While it is realized that an article on the workings of a navy yard pay-office may not be of such universal interest as is a subject relating to the general-mess or kindred matters—such subject having an appeal to every member of the Service, from captain to coal-passer—yet, since the management of a yard pay office appertains at some time to the duties of nearly two hundred officers of the staff, and its efficiency affects the financial comfort of all officers of the navy and many thousand civilian employees, the preparation of this paper may, perhaps, be justified. It is, however, fitting to premise that these remarks are not intended in any way for the information of those pay-officers of the upper grades whose experience and knowledge are greater than the writer's; but are rather designed to illumine the labors of the comparative tyro whose pay-office assignment is yet a thing of the future. It is, also, hoped to afford some enlightenment to the line-officer who (quoting the recent complaint of a commander) "hasn't the facts about 'pay', and couldn't assimilate them, if he had." Any line-officer in the plight of the commander quoted, who may read this article, is assured that the technical will be avoided as far as possible.
The foremost thing to attract the attention of the officer assigned for the first time to yard pay-office duty is: the method of handling appropriations is very different from that to which he has been accustomed at sea. At sea all moneys received are on account of "general account of advances," that safe and convenient "appropriation ", from which all disbursements are made without fear of incurring a penalty for breaking the statute in regard to rendering distinct accounts. The layman may not be aware, by the way, that general-account-of-advances is not really a separate appropriation, but merely furnishes a convenient title to represent the aggregate of all amounts appropriated for the fiscal year.
At shore stations, then, "general account" is not used to cover a multitude of appropriations, but, on the contrary, each appropriation, throughout its entire course, is kept separate and distinct. The estimates-of-funds submitted by the heads-of-yarddepartments, the requisitions made therefrom by the paymaster of the yard on the paymaster-general, the allowance of amounts required for, the taking up of the amounts allowed on the books of the pay-officer, the advice to the heads-of-yard-departments of said amounts, the charges for labor on the payrolls submitted by the heads-of-departments to the pay-officer, the record of these charges on the books of the pay-officer, the monthly statements made by the pay-officer to the paymaster-general, to each bureau, and to the auditor for the Navy Department—all these set forth each appropriation separately, distinctly, exactly, without any transfer of funds from one appropriation to another and, therefore, without any charges paid in excess of the amount of the particular appropriation on hand.
In this matter the statute and the regulations must be strictly adhered to—"such transfers never have been recognized by the accounting officers of the Government." That result of much tribulation, the Act of February 27, 1936, Section 3679 of the Revised Statutes, in regard to the use of public funds in excess of allotments, holds all persons concerned in disbursement to a rigid responsibility. Excess charges will, nevertheless, sometimes be made by the heads-of-yard-departments—eager to accomplish necessary work, and contemptuous of statutory limitations which, for the moment, press lightly on unbonded officers—and these charges cannot be known to the pay-officer until the rolls are forwarded to him a few days before pay-day. In such a case, nothing remains but firmly to withhold payment on such rolls—of course, after due consultation with the Commandant—until the head-of-department has obtained an additional allotment of funds by telegraph from the Navy Department. One or two such experiences will make the most recalcitrant wary of exceeding his regular allowance.
In securing distinct accounts of each appropriation a ledger-of-appropriations becomes indispensable. This, like the pay-roll on board ship, is the staff of (financial) life for the pay-officer. With it, every receipt and every expenditure by appropriations scrupulously posted therein, a yard pay-office is always ready to balance an account. Without it, laborious shuffling of a confused mass of material may or may not produce a correct result.
Nevertheless, in spite of the vital character of this ledger, no official form of it is, at present, in use. This lack is probably due to the fact that the character of appropriations varies in number and kind at each navy yard. A corresponding variation in the demand for a proper ledger has followed, with the result that none is furnished. Each pay-officer is thus compelled to invent or adopt a form of his own, more or less suitable as his individual genius allows. There are, however, many features of such a ledger which can be employed indifferently at any yard, and the writer sees no reason why a form embodying requirements common to all yards, yet so arranged as to permit sufficient latitude for such changes as the individual may find advisable, should not be adopted at an early date.
