Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1922-03-17
XIV.
,NcoMPETENTS ARE KEPT

INCOMPEIENlS ANI NIE
The annual turnover In the govern
n.pt service is something almost In
,-sdtble, No business corporation,
Soweyer strongly established, could
ionp endure the heavy annual drain on
,,s resources. Hundreds Of men leave
,ha government service daily; add
sev unframed people have to be taken
"a and taught to do the work. This
eosts money, as every employer
knows.
The designations from the govern
nent service are chiefly from the su-
nAry,sory and most highly paid posi-
t,ons and from the very lowest grades.
m. men ut the top, If they have any
initiative or ability or ambition to
make name for themselves, are Of
fered private employment at double
~ treble or more what the govern
ment can pay them. The people In
the lowest grades leave for private
employment when opportunity affords
because In too many instances they
actually cannot keep body and soul
togelner on their government pay.
II is the people in the middle claH
Who stay on the longest. The whole
constant process makes for steady
deterioration in the quality Of the
government service and tends to re-
tnin the mediocre in public employ.
ment
The civil service commission, through
which the great bulk of government
employees are brought into the serv
Ice, Is acutely aware Of this condition
It's reports give emphasis to the diff
Guilty constantly experienced in secur-
Ing ami retaining competent employ
ees. The rotation III office has become
Increasingly frequent and vitality i'm
pairs the efficiency Of the service.
During the war there was lower
rate of turnover in the mechanical
forces than in outside establishments.
The propoSition Of separations, how
ever, is excessive in clerical, profes-
souai and technical positions, in
which the rate Of turnover sometimes
amounts to third of the force in a
year.
During the nine months preceding
the urmiStlce more than 10000 ap-
pOintments were made in the civil
service and about $4,000 separations
occurred-that is, for every two ap-
pointnents made one person left the
service. For a period of similar length
following the armistice only 60 per
cent as many appointments were made,
but there were nearly 33 per cent more
separations. In this period almost as
many positions were vacated as were
filed.
The eXigencies of the war required
great expansion of the clerical
forces at Washington and elsewhere
and this was accomplished by a labor
turnover several times above normal.
The percentage of declinations of ap.
pointmcntS among eligibles on the civ
II service register increased in many
Instances from 80 to more than so per
cent-that is, more than half the men
and women who successfully passed
CIVIL service examinations and were
offered jobs under the government re.
FUSED to take them. 1t is estimated
thai more than $4,000 of those who
met the test were appointed during
that time.
The civil service commission says
natly:
Those familiar with the federal
service at Washington know that the
service is now hampered by the re-
tantlon Of incompetents whose re-
moval Is rendered difficult by influences
which are incompatible with the eff
oency of the service. Preferences
and exemptions increasingly clog the
departments with persons who. nc
matter how inefficient, are difficult tc
remove, and whose retention tends Il
destroy the discipline Of the service
Among these inefficients. of course
are the superannuated and the phys
'caily incapacitated. The bureau Of
emciency estimated, before the pass
age OF the superannuation retirement
nw, the number Of employees In tn,
osh service Of the United States sew
soy years Of age and over as follows
n., Numbe
nway postal clsrks.................. u
letter riero..s.Ss............. u
Sy letter er1...s...s............. .
tSest once clerks. 1...............,.,....... q
T~~es .'''...................... u
Seoerai employees. Dist Columbia. i. =
Senerai employees elsewhere .........l,0
H0oI ''.''..................... q
the commissioner Of pensions SUD
S1es the following compact statemeni
. tne age Of the employees in the pen
Aen bureau: