Committee on Department Methods facts for kids

The Keep Commission was a special group created by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. It was officially called the Committee on Department Methods. This group was formed to help the government work better and more efficiently. Its chairman was Charles H. Keep, and other members included James R. Garfield, Gifford Pinchot, Frank H. Hitchcock, and Lawrence O. Murray. President Roosevelt believed that the President should be in charge of how the government runs.

Why the Keep Commission Was Formed

President Roosevelt wanted to make the government run more smoothly. He asked the Keep Commission to look into how government services were managed. They specifically checked things like how salaries were set, how things were bought, and how money was tracked. The goal was to find better, more efficient ways to do business.

President Roosevelt realized there was a need for this Commission after hearing a funny story. An officer from the Bureau of Indian Affairs needed a stove for an infirmary. He asked for it in the fall of 1904 because the old one was broken. The request for the seven-dollar stove went through many steps. By the time the stove finally arrived, it was already spring! This story showed how slow and inefficient the government's processes could be.

The Commission set up 12 smaller groups, with about 70 experts from the government. While they also looked into some issues in the Government Printing Office and the Department of Agriculture, their main job was to improve how the government worked every day.

Key Ideas from the Commission

The Keep Commission made many important suggestions to improve government operations. Here are some of their main ideas:

• Better ways to manage staff: They suggested new ways to classify salaries and track how well employees were doing. They also proposed a retirement system for federal workers and fair rules for time off.
• Smarter buying and contracts: They wanted to change how the government bought supplies and made agreements with companies.
• Organizing information: They recommended better ways to collect and share statistics (facts and figures).
• Managing records: They had the idea of a "National Archival House" to keep important government documents safe. This was an early idea for what is now the National Archives.
• Improved money tracking: They suggested using double-entry accounting in the Department of the Treasury. This was the first time this method was used in the U.S. government. They also wanted to use adding machines, combine financial reports, and make check and voucher procedures simpler.
• Standard travel rules: They aimed to create consistent rules for government travel.
• Working together: They wanted different government departments to work together better and avoid doing the same work twice.

How People Reacted to the Commission

The Keep Commission's findings were met with different reactions.

Cabinet Members' Views

The members of the Keep Commission were not high-ranking Cabinet Members. This meant some Cabinet members felt a bit embarrassed by the Commission's findings. However, others, like the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce, took the suggestions seriously. They even wanted more investigations. President Roosevelt strongly supported the Commission, which helped keep disagreements among his Cabinet to a minimum. Still, since Congress did not officially approve the Commission, Cabinet members could choose to ignore some of its ideas.

Congress's Concerns

Congress was suspicious of the Commission's work. They worried that President Roosevelt was trying to gain too much power. Congress was so concerned that they refused to officially publish the Commission's reports. They even passed a law that stopped any future spending by committees or commissions that Congress had not approved. Presidents since then have continued to argue that Congress does not have the right to control how the executive branch manages its work.

Public Opinion

Most people thought the Commission was mainly looking into dishonesty and corruption in the government. However, President Roosevelt insisted that the Commission had "thoroughly overhauled" how the government did business. Later, when Congress gave money to President William Howard Taft for similar work, they quietly agreed with Roosevelt's idea. This showed that they accepted the Keep Commission's view that managing the government's daily operations was the President's job.