Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-23
NAMING OF BROWN
EvOkES CRITICISM
Method of Selecting Him for
Civil Service Post Causes
Objection.

Nomination of DIR. f. c. Brown, as
Sistant director of the Bureau OF
Standards. to be chief examiner of the
Civil Service Commission will be op
posed before the Senate civil service
committee by the Better Government
League, it was learned today.
At the same time the league made
public a broadside attack upon the
whole system of handling Government
personnel in it's publication, THE
Public Business" criticizlng the
method whereby seven separate
agencies handle Government work
properly belonging together
Objection to DR. Brown will not be
directed to him personally, it was ex-
planned by DIR. Ellery c. Stowel,
president of the Better Government
League, but objection will be made to
the method by which he has been Sc
lected. According to the law, lQr. Sto-
well said, this post should be filled by
competitive examination and by
recommendation of the Civil Service
Commission. President Coolidge last
week sent to the Senate DIR. Brown S
nomination to be chief examiner OF the
commission.
Criticism of System.
In its attack upon the system used
in the Government for handling per
sonnet the league charges: The eX'
perience of the human race SHOWS
rather conclusively that when a group
of functions properly belonging to.
gether is parceled out among several
independent agencies waste, lneIn'
cheney. delay, extravaganza. CONFUSION
and downright lawlessness are pretty
sure to result" This Government lin
CO a T.
ated Sufficient money to the various
agencies handling personnel matters
TO pay for high-Class personnel admin
istration. 1t actually has no employ
ment system worthy of the name.
THE Personnel Classification Board,
continued the attack, lin fragrant dls'
regard of the law, has refused TO de-
Velop the basic classification needed
for positions in the District of Column
bia or even to make the survey OF
positions outside the District required
by the personnel classification act. The
Civil Service Commission, without au-
thority or status and without the cias-
sification needed for recruiting, han
dies it's technical problems poorly and
covers up this weakness as far as
possible by throwing veil OF secrecy
about its procedure.
Bureaus Are Attacked.
The Bureau of the Budget has es-
tablished no machinery for handling
estimates for personal services in ac-
cordance with recognized principles.
1.-The Bureau of Efficiency, acting at
the behest of small group in the
House and the Senate, consistently
confuses a situation already bad by
preventing the other agencies from
doing their work according to their
own inadequate standards and by
forcing them into courses of action
actually distasteful to them.
THE controller general frequently
makes rulings, which, though in ac-
cordance with poorly drafted laws,
are subversive of good personnel adj
ministration. The Employees Com
pensation Commission acts upon cases
without sufficient knowledge of the
facts.
THE Pension Bureau. as far as is
known, handles with competence the
payment of retirement annuitieS, but
this work properly belongs with the
other personnel activities. Despite
the multiplicity of personnel agencies,
several of the departments have had
to set up machinery of their own TO
handle personnel functions not given
to or not exercised by any of the cen
trail agencies. No one of the existing
agencies has the staff needed to do
satisfactorily the investigating and
other work outside the District Of
Columbia !"