At the outset I intended to quote Mr. Hitchcock—quote Mr. Hitchcock himself—in evidence or proof of my previously made and repeated statement, that the Postoffice Department is incompetently, is wastefully, if not crookedly, managed and directed.
I am now going to quote Mr. Hitchcock. Of course, he here speaks of only the railway mail service. It is admittedly one of the worst divisions for waste and steal. But there are others scarcely a neck behind.
The subjoined dispatch states (March 31, 1911), that “while signing the orders necessary for the changes Mr. Hitchcock said:”
The investigation which we conducted so long and so carefully indicated clearly that the action which I have taken was absolutely necessary. The railway mail service has suffered greatly from poor management and lack of supervision.
In certain of the divisions it was found that the chief clerks had not been inspecting their lines, as was their duty. Some of the routes had received no inspection for several years. …
The inquiry showed that the business methods of the service in several offices were antiquated and that, as a consequence, there was much duplication of work. Instructions from the department directing improvements, as for example the proper consolidation of mail matter and the conservation of equipment, received only perfunctory attention.
There had been a lack of co-operation also in carrying into effect certain reforms which I had indicated, and it was made evident by the inquiry that no proper spirit of co-ordination with the department existed in the railway mail service.