The semi-monthly payment of civilian employees is the raison d'être and the test of the yard pay-office. Here the object to be attained is speed, speed, and still more speed; for, since the‘ employees must be paid during working hours, every minute unnecessarily consumed in paying off is a loss in dollars and cents to the Government. Celerity of payment is, therefore, the prime requisite, it being always borne in mind, as of course, that accuracy is the basis of all financial transactions, and even celerity must, if necessary, be secondary to this.
Eighteen hundred men can be paid from two windows, in two periods of ten minutes each—or at the rate of forty-five men a minute at each window. Some account of the means by which this speed is attained may be of interest.
The pay-envelopes are placed in thin metal boxes, divided into parallel rows by round-wire partitions, so arranged as to preclude the possibility of the fingers of the payer becoming entangled. Two of these boxes, containing all the envelopes required for the payment, are set on a small wooden stand, constructed for the purpose, and installed at the right of the pay-window. At one minute before the period, the pay-officer, an office-clerk, and the "time-clerk" of the yard department which is to be paid off, take their places before the pay-window. At a table immediately in their rear and within reach sits the witnessing officer:
The window being opened discloses the employees, lined in order under their respective foremen—the paying off begins on the second.
Each employee as he reaches the window lays his pay-ticket down in front of the office-clerk. This clerk verifies it at a glance, and calls the number of the ticket aloud. The time-clerk responds by calling the name from the roll in his hands. The foreman, outside the window, confirms the employee's identity by a nod. The pay-officer then places the envelope marked with the proper number in front of the employee, who takes it and gives his place to the next man, the entire line moving at a slow walk. The highest practicable speed is thus attained, together with complete accuracy—the latter being insured by the calling of the number of the ticket by the office-clerk (not, it will be observed, by the employee), the co-relation of number and name by the time-clerk, and the confirmation of name and employee by the foreman. It was at first supposed an additional safeguard might be secured by placing the name of the employee on the pay-envelope immediately below his number, but the disbursement of several millions of dollars without any error or complaint has shown such an addition to be unnecessary.
By the method described the rate of speed is only limited by outside conditions beyond the control of the pay-office force, such as the shape and size of the building and of its approaches, the degree of "driving" of the foremen, and the degree of alertness of the employees. It affords an interesting study in physiology to note that men employees move more quickly than women, and boys than either. A more curious psychological matter is presented when it is found that "high pay" employees, such as shipwrights, joiners, boilermakers, and other first-class mechanics, are much more alert at the pay-window than are the "low pay" laborers and helpers—a striking illustration of the fact that a man inevitably rises or sinks to his natural level.
As the pay-officer's financial responsibility is inflexibly fixed by law, so he in turn must hold all the clerks of the pay-office to an accounting equally rigorous. No separate funds are placed in the hands of a clerk, except at such times as the pay-officer is absent from the yard, and then only an amount sufficient to cover probable disbursements. On these occasions the clerk receipts for the amount turned over to him, and, on the return of the payofficer, accounts for what he has expended.
If discharged men are paid off, the clerk who verifies the payticket attests his responsibility by his initials in pencil on the face of the ticket, near the amount. The clerk who, prior to pay-day, verifies the computations on the payrolls, stamps on the summary: "Computations O. K.," and signs his initials. Similarly, the clerk who goes over the pay-tickets immediately after pay-day, on the lookout for any possible error in name or time, stamps on the pay-roll summary: "Tickets compared with rolls," over his initials. Thus if an error is afterward discovered, the delinquent is at once determinable, not only by particular work falling within the province of a particular clerk, but also by that clerk's initials significantly affixed.
