The person in possession of organization equipment is responsible for the equipment. On its loss or damage through carelessness or neglect the person in whose charge it had been placed, not only the person who damaged or neglected it, is liable to have to recompense the company or myself for the cost of the repairs or loss of the equipment or some portion thereof.
Stock cards for all equipment possession or issue in organizations shall be prepared by the administrative head of the organization. If equipment is not so accounted for and is lost or damaged the administrator of the company, not having a stock card of issue on it, becomes liable financially to the organization or myself for its repair or replacement.
The idea of “company property” is both stupid and dangerous. That which is “owned by everyone” is actually owned by no one and falls apart. A company, corporation or state does not live or breathe and so it cannot care for anything. The doubtless noble experiments of totalitarian communal states such as Cuba or Russia starve and fail because of this one idee fixe: only the state owns. That leaves nobody to have or take care of anything. Their enormous five year plans never materialize because their tractors will not run. Their tractors won’t run because they belong to nobody. Saying they belong to the state is a way of abandoning them. A company can’t really own anything since it has no concept of ownership. And you see how “company property” falls apart.
Look at it this way: You own those things that are in your charge. When you take over a position you become richer by the things that go with it. You stay rich as long as you keep them in good shape. You get poor to the degree they go bad or won’t work or get abused because you incautiously lent them to a careless fellow worker. Righteous indignation because “you messed up my typewriter” or “you scarred up my auditing table” is not peculiar, it’s quite in order.
Look around you and see what you own in your position. If two people use it, only one, even so, can own it.
It is curious that around orgs my own personal possessions are given good care. I never worry about my Mest being in org hands. And a lot of it is. If it’s Ron’s, it’s taken care of. That’s a long standing observation. But “company property” gets badly abused at times. If you figure that I own everything in Scientology and you own the things that go with your position, we’ll have more and have it longer.
There are three kinds of possessions in Scientology organizations.
TITLE A: These are permanent installations, buildings, walls, radiators, anything fixed in place.
TITLE B: Valuable equipment which is not expendable. These are desks, typewriters, mimeo machines, blackboards, chairs, furniture, rugs, decorations, cars, etc.
TITLE C: These are expendables. Office supplies, paper, chalk, stencils, dust rags, mops, etc. They are issued on the understanding they will get used up.
In inventorying and making up cards of issue to persons in charge, Title A is issued to the head of the organization or department exclusively using them. Title B is made up to the head of the department or the person who is actually using them. Title C is issued to the person using the material.
Stock cards are kept on Title A and Title B. The administrative head has to have a signature for Title A and Title B as having given it to somebody who then signs for it.
No stock cards may be written as “Issued to Training Dept” or “Director of Training”. They are issued to Richard Roe, the person himself. The main building is not issued to “Organization Secretary” It is issued to George George, a person who happens also to be Organization Secretary. A car is not issued to “Department of Materiel” It is issued to John John, who happens also to be Director of Materiel.
When a person is transferred, his possessions are signed for by the person, as a person, who takes over that position. And so long as the person who owned them has failed to transfer them to the new person, he or she can be charged up for them. Regardless of post transfers, the person on the Stock Card remains the owner and is liable for any loss or abuse until the possessions are actually signed for by somebody else.
If it exists somebody owns it and has signed for it. And until a new person signs for it the old owner is liable for it regardless of his whereabouts or new post.
Until it is signed for initially it is owned by the administrative head and if anything happens to it or it is lost, the administrative head is liable for it.
The stock cards should be stiff cards of good size kept in a box that fits them. There is only one card per piece of equipment. The card says where it is and what it is and when bought and has ample area for owning and transferring signatures.
Cards are prepared from Inventory and are checked by Accounts records.
A new acquisition brings about a new card which is then signed for.
The head of the organization is accountable personally for any losses up to July 1, 1964, which occurred during his term of office.
To dispose of Title A or Title B, or account for its loss, it is necessary to survey it. This is done by a board of three executives of departments who must see the equipment being disposed of or certify it as lost. A Survey Board is liable for any falsification of records.
In organizations that have no Director of Administration, the head of the organization acts in his capacity and is responsible for having Stock Cards.
We are pretty good withal on the subject of equipment. Its loss or damage is not one of our major problems. Only one organization, Johannesburg, has gone mad on the subject where one Senogles, temporary head of it, had a passion for “losing tapes and tape recorders”
However, we are expanding. Expansion needs some orderly ownership. There is not very much Title A and Title B about so it is not a very heavy task to organize it. If we straighten this out now, we’ll save ourselves a mess later.
Further, at this time inventories for corporation transfers have to be done anyway, so we may as well get it all done at once.