The Raymer enterprise., 1915-11-11


method OF securing and charting this information
become that it requires little labor and Its cost
by comparison with the results achieved In as
ssting in intelligent buying, is remarkably low
Other charts corrected daily, keep the bureau
informed as to the amount OF stocks on hand
In every detail not only at the storehouses put
on the ships well, Since the navy through lts
extensive wireless system is in constant com
muncation with every ship afoat, the task OF
keeping up these charts Is not difficult as II
seems.
Or the bunch OF cards making up ships COM
peny also Is producible on the instant
Machines have reduced the amount OF work in
the accounting section more than SO per cent.
There are refnements of cost keeping In mill
tary establishment that are not known In a
private establishment. for all expenditures must
conform to some specific item of an appropria-
tion bill, and appropriations for the naval estab.
lishment are found in three different appropria-
tion acts.
Roughly speaking, 100000 separate accounts
must be kept properly to meet the requirements
of the law and to furnish the information as to
costs gross and detailed. needed. Imagine a
ledger with 100000 accounts
Here the cards and mechanism have come in to
the extent that half the number OF men needed
Is months ago now required to do the work.
In addition a great deal of new work has been
taken on.
The use of new card punching machines is re-
sponsible for the larger economies.
The machine is arranged that it sorts the
punched cards arranges them in proper groups.
ascertains the totals of the figures ind ,ated by
the punched holes and prints on sheet the
results II is accounting reduced to mechanism.
OF course the usual machines, such as adding
ro,htp tla I'm - : annipu u,atf
In fact the whole trend of the reforms in this
section has been to reduce everything to a
mechanical basis.
The result is great economics in operation. in
creased efficiency increased accuracy and in.
creased speed To the casual observer the strik-
ing thing is the disappearance OF books. Few
indeed are the books In sight, remarkably slim
the files In other words, the accountancy sys-
tenn has been reduced to the simplest dimensions.
Ask any man. officer civilian. In the estab.
lishment how the whole organization has been
made over in such time, and he instantly will
tell you that Sammy McGowan did It. And then
he will grow confidential and tell you what he
esteems is the secret Of the whole accomplish.
ment. the spirit that McGowan has put into his
entire force I'VE don't tolerate grouches." your
informant will say We all belong to the Don't
Worry club and MCGOWAN is its president"
AnOtner tnlnB tnls paymaBter general mas done
is to establish In Washington. with the approval
Of the secretary Of the navy. a school for navy
pay officers. These officers are appointed from
civil life on a competitive examination. They 60
into the service equipped with good academic
education. but with no knowledge Of the navy
and its needs. Hence the neW service school,
which has In this years class Is young officers
who are being trained In their new profession
Admiral McGowan himself il product OF
civilian training. When he secured his appoint.
ment in the pay corps in 1894 he was South
Carolina newspaper man who had worked his
way through college and law school by running
a brick yard and serving as ticket agent at
railway station Maybe there he got the training
which has made him a great business executive.
The fact that he has spent most Of his naval
career at sea accounts for his insstence that the
fleet and not the blseau is the thing ever to be
kept in mind.
When he left the Atlantic fleet to 20 ashore as
paymaster general his commanding officer, Ad.
miral Badger. said OF him. "He has made the pay
department Of the fleet smoothly working mil.
itary machine"
That ID the ideal he holds up to his bureau
and corps. Make 1t a smooth running military
machine"