Three things relating to the workings of a yard pay-office should be more explicitly defined by law and regulation. The first is the financial responsibility of the head-of-yard-department by whom the pay-rolls are prepared, examined, and approved. Directly, the regulations touch on his responsibility with insufficient emphasis. Indirectly, such responsibility is fixed most emphatically by the words: "he (the pay-officer) shall be responsible only for the correctness of the computations on the mechanics' and laborers' rolls pertaining to the different departments." In spite of this provision, some heads of departments will stoutly deny that they have any financial responsibility whatever, although they alone certify to the correctness of the rolls which they submit. A comprehensive test case, could one properly be devised, might relieve a situation at present fraught with no slight peril.
The second matter in need of clear definition is the reporting of balances on hand, made by the yard departments each month to the pay-officer. No regulation exists directing such a report, but plain business sense demands it for purposes of comparison, and custom or local order secures it at most yards. By means of this report the pay-officer is able to know the amount of money a head-of-yard-department thinks he has on hand, and the basis of expenditure on which he works. An invaluable check is thus afforded. Since the days and hours worked, and multitudinous rates of pay enter into the calculations of the yard department, while the pay-office is concerned only with results in dollars and cents susceptible of instant verification, the latter's balance will invariably be the correct one. The monthly report of the head-of-department to his bureau does not pass through the hands of the pay-officer, and the separate report made to the pay-office, in time to allow comparison, will often save the local department much ultimate embarrassment—as many as eight errors have thus been rectified in a single report. So important a matter, therefore, should be enforced by appropriate regulation, and not be left to personal caprice.
The third point involves the submitting of a pay-roll summary by the head-of-department with each regular pay-roll. This is a very desirable proceeding on which the regulation is by no means convincing. Not to enter too minutely into the letter of the law, there is genuine confusion in the use of the terms "regular" and "special" with relation to the semi-monthly payrolls. A fair-minded reader of the article referred to (Art. 1703, par. 2, U. S. Navy Regulations, 1905) would seem to have no difficulty in carrying out the provisions there set forth; nevertheless, the clerks' pay-roll or the semi-monthly roll may, conceivably, not be considered "regular."
This brings us to the reflection that it is the duty of the payofficer, as well as of all with whom he deals, to facilitate business to the utmost of legal power. Obstructionist tactics or stiffness are almost as much out of place as a downright violation of law would be. The pay-officer is there to "do business," and no artificial restraint should be allowed to stand in his way. On the other hand the law and regulations must be followed—he should yield not an inch through favor, hurry, or indifference, far less retreat before outside opposition and annoyances. These last will be found to be few indeed.
A matter clearly enough laid down by the regulations, but the practical application of which is constantly thwarted by the exigencies of the service, is the witnessing of all payments to employees by a commissioned or warrant officer. Theoretically, discharged men must be paid at any time during working hours on presentation of their pay-tickets at the pay-office. A literal carrying-out of this procedure would mean the presence of a witnessing officer in the pay-office during the entire working day—the witness to be as much a part of the office force as any clerk. With one possible exception, no navy yard has a sufficient number of officers assigned to allow a permanent detail for all-day service in the pay-office. To pay without a witness, needless to say, under the present regulations, is out of the question. The other alternative must, therefore, be adopted, i. e., discharged men can be paid only at certain specified times each day, when the presence of the witnessing officer is assured.
Now, simple as this procedure is in principle, experience has abundantly proved that it will work hardship to many deserving men. A discharged employee cannot afford to wait, perhaps two or three hours, before collecting the pay due him. He loses a train or a boat, and with it goes the job on which he has depended.
Such a condition of affairs is remediable in one way. It being taken for granted that a permanent detail of a witnessing officer for all-day service will never be possible, the remedy lies in altering the regulation so that the witnessing officer is done away with. Why should the civilian employee, who outside the yard gate may be paid any sum on his unsupported receipt, inside that gate, in addition to his own signature and those of his foreman and time-clerk, be compelled to have his interests looked after by a witnessing officer?
At a navy yard where the heads of the various yard departments are at once careful and progressive, no inconsiderable portion of the pay-officer's time is likely to be devoted to the solution, or rather exposition, of legal questions relating to pay. It behooves him, therefore, to have ready reference to the published volumes of the decisions of the Comptroller, to the Memoranda for the Information of the Officers of the Pay Corps, to the Revised Statutes and to all possible information. Michael's "Laws," "Manual for the Pay Department, U. S. Army," "Acts and Resolutions Relating to the Navy," &c., have been found of value.
