68 PRESENT SYSTEM. 



volume of small things which this very method forces on him, 

 naturally often forgets it. 



Or suppose that, having refused a request, and having changed 

 his mind, he turn back the pages of the book and finally approve 

 it ; unless he at once calls the clerk whose business it is, the 

 chances are many that the special act of approval will be over- 

 looked in the mass of ordinary entries surrounding it. 



Now suppose that everything has gone well, and that the stores 

 have been received and inspected, and have been taken to the 

 shop, the book being at the office for fresh entries, no one knows 

 for what the supplies were ordered. The foreman goes to work, 

 uses up the material, and finds out next day that what was anxi- 

 ously expected for the use of A, B, C, has been sacrificed to the 

 remote necessities of X, Y, Z. 



Then as to the inspection. The assistant inspector is supposed 

 to pass upon both quality and quantity of the stores he exam- 

 ines; but in reality, since the needs of a manufacturing arsenal 

 embrace almost every known form of material, he is unable from 

 human limitations to judge of the quality of them all ; so, with 

 the best intentions on his part, unless a special effort be made 

 and the services of an expert be enlisted, the chances are that 

 inferior oils, paints, steel, green lumber, poor leather and the like 

 will be accepted. It is then nobody's special business to com- 

 plain ; the workman feels that his duty is done when he makes 

 the best use of the material put into his hands, and the trouble 

 only comes to light too late to be remedied. 



Would it not be better to have the stores inspected by the man 

 asking for them, as he knows best what he wants? 



Owing to our large supply of old stores, and to the scantiness 

 of our appropriations, it is advisable that instead of purchasing 

 fresh supplies, those already on hand should be used whenever 

 practicable. It often happens that old materials are on hand 

 which would answer the foreman's purpose almost as well as new 

 ones, if he knew of their existence. But he has no stated means 

 of finding them out ; none in fact but by desultory conversation 

 with the storekeepers, or by accidental observation while in theif 



