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February, 1910 "THE Marine. REVIEW The Naval "Reorganization" (The letter printed below is a frank and fearless criticism of the latest reorganization ' of the navy department, and throws a great deal of light on the dark places of naval ad- ministration in the United States. The letter, which comes to us as a great surprise, but not the less gratifying on that account, is by a business man and engineer of wide experi- ence, who resides and received his education on the coast and among coast yards and who has been privileged to observe at close range the workings of the navy department at Wash- ington and also the management of several navy yards. on both coasts. He has often been called in consultation by some of the largest merchant ship building plants in Amer- ica, and if the Rervirw were privileged to use his name there would be no necessity for vouching for his authority and experience. If an investigation were ordered there is none whose testimony would carry greater weight --Ed.) Editor Martine Review:--I_ approve and endorse almost every word you have published in criticism of naval malad- ministration and I think it unnecessary to say anything as to my opportunities of forming opinions on the subject. I think, however, that you have almost entirely missed the greatest fraud of all except in your editorial on naval re- organization in your December number. Is Congress going to be hoodwinked by this so called Meyer naval reorgan- ization? Are the American people to be fooled again by the naval clique? The so called Meyer scheme of reorgan- ization is: fot Mr. Meyer's scheme at all; it is a scheme devised by admirals, captains and commanders, who know nothing of business management, who know nothing of industrial life; it is a scheme devised by these same ad- mirals, captains and commanders to in- crease their power, to magnify their importance and to. provide pleasant shore stations for a large number of line officers. Is the extravagance and waste in the navy to continue? Will the people believe that the navy is saved by the Meyer reorganization and feeling secure will not demand the investiga- tion that is meeded--the investigation that THe Marine Review has suggested and will better conditions and make the naval administration what it should be? Newberry Was Not Fooled. With all of the press agents of the powerful line clique at work flooding the country with glowing accounts of the wonderful reorganization that has been carried out, if some one does not place the true facts before the country, it is quite possible that Congress and the people may again be fooled by these naval autocrats. You have pres- ented a strong array of facts and it is to be hoped you will continue to present these facts until something is done to bring about a real reorganization of the navy--a reorganization which will pro- duce a businesslike, efficient administra- tion of naval affairs: - smith Mr. Newberry is a business man; he has had experience in industrial man- agement; he knows what the navy needs. It is possible that even Mr. Newberry was dazzled and fooled when he first went to Washington by the array of admirals, captains and commanders that surrounded him. No doubt he also was told that the navy, including the navy yards with their machine shops, black- shops, foundries, joiner shops, etc., is a fighting machine and should be commanded and controlled by the fighting officers (the line always refer to themselves as the fighting officers). No doubt Mr. Newberry was told that the line officers can do everything from commanding a fleet to running a black- smith shop. All newcomers in the navy department go through this stage and all are hoodwinked in the beginning; but it is quite certain that even though Mr. Newberry may have been fooled in the begining, it did not last. He was in the navy department for several years; he made a thorough study of the situation and he found out the needs of the navy and as soon as he was given the power he took the first steps to remedy conditions and there is little doubt that if he had remained secretary that he would eventually have produced an efficient naval administration. Mr. Newberry recognized that a good "fight- ing officer" did not make a good man- ager of a navy yard or a good con- structor or a good engineer. He rec- ognized that years of training in in- dustrial management are required to make a good manager. It is said that Mr. Newberry told members of the naval committee that he recognized that line officers should have some _ shore duty, but they should not be given duty in responsible positions where they would and did waste millions of the people's money. It is stated that he told the committee that the government would save money if it would build homes for these officers at.some fashion- -able resort and order them to _ these homes on full pay instead of sending them to the navy yards to play at run- ning a large industrial establishment. This is the opinion held by every bus- iness man who has studied navy yard conditions. Saw Their Soft Snaps Going. Under the Newberry plan the line of- ficers saw their soft snaps going; they saw their authority threatened; they feared that competent civilians would be given important positions in the navy yards. They knew that they must act at once. If the new scheme was given a fair trial they knew that the old con- 69 ditions would never return. The New- berry scheme was put into effect Feb. 1, 1909; the new secretary of the navy came in on March 4. Immediately ey- ery power was brought to bear on him and he succumbed... He fell entirely under the influence of these "fighting officers" who swarm around Washing- ton. It was given out in a very short time that the new scheme was not pro- ducing results and was a mistake. How absurd this is to a business man. Ey- eryone who knows anything of indus- trial management knows that a radical change involving large physical changes in shops and important changes in or- ganization require many months to show real results. In the case of the naval administration of the navy yards, how- ever, conditions were so bad that big cuts were immediately obtained in costs and these cuts in cost of doing work were the largest at those yards where the commandants allowed the Newberry scheme a fair show. It is known pos- itively that the cost of doing certain work in some navy yard shops operat- ing under the full benefit of the New- berry plan was cut in halves and in quarters! On one job the direct labor cost alone' was reduced from $1,200 to $400 in less than three months after the Newberry plant went into effect! But this enormous increase in efficiency was not to be let stand. Adding to the Red Tape. In a few weeks even some changes were made: in the Newberry scheme, enlarging the powers of the inspectors and adding to the red. tape. It was, however, on July 1, 1909--only five months after the Newberry scheme was put into effect--that the first large so- called "improvement" was made in Mr. Newberry's methods.- I will not tres- pass upon your space for the publica- tion of the entire order, though it is very amusing reading to a business man. I will, however, give a few extracts. Mr. Newberry had in effect done. away with the bureau system. He concen- trated the responsibility for the design- ing, building and repairing of ships in one bureau; the Bureau of Construc- tion and Repair. It was well known that it was Mr. Newberry's intention to make this a grand engineering depart- ment with competent constructors and engineers directing all operations. He fixed absolutely the responsibility in one head. The other bureaus were retained because they could not be abolished ex- cept by act of Congress, but their duties were made entirely advisory. Mr. Meyer re-established the bureaus on their old mischievous footing. The crowning achievement of Meyer, however, was the so called "improve- ment" at the navy yards. Under the