The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1922-02-24

X.
HIRE HELP

XI.
HIRE HELP
I'VE civil service commission hires
all employees In the classified service
Of the government. The only thing to
b. said about the classified service, IL
tAat 1t has not yet been classified.
Bst you shall hear what the civil serv-
i0e commission has to say about hir-
inG help. without comment from me.
There is an utter lack Of definitely
phMaed and well-organized employ
meat policy in the government serv-
III.
There Is need for a centralized en-
ptpyment office with jurisdiction In all
matters relating to employment.
The employment methods Of the gov
eE0neat should be such as to serve
for a model for private business.
There is at present no central con-
trSl over the executive service short
Of the President. The President Is q
busy man and cannot concern himself
With the details of the executive de-
paTtments.
The lack of efficiency in govern
ment Offices has a marked effect on
private business.
Definite information concerning the
number Of federal civil employees in
different branches Of the service and
the amount Of the government pay
ron are not readily available.
An official register. or blue book,
is Issued every two years. 1t Is out
: OF. date long before It Is printed.
A provision Of the civil service rules
theoretically gives the civil service
commission authority to collect and
n1aintain complete personnel statis-
tics. The labor and expense involved,
however. practically prohibit the COL
lection and compilation Of reliable sta
tistical data.
missions authority Is the absence of
authority to enforce its findings. The
commission car make recommends
lions to the departments and offices
and urge their observance, but it can
not enforce them.
Congress passed what is known as
the civil service law January 16, 1883.
Ills act created the United States
civil service commission. The law was
intended to cure in part the evils
trnceable to the spoils system, which
grew out of the four-year-tenure-of-
Office act Of 1920.
During the first 40 years after the
organization Of our government, ad-
mAAdstrative practice with regard to
the civil service seemed to conform
to the intention Of the founders. The
0sastitution fixed the term of no Of
ficer in the executive branch of the
government except those Of the Pres
ident and vice president. It was the
established usage during these first
40 years to permit executive officers,
except members Of the cabinet, to hold
Office for an unlimited period during
good behavior. The practice vas
changed in 1920 by the four-year-ten-
IRE act. The spoils system, as it vas
officially described as early as 1885,
perueated the entire civil service Of
the country.
Ehe fundamental purpose Of tine CIV
II service law was to establish, in the
parts Of the service covered by its
provisions, a merit system whereby
selection for appointment should be
made upon the basis Of demonstrated
relative fitness, without regard to po-
Mical, religious, or other such con-
sh~herations.
The act requires that the rules shall
provide, among other things. for open
competitive examinations for testing
the fitness Of applicants for the classi-
fed service, the making Of appoint
ments from among those passing with
highest grades, an apportionment Of
appointments in the departments at
Washington among the states and ter
rStories. a period Of probation before
absolute appointment and the pro-
hlbition Of the use Of official authority
to coerce the political action Of any
person or body.
In 1883, the year in which the civil
service law was enacted, 1924 posi-
items in the civil service were made
subject to competition. The entire
nvanber of positions in the federal
executive civil service on June 20,
1916. was 4SO,327. At the height of
the wal expansion there were approx
innately 100000 men and women en-
paoyed In the federal executive civil
service, about 100000 Of whom held
positions subject to competition. On
July 81, 1920, the entire number of
federal executive civil positions. as
nearly as can be estimated, had been
reduced to 691, 116. Approximately
10000 Of these were subject to COM
petition, or, in other words, in the
classified service. The force is still
slowly but steadily decreasing.
During the 10 months Of u partici-
patton in the wal the civil service
commission gave competitive exami.
nations under the civil service law and
rules to slightly less than 100000 per
sens, and about 100000 persons with
tested qualifications were supplied by
She commission to the service. A nor
NAL years business Is about 100000
persons examined and about 10000
appointed.