New Britain herald., 1918-11-07

and correct them when they are not
as they should be unless the public
will cooperate in pointing out dell
ciences and disservice when they ex-
list, so that the proper remedies may
be applied.
I have therefore established a bu~
reau for Suggestions and Compla,nts
in the Director Generals office at
Washington, to which the public is
invited to resort.
Aside from letters of complaint
and suggestion the public can render
a genuine service by sending letters OF
recommendation of employees who are
CONSEQUENTLY courteous and efficient
in the performance of their duties
Nothing promotes the esprit OF
great organization more than recog-
milton from time to time of these en-
ployees who perform their duties
faithfully and comm endably.
It Is requested that all commun1-
cations be brief and explicit and that
the name and address of the writer be
distinctly written.
Also give the time Of day or might,
the number of the train, the name or
the railroad, and, Ii possible, tho
name of the employee whose conducr
is complained of or whose services
are commended, together with such
other Information as will enable me
TO take appropriate action.
Please address.
~. W. G. McADoo,
Director General of Railroads.
Bureau for Suggestions and
Complaints,
Washington. D. c.
To deal with the letters which this
- nj
trained men were selected and put
under the direction Of the writer.
They include Ballard Dunn, assistant
actuary to the United States Rail-
road administration and formerly
special representative OF presidents
office, Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha;
]. r. FARRELL, formerly editorial
writer on Kansas City Times and
Topeka Capital, and later with the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail.
road as editor of its Industrial and
agricultural publications and in gem
eral charge of publicity matters; T.
7. Maxey, formerly of the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railroad as ad.
vertising agent; e. n. Lamb, formerly
general agent of the Chicago & North
Western Railway at Sacramento.
t
secretary to the actuary to the
United States Railroad adrninistra-
ton.
This bureau for suggestions ana
complaints, which a newspaper man
has facetiousiy dubbed the bureau
of brickbats and bouquets is Mr..
McAdoo's latest application of his
motto 1.-THE public be pleased" 1t
+, i1 AYtSfenrs long
enough to make it possible for those
in charge of 1t to draw a. cross Sec
ton Of the composite public mind as
revealed in the many thousands OF
letters that have been received.
The writer's of these letters un-
consciously divide themselves into two
classes-one comprising those who
are temperamentally censorious, and
another which includes the people
who believe that praise is a duty and
that criticism Is best defined as an
emphasis of the desirable."
The rhyme which runs-
Between the optimfst and pessimisc
the difference Is droli,
The optimist the doughnut sees--the
pessinist the hole
finds fresh application II not a few
contrasting letter upon the same
subject, but between the two ex-
trernes there are many who are evil
IDENTIFY inspired by a public-spirited
desire to improve the service that the
railroads are trying to render and a
patriotic Willingness to subordinate
their own convenience and comfort to
| the primary purpose for which the
railroads were taken over, namely,
| the winning of the war
That this latter class is in a very
| large majority is one OF the reAssur~
| ing facts revealed by the experience
| of the bureau for suggestions and
| complaints.
Some Of the newspaper writer's who
| have been vociferous in proclaimins
| the discourtesy and Indifference Of
Uncle Sans railway employees"
! would perhaps be surprised at the
number of letters of comm endation
| that have been received and while
| a. few of them are no doubt the re-
suit OF autosuggestion, it is evident
that as class the men and the in
| creasingIy large number OF women
| who compose the railway army OF
| the United States are loyal and en-
! tfusiastic, anxious and willing to
| give the best that is in them to the
work in which they are enlisted.
Perhaps a story written by a newr-
paper reporter who started out to
find the discourteous railway en-
| ployee and failed describes the AK
| perience of not a few disappointed
! pessin1ists. ..
Y