Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1916-07-20
the lMTeLLloENr
MANAGEMENT or A
PUBLIC INDUSTRY
Thousands Of Dollars Saved An
nually BY the Introduction Of
Modern Methods In Post
office DEN artman;

0USC0 Departments.
The interest OF people i'm pub
lie affairs is considerably height.
ened when they learn thai the
~ 'cnnes of the government are
wisely and iudiciously managed.
\ statement of economical en-
rcnditmra which is susceptible of
Irnof will always attract atlcn-
ton and please the thoughtful
reader.
among the varied industrial en-
|trrnrises at the pnstoffice denait
llrIt in Washington is an rsinb-
llshment devoted entirely To HE
manufactures of mail locks and The
mag attachments use. IN mail
transportation. When This adj
ministra!ion came into power The
department sorrly needed an inn
proved type of mail lock The
shop was Immediately reoG pa
nized placed on a business basis
and its activities enlarged so as
To meet This Imperative demand
Within a very short time Il new
and greatly imnrnvca lock had
been devised and lis production
begun.
The lock i'm use Weighed iivr
and 0ne-h half ounces: li,e new
one weighs two and four Gflhs
ounces. AS 100000 of this new
product have been put into SEP
vice the difference i'm weight Jllc
government paving as much for
the weight of equipment as il does
| for the mail itself can he easily
calculated. The locks replaced lv
| this new and better slNlr cost >
cents each To make: those nnM
being manufactured cost ~,
cents, direct and indirect charges
r0nsi'iered. the saving Thus
shown on original cost of plndnc-
ton to date amounting in so3.-
| $50. OF the old s!vlr. 80 900
were annually returned for re-
pair al II cost OF about y cents
each. OF the new style. ulil OF
4 the great number sent into the
service. hut 9O6 have been re
turned. and as these new style
locks can BIZ repaired at a cost
of 3 cents each, the annual say
:ng on This item will amount to
over $1,000.
the department has in This adj
ministratim encouraged lis en-
plOyes tn give their best service
tn the government and MANY in.
stances have recently come To ma
lirc wherein the department has
greatly proiiird by Tins wise pol
icy. I'm the lock shop Il recent
achievement i'm This direction is
an improved cord fastener. the
work of three of ills employees. for
use ON bags: also one designed
for locking large quantities of
parcel post matter. which has
heretofore been without this pro
lection. II. can he made a very
low price. requiring less material
and fewer number OF opera
lions. The significant. part of
this lies i'm The great number re
1nireh i'm The service. between
three and four million, the oll
nut being 100000 annually AS
the cost has been reduced by HE
new method from ~ to 3 cents
each. il will be seen what a SPLEEN
did showing This makes for add
miniStlatiVn economy.
Another valuable improve
ment has been the perfected lock
ing cord fastener designed for
nse on the sacks. something which
the department for years has
needed and vanity cndcavorcd 10
accomplish. This device will be
|Of great value to the postal SER
vice at large by increasing ihc
capacity and efficiency of mail
bags to degree difficult To es-
innate. The modern system of
business methods and HE proper
Encouragement OF employees to
take an active and earnest inicr-
lest i'm their work. both of which
desirable features this admins
tratiun Of the department has ia
vore.l and put into practice. is
Irresponsible for he MANY ma
prOvrlnents made and the adNant
ages gained.
Active experiments are con-
| stantly being made for the bet
termrnt of the service For many
years a tremendous expense has
been the labelling of HE immense
quantity of mail bags i'm use. The
form Of label used i'm he past and
| still used by clerks all over the
country is the doubling and re-
folding of what is known as a
facing slip" The preparation
of those labels by the thousands
has been and is an expensive
mOpnsition. yet there appears to
have been no effort on the part
of previous administrations to
progress from the old method.
Under present direction perfoT-
ated label i'm sheets and runs has
been designed which is practically