when the board has promulgated the rules. The interpretation and enforcement of the regulations and the disciplinary control exercised over all employees are entirely under the direction of the Supervising Inspector-General. In the administration of the work of the Service the Supervising Inspectors are subordinate in all cases to the Supervising Inspector-General.

An explanation of the reason for the adoption of this rather unusual scheme of organization and administration is to be found in the manner in which this service was built up. Originally, as pointed out in the history of the service, provision was made merely for local inspectors of hulls and boilers in the field. These officers were appointed by the United States district judges, and no provision was made for any administrative supervision over the manner in which they performed their duties. The need for such supervision in time becoming apparent, Congress, by act of August 30, 1852, provided for the division of the country into nine (since increased to eleven) districts, and the appointment of a supervising inspector in charge of each, to whom was assigned the duty of supervising and directing the work of the local inspectors in their respective districts. This act, though systematizing the work to a certain extent, still failed to provide for a real centralized service. It was not until nearly twenty years later, 1871, that further advance in this direction was secured by the act of February 28, of that year, which provided for the appointment of a Supervising Inspector-General with headquarters at Washing

ton.

In making provision for this officer, Congress, however, failed to transfer to him any of the essential powers of the supervising inspectors. He was given no inspection force to aid in producing uniform administration, and the supervising inspectors remained practically independent of his authority, being appointed directly by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and not even reporting

to him, but rather to themselves, sitting as a board." During recent years, however, as the result of several acts of Congress and of administrative regulations promulgated by the Supervising Inspector-General the administrative control of the force of the service has been centralized in the Washington office. Routine matters are disposed of by the various field offices, but the Washington office maintains a close check on the work of the district and local offices, takes such disciplinary action as may be necessary in cases of neglect of duty, and gives instructions regarding the action that should be taken in any unusual situation that may arise. While the files relating to individual transactions are generally kept in the district and local offices the Washington office calls for the complete record whenever these papers are necessary for a review of the action of local officers. It is true that neither the Supervising Inspector-General nor the Secretary of Commerce has summary power to remove or suspend the Supervising Inspectors, but the situation in this respect does not differ from that in other services-such as the Postal Service, the Customs Service, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Public Land Service-where the principal field officers are appointed by the President.

Among the factors that have resulted in greater centralization in administration may be the following: An inspection force has been placed at the disposal of the Supervising-Inspector-General, by the creation of the office of traveling inspectors; supervising inspectors are now required (act approved May 22, 1912, 37 Stat. L., 116) to make annual reports at the end of each fiscal year to the Supervising Inspector-General, although the board is still authorized to examine them

5 It is interesting to note that the Supervising Inspector-General, in his annual reports for 1881 and again in 1897 advocated the abolition of the board of supervising inspectors, a reduction in the number of supervising inspectors from ten to five, and the establishment of a mixed commission composed of supervising, local and assistant inspectors to meet and advise the Secretary of the Treasury, at his call, as to the needs of the service.

and correct mistakes where possible; a card index system has been installed throughout the service, thus affording the central office up-to-date records of the field work of the service; monthly bulletins showing the rulings of the bureau are issued by the central office and sent to all inspectors, customs officers, and most of the steamboat companies and marine-boiler manufacturers in the United States; and the Supervising Inspector-General now has authority to entertain appeals from any decision made by the local or supervising inspectors, and his decision, when approved by the Secretary of Commerce, is final.

The Supervising Inspector-General and the Secretary of Commerce have recommended other measures in their recent reports involving direct supervision of the activities of the service by the central office, such as the centralization of approval of hull and boiler construction, and the keeping of complete duplicate records of the work of the field inspection service in the office of the Supervising Inspector-General. The carrying out of such measures, is, of course, dependent upon favorable action by Congress authorizing the change and making appropriations to provide for the necessary additional employees.

In commenting upon the effect of some of these changes, the Supervising Inspector-General made the following statement in his annual report for 1911, concerning the card index system recently installed:

"It gives me particular pleasure to speak of the effectiveness of the card-index system of licenses issued and vessels inspected by which system local inspectors are required to forward to the central office immediately day by day card reports of licenses issued and vessels inspected, which cards bear the file number of the local office sending them, so that this office is able, by a simple request for a file, indicating same by a number, to obtain all the papers in the case. There have been instances of improper inspection that have been discovered through this system, and if the system discovers but one instance for improper inspection during a whole year its existence would be justified, for by maintaining a high standard of inspection lives are saved and property is protected."

APPENDIX I

OUTLINE OF ORGANIZATION

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Outlines of Organization have for their purpose to make known in detail the organization and personnel possessed by the several services of the national government to which they relate. They have been prepared in accordance with the plan followed by the President's Commission on Economy and Efficiency in the preparation of its outlines of the organization of the United States Government.1 They differ from those outlines, however, in that whereas the Commission's report showed only organization units, the presentation herein has been carried far enough to show the personnel embraced in each organization unit.

These outlines are of value not merely as an effective means of making known the organization of the several services. If kept revised to date by the services, they constitute exceedingly important tools of administration. They permit the directing personnel to see at a glance the organization and personnel at their disposition. They establish definitely the line of administrative authority and enable each employee to known his place in the system. They furnish the essential basis for making plans for determining costs by organization division and subdivision. They afford the data for a consideration of the problem of classifying and standardizing personnel and compensation. Collectively, they make it possible to determine the number and location of organization divisions of any particular kind, as, for example, laborator

1 House Doc. 458, 62d. Congress, 2nd Session, 1912-2 vols.

100

ies, libraries, blue-print rooms, or any other kind of plant possessed by the national government, to what services they are attached and where they are located, or to determine what services are maintaining stations at any city or point in the United States. The Institute hopes that upon the completion of the present series, it will be able to prepare a complete classified statement of the technical and other facilities at the disposal of the Government. The present monographs will then furnish the details regarding the organization, equipment, and work of the institutions so listed and classified.