Evening star., 1933-05-12

John Jones is Government employe.
He's had quite few years service;
hes made himself valuable. and OF 80
employees in his particular branch and
grade he stands fourth in efficiency,
with a mark of 1896, which is frac-
tion less than two points lower than
the ranking employe.
Under ordinary circumstances, John
Jones could reasonably expect to hold
his job for some time to come.
Then it is decided that in the inter-
ests of economy some workers must
be dismissed out Of John Jones group.
Drops Down Scale.
So, a separation list" is made up,
and after two workers with veterans
preference move to the head OF the
line, and nine more with longevity
credits for 80 years service are ranked
next, John Jones level is established,
and he finds himself In twelfth place.
g., This is still pretty good, for dismis-
sals are made from the bottom, and ~
will 60 before John is reached.
But Johns worries have only started:
It happens that he is resident OF
the District of Columbia, which has
more employees in the Government than
it rates under the ''apportionment sec
tion" of the civil service law, and Con-
gress decides that dismissals must be
en- the basis of total jobs held.
So. a new separation list is devised,
and John finds himself ranked twenty
fourth, and consequently the ninth man
from the bottom. His position has
practically become reversed. Instead
of having a reasonable expectancy OF
holding his job he's been put on f1g-
llrative see-saw, and is IN good way
to lose the job.
Many Would Suffer.
And this is an actual example, from
Civil Service Commission records, OF
the operation of the proviso tied up
with the independent offices appropria-
tion that where reduction of force be-
comes necessary due regard shall be
given to the apportionment of appoint
ments as provided in the civil service
act"
There are lot of John Joneses" resi-
dent in the District and lot more In
Maryland and Virginia, and some more
in Vermont and Iowa. whose demon
strated efficiency wouldn't mean thing
under this program now in the House,
simply because the law says they shall
have only SO many jobs, and they got
more because other people didn't want
them. for one thing. and because the
apportionment plan broke down under
wartime needs, for another.
Since the Civil Service Commission
Started functioning so years ago there
has never been a time, under normal
conditions, when eligibles from the Dis
trict have been certified for employment
in the executive departments or inde-
pendent establishments if eligibles could
be brought in from the outside.
Local Employment Encouraged.
In the industrial world, every effort is
made to encourage local employment II
for no other reason that it is stabiliz-
ing influence. In innumerable cases
several members of the same family are
employed under the same roof.
In this connection, an argument of
this sort has been well advanced:
Suppose Uncle Sam were to national
fze induStry-or any industry and class
fly the workers.
Imagine him then in the role OF
overlord going into a plant in the East,
and, discovering that the personnel was
local in character. Immediately upset.
ting the machinery-and community
by wholesale dismissal in order to
bring in Westerners, or Southerners,
or Northerners, or, further afield, from
tueruO RICO, HAWAII VI AldShd.
Injustice Paralleled.
Lending strength to the same line
of argument is the case of the rail-
roads, naturalization of which has
been urged as a practical matter. II
this were done, it is reasoned, would
Uncle Sam escape qualifying for the
insane asylum if he should say:
It cannot under the apportionment
of Offices law choose as my railroad
employees the most efficient Americans
available, irrespective of their State al
legiance. I must divide my engineers
and my conductors and my porters and
my railroad operatives in general among
the various states according to their
populations, even if the result Is to
bar efficient Americans who wish the
work, and to draft for this employment
comparatively unfit Americans because
they happen to live in California. or
Wyoming, or New Mexico, or Florida?'
And if he started to fire them on
the same basis, he would run up against
q principle firmly imbedded in the rail
structure-that of seniority.
Further, in the Government field
service the principle of local work for
local people prevails.