, and mailed at a cost of much
less than twelve cents each. The factors which govern costs are variable
and it is to be borne in mind that the methods for ascertaining costs as
here given represent the least cost and not the real cost--they simply
tell you "Your letter costs at least this sum." They do not say "Your
letter costs exactly this sum." The cost of a form letter, mailed in
quantities, can be gotten at with considerable accuracy. The cost of
letters dictated by correspondents or by credit departments or other
routine departments is also capable of approximation with fair accuracy,
but the cost of a letter written by an executive can really hardly be
more than guessed at. But in any case a "not-less-than" cost can be had.

In recent years industrial engineers have done a great deal of work in
ascertaining office costs and have devised many useful plans for
lowering them. These plans mostly go to the saving of stenographers'
time through suitable equipment, better arrangement of supplies, and
specialization of duties. For instance, light, the kind or height of
chair or desk, the tension of the typewriter, the location of the paper
and carbon paper, all tend to make or break the efficiency of the typist
and are cost factors. In offices where a great deal of routine mail is
handled, the writing of the envelopes and the mailing is in the hands of
a separate department of specialists with sealing and stamp affixing
machines. The proper planning of a correspondence department is a
science in itself, and several good books exist on the subject. But all
of this has to do with the routine letter.

When an executive drawing a high salary must write a letter, it is his
time and not the time of the stenographer that counts. He cannot be kept
waiting for a stenographer, and hence it is economy for him to have a
personal secretary even if he does not write enough letters to keep a
single machine busy through more than a fraction of a day. Many busy men
do not dictate letters at all; they have secretaries skilled in letter
writing. In fact, a man whose salary exceeds thirty thousand dollars a
year cannot afford to write a letter excepting on a very important
subject. He will commonly have a secretary who can write the letter
after only a word or two indicating the subject matter. Part of the
qualification of a good secretary is an ability to compose letters which
are characteristic of the principal.

Take first the cost of