OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CLERK.

QUARTERS OCCUPIED BY THE DEPARTMENT IN WASHINGTON.

During the year it has been necessary to acquire additional space for those of the Department's bureaus occupying rented quarters in the District of Columbia. Thus far no additional appropriation has been necessary for this purpose, the annual expenditure for rent being $47,581.24 out of the appropriation of $50,000. In some respects present conditions are bad, and unless there is an increase in the rent appropriation no satisfactory solution of the problem is possible. It would be manifestly poor administration to move a bureau from one location to another unless conditions would be thereby improved. It is equally clear that better conditions can not be found without some increase in rent. The extraordinary growth of the Division of Naturalization, located in the Adams Building, at 1333-1335 F Street, presents a good illustration. The situation was for a time relieved by the conversion of a hall on the top floor into a workroom; but this was only a temporary expedient, and larger quarters for this Division had to be secured. Accordingly, space was rented in the building next door, which avoided the necessity of moving and further scattering the Department's activities, and which permitted the rearrangement of the bureaus in this building so as to give the Division of Naturalization sufficient room for its present needs.

In the meantime a more comprehensive plan for the relief of all the Department's bureaus has received the attention of the Chief Clerk's office, and it was as the result of this investigation that a plan was submitted to the Congress at its last session which would enable the Department to enter into a lease for a term of years for a building to be immediately erected large enough to accommodate all of its bureaus now in rented quarters, except the Census.

At present the quarters occupied by some branches of the work are especially unsatisfactory. The Divisions of Publications and Supplies are occupying a building two doors from the Annex, where the main offices of these divisions are located, which is not suited to its present uses. This building is not fireproof and has no elevators. Consequently, the expense of handling the heavy publications which are largely stored on the second floor is out of all proportion. It is not possible to rent other quarters for this purpose unless the main offices of these divisions should be moved, and it is not possible to move these offices to suitable quarters with our present appropriation.

It is therefore apparent that any arrangement that can now be made for the accommodation of a division or a bureau, while it may afford temporary relief, will not solve the problem and will only add to the complexity of the situation. Loss of efficiency in administration is unavoidable where bureaus are scattered over considerable distances; and any further scattering will obviously result in further loss of efficiency. The only possible solution, until the Department occupies the building which will be constructed by the Government, is to find some building large enough to house all of the bureaus (except the Census Bureau) now in rented quarters. There is no satisfactory building available in this city at the present time which can be rented upon terms which we may consider, and the only alternative is to find some person or persons willing to construct such a building.

Whether or not the Department is successful in its efforts to obtain a building large enough to admit of consolidation, some increase in the appropriation for rent for the coming fiscal year is

necessary.

PROPOSED NEW BUILDING FOR THE DEPARTMENT.

Whatever has been done or can be done in the way of providing quarters for the Department in Washington must ultimately have reference to the fact that in time the Department will occupy the proposed new building to be located in the recently acquired area between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets and south of Pennsylvania Avenue. This proposed new building has now reached a stage where the architects are engaged in the preparation of detailed plans for submission to the board authorized by law to pass upon the building for this Department and the Departments of State and Justice.

It is now manifest that the ground area which it is understood may be occupied by the building for this Department will not permit the erection of a building sufficiently large to satisfactorily accommodate the whole Department. Should the Department attempt to crowd all of its bureaus and branches into this building, the inevitable result would be that within a few years, perhaps not more than two or three, it will be found absolutely necessary to remove some of the bureaus to rented quarters. The wiser thing to do, therefore, would seem to be to attempt to provide in the beginning only for those bureaus and branches which are occupying rented quarters. This would include everything under the Department of Commerce and Labor in Washington, except the Bureau of Standards, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the Bureau of Fisheries. The Bureau of Standards is satisfactorily located in buildings already the property of the Government, and has not been considered at all in connection with the new building, except in respect to the provision for one

storeroom and one office room, the latter to be used as a downtown office. Neither the Coast and Geodetic Survey nor the Bureau of Fisheries is satisfactorily accommodated at present. The buildings occupied by the former are old, largely nonfireproof, and unsuited for modern office purposes. The same is true of the building of the Bureau of Fisheries. But to omit these bureaus from the new building does not place them in any worse position than they were before, and the reasons for omitting them are apparently good. The Coast Survey is a producing bureau. It has considerable machinery in its printing and lithographic departments. The Bureau of Fisheries has laboratories and an aquarium, neither of which is properly placed in an administrative building. It was therefore thought that these buildings might be left out of consideration in the preparation of detailed plans. There is no question that both bureaus should have better and more modern accommodations at the earliest possible moment; but this does not appear to be sufficient reason for forcing them into a building which would immediately be inadequate and which is intended for purely administrative purposes.

