592 Forestry Quarterly 



of the general manager's staff. Where there has been difficulty 

 it can be traced to misunderstanding as to methods of doing work, 

 and the recognition of standard methods should give the staff 

 officers sufficient power as well as plenty to do, for these indepen- 

 dent superintendents are sometimes hard to handle. The depart- 

 mental type will make you splendid trainmasters and engineers 

 in the civil and mechanical branches. The divisional type will 

 give you all round railroad men." 



Mr. Woolsey's proposed organization is similar to the divi- 

 sional type of the railroads, as against the present resemblance 

 to the departmental type. Both systems are represented by 

 prominent and well managed roads and each has its ardent group 

 of supporters. Quoting again from Mr. Hale: "Strength and 

 weakness are best shown in emergencies. On a certain occa- 

 sion it became necessary to rebuild certain trestles near each other 

 on parallel roads organized differently. The superintendent on the 

 road with the division organization got his carpenters together at 

 once, with all the timber and equipment and simply reported what 

 was done. The superintendent on the road with the department 

 organization could do nothing but report the case to the general 

 manager. He had no control of the carpenters and being Sunday 

 he did not know even where they were. The general manager 

 organized a force composed of his general superintendent, his 

 superintendent of floating equipment and his engineer of bridges 

 and made very good time." What would the case have been in 

 the department system if trestles had been needed on three or 

 four divisions at once? 



Quoting Mr. Ray Morris: "The departmental view is that it 

 is economy to have and use the best in all branches of the Service, 

 and that if the mechanical forces do all their work under the super- 

 vision of a $10,000 superintendent of motive power, the results will 

 be better than if they do half of it under the supervision of a 

 $2,500 superintendent." 



The trouble in the Forest Service is lack of $10,000 places. It 

 might be better to have several $1,500 men doing $2,000 work than 

 to have one $2,500 man in a place requiring $10,000 brain power. 

 A study of railroad management should be more profitable to the 

 Forest Service than a study of shop or factory methods. 



The experience of the Sequoia National Forest would tend 

 to show an economy in large units. The Forest area, in 1908, was 