In this connection, what are known as the "manuscripts" of Comptroller's decisions ought to be rescued from so unfortunate an oblivion and win to a calf-bound notoriety as speedily as possible. It is manifestly disturbing to feel that some practice, long sanctioned by such decisions as are by any means obtainable, may be overthrown at any moment by a law all the while lying perdu in the remote archives of the Treasury Department. A law is "a rule of action," but how can it claim any rights as such if it is never or rarely published even to the most inquiring eye?
Moot-points in regard to the pay of civilian employees present ample opportunity for the exercise of the pay-officer's best discretion— the heads-of-departments rely more than one might imagine on the information he may be able to collate. The industrious compiler of modern instances has here a rich field yet awaiting his efforts. Practically all decisions affecting the pay of officers are matter of common knowledge—the many vexed questions relating to the compensation of civilian employees, such as Sunday and holiday pay, the "time" of men regularly employed every day of the year, sick leave pay under various conditions, compensation for holidays while on leave, to mention only a few, have hardly even reached a satisfactory decision, far less can be considered well-known.
In handling the accounts of officers the pay-master who has had a cruise or two will experience no difficulty and will find little that is new. The separate rates of pay are perhaps somewhat more difficult to determine than those he has been used to, and the adjustment of travel claims must be carefully considered.
Every yard pay-office carries a number of retired officers on its rolls. Immediately after a newcomer into the pay-office has received the transfer pay-rolls from his predecessor, it is highly desirable that he should verify (1) the fact that these retired officers, most of whom he will never see, are actually alive, (2) their signatures, (3) their rates of pay. The last item, in these days of lightning changes, is especially likely to need looking after.
The officers' pay-roll summary, in that it includes charges under many titles, is a little troublesome at first, but here, also, only care is needed.
An important part of the pay-officer's duties—one which almost deserves the dignity of a separate detail—is the conducting of the sales of condemned supplies. Sales at a large navy yard are fairly frequent in number, and very considerable in amount. The whole procedure, from the time the first schedule is prepared by the general storekeeper to the time the paymaster of the yard submits the account-sales, demands the most unremitting vigilance on the part of all concerned. Since the' proper conduct of a sale is almost wholly a question of detail, elaborate and important as that is,-it cannot be entered into here.
Many minor matters help to keep the pay-officer's hands fully occupied. Of such sort are special deposits when work is authorized for private parties—these must.-be handled in a way all their own. The collection of light, water, and heat charges are others of this class.
The mechanical aids in a yard pay-office are mainly those of a well-equipped bank, or large business firm. A reliable adding machine, folder-filing and card-index system, numbering stamp, address machine, roller copier, and a completely equipped fire and burglar-proof vault large enough to accommodate the payenvelope boxes, have their place. A "change-maker," also, has proved of the greatest utility, and has materially shortened the work of putting up the money for pay-day.
When all is said concerning a navy yard pay-office that would be likely to be of interest here, the fact remains that, as in most affairs, practice is worth a thousand precepts. It would promote efficiency, therefore, and insure the smooth-running of a payoffice, if a junior pay-officer could be assigned as an assistant to the paymaster of the yard or, if this is not possible, if the relief could be on hand a full month prior to the detachment of an incumbent, unless, of course, the relief had already served a tour of duty in a pay-office. This month's instruction would enable the newcomer to observe a great part of the duties af a yard pay-officer in the working, and would fit him for their proper performance when he should be thrown on his own resources.
In conclusion: Since the amount of public funds disbursed by the paymaster of a yard is immeasurably greater than the amount expended by the pay-officer of a ship, the former must bear in mind even more than the other, three fundamental maxims of his profession—he must (1) as far as practicable, keep all moneys himself, (2) pay nothing without proper authority, (3) be eternally vigilant.