Evening star., 1925-09-07
ONE CLASSIC Y|NG
AGENCY DEMANDED
Steward Says Law Win Not
Be Properly Administered
Under Present Plan.
By a staff Correspondent.

BOSTON, Mass, September IA
solution of the many problems that
confront Federal employees in the Dis
trict of Columbia and throughout the
field service will not be approached
until classification administration is
placed in the hands of the one compe.
tent agency capable of handling it
the United States Civil Service Com
mission-President Luther c. Steward
president of the National Federation
of Federal Employees, declared In his
biennial report. in opening the gen
eral convention of the federation here
today.
Bad administration" In the past
of a good reclassification law and the
EVIL influence of the Bureau of Eff.
cheney must be eliminated. Mr.. Stew
ard added, before a solution of the
problem is approached. Progress of
retirement legislation since the last
convention has been immeasurably
greater than would appear on the
surface, he told the convention ap-
pending a statement of the retirement
fund which showed a balance in the
fund of more than S57, 900, 900 as of
June 80, 1925.
SmOOt Is Assailed.
Attacking the Bureau of Efficiency's
work in compiling efficiency ratings,
and the administration of the Per
sonnel Classification Board, Mr. Stew.
ard alluded to Senator Smoot as the
arch enemy of the best interests of
Federal employees, who was offered
a sop in administration Of the clas-
sification act by the personnel board"
in order that his handy men in the
Bureau of Efficiency might have some
excuse for continuing to absorb Fed
eral funds.
with the dominating influence of
the Bureau of Efficiency and the
rather pitiful me too attitude of the
Bureau of the Budget in classification
matters, the administration Of cIassi-
f1cation to date has ranged from in.
different to vile. in spite of which
there have come to light provisions
of the utmost value to employees. :"
Mr.. Steward said the classification
act of 1923 was the most important
law ever placed upon the statute
books. not even excepting the orig
inal civil service act of 1888. Yet, he
added, few laws have been the sub
ject of as much unintelligent criti-
cism.
Our efforas so far have been large
ly directed to preventing ill-informed
or misguided administration of the act,
/ which, under competent administra-
ton. would demonstrate increasing
value almost Immediately
Already, however, arbitrary, yenal
or incompetent administrative officers
have been surprised to learn that the
classification act of 1923 grants to
employees the right of appeal to a CEN
trail agency from the action of the de-
partmental head in respect Of demo-
tion and dismissal for alleged ineffi.
cheney. An innovation whose value to
employees will increase each year, an
innovation that surprised administra-
tors when for the first time they
learned that departmental opinion, un.
backed by facts. was not the court
of last resort in the final disposition
of the fate of the average employe."
Explains CONSERVATION.
Efficiency ratings, so-called," he
declared, have created CONSERVATION
and have brought forth wholesale
condemnation, much of which, how
ever, has missed the mark, in that it
did not take into consideration the
fact that such efficiency rating sched-
ules as have been in operation were
! the misbegotten efforts OF the Burea u
of Efficiency, and that the power
vested in the personnel classification
board to review and revise systems
of efficiency ratings has meant but
| little when the majority of that body
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