Evening star., 1925-09-15
ARTICLE III.

"Mr. Jones is sick; he won't be
down today"
Those nine words, or their equiva-
lent, spoken thousands of times daily
into a telephone receiver, probably
have cost American taxpayers hun
dreds of millions Of dollars. all told.
They became so prevalent in the
Federal service during the early part
Of this year that Calvin Coolidge s
professional dollar savers. searching
through the departments looking for
financial leaks, began quiet investi-
cation.
They started in the Post Office
Department that greatest going
branch of the Federal service where
the bills run to almost $100,0O0,00O
year. What they found made that
department hard boiled. so far as sick
leave is concerned. Illness that is
Job without loss of pay; but Illness
that is largely mental hereafter
stands on q different footing from its
old carefree place in the past.
To pick up the story of the investi-
CATION. however, as it developed, let
the Bureau of the Budget tell it in
the language written into its official
records. Here it Is:
1T was found that Notwithstanding
the provision of the law that sick
leave shall be granted only on salts
factory evidence of Illness, the idea
was somewhat prevalent that such
leave might be authorized upon a
mere statement of illness, and that
there was. in fact, additional annual
leave.
Evidence Now Required.
"Accordingly. instructions were
given to postmasters to strictly ad-
minister the law authorizing the
granting of sick leave and to allow
such leave only in those cases where
the evidence of illness is satisfactory.
The form of application was also
amended so as to fully inform en-
ployes applying for sick leave as to
the conditions contemplated by the
law before such leave is justified.
prior to January i. 1925, post
masters were permitted to utilize such
substitute service as might be neces-
sary during the absence of employees
on sick leave. To give the department
better control of these expenditures
postmasters have been required since
January l., 1925, to include in their
estimates for quarterly auxiliary
service the substitute service neces-
sary on account of employees absent
on sick leave.
Another feature of improved ad-
ministration that has contributed
largely to the reduction in sick leave
has been the establishment of medical
or first-aid units in the larger post
Offices.
1.-The annual saving in the cost of
clerical work due to this closer super
vision of sick leave, is estimated at
$3.50, 900.
THE reduction in the cost of carrier
sick leave necessarily cannot be so
great as the reduction in the case of
clerks because of the smaller numbers
Of carriers employed, and the fact that
when a carrier is absent his route
must be served by a substitute, thus
requiring full eight hours or more
substitute service every day that a
regular carrier is absent.
However, ii is estimated that the
annual savings in employments of
substitutes due to absence of letter
carriers on sick leave will be $4,000
making a total annual saving for both
clerks and carriers of $1,500.0O0."
Cut Down Overtime.
Having doctored the sick to the ex-
tent of saving $1,500,000 to taxpayers
annually, the money-savers turned
their attention to another big expense
item in the Post Office Department
overtime. For that, in the postal
service, the Government pays. And