It is hoped that with the omission of the bureaus just named the new building will afford adequate space for a number of years. If the Department of Commerce and Labor is properly developed, it must grow with the commerce of the nation; and it would be poor policy to provide for only immediate needs in a structure which will endure for generations.

I therefore recommend that steps be taken to acquire property in the immediate vicinity of the proposed new building of the Department for the erection of one or two buildings for the accommodation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Bureau of Fisheries. In order to bring about the most efficient administration, these buildings should be adjacent to the main building, so that there may be direct communication.

PROVISIONS FOR THE BETTER PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY.

During the year the matter of the safety of employees and of the better protection of records has received the Department's attention. All elevators in buildings occupied by the Department have been and are regularly inspected and certificated by the District authorities at the Department's request. New fire escapes have been erected where necessary, stair wells and elevator shafts have been protected by fireproofing, and fire signals have been installed. In the more. crowded buildings fire drills have been inaugurated, and every reasonable step has been taken to guard against loss of life and property by fire. Early in the year the District authorities examined the buildings occupied by the Department at the Department's request, and submitted a full report of conditions. Most of the recommendations have been followed and others are still under consideration.

COOPERATION WITH THE PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON ECONOMY AND

EFFICIENCY.

The Committee on Economy and Efficiency of this Department, appointed in September, 1910, has cooperated with the President's Commission on Economy and Efficiency as fully as the regular work of individual members of the committee would permit. I may say that members have shown great devotion in their efforts to advance the general economy and efficiency program without permitting their regular work to suffer.

The members of this Department's committee have worked with the President's Commission both as a committee and individually; and at the same time have independently of that body given attention to questions of economy within the Department. Much detailed information on various subjects has been furnished the Commission, especially in respect to the details of administration, organization, business methods and procedure, and along the lines of expenditure, appropriation, and estimate classifications. Each member of the Department's committee has served on one or more special committees appointed at the suggestion of the President's Commission, and has assisted in the formulation of reports which have already been submitted. In addition, other employees of the Department, not members of the departmental committee, have served from time to time on special committees, several of which are still at work.

Apart from the advantageous changes in Government methods, which may result from expert study of the detailed information which has been furnished the President's Commission, it is thought that the mere compilation of this information has been of substantial advantage to the Department. It has afforded those in authority an opportunity to analyze their own duties and responsibilities and has thus put them in position to look at their own work from an entirely new viewpoint.

While an advance has been made in this Department in the direction of efficiency and economy, much remains to be done, especially in respect to duplication which is now unavoidable owing to the fact that the Department's bureaus are scattered over so wide an area. As soon as these bureaus are brought together in one building a new field will be opened to the Department's committee, and it is the intention to formulate a plan for closer and more compact cooperation which it is hoped and expected will bring about greater efficiency and substantial economy.

DISBURSING OFFICE.

The itemized statement of the disbursements from the contingent fund of the Department of Commerce and Labor and the appropriation for "General expenses, Bureau of Standards," for the fiscal year

ended June 30, 1911, required to be submitted to Congress by section 193 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, the itemized statement of expenditures under all appropriations for propagation of food fishes during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, required by the act of Congress approved March 3, 1887 (24 Stat. L., 523), and a statement showing travel on official business by officers and employees (other than the special agents, inspectors, and employees in the discharge of their regular duties, who are required to travel constantly) from Washington to points outside of the District of Columbia during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, as required by the act of Congress approved May 22, 1908 (35 Stat. L., 244), will be transmitted to Congress in the usual form.

The following table shows the total amounts of all annual appropriations for the various bureaus and services of the Department of Commerce and Labor for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, of all appropriations made for public works in the various services of the Department which, under the law, may be disbursed without regard to any particular year, and of all permanent indefinite and deficiency appropriations: