Evening star., 1924-03-18

l
| ary ranges were the same as in the
services and grades of the compensa-
| tion schedules of the act the board
| could translate the ALLEGATIONS from
one system to. the other besides, the
| the .classifi alton. directed by the aEt.
| when 1t gets around to 1t. All this
| pertains only to positions In the Dis
| trict OF Columbia
| Field Service Survey.
with respect to the field service,
meaning positions outside of the
! District Of Columbia exclusive Of the
postal service, the act provides as
follows: The board shall make a sur
vey of the field services and shall re-
port to Congress at its first regular
session following the passage OF this
act schedules of positions, grades
and salaries for such services, which
shall follow the principles and rules
or the compensation schedules herein
contained In SO far as they are appli-
cable to the field services. This re-
port shall include a list prepared by
the head of each department after
consultation with the board and in
accordance with a uniform procedure
prescribed by 1t, allocating all field
positions in his department to their
appropriate grades in said schedules.
and fixing the proposed rate OF com.
pensatton of each ernploye thereunder
IN accordance with the rules pre-
scr1oed in section 6 herein
The reason for this distinct,o, h.-
! tween the field and the Distrint 1
CoIumo1a Is that a survey of the T,iS-
erict nad been made and served a.. |.
, Pas PASS ~ TOT or the outline of a classifica-
informafien nI afien IN ,th the act while no such
service was then available.
'.Accordfngiy. the board authorized
a classification of the field services
tnan was to follow the provisions of
the act laid down for the District Of
Columbia This was progressing sat-
isractorily, although the work was
tntsrfered with by injecting consid-
seratfons apart from the consideration
OF a report to Congress.
Suddenly. on December 12 last the
noard adopted minute declaring
,that 1t would make no ciassiflca ton
OF the field services, and that it would
consider the field forces of each
would cause to be made SALARY ad-
justments within each department.
without reference to like work in
other rdepartments: that it would order
the department heads, in performing
their part in this work. to use the
series Of salary ranges prepared BY
the Bureau Of Efficiency. The force
previously at work upon the fieId
banded.
,n The 11.s excuse offered BY tn. board
IN this instance Is that the phrase
modifying the words PRINCIPLES and
rules: i.e., fn SO far as they are ap-
plicable to the field service vested
IN it the right to declare them not
applicable at all, and consequently
the right to disregard the provisions
OF the law In toto and report to Com
gress any kind Of salary adjustments
in the field the board saw fit.
Board In Criticized.
"As a result Of these actions OF the
board there exists no classification.
as the term is contemplated in the
act, in the District of Columbia. nor
Is one being made in the field.
'The provisions intended to eifrn,-
nate the evils Of inequalities due to
different standards, to favoritism and
political consideration by providing
classes based on specification Of du-
ties, to which all persons doing like
work in all the departments through
out the government service would be
aIlocated. have been ScrRpped, Your
committee considers this conduct by
the board disobedience of the plain
mandates Of Congress, as expressed
in the law. The bureau Of efficiency
through its representative, claims
complete credit for the actions Of the
board.
ION the other hand, the representa-
tive Of the Civil Service Commission
has consistently and persistently pro-
tested against the course pursued by
the board, and demanded that the
obvious intent Of the law be executed.
conversant with the plan Of clsasif-
cation and in accord with It. The
duties Of a classifying agency dove
tail with the present function of the
commission and it's force is equipped
and trained for the work
For these reasons the House civil
service committee make the recon-
mendation set forth above"