Evening star., 1922-06-01

chief Of the United States bureau Of
efficiency becomes apparent.
He has devised three-cup game
Of now you see IT,. ad now you
talking about rewarding the efhcfent
government employees according TO
his eficiency. Mr.. Brown gets our
eye on an efficiency rating, and ENDS
US up with the average employe OF
the lower ranks at or below the MID
die of his grade regardless OF .ne
eficiency Of the average employe.
We are mesmerized for a moment In
a sort of haze of quantity, quality.
percentages and standards. ana we
come to at the end, when MI brown
@. E. D." rouses US to the fact that
he has safely kept the average salary
from rising regardless Of the ef-
fciency Of the employees.
Provide Elastic Standard.
'"The trick is done by having the
standard for measuring the quantity
OF work done by employees, working
in groups of Eve or more of one grade
under a single supervisor, made cut
Of rubber or any other sufiicientiS
elastic material SO that II Will
get 30 eficient that there is some
danger of the average salary for the
group getting above the middle rate
for the average, all you have to DO Is
to stretch the standard and they are
safely back where they started. Now
and then one peculiarly emcient may
be permitted to reach the upper rates.
but 1t will be at the expense OF others
in the group. who will fall corre-
spending distance below the average.
Figures. percentages. averages. IN
the hands Of SO experienced ehiciency
states bureau Of eficiency. furnish, of
course, the necessary elastic medium
for a standard. In his book OF rules
for the system in paragraph ~ ne
provides for an appropriate test 10
determine that the standard has beea
stretched to Just the proper length SO
that the average quantity rating for
the group will not exceed 100 per cent;
The quality rating cannot eXcecd lOu
per cent and therefore the product OF
the two cannot give an efficiency rat.
ing over 100 and rating OF l9o
puts the employees at the midole BAL
airy TO-. the grade.
Ethics Different From Browns.
Some Of US seem to belong to a
school of thought or Of ethics very
different from the one OF which Mr.
Brown is an exponent. To US stand
ard is something fixed and uniform
and not something which viii vary
from department to departmen., ra .sHm
bureau to bureau. from once 10 once
and from time to time.
To US the ideals of equal pay for
equal work, payment on the pasis
Of efficiency, and justice alike to the
government and to the employees are
phrases. Mr.. President, I am unable
to git quietly by while scheme Is
established without consulting Con-
eress which privides for classification
by analogy, ALLEGATION by adjustment,
and efficiency measurement by a yari-
"As chairman of the civil service
committee, a committee that has
worked faithfully in the considera-
tion of the various reclassincation
measures that have been referred TO
it: that has been in close touch with
House and its chairman, Mr.. Lehl.
bach; that has given attention to the
work and the report Of the joint re-
classification commission; that mas
consulted we'll recognized experts in
Redistribution and personnel PROB.
than the good of the service at heart,
and feeling. I think. the full weight
of my responsibility in this most inn
portant matter, / most earnestly pro-
test against these or any further at.
tempts upon the part Of the head Of
the bureau Of efficiency to carry out
a scheme which I believe is bound to
prove unsatisfactory to the govern.
nent, the heads Of departments. and
unjust to employes-and SO proving.
it will be detrimental to the public
welfare"
At the conclusion Of his speech Sen,
acor Sterling introduced a resolution
authorfsing the civil service commit
tee "to invest gate and report upon
the activities. methods and procedure
Of the United States bureau of EN-
cheney in devising and installing a
system of classification of positions,
salary standardizations and efficiency
ratings in the federal service and
upon the activities of the bureau, its
chief or any OF his assistants in op-
posing pending legislation on these
subjects"
The resolution went over under the
rules for consideration on another
day.