Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-15
UNIFORM CHECKS
URGED BY M'CARL
y. S. Controller Proposes Ma
chine System to Expedite
Accounting.

SO1iIlOI1CI SGLlSEdI OF the united
States J. r. McCarl today formally
recommended to Secretary of the Treas
ury Mellon reform of the entire system
OF issuing Government checks. with
adoption of thicker check, which by
means Of holes punched into it can be
sorted, tabulated and audited by cleo
trlcal machine methods.
As thousands of Government checks
are issued and caShed in Washington
me proposal is of deep interest to local
financial and business circles. as well
as TO banks throughout the Nation.
Inc plan would make uniform checks
issued by the 1900 disbursinc oficers
OF tne government scattered Throughout
tne world. Most of the checks are is
sued here. Should such a change he
aoopGeo, II not only would prove more
i"peoH!ous and less expensive" accord
ing 70 McCarl. but would be Welcomes
py Federal Reserve Banks throieho,,t
me country, through which ali FedereI
'iiecks return to the Treasury here.
IN the Treasury Department. McCar,
sdlo. u would result in great savings.
where Cne work, he estimated. could he
aoile by machines and one-third of the
zI4 employees now working there. The
approximate cost of the new machines
IN the accounting division of the Treas.
uaers office, McCarl said, would be
$4,000 annually, while the saving in
saIarles from reduction of EMPLOYEES
wouia De $4,000 annually. In the
securities division of the Treasurer's
ONCE. McCarl estimated that In am.
ployes could be reduced to about three
or four. with AN additional savings of
$4,000 or $4,000 annually"
Looks to New Methods.
The whole plan. McCarl said would
look toward THE DEVELOPMENT and
adoption of more expeditions and lass
expensive method OF handling and Sc
counting for Government checks
tnrough the disbursing Offices, the Fed
eral Reserve Banks, the Treasury De-
partment and the General Accounting
once, respectively. and the dfscontin-
uance Of the practice, by some of sign
ing checks before they have been fully
prepared for signature"
investigations made and tests con-
Quoted" declared McCarl have con-
ylnced me that such a plan is highly
feasible. and II put into operation
throughout the entire disbursing system
OF the Government will work tremen-
dous savings in the cost of preparing
and handling the great volume of
checks issued annually. approximating
now some 80 millions. will expedite the
preparation OF daily abstracts of trans
actions affecting the treasurer's ac-
count, now required of the Federal Re-
serve banks, will facilitate the handling,
sorting and tabulating for daily clear
anceS and monthly stating in the treas
urer's Office, and make unnecessary the
practice OF signing checks before they
are properly prepared for signature"
The Pension Bureau, McCarl ex-
planned, issues about 20 per cent of all
Government checks; the Veterans
Bureau about IT'S per cent Of the total
output, or $500, 900 annually, the Dr.
vision of Loans and Currency of the
Treasury, about 6.5 per cent.
One Tabulator in Use.
One tabulating machine is now in use
in the Veterans Bureau. and 1t was
proposed that others could be repro
iuced from this model Details of how
the new system could be put into effect
in each of the larger issuing offices were
explained.
Concerning the banks, McCarl said
that the system of reports required of
Federal reserve banks and other de-
positorieS would be greatly Simplified
and made less expensive. IF the checks
reached the banks prepared in the man.
ner outlined in the proposed plan," he
declared all the banks would have to
do would be to equip with the necessary
sorting and tabulating machines and do
the entire job in two processes sorting
first and then tabulating. The saving
of time and costs can scarcely be esti-
mated, but would mount into enormous
figures annually throughout the Federal
reserve system"
Tests in the Federal Reserve Banks
of New York, Philadelphia and Rich
mond we're conducted with results sat-
isfactory to each," McCarl said. He
quoted from an official of the New
York bank as saying that ut is my be-
lief that If the proposed method Of
handling Government checks is put
into, effect, it will not only give the
Federal Reserve Banks a complete and
accurate record Of all such items, but
will result in a tremendous saving in
the cost of operation" An off1cial of
the Richmond bank said he was "en-
thusiastic'' over the adoption of the
proposed plan. which We hope can be
speedily effected"
A.