The Cordova daily times., 1921-04-28
TO INCREASE
 GOVERNMENT
 EFFICIENCY
BY COL. WINFIELD JONES

WASHINGTON, April 2S.-tSpecial | Correspondence).- The Harding ad- ministration will make an effort to re- organize the government civil service plans are also being made to make the service. more attractive to the
 workers. President Harding is in- l teresting himself personally in this matter, and has the active co-opera- tion of his cabinet. The central idea
 back of the plan is to make the gov ernment service not only at- tractive and well paid, but to so ar range government employment that efficient and faithful workers will be able to make "career' and a life work in their chosen vocation.
 l Of course it is well realized in 1 Washington that there must soon be a great reduction in the number of government employees. There are now more than 100000 employees of Uncle 1 Sam throughout the country. This ir- cludes everybody now in the federal service. The last congress, by the simple expedient of refusing to make l appropriations, provided for the ter ] imitation of the jobs of tens of
 thousands at the end of this fiscal year next June. As there will be no money available to pay these em- ployes at the end of the fiscal l year they will necessarily be separat- ed from their positions with the gov ernment. The next congress will make another huge slash in the gov ernment payrolls, and many more thousands of employees will have to leave the service.
 i Under present conditions service with the government is neither attrac- tive, nor well paid when the present high cost of living prevails. Neither | is there much prospect of advance ment or promotion. There are many Washington who have been working in the government departments for years, some even since the end of the Civil war, who have never re- ceived an advance or promotion, and who never expect either. Their only hope of economic independence in their old age is in the recently established civil service pension sys- tenn
 Congressman who have made a spe- cial study of the civil service are convinced that the number of gov ernment employees could be reduced by about half, and the efficiency of the remaining half doubled, if the ser vice is made more attractive, and ar ranged so that men and women of ability and ambition would have a fair chance of advancing themselves in salary and authority.
 Practically the only jobs in the 1 IgoVernment service worth while, from a social and financial viewpoint, are presidential appointments, which of course change with each changing national administration. These posi- tions, while eagerly sought, do not offer a permanent career and usually only lead to disappointment, and loss of years which might otherwise | be devoted to securing advancement | in life in some other line of activity. Under present conditions many gov ernment employees hope, by the train | ing they secure in the service, to i learn enough to make it possible to | leave the government service and se- cure better positions in commercial
 life. Thousands do this and many of them succeed in business careers. | Undoubtedly it is true that when the ordinary man or woman enters the government service they become mere little cOgs in the huge federal machine which is centered in Wash ington. It is practically impossible for such employees to get out of dry routine in which they are caught. Consequently thousands merely per | form enough work to prevent a repri- mand from their bureau chiefs, and | they regard their work as a dis agreeable daily task that must be performed in order to gain bread and