
day, while they actually sat before
the windows for seven or eight
hours. The dropping of these clerks
is expected to save 900 year in
the Washington Office alone.
The Postmaster-General believes
that proportionate saving can be
made in most of the Offices through
out the country by putting in a
standard system. He expects also
to save several millions annually
by making different arrangements
for leasing sub-statiOns. A superb
cial investigation has satisfied him
that politics has played so active a
part i'm these leases that the favored
have received extortionate rents at
the expense of the Government.
Under the present system the de-
livery of parcel post packages aver
ages three cents in some cities and
runs as high as fifteen cents in 9TH
ers. He hopes to standardize part
of the business so that there will be
a general fiat cost for distributing
parcels with saving running posi-
bly, into the millions.
Under the old system each post
master has been car in his own
office. If Burleson's plan succeeds,
each postmaster will be a unit in a
general system. Heretofore there
have been the greatest discrepancies
in the cost of maintenance of Offices.
Hereafter postmasters will be in
structed in the proper management
of their Offices from an economical
standpoint.
If they cannot keep expenses
down they will have to make way
for more efficient men.
The July American.