Evening star., 1920-02-18
SENTIMENT GROWS
FOR CREATION Of
NEW SALARY BOARD
Headquarters of Joint CON-
mission IncIineS to Plan to
Prevent Duplication.

Sentiment today at the headquar-
ters of the joint congressional COM
mission on reclassification of salaries
in the District was favorable to the
proposed creation of a commission d-
rectly accountable to Congress, to
survey the government departments.
to see just what duplication and other
overlapping exists.
A congressional commission to look
into organization problems is beliey-
ed to be logical "follow-up" on the
work of the reclassifiers of positions.
and sentiment t the reclassification
commission today seemed in favor of
such proposition.
While the reclassifcation commits
sion. in its report to Congress next
month. probably will make a few
recommendations anent organization
to carry on the reclassifcation these
Will only relate to the reclassification
itself.
No Attempt to Reorganixe.
There is no attempt made by the re-
classification comm Mission to take un
any problems of reorganization in the
government. That has not been the
Job OF the reclassifiers. Their bust
ness has been with the personnel OF
the departments. the 107 900 employees
themselves. whom they were directed
TO reclassify, SO that salaries would
be equalized.
The law creating the reclassification
commission pointed out specifically
What the commission should do and
the pay body has stuck to its task. as
VIII be shown in its forthcoming re-
port to Congress. Its whole work OF
reclassihcatio has been built up Oh
the basis of the government depart
ments as now organized.
Charting of Bureaus Ftrst.
One of the first tasks undertaken
after IT began work eight months ago
was the charting of government bu
reaus. it was recalled today. The
entire personnel of each separate bu
reau was made into the form of A
chart in blue print form, much after
the manner that family trees" are
pictured.
Thus reclassification has proceeded
upon the basis of the organization of
the various bureaus and departments
as such organization actually exists.
The great problem of the commission
has been with the people in these
various bureaus. Its one great aim
has been the equalization of salaries
for various workers doing essentially
the same work.
Civil Service Phases.
While the commission will present
to Congress various phases OF civil
service reform in order to carry out
euuitably it's recommendations as to
salaries, such as enlargement OF the
Civil Service Commission and an in
tegral system of efficiency promotions
for all employees, these cannot strictly
be considered as reorganization rec
lamentations.
Whatever real reorganization OF the
federal bureaus here may be desired
will have to be accomplished by some
other agency than the reclassihcation
commission. If the republican ma
jority in Congress, as stated yester-
day. contemplates an investigation
into the federal organizations them
selves to prevent duplication and
overlapping so that the strictest econ
ticed. it Is held that it must of neces-
sity be done by body to be created
In the past several somewhat sim
liar attempts have been made along
the lines of reorganizations. various
commissions, such as the Cleveland
commission. making elaborate inves-
LEGATIONS and reports as to organiza-
ton. The results are embodied in the
elaborate structure of the federal de-
partments here today.
There is little doubt that the In
yestigation of the reclassification COM
mission might show. if called upon.
that some of the bureaus have built
up their organizations on the basis
of the peak load" Of the bureau
rather than upon the normal average.
Peak Load Method Prevails.
Thus a bureau may have 100 clerks.
! for instance, in order to carry its
work over a stressful period during
one month of the year. and as a mat
ter of fact have no real need for more
than fifty or sixty clerks during the
other eleven months of the year. Yet.
under present methods. ii is neces-
sary for the bureau chief to carry the
full hundred employees in order to have
them ready for the big peak load"
This is one of the things congress
sional reorganization committee
might look into with a view to re-
dress, it is held, and by being directly
responsible to Congress the results
achieved might be better and more
far-reaching than if such a body were
a presidential commission. it is be-
lieved.