The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1922-12-30
XIII.
WHY GOOD MEN QUIT
Copyright. Western Newspaper Union

!
WHY GOOD MEN QUIT
Go today into the Treasury depart
ment, the Department of Agriculture,
the Department of Commerce, or into
any other establishment Of the govern
ment doing, important technical work,
and they will tell you that their chief
difficulty Is to retain competent en-
ployees In the supervisory and tech
meal positions. Their turnover is alb
normally high in these positions.
Every day men leave the service
to accept private employment at ma
ter1ally increased salaries, SO that the
departments are continuously going
through a process Of selecting and
training executives and technical en-
,ployees, only to lose them, as they be-
come really valuable, on account of
the inadeQuacy Of their compensation.
The second factor which contrib
utes to the present ineffectiveness Of
the government as q business estab-
lishment is found in the improper or
ganlzation Of the executive branch of
the government for effective service.
You are familiar, at least in a general
way, with the defects Of the present
administrative machinery.
/. You know for example, that the In
terror department now has jurisdiction
over q great number Of bureaus of
scellaneous character that have
nothing to do with each other or with
the functions which the Interior de-
partment was originally established to
perform. -.
You know that many agencies have
been located in the Treasury depart
ment, the great fiscal department of
the government, which are purely nom
fiscal In character, such as the coast
guard, the public health service, the
supervising architects Office and the
bureau Of war risk insurance.
!. Yon know that the great bulk Of
the ciyA public works of the govern
ment are executed under the super
vision Of the War department, although
the bureau Of public roads is located
In the Department Of Agriculture, and
the reclamation service in the Depart
ment of the Interior.
You know, furthermore, of the in
dependent existence outside the juris-
diction Of any of the great executive
departments Of some 4O-odd boards,
These are merely examples Of con-
dition that would require volumes to
describe fully, but it is generally
known that the executive branch Of the
government is at the present time H.
logically and uneconomically organ
lied in many important particulars.
It should be remembered, however,
that even with an ideal personnel and
a perfect organization it is doubtful
II the high degree Of economy and
efficiency that characterizes private
business can ever be attained in the
government offices. This is so because
economies made by government off,
Gals are not transformed into divi-
dends for themselves as they are in
private business. 49,. .
There Is an impression in congress
and throughout the country that men
Of great ability are not found In gov
eminent service; that the salaries are
not sufficient to attract and hold them.
On the contrary, there are great
many people of distinguished ability
In the government service. One is
more and more impressed by that fact,
especially since the war sent to Wash
ington SO many men OF large means
and famous names with whom the
government employees could be COM
pared. The comparison was time and
again to the advantage Of the govern
ment employee. But the salaries are
not the attraction; it is the work it.
self. This Is we'll understood by some
eminent observers Of public life. Sec
rotary of State hughes declared him
self as follows before the advisory
committees Of the war risk Insurance.
bureau: f..
It has been my experiences that With
the higher ofIscers. the officers Of greater
institutions, where efficiency IL rewarded
By public representation-while the field
ID q limited one because Of the great OPP
portunity to mon Of ability-it 10 still en-
tirely possible to draw to the public serv-
leo mon Of great ability and distinction.
because of the desire to render public
service, and the number Of men who are
available for that purpose. while rela-
lively small, il still sufficient II the ap-
pointing officer wants men Of that class.
must give free field. He must not in
terfere, as to political action to control
administration tendencies and must per-
NIT them to be given the reward which
q well-conducted Office Of importancs VIII
giyes to it's incumbent In the public esd-
nation. II ~ 4.
Now tho diniculty increases whom you
pass those heads that get the credit and
come to the technical expert who has
got to do the regular work and upon
whose efficiency the operation Of the de-
partment finally depends. These men are
little known. The public hasn't time even
to learn their names. They are interested
In work to q decree Of being willing 70
make sacrifices.
There II activs competition for men Of
brains and great ability Of that sort, and
the government will never be served un-
less it pays the price for those mon. Now
I think that 10 plain situation. You
may be able to get director IN the bu-
reau Of war risk Insurance. for 900
year, or for nothing ct MI, but you cam
not get IN actuAry. You cannot get in-
auraalcA men You cannot get a,,narfn.