The order of the court shall be spread upon the minutes of the court, as in the case of other judgments and decrees, and the petition and answer thereto shall be docketed, filed, and kept as permanent records of the court. The order or decree fixing the number of deputies and salaries may be changed or modified by increasing or decreasing the number of deputies and the salaries paid each, from time to time, upon application made in the manner above provided; or any such officers without such formal application may decrease either the number of deputies or assistants and the salaries of any of them where the facts justify such course.