Evening star., 1924-02-25
PERSONNEL BOARD
IGNORED CONGRESS.
CHARGES LEHLBACH
Declares Members Failed to
Follow Intent of Bill in
RecIassifying Work.
ASKS CHANCE TO AIR
EMPLOYEES GRIEVANCES
Witness Cites Many Inequalities
and Declares Workers Should
Be Quizzed as to Conditions.

Charges that the personnel ciassi-
fication board had failed to follow the
and had followed school Of thought
in regard to classification problems
rejected by Congress, were made by
Representative Lehlbach of New Jer-
sey, presiding at the opening OF hear
ings today on his bill to abolish the
board and vest It's functions in the
Civil Service Commission.
Subjecting F. j. Bailey. chairman
Of the classification board, to a Sc
we're cross-exanination, at the first
session of the hearings In the COM
mittee room Of the House committee
on civil service, Representatives Lehl-
bach read section from the recIassi-
fication act, and said:
Congress gave the board free rein
to make class specification and sub
divisions. Now wouldn't IL have been
better to have carried out these
functions and, if that were found
impossible. to have said so, rather
do what Congress told you to do. :"
have followed a school of though
that Congress voted down?
Likened to Defeated Plan.
You were created to follow a dill
ferent school of thought Repr..
sentative Lehlbach continued. Yet
you decided you would reject the
school of thought written into Law
by Congress and set up the schoo.
of thought disallowed by Congress
The chairman of the House COM
mittee on civil service declared that
the Smoot- Wood reclassificstion bill.
which was voted down in the House.
and never reported out in the Senate.
contained eighteen classes Of posi-
tions and only about 200 specimen
positions. to which hundreds of others
were to be allocated by analogy" he
said. and continued:
This classification Is. in effect.
ing put into effect In the District OF
Columbia.
The endeavor OF the cross-examI-
nation of Mr.. Bailey was to show that
the classification board had failed to
make the gradations and ALLEGATIONS
specified by the reclassification ac;
before attempting to allocate the
federal employees, and had, in effec7,
adopted the classes specified in tn.
rejected Smoot-Wood bill.
Says Time Was Lacking.
Chairman Bailey OF the board a.
clared at the outset OF his testimony
that there have been two schools OF
thought, as he phrased it, in regard
to the carrying out of the classifica-
ton act, and that his own view IL,
that the truth in respect to the mat
ter "is about half way between the
two schools
Mr.. Bailey admitted that he agreed
with Mr.. Moffett on the Civil Service
Commission, a member of the board,
that the "class specification is tic
most important thing in classified
He said that, holding this view, y
was found Impossible to first build
into grades. in the District, because
of section IA of the classification act.
which specifically asked. he con-
tended. for estimates to be transmit
ted 10 Congress by the December
session.
The Civil Service Commission, Mr.
Bailey continued, contended for the
building of the class specifications
first, and the bureau Of efficiency
representative on the board cor
tended the reverse.
Mr.. Lehlbach asked why there was
not time to do what the act plainly
called for. when the s35-page report
of the old reclaS ification commits
to classes. cross departmentally, was
available.
Differs With Lehlbach.
II differ with you in the matter
of that classification being suitable
to put into effect" said Mr. Bailey.
IT don't entertain the high opinion
Of that classification that you prob
ably do" continued Mr.. Bailey.
Mr.. Lehlbach. continuing his cross
examination. brought out that Mr..
Bailey considered it impossible to
have made the class specifications
for the District. yet the board went
ahead with an attempt to make
list Of field employees outside the
District.
Mr. Bailey replied that Mr.. Lehl-
bach's summing up of the matter
was not fair statement, IL you will
Inmates would only be a lump sum.
He admitted that the full estimates
for the cost of reclassifying the held
could not have been prepared by De-
cember.
Mr.. Bailey said that the chairman
Of the classification board had been
compelled to take the whole program
Of either one or the other school of
thought, and that he had taken one,
he admitted. under examination from
Representative Johnson Of Texas, "a
member of the civil service commit
Mr. Bailey said that the spirit of
section 3 Of the classification act re-
Quired the making of complete class
specifications first of all, but that
the letter Of the act did not, "and
the letter of section II made It inn
possible"
The session was adjourned at 12:1a
o'clock until 10 o'clock tomorrow
morning, when Chairman Bailey OF the
personnel classification board will re-
sumo his testimony before the COM
mittee. ..
Employees Ask Hearing.
The House committee On the civil
service was asked today to listen to
the employees side In hearings on
a bill to abolish the personnel clas-
sification board.
The departmental classification pro-
test committee, Loren H Wittner
chairman, addressed q letter to
Chairman Lehlback in which the
committee asked to be heard as rep-
resenting the government workers
in many departments.
Regardless of the suggestion by
many individuals that a public hear
ing of the employees grievances Is
unnecessary in the consideration Of
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