Evening star., 1927-10-19


for their adoption. And it is learned
on good authority at the Bureau OF
Efficiency that those of its recon-
mendatio which are not adopted by
the Commissioners and which are be-
lieved important WI he brought he
fore the appropriate ton committees of
Congress and urged for adoption
there.
Naturally. this procedure has not
awakened any keen enthusiasm a the
District Building. Instead of working
with the bureau to correct any faults
found, the city government necessarily
has been placed in defensive mood
The Commissioners want to know what
is wrong in an esta blishment for which
they are responsible, but the only in,
timation they have that something
might he wrong is afforded by the
tales which reach their ears that the
bureaus Investigators this day APP
peared in the department of MIR. SO.
and.So and proceeded to go through
his papers, croSs-eXa mine his assist
ants and iot down mysterious nota-
tions in their notebooks.
Await the. Outcome.
Therea fter the Commissioners wait
with keen interest for the outcome.
For all they know they will receive
report through the mails, or a per-
sonal visit from the investisa tors.
from which they will learn for the
first time that Mr.. So.and So IL q
thief. an assa ssin and a safe blower,
and that he has regularly been mulct-
ing the District Government of its
hard-earned funds. This they natur-
ally would like to know, but MS they
are responsible by law for the Dis.
trict Government, they would also
appreciate having a hand in making
the discovery.
Nor has the constant suspense under
which the employees at the Dis
trict Building have lived through
out the last few months been alto
gether conducive to high morale and
jovial spirits. MIR. John Doe. for in
stance. head of division of the To-
cal government. has for years been
perfecting himself on the details of
its routine and feels that he knows
his Office like book. Suddenly he
is appraised of the fact that two
young men from the Bureau of Eff.
cheney have appeared. and meeting
them, he is informed that he is to lay
all his office machinery open for their
inspection, while he himself and his
assistants are put through series of
questions concerning their work.
Then the experts withdraw and with
out further ado make up their report
the substance Of which is unknown
to Mr.. John Doe. Mr.. John Doe nat
urally lies awake at night and Won
ders whether he is as good rs he
thought he was and whether the
report will disclose that he is an in
competent official who is nothing bot
a drone in the beehive of govern
ment. When the report is delivered
he Is naturally antagonistic. for he is
human. He feels that anything
found wrong in his Office Is a ref1ec-
tion on himself. and his chief desire
is to re-establish himself In the eye
of his superiors by showing that he
was right and the bureau wrong.
On the other hand. a Mr.. John
Smith. subordinate in the office of
Mr.. John Doe, has always had ideas
that he could run the office much bet
ter than can Mr.. Doe. Mr. John
Smith is chronicalIv afflicted with
ideas. some of which may be very
sound, but he has never been able to
impress their merit upon Mr.. Doe.
When the Bureau of Efficiency inyes.
tigators appear, however, he sees the
chance for a long-lost opportunity.
md he spills his ideas into the ears Of
the Bureau of Efficiency investigators.
In the first place, it must he borne in
mind that an investigator who investi.
gates an office and finds nothing
wrong is not such a whale of an in.
vestigator. and the investigators OF
the Bureau of Efficiency are only hu.
man. Therefore. they are willing and
anxious to receive suggestions from
anybody who can point to something
wrong, or that looks wrong. The sub
ordinate gets his chance, and he may
find his ideas incorporated at last in
the Bureau Of Efficiency report, and
watches in glee rs his superior, Mr..
John Doe. does some writhing.
The Bureaus Side.
This may result, in many instances
in bringing into effect some changes
which Mr.. John Doe should long ago
have recognized as being worth while
At the same time it is not designed as
an effective method of upholding dis.
cipline or Of building an esprit de corps
among the workers in Mr.. Does office
But there is another ;ngle from the
Bureau of Efficiency's viewpoint which
should receive attention When the
city was seized with something ap-
preaching hysteria over the attacks
on former Commissioner Fenning last
year the Gibson subcoml -ittee found
itself deluged with tips" from every
Tom, Dick and Harry who had ever
had a complaint against a District Of
fetal or a branch of the District Gov
ernment. The day of the anonymous