The sun., 1919-05-19

sponsfble head OF the bureau before any
record thereof goes TO the Treasury De-
partment. Here again the responsibility
must be accompanied by full authority
to act or II Is worthless. believe you
must assume that the director OF this
bureau knows what 1t requires and act
upon his recommendations or a director
should be appointed who will enjoy such
confidence.
Third, in the matter OF the control
OF the administrative processes within
the bureau.
1T was proposed recently by the
Treasury Department in memorandum
submitted by you to Mr.. Shouse that the
director Of this bureau should practic-
ally surrender his control Of its pro-
cedure and routine administrative pro-
cesses by sumitting for your approval
ALL general orders and regulations re-
lating to the work of the Bureau. /
have previously pointed out the distinc-
ton between Treasury decisions and
administrative orders and regulations
which affect only those internal matters
which the Director must control in order
to deal promptly and effectively with
the situations which arise from day to
day within the Bureau. They are mat
ters with which no one outside Of tho
Bureau could possibly be familiar.
The fact that this proposal was
made indicates the attitude of the
Treasury Department towards the Bur-
eau, an attitude which Is the product
OF system that separates responsible
ity from authority and which necessar-
lily tends to prevent the best organize
tion.
Necessity of Publicity.
Fourth. in the matter OF publicity
Apart from all questions OF organ
isation and procedure the success Of the
Bureau depends very largely upon ef-
tective publicity addressed to the men
In and out of the service who subscribed
for Government insurance and to their
relatives and dependents who must be
relied upon to influence these men to
continue their insurance after their re-
turn to civil life.
The task Of insurance conversion
alone requires systematic organized
publicity campaign setting forth the
advantages OF the privilege accorded
by the Government through this bureau
to the men who served in the war, but
my experience with handling publicity
matters through the agencies established
| IN the Treasury Department, where !
have encountered nothing but delays and
revision. makes me despair, of any sue
| cess under the present arrangement
You know as we'll as I do that the
bureau is not in good repute with the
| soldiers and their families and that the
| best and only way to correct this i'm
preston Is. first, by improving our SER
vice and. second. advertising by means
OF thorough publicity. find It neces-
| sary to tell you that because of the in
terminable delays in passing upon even
the most trivial details In article sub
mitted to the Treasury Department l
have been compelled to impose narrow
| limitations upon the bureaus publicity
in order to avoid submitting to the de-
lays in the Treasury.
speaking quite plainly. Mr.. Secre-
! tary, you inherited In this bureau a vol
cano and assumed its directorship
with a full knowledge of the fires that
burned beneath IT. I realized, as I be-
lieve you did. the necessity Of prompt,
energetic action. Since took this ONCE
l have broken down with a ruthless
hand those things within the bureau
which prevented progress. prevented de.
cisions. prevented conclusions prevented
cooperation, prevented coordination and
| destroyed morale. l shall continue this
| work as long as I remain Director. be-
cause have In mind the urgency Of the
situation and the vital importance OF
the service rendered by the bureau &c
the millions Of men who served through.
out the war and to their dependents
Wanted Power to Act.
| But cannot accept the responsible,
Tor success unless I can have your CO
operation. confidence and support in the
matters here presented. Whatever meas
ure of success had as head of the wal
| An xxyttt -
peditionary Forces attribute directly C
the fact that my responsibility there wa.
accompanied by power TO act.
| II organized and administered I'll,
war risk section. selecting its personnel
promoting and demoting members OF tn,
| organisation as was best, In my opinion
for the service, and I alone was directl,
| responsible to the commanding Genera
for every act. I supposed that my ex
perience overseas was one OF my princi
pal qualification you had in mind wher
you asked me to be the director OF tn,
bureau here. but under the system which
prevails In the Treasury Department tn,
value Of the experience Is reduced to
minimum. Instead of having full au
thority the acts OF the drecto- In ever
the smallest matters are viewed and re
viewed over and over again by men VIII,
| are without experience In the matter
involved and who do not and canno
como into personal contact with IN,
problems or the personnel engaged II
their solution.
II am addressing you at this length
because I know that you have the in
terests Of the bureau at heart and be
cause yours is the only power TO appl,
ruthless hands to the system that 4
Gripping, system OF which you and
are victims rather than parties. Yo,
alone have the power to determine
whether this bureau Is to be a con
structive factor In your administration
and helpful to the four millions OF mel
and their dependents or whether you will
permit II to be blocked and hampere,
from day to day in the manner / hav
described.
approximately s3e, 000, 0eO, 900 of Gov
eminent insurance has been written oil
the lives Of the men who have served thei
country which ought to stand not onl!
as a protection to themselves and thei
dependents, but as a bulwark agains
the recurrence of pension scandals an,
pension frauda There are millions o
soldiers accounts with the bureau still
TO be adjusted and settled. each adjust
ment a source Of antagonism on tn
part Of the soldier to his Government.
Urgency OF Relief.
"a vast amount OF the work remain
TO be done, but the bureau cannot per
form It's necessary function unless givel
relief from the conditions that exis
in the Treasury Department. submit