The New York herald., 1921-12-24
New Personnel Body to Be
Under Supervision of Civil
Service Commission.
MANY EMPLOYEES TO GO
FLOATING Staff to Go From
One Bureau to Another, One
of Proposed Moves.
Special Dispatch TO THE Nrw York IIEsALp.
New York Herald Bureau.


In determined effort to reduce the
number of Government employees at
least to prewar basis, for the sake
of further economy and efficiency,
President Harding issued an executive
order to-day creating a Federal per-
sonnet board under supervision of the
United States Civil Service Commits
sion.
So far as Government workers are
concerned the board is intended to
place the personnel administration on
a par with private enterprise. 1t is TO
work hand in hand with the move-
ment to reorganize the system of the
executive departments, SO that need
less work may be eliminated and the
whole be put on q business footing.
One of the chief purposes of the
board will be to establish better cooper
alton between the departments and In
dependent Government agencies for the
purpose of saving money in the employ
ment of personnel. Tho aim is to do
away with the present practice of main
tanning all the departments for a maxi
mum load of work. In the future, under
the new scheme, Floating stafr' is to
be created to go from one department
TO another in periods of maximum load.
Additional economy is expected to fol-
low the creation of a system to check
the efficiency CT Government employees
selected through the civil service The
civil Service Commission will be advised
or the success or failure of those en-
pioyed so that there Inay be reassign-
-ment OF personnel or n separation from
the serbice ofsthose who are unsatis-
factory. At present there Is lack of CO.
operation between the Civil Service
commission and the different depart
ments and agencies. This is to be cor
rected by the Federal personnel board.
Inc tremendous problem of reducing
tie number of Government workers to
more reasonable basis is apparent
from the figures contained in the last
report OF the Civil Service Commission
ihis shows there are 597 4S2 Govern
nsnt employees at present, as connpa red
with an average of 439,79c before the
war. The hope. therefore, Is that at
least 10000 may lie cut off soon. SO
that there may be return to the pre-
war basis.
Further reductions are hoped for with
tne reorganization OF the departments
and when the combination of conflicting
bureaus is accomp ished Just how much
or cut this will allow is not apparent
as yet. but those familiar with the
clumsy machinery now in vogue. with
IRE Keeping of Unnecessary records. un-
ouslnesslike methods of collecting taxes
ana conducting similar " ork insist that
this should be not less thar 30 per cent.
such Is the saving the officials are
hoping for, il they are 70 be allowed n
iree hand to get ti.o Government on a
better basis.
The most striking reduction is ex-
pected TO coma in Washington, where
the number of Federal empioyees AZ
present is out of all proportion to the
days before the war. There were on
the rolls on July last. the date of
the latest report from the Civil Service
Commission, a total Of 1856 employees.
This figure has been reduced some-
what in recent months. although not
materially. IT is understood that there
are about 5000 government clerks now
in Washington.
Before the war there were never more
than 10000 clerks at the capital. The
number on June 20. 1916. the year be
fore the war began. was 30, ,259
One OF the chief troubles has been
the inability of the executive to trans
fer clerks from one department to an
other. President Harding. In announcing
the creation OF the personnel board to-
day. called attention to the fact that It
was possible to transfer fifty or more
trucks. or similar material, but not
the drivers OF the trucks. They were
or the rolls Of an individual depar :
ment. ever to remain there, unless the
formal transfer were accomplished after
the formal red tape. This condition is
dealt with specifically in the order
creating tho board.