Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1922-11-02
BY JAMES P. HoRNADAY

~HiHADs W httt " iiEMCI ID
form letters, or not at all, or after
while if stress of business permitted
If the postmaster at Tacoma wishe,
information he wrote to Washington
He might be referred to the posta
laws and regulations. which had no
been revised or reissued since 1913
Cash received by postmasters for sal,
OF stamps, money orders, etc, wa:
Kept In separate drawers, a system
of physical bookkeeping instituted be
fore postmasters learned to strike 9
balance or draw checks.
The thought came that all of the
postal business originating in a state
should be completed there If possible
Decentralization was begun. The re
sponsibilities of the central account
ing office of each state, already estab
lished, were enlarged Depots were
opened in each state to make supplies
easy of access for that state. Infor
nation wanted can now be had from
the central accounting office by wire
or letter in an hour or a day instead
of week or month as before. The
additional work at the central ac-
counting Offices has been absorbed by
their own people through better or
ganization ana skilled employees.
Wrong Idea of Inspectors.
Z Years ago by common consent the
public regarded the post office inspec-
tor as the evil genius of the service
mysterious person who might be
looking through a peep hole on men
at work, or likely to steal up to the
cash drawer when an employee was
making change for a patron. find him
short, disgrace him and slip away.
possibly without seeing the postmas-
ter. Il doubt if such characteristics
ever did apply to a post Office inspec
tor" said Postmaster General Work
In talking of postal affairs in general
81 know they do not now. The type
of men employed in this work would
be sufficient refutation in itself Five
hundred men selected by civil service
examinations who had four or more
years of post Office or railway mail ex-
perience, under forty years Of age,
before they could be examined for
eligibility, to be again pruned by the
chief inspector before appointment in
the lower grades-these constitute
the post Office inspector force The
United States is divided into Is in
spector districts and these men are
at work every day somewhere.
"At one time the new postmaster
dreaded their first visit from the day
of his appointment. Now he usually
finds one in the post office to advise
direct and explain. Inspectors go out
now on call of postmaster to help
him interpret and apply a new order,
or reorganize his delivery routes, or
adjust his accounts. Our force has
been subdivlded into specialist expert
classes. They are organizers of post
office system, welfare and personnel
work, motor vehicle equipment, fraud
work. thievery, highway robbery,
Matchmaking, or the locating of crimi.
nails who creep into the service seek.
ing opportunity.
Men of Responsibility.
"The post office inspector now I'm. I
derstands his duties to be construc. |
tive, to find errors and Irregularities
for the purpose of correcting them
and to advise punishment by disci-
pline or reference to the Department
Of Justice only where intent Is eyi.
dent or the offense was grave. They
know that good business, good morals
and good morale are inseparable.
They know that they are employees
of the government, close up, and their
responsibilities do not sit lightly.
inspections and reorganizations by
them of our largest post offices are
expected to show annual savings-so
far not less than 100000, and in one
case 1881 600. through systematized
working plan with the nOn-empIoy-
ment of l6T auxillarieS carried on the
rolls but not needed for good service
They readjusted the railway mail
service recently by substituting a sur r:
plus list composed of regular clerks
ior the auxiliary list being carried.
an annual saving to the gov
of more than one million dol.
ars, with an average pay loss to the
'lerk on this surplus list of $3.50 per
month, and saving to the clerks the
5-hour day on the road. Less gov
rnment In business calls for more
government by individuals with
ense Of personal responsibility to the
government. More business in govern
nent can be and is being applied In
ne post office service through recog-
ition OF individual rights and of the
ersonal equation and the disregard
T the mass-labor-commodity heresy.
Il have interpreted less government
business to mean less espionage in
usiness. and have set about to en-
ourage initiative and to invite origi-
atty. We have invited suggestions
nd criticisms on the methods In use
nd pay rewards for inventions
dopted."