Evening star., 1921-05-18
URGED
IN RECLASS|FY|N
Edward C. Finney Criticises
Commissions Report as
Being Too Elaborate.

Simplicity in classification was urged
by Edward &. Finney. first assistant
secretary of the Department of In
| terror. in testimony given today be-
fore the congressional joint commit :
tee on civil service considering bills
now pending in Congress to standard
ize government work.
He criticised the report Of the con-
SrcSSiOnal joint commission on reclaS-
sificaiion as .Sta blishing too elaborate
system of positions to make effec-
tive administration of governments,
work possible. otherwise. the report,
he said, was an admirable document
and showed that III. survey made of
work in the government ieD:tr'nl. s
had covered the situation scientiti-
cally.
Mr. tinney and Dr. Lewis Merriam
of the Institute of Government Re
search, who assisted in the work of
the congressional joint commission,
were the principal witnesses AT the
second Session of the committees
which was presided over by Senator
Stirling. chairman.
Purpose to Probe Deeply.
Questions put 20 the witnesses by
members of the committee indicated
purpose on the part of the law
makers 10 probe deeply into condi-
tSors of government work and to sci
entif1caHy Investigate the possibilities
OF classification. That the hearings
will be highly technical in character
IS assured If the character Of testi-
mony given today is an indica tion Of
what is to follow during the bal
ance of the inquiry.
Mr.. Finney said that there is great
need Of classification as. under present
conditions, there is a variance in sal
"A fS,rf f.l< ~
which is demoralizing the government
service. Low salaries and wide dis
crepancies in pay have placed a pre-
MUM upon inefficiency.
FavOrs Sm0Ot- Mood BILL
Mr.. Finney was Of the opinion that
the SmootWood bill establishing Il
reduced number Of cIassificat;ous
would be preferable to the measure
introduced Originally as an accom-
paniment Of the joint classification
report of The congressional joint com
mittee.
Asked by Representative Leh,bach
II ne was familiar with the Lelhbach
bill. introduced at the last session
which still further reduced the classi-
fcation as originally proposed Mr..
! Finney said he had only Il superficial
knowledge Of the bill. but that if it had
, reduced the classifications it was d step
III the right direction
Discussing the proper method TO nc
! followed IN establishing II Dractical
CT. ssiilcation Mr. Finney suggested
. that this work should be done by the
heads Of departments and chiefs of
bureaus and that. when finished. it
should be submitted 70 4 general s,uer-
vising authority whose duty would he
to iron out the discrepancies and har-
moniZe the classfications as far az
possible.
Urges Central Supervision.
Senator Sterling asked the witness if
he would favor the civil Service Com
! mission being assigned the duty OF
classifying government work. The In
terror Department official replied that
while the commission performs yaIu-
able service within its present Scoue
. II has only an outside and Superf!cia
knowledge of the work done in the de-
partments. and that for this reason he
f%Nored ciassiiications being made by
the departmental heads and burea /,
chiefs. who possessed the most direct
knowledge of working conditions.
He emphasized the point. however
that the recommendations of the i'm
mediate suD"riors Of the gDvernmen,
workers should be finally supervised
by central authority. in order tina,
the service might be as highly stand
&rdiZ"d as possible.
Difficulty In Stnndardizins.
tee an exhaustive account of how the
, congressional joint commission exc
Gated the task assigned ii of survey
! if2 the work done in the gOVernmcn,
/ dera rtm"nts and the requirements of
tn. service. He pointed out that the
{ primary object of the classification
was Il standardized Of salaries
d Tn" big object IN classification and
m" one most difficult 10 accomplish
h" Saih, - TO establish a standard
: "nirh VIII b" applicable to the gov
ernhicnt service, c.neralIy He. IN
dorsrd particularly the provision in
the congressional JOINT report allow
ing for advancement on efficiency in
work. Under this provision an EN-
p!oEt OF a stated grade is APPOINTED
al Il minimum salary, but may reach
u maximum salary a,csiynarcd for the
grade without being required TO un-
dereo civil service examination. pro
Nidcd his work warrants the advance
mcnt. In being promoted from one
.:rs,'.- to another an examination :
. required THIS ~ termed promotion
as distinguished from advancement,
! whore an "npiCyc reaches ton nav IN
his Own grade upon efficiency ratiu-s
/ ENpIain. Need of Rating system.
I Mr. Merriam. in urging the n.ccssit,
: for the establishment nf an ad.uua,f
/ efficiency rating system, pointed on,
thai young men in the government
( service who do efficient work are fr.
, lIentlN passed over when promotion.
arc made and recognition is given tG
{ mon who have been twelve or ff:rnr
y,arS in the service. ~" said thai
this Ma natural in view of The long
! service rendered by tn" Older men. I,
! ~ resulting, however. in many ol
! 'h" efficient N,uu" mon leaving tn,
! G"H"rn;n"n' s":lIr,. brc:, i"naliH. I'
; s..id. 4 situation arises. y hen an i'm
| I6itanf loSitlou be filled thai
( none OF the most efficient employees are
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