The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-13
Frederic Haskin's Letter
Reasons for Red Tape.

probably pass an act autho,;.,
The destruction. To destroy r-as
documents without going ,b rau.s
this ceremony, Or even 10 mr,,,s a
them, is a penitent,ary offenss
Carloads of Records.
One small bureau which anal
only about 50 clerks has p.oi
load OF papers filed away, MAN.
them in bundles tied ia N,a.,n u
with the proverbiai governman, s ~,
tape. To sort out those of ~, iel
from the worthless papers von 1s
take more time, says the cSsas
than lie can give now. Thar Vs.
tons or such papers stored in ~
bureau 'morgues' awaI,in, s
periodical sorting out and ~,
gress.onal approval for a honss,
From time to time the bureans =,
get permission to reduce the mon.
tains of Old correspondence .rs
records. The Civil Service co,s A."
mission. for instance, keens y,
records of papers of persons xhs
were found ineligible for soV
eminent position Tor several wears
until there is no possible chance
OF these papers being wanted
Otfhand. this looks like red tana
at its reddest. A government 81.
fetal says not. He tells us th,,
it is a protection to the coyero.
ment employe and to the people a,
the country. Ii there were no such
stringent laws regarding preserya.
ton of government papers, disbon.
est clerks could too easily cover NJ,
crookedness. Time and again in AM
investigation of irregular dealings
the records are called for. II tSa
chief or some other official had the
authority to throw away these pa.
pers after a correspondence was
closed there might be no written
evidence available. AS it is thers
have been cases where officials
who had destroyed or altered
records were discovered and sen.
fenced.
Protecting Government Money
Another instance Of what some
people think is red tape is the re.
quirement that employees who co.,
lect money under the Treasury De-
partment-Such as custom officials
make returns daily. The official
whoever he is, turns in his money
to a bank, and sends a report to
the Treasury Department. The
bank also reports at once to the
treasury each amount deposited.
This is a single step in tle pre-
cautions to keep the governments
money affairs straight. The Treas
ury Department has the most per-
feet accounting system in use. Al
every point where money is
handled it is checked to avoid CT
ror or dishonesty. A government
official may spend public funds w.
wisely, but it is practically impos-
sible tor him to take d dollar Of
the money entrusted to him, and
put it directly in his pocket.
Still another place where formal
ity is carried to an extreme for pro-
lection is in the State Department.
Officials and clerks in this de-
partment are more careful Of what
they say in answer to the mos
casual question than employees o
any other government office. Near
ly every statement Tor the press i
carefully written by the State Dr.
partment press bureau, approVeu
by some nigh otlclal, ana copies
made TO be distributed TO the news
paper correspondents. If news u
gwen verbally it is just as carefui'
ly prepared. Any slight cnahst
in wording might cause an inter
national misunderstanding. Even
an adjective a tribe stronger tnal
the one int ended TO be used mlgnl
possibly oflend some foreign rep
lesentative.
On the other hand, ceremonle'
no less elaborate are beng per
/ formed by some other Dureau'
without any legitimate reason Dacl
OF them. The budget bureau, IL
materializes, will be required o.
one OF its definite duties 10 max
d detailed study of the department
and establishment Tor the purpos
OF enabling the president 10 ue
; termine what changes with a 'ic'
: OF securing greater economy al
efficiency IN the conduct Oh ID
public servicel should be MADE "
| ID the eX sting orgaaiZalIoH
activities, and methods OF bushes
of such departments or establish
ments, % the appropFia'ioi
therefor, ~ the assignment Y
particular activities TO paflic-d
services, Or t4l the regroup!hg y
services. The results OF slcn stuu.
shall be embodied i'll report 0
reports to the president, VINO III
transmit TO Congress sucl repo,
with ms recommendations Oh Ia
matters covered thereby"
lhis is still very much like us'h
red tape to eliminate It, bat II i
safe way 10 simplify the compie
government machinery, ana d
such it is strongly supported by u
congressional! advocates Of =
budget system.