The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-01
SENATE BODY WOULD 1 RESTORE SUM ASKED
 BY COAL COMMISSION |

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2S.--The ap-
 propriation of s4oo,ooo asked by the
 federal coal commission and de-
 nied by the House was added today
 to the deficiency appropriation bill by the Senate appropriations com
 mittee.
 The deficiency bill, with the coal commission item the principal addi- tion of the Senate committee, Is to be brought up tomorrow in the Sem l ate. The s400,000 appropriation is being sought by the commission as a necessity to it's future usefulness. having declared they would be obliged to discontinue their work if the funds were not provided. In addition to the increased appro- priations recommended by the Sem ate committee, the commission would be given enlarged powers under an-
 other bill by Senator Borah, repub lican, Idaho, passed today by the Senate and sent to the House.
 neighbors. He suggested that men
 trained and experienced In really
 'big business" could be secured for
 postmasters only by reversing the method of appointment Instead of
 
 flee. he said. the office should seek the man, and keep on seeking until 1t finds the right man, to be retained in office as long as the service is suc- cessfully conducted under his man. agement.
 Select Qualified Man.
 There should be no more term appointments" and no partisan poll tics. national or local. In the appoint
 ments of postmasters, pr. Work added. He wanted 1t understood. he explained. that he was not in favor of relaxation of the civil service reg
 ulations as now applies to employees of the post office department gen | orally, but felt that the proposed change in the appointive method of postmasters would enable the depart
 ment to give genuine practical effect to the basic civil service theory by making possible the selection ot qualified business men.
 After two years experience" the Postmaster General sad, in connec- tion with the appointment of presi- dential postmasters, l am convinced that the procedure and that the pol icy is not only impracticable in form.
 but unbusiness-like in principle. l
 
 charge of being influenced by off cial or partisan consideration. The great bulk of the presidential ap-
 pointments has already been made. Of the approximately 14,000 presi- dentiaI postmasters, about 10000 have been appointed and this in cludes the more important ones of the country. The 3S,0 fourth class postmasters were put under civil service by President Taft. Ignores Business Principle. The plan by which the civil serv- ice commission selects three names for a postmaster appointment by the President entirely ignores the prac- tical business principle of expert and intelligent selection"
 Appointment of experienced and successful business men as assist ants to tho postmaster general. pr. Work said, had proved to be of in- calculable good to the service" and had furnished an example to guide in postmaster selections. Tt would be essential in the prac- tical business adni inistration of the postal service" DH. Work said. to
 relieve the civtl service commission | on the one hand and political party referees on the other from their ob- ligation and participation in con- nection with the appointment of postmasters.
 O o O
 | Radical Changes.
 Tho turnover of the post office | department amounts to over three billion dollars annually. Fifty of the largest cities handle 54 per cent of 1t. Selecting postmasters to do this busi-