Evening star., 1921-10-25
TENTH INsTALLMENT TOMORROW
.|NTERPRETS ORDER
FOR CLERKS RATING
Efficiency Listing Not to Su.
persede Acts of Congress.
|. c. Steward Asserts.

The executive order prescribing an
efficiency rating system to be set
up for the classified civil service
cannot supersede the acts of Con-
sress. under which nearly all the
District employees occupy positions
whose compensation is fixed by stat
ute. according to d statement issued
today by Luther c. Steward. presi-
dent of the National Federation Of
Federal Employees
Section Of the order. which pre-
Scribes that the employees in each
branch OF the service shall be claSSi-
fed according to the character of the
work performed is confusing by it's
use of the word classified declar red
President Steward.
THE word classified in the execu-
tive order can mean nothing more
than listing according to present
titles or designations for the purpose
of rating" he continued "This should
not be confused with the recla ssif1ca-
ton on the basis of duties, titles and
compensation, which is advocated by
the National Federation of Federal
Employees, and is provided for in the
Lehlbach-Ste reclassification bills
now pending in Congress-"
Fasors Uniform System.
President Steward further declared:
The National Federation of Federal
Employees. has always advocated a
uniform efficiency rating system for
the. government service. We, believe
that such a system Is a necessary ac-
compartment to the merit plan of ap-
pointments and promotions. We there
impetus to such an undertaking.
There has been statutory authority
for a number of years for the inStalla-
tion of a system Of uniform efficiency
ratings, and we are glad that the is
suance of the executive order will at
a Tn, f,Tv rot Srsr
1T Is matter of regret. however,
that no provision appears in the order
granting to the employees the right of
access to their. ratings and the right
of appeal from the ratings Of the su-
pervisory officer. Any system of ef-
fciency rating. becomes in the last
analysis very largely a matter of the
personal equation, and our advocacy
of the efficiency rating system Is in
separately coupled with an insistence
access to their ratings and the right
of appeal from the rating Of their su-
pervisory officers.
THE employees experience with the
bureau of efficiency during its nine
years existence has not tended to in
give unlimited authority on person
mel matters to that agency. From our
standpoint. 1t is particularly impor-
tant to bear in mind a statement from
the chief Of that bureau, Herbert D.
Brown, in letter last March, which
states: I believe that the af1iliation of
government employees with labor or
ganizations must Of necessity result
in a reduction of efficiency in the de-
partments. I am of the opinion that
such an affiliation has an unfortunate
effect on the morale of the service
We are therefore not unnaturally
doubtful as to the impartiality of any
h frh
expression Of this sort of prejudice,
and inasmuch as probably three
fourths of the employees Of the United
States government are affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor
through something like fifty different
trade unions. the suitability of the bu-
reau of efficiency to prescribe eff
cheney ratings is likely to be chal-
lenged by a large majority of en-
ployes."