Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1922-02-15
w ere Z our
a x es Go
How Uncle Sam Spends
Your Money in Conduct.
ing Your Business
By EDWARD 9. LOWRY

Author s'washinsten Goss-Ups," BANKS ana
"a En.is 4.t,.,. s.e Gont 5D fsle,
and . Writr Of Recognized Authority On the /
National GovMnment's Business Methods.
cep,ieht. Western Ns"spaper Unsoa ~
XVIII.
READ LANES DIAGNOSIS
In his final report to the President,
upon completing his work as secre-
tary Of the interior, Franklin X. Lane
sketched with sure hand out Of the
abundance Of his experience the pres
ent Washington condition:
The call is for thinking, planning, engi-
neering, craftsmanship. For we are quick
~ passing out of the rough-and-ready
period Of our national life, in which we
have dealt wholesale with men and
. things. into a period sof more intensive
development, in which we must seek to
md the special qualities Of the individual
unit, whether that unit be an acre Of
desert, a barrel OF oil, mountain
2 canyon, the flow of a river or the capac-
tty of the humblest Of men.
To conquer and to master-the same
old task is ours; but not in the same old
way. We have discovered this land and
Z made it ours but this is not the end
thought, the deepest thought, to the ways
in which it may be made to yield most
Rbundantly in the things which COM
pick society with most imperious Curl
osity demands.
Washington is q combination Of politi-
cal caucus drawing-room and civil serv-
Ice bureaus. It contains statesmen who
are politicians and politicians who are
not statesmen. It Is rich in brains and
In character. It Is honest beyond any
commercial standard. It wishes to do
everything that will promote the public
good. But it is poorly organized for the
task that belongs to it. Fewer men of
larger capacity would do the task better.
Ability is not lacking, but it is pressed
to the point Of paralysis because of an
nnf1nitude of details and an unwillingness
on the part of the great body of public
servants to take responsibility. Every
one seems to be afraid of everyone. The
self-protective sense is developed abnor-
mally the creative sense atrophies Trust,
confidence, enthusiasm-these simple vir-
tues of all great business are the ones
most lacking in government organization.
We have so many checks and brakes
upon our work that our progress does
not keep pace with the nations require
ments. We could save money for the
government If we had more discretion as
to how we should use that given u.s.
For the body of the civil servants there
should be quicker promotion or discharge
and sure insurance when disability
comes For the higher administrative
+. officers there should be salaries twice as
high as those now given, and they should
be made to feel that they are the ones
responsible for the work of the depart
ment, the head being merely an adviser
and constructor Of policies.
AS matters are now devised there are
too few in the government whose bust
ness it is to plan. Every man is held to
detail, to the narrower view, which comes
TOO often to be the department view or
some sort of parochial view We need
Tor the day that is here and upon US
men who have little to do but study the
problems of the time and test their ca
paclty at meeting them. In word, we
need more opportunity for planning, en-
cheering, craftsmanship above, and more
nxed authority and responsibility below.
Inc employment methods Of the gov
eminent could be improved. Under
the civil service law Of 1883 a good
system of competitive examinations
and appointments on merit has been
built up for the classes of positions
covered by the law. But beyond GER
tification by the civil service commits
sion for appointment ,of those appli-
cants who are proved, by examination
to be eligible, the merit system is not
fully operative even in connection with
the positions to which it applies. Hap
hazard practices in assignments Of
work and in promotions, over which
no central authority has jurisdiction,
have brought about inequalities which
4 are discoura ging to the workers. This
condition and the relatively low sal
h aries paid by the government cause
turnover" in government forces
that could not long be withstood by
private business.
The REIMBURSEMENT of government
salaries in the District Of Columbia
has recently received the attention
Of the joint commission on reclassif-
cation of salaries which was author
lied by a provision in the legislative,
executive and judicial appropriation
act approved March 1, 1919. The re-
port of this commission is now in the
hands of congress and it's fate remains
4 to be seen. The report represents
many months Of work and an effort to
present data which will enable con-
gress to understand conditions as they
exist .4
The present civil service law was
\ enacted to correct the evils Of the
''spoils system which had become in
tolerable. That the plan provided by
the law, that Of ppointnents through
competitive examinations for certain
positions, has been vast improve
Sment over the old patronage method
is generally conceded; but the law
failed to be q completely effective in
! strument by not providing for the ap-
plication of the merit system to the
more responsible and therefore, the
more remuneratiye positions.
The administrative offices, aside
from the cabinet, which do not come
within the scope OF the civil service
law, are postmasters at Offices Of the