[288] This does not include budgets of other bureaus of the Department of Relief and Rehabilitation. Some of the figures are only approximately correct. They include employes: both the Associated Charities staff and the employes of the Committee. They do not include volunteers. The question marks indicate that data are not available.
III. Method of Work Beginning July 7, 1906, in Connection with the District [Section] Organization. The system of entering applications and filing records was carefully worked out.
The applications recorded on the National Red Cross cards were taken to the Rehabilitation Office and put at once on the registrar’s desk. Each face card was clasped together with its continuation cards with an ordinary paper clip. The registrar and most of her assistants were young women who had had experience in indexing in the public and other libraries of the city. Duplicate index cards were each marked with the number of the case, which number was then entered on the National Red Cross card. The numbers were assigned consecutively. The cases were then placed in manila folders similar to those used in the index files of business houses, and were at once placed in boxes on the desks of the reviewers. At the same time the index card was placed in an alphabetical file with the number of the case. The surnames and Christian names of the applicants were entered in a book in consecutive order as the numbers were assigned.
Each case was read by a reviewer who made underneath the recommendation of the section committee his own recommendation, which might or might not be identical in terms. A paster[289] was used on which to enter the recommendation made by the section committee or by the reviewer. After October 1, 1906, the recommendation was entered on the paster by the sub-committee of the Rehabilitation Committee, and, when a grant was made, the number of the check drawn was also entered on the paster. If more than one application were made, or more than one action taken by the committee, a separate paster was used for each application and for each decision.
[289] See paster. [Appendix II], [p. 433].
During the periods of district organization, as soon as reviewers had made their recommendations the cases were put in consecutive order in large boxes, to be acted on by the members of the Rehabilitation Committee. After a boxful had been approved or disapproved, they were taken to the bookkeeper’s department. Expert bookkeepers were found to be essential. The bookkeeper made entry of grant or refusal of grant, of cases referred or not found, in consecutive order in a cash journal. Each grant was recorded in the appropriate column, as, “Business,” “Household,” etc. On the cash journal page a running account was kept with the bank in which the funds were deposited. In the debit column were entered the appropriations as they were deposited, as well as returns upon loans and canceled checks. In the credit column was kept the amount of checks issued. Upon each check was entered the corresponding case number, so that there might be a double checking. The checks were then attached to the front of the record cards, and were presented to the treasurer for signing. The treasurer corrected any mistakes in drawing checks, and observed whether the rules of the committee had been followed, and if the approvals were in regular form.
The signed checks were given to a responsible official, who reclassified the cases by sections. He then made a double memorandum receipt, and turned over the checks to the section messengers. The records were not returned to the sections with the checks. If a case had been refused, referred, or action taken other than making a grant, the record itself was sometimes referred back to the section. When the checks were received at the section office, notice was sent to those for whom they had been drawn. The banks upon which the drafts were made accepted the signatures of one or more salaried workers in each section.
The records were of necessity handled by a great many people other than those responsible for the financial management. It was, therefore, very early deemed advisable not to file receipts of the applicants with the case records themselves. These receipts were kept in a separate place, being filed according to case number and being readily accessible for reference purposes. In not over 10 out of a total of 27,570 checks, were the checks given to the wrong person. In all except one of these 10 cases, the person receiving them had the same name as the endorsee. The instructions were very strict in order to make identification sure.
As much exasperation and delay was at first caused by difficulty in finding case records when needed, a tracing system was introduced. Whenever a case was transferred from one person to another, or from one desk to another, a slip was made out, giving the number of the case and indicating from whom it was going and to whom. The tracing clerks had charge books with the case numbers in consecutive order. When each slip was received, the clerk entered against the case number the last charge, by initials or abbreviation, so that at any moment it would be possible to find who at that time had the case in charge. The rigid rule of the office was to note transfers immediately, and though there were violations of this rule, its importance was so deeply impressed upon the staff that the number of mistakes was comparatively small. Two thousand transfers were entered on one day, October 1, 1906. When a case was ready for filing, the fact was recorded in the charge or tracing book. Each person was required to keep the cases with which he was dealing, at all times in consecutive order. Four hundred cases might be awaiting the review of the committee; another 400 might be in the hands of the reviewers; and still another 400 in the hands of the filing clerks. The ability rapidly to find cases was materially increased by this simple arrangement.
A special clerk received the case records from the auxiliary societies. He kept a book in which to enter the name of each case, of the society which referred it, and the grant asked for. This clerk took the cases himself to the registrar, kept a list of them, and saw that they were transferred from the registrar to the table of the committee, and from the committee’s table to the bookkeeping department. After the checks were drawn, he made sure that the records and the checks were taken to the treasurer. After the checks were signed, it was his duty to see that they were placed in the hands of officials of the proper societies. If other action were taken, he was responsible for seeing that a memorandum was given to the proper persons.