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I spent from two to three hours with Mr. Holmes, getting his point of view concerning his own work and also with reference to future work for the blind of the State. His direction of the work of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind shops, so far as it can be judged at long range, seems along lines dictated by common sense and reason. I gave considerable thought and attention to a possible larger field of usefulness for Mr. Holmes's powers, being particularly urged to do so by the General Superintendent. Mr. Holmes, too, gave me his fullest confidence and talked frankly and freely. I am unable, however, to make any very helpful recommendations here. The General Superintendent's suggestion that he might be very helpful in the consideration and assignment of cases appealed to me as a possible field for larger service.

Salaries

I have been furnished with duplicate copies of the information concerning each employee of the Commission which the Executive Council Committee on Standardization of Salaries requires each employee, in a "permanent or regularly established position in the State service," to furnish upon suitable blanks known as "Form A." These blanks call for detailed information upon a number of points, among which are the following which are germane to the subject of the salaries of the Commission' employees; viz., salary, detailed description of work, time devoted to work and vacations. A careful study of these blanks fails to reveal any extravagances in salaries paid. On the contrary, a careful reading of the state merits of the duties of the employees and their hours of labor conveys the impression that in this matter of salaries the Commission is applying strict business principles.

But I question, whether in a few instances salaries should not be increased. E.g., I am surprised to learn that the General Superintendent is not receiving a larger compensation. Considering her training, experience, social, and executive ability, she can easily command a larger salary. A man who would do the work as efficiently as I believe she is doing would command double the salary.

If the Accountant is doing her work as satisfactorily as appears, her compensation seems rather inadequate. Her position is one of exceptional responsibility and her duties seem arduous. But the business men on the Commission are better judges of this than the writer.

If the work of the Home Teachers is as satisfactory as a superficial examination of it indicates, it would seem that their compensation should be increased. And I make this recommendation all the more emphatic if I am correct in my understanding that they have been receiving these salaries since the teaching of blind adults in their homes was begun fifteen years ago. Would it not be well to adopt the idea of a graduated increase in compensation upon the basis of length of satisfactory service? I have just learned that the New York State Commission has recently determined upon the following schedule of salaries for its home teachers, increases being contingent upon satisfactory service:

First year $720.00
Second year 780.00
Third year 840.00
Fourth year 900.00
Fifth year 1,000.00

As Home Teachers are usually granted an additional allowance for guides and for traveling expenses for both themselves and guides, these salaries seem rather excessive. But I believe the principle to be sound. I recommend its adoption to the Commission, the amount and rate of increase to be determined by conditions in the State of Massachusetts.

After all, the matter of compensating its employees can best be determined by those who know conditions more intimately than is possible' for an outsider to learn them in five days. These impressions are noted, however, in the performance of my duties as a member of the Survey Committee.

Division of Labor Impressions gained by my rather intimate association with the central office staff for several days are to the effect that the staff is well organized with a view to preventing overlapping of duties and to securing the best possible results for the blind of the State. I was particularly well impressed with the method of handling the "case work," a method that I heartily commend to workers for the blind elsewhere. While I gave only a superficial examination to the individual card records, because this topic was assigned to another member of the Committee, I believe these records are exceptionally well kept. Records of this kind have little value unless kept strictly up to date; and to keep them up to date requires that a large amount of detailed clerical work be done with accuracy and dispatch. From my own limited experience and observation, I know that only those who have a rather intimate knowledge of systems of record keeping have any conception of the vast amount of labor involved. Herein lies the only reason for my mention of the topic, viz., that while a merely superficial knowledge of the requirements of the central office may lead one to suppose that the staff is larger than it need be, one need not pursue his investigation far to satisfy himself that each member of the staff has his full quota of important work. The farther I pursued my investigations the more fully I became convinced that when the full scope of the Commission's activities was understood, the need for every member of the staff became apparent.