DIVISION OF THE NAVY DEPARTMENT. 47 



DISCUSSION. 



The President: — Gentlemen, you have heard the paper just presented by 

 Mr. Robinson on "The Design and New Construction Division of the Bureau of 

 Construction and Repair of the Navy Department." This paper is now before 

 you for discussion. 



Naval Constructor Joseph H. Linnard, Member of Council: — On page 41 

 of his paper Mr. Robinson remarks: "One of our most difficult problems arises 

 from the fact that until the naval bill passes we never know what the program for 

 the year is to consist of." Many of the members of this Society may be unaware 

 that for several years past every naval appropriation bill providing for an increase 

 of the Navy has at the same time contained a positive prohibition against using 

 any of the money appropriated for the increase of the Navy for the design of the 

 vessels. Other appropriation bills limit to a specific fixed sum, which has not been 

 increased in any material way for a number of years, the amount that can be paid 

 for employees, both draughtsmen and clerical, who can be used in the Navy Depart- 

 ment in Washington, whose numbers are thus virtually fixed. As you all know, 

 the work devolving upon the Navy Department in connection with not only the 

 designing of ships, but the running of them and their management, has enormously 

 increased as the years have passed, and the problem that Mr. Robinson and others 

 have been up against has been how to accomplish this greatly increased work with 

 the same force of draughtsmen and clerical employees. 



As Mr. Robinson has explained in his paper, success has been reached through 

 the employment of methods and the study of the processes of work, which have 

 been frequently called by that much abused term, "scientific management;" but 

 this is a case in which the management, and the arrangements and studies which 

 have been made in the work, and which have produced such remarkable results, 

 have been made with the same working force, so that the criticism sometimes made 

 against "time studies" and similar methods that while reducing the number of 

 employees in certain directions they require additional employees of one kind and 

 another which offset the saving supposed to be made, cannot apply here, because 

 we have not been able to increase the total force, and therefore I thought I would 

 make it clear to you that these studies to which Mr. Robinson referred have pro- 

 duced more work with the same force of employees, and therefore they could not be 

 considered otherwise than as a success. 



The President: — Is there any further discussion? 



Mr. Homer L. Ferguson, Member of Council: — Mr. Robinson very modestly 

 says that he will leave the results of the work which he has been doing in Washington 



