Page:Hine (1912) Letters from an old railway official.djvu/158



Chicago, July 8, 1911. My Dear Boy:—You write me that your work is heavy, that your territory is extensive, that you wish to divide it into two districts each under a general superintendent. If your president follows his usual practice and asks my advice it will be summed up in four letters, “d-o-n-’t.” For years I have been seeking in vain for a general superintendent’s district with an entirely satisfactory administration. I know many strong general superintendents. The trouble is not with them, but with the system. Organization is a series of units. These units get out of balance when they are defective or incomplete. There is usually withheld from the general superintendent some such vital process as car distribution, on the specious plea that such activity is so different it can be more cheaply handled by some higher office. If the organization unit is created it must have the same full chance for life and