The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-04-03
REVISION BOARD
IS EAC|NG,
DISPUTE
Whether QUESTIONABLE Should
Be Answered by EmpIoye or
Officers Is Up for Decision.

The personnel classification board
II facing an important issue upon
which its future harmony and ease
Of operation may depend. -.
The issue is involved in the re.
vised questionable soon to be sent
to the field employees, and 1t may
be summarized in this way:
Are the questionnaires to be made
out and answered by the executive,
administrative and supervising ON.
GERS, as the Bureau of Efficiency
desires, or are they to be maze out
by the rank and file of the en-
pIoyes themselves, as is desired Dy
the Federation of Federal Employees
and other allied interests?
The Bureau of Efficiency ratings
In the past two years have been
made purely on the basis OF the
Judgment of the administrative or.
ficers; none of the rank and Tie
OF workers had any voice in pe-
termining their status or in raising
a voice on their own behalf. The
missionaries to be sent out to
the field service do not relate to
efficiency, but to the preliminary
problems of classification, but the
old question which first came be-
fore the Joint commission on re-
classification in 1918 has been
raised again.
May Bring Protest.
In: 1918 :the so-called Jones com.
mission sent out the Questionnaires
to individual employees, and permit
ted the. administrative officers to
make comment and brief discussion
upon the answers given, The Ques-
ton now arises as to whether the
Joint classification board will not In
effect permit the administrative Off
GERS to- fill out the questiounaireg
and give the employees whose classi-
ficatton Is involved no further privi-
leges than to make supplementary or
additional remarks after reading the
answers given by their superior Of
.ficers. ii. the latter course Is adopt
ed, It will lead to q strong protest
from the organized employees, It was
indicated today.
The personnel classification board.
which issued a tentative question
naire two weeks ago, declined to
make any statement today as to the
final, form the quiz would take. It
became known, however, that the
final draft of the QUESTIONABLE Is
about completed and that 1t viii be
sent to the printer in a day or two.
The statement issued by Postmas-
ter General New in which he said
without reservation that he would
permit the. civil workers Of the Post
office Department to determine their
own classification is accepted by the
Federation OF Federal Employees a.
meaning that he stands squarely In
the same position that they do.
Issue Fought in Board.
Other departmental officers who
are in sympathy with the policies
outlined By the joint commission OF
four years ago take the same posi-
ton, but efforts to ascertain
whether the personnel classification
board has adopted this policy have
been unavailing. There is report
that the issue. which is merely
one angle of the old conflict be.
tween the Sterling Lehlbach and the
Wood-Smoot principles of classified
ton, has been bitterly fought in the
star chamber sessions OF the board.
The Bureau Of Efficiency's repre-
eentAtives are making a strong
fight to; impose their own system
as far as they can, while the
Civil Service Commissions repre-
sentatives have generally been sym.
pathetic with the SterIing-Lehlba
principles Of classification.
This has left the Budget Bureau
in the position of umpire or arblter
in the tripartite commission, and in
the present issue the problem of
reaching a compromise satisfactory
TO botha sides is difficult in the.
extreme.