Evening star., 1934-09-28
POLITICAL Jobs
SYSTEM IS HIT
White, Civil Service Com
missioner, Urges Substi-
tute for Brain TruSterS.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

BOSTON, September 2S.-Iooklng
critically upon the drafting Of dollar
a-year men and brain trusters" into
Government service. Leonard D.
White, member of the Civil Service
Commission, today told the Interna-
tional Association of Governmental
Labor Oficials here that this course
would not be necessary if a Federal
personnel policy were pursued to
equip adequately the regular en-
ployes to meet emergency demands.
Asserting first of all his belief that
zone immediate problem Of govern
ment is to maintain the security Of
the individual in an unsettled sys-
tenn" the commissioner said:
Political appointment to the tech
nical administrative service can no
longer be trusted to produce the
necessary results. As long as gov
ernment undertook only relatively
simple tasks and touched the life of
citizen only at occasional points it
was possible to tolerate political con-
troll of the administrative service. In
my judgment. We are flirting with
disaster if we permit political control
over range of positions of such
great Importance"
The speaker explained his views
were not to be construed as blanket
criticism of the men and women who
make up the administrative services
of Federal, State and local govern
ment. but added:
am, however prepared to state
that partly by reason of partisan
interference, partly through excessive
reliance on the rule of seniority and
partly through failure to train prop
erly for the more responsible work,
the upper brackets of the administra-
tive services of the country generally
are not as strong as they need to be.
Crises Show Weakness.
In each of the two major crises
with which we have recently been
faced this situation has been recog-
nized. During the World War the pub
lie service was supplemented by call
ing on big business and introducing
hlgh-poWer business executives into
Government offices as 'dollar-a-year
men In the present crisis the Presi-
dent turned to the universities for men
of ability and disinterestedness who
are filling the need of the moment in
cooperation with men long in the
service.
From a broad point of view, the
Government ought not to be forced to
rely on either 'dollar-a-year men or
temporary loans from American COL
leges and universities. In a period
when it is one of the main RESPONSE
bilities Of Government to make the
rules of the business game and to
supervise their enforcement, public
confidence in Government action de-
mandS the careful balance that a dis
interested administrative class, prop
erly trained, could give Neither is it
clear that men from the colleges and
universities. called upon at short no
tice and suddenly transplanted for
brief periods, can be expected to give
the longtime results that a perma-
nent corps of trained administrators
should produce.
Government needs, nevertheless. an
adequate number of men possessing
SJ
and courage which are many times
characteristic of business men and also
the qualities of breadth of knowledge.
critical judgment and disinterested-
ness which are found among university
professors. Their advice, based upon
experience and study, is often Of the
greatest value.
The problem is, therefore, how to
build up an administrative personnel
fit to meet the challenge of modern
times. / submit this cannot be done
by allowing nature to take its course "
The first step, Commissioner White
said, Is in the recruiting, and here
he believes two courses are open: First.
the service itself should be scanned
periodically for likely material. Sec
Cnd, field is presented in college and
university graduates.
"A definite plan for systematic comb
ing of the present personnel to dis
cover promising talent, and a program
to supplement these persons with
others drawn in through open COM
petition from the colleges and univer-
sites will, as see it, lay the founda-
tion for a steady stream of the kind
OF administrative officials that the
Government now desperately needs, :"
he amplifed.
Backs Merit System.
Next comes the matter Of training,
and this, White continued, might be
in the departments themselves, sup
plemented by graduate courses appro-
pirate in the work to be undertaken,
in universities Then would follow
the initial departmental assignments in
the lower administrative posts.
While Mr.. Whites remarks were
addressed particularly to the Federal
establishment, he explained that the
plan. with whatever variations might
be necessary, could be applied to other
governmental units. So far as con-
Germs the Federal Government he
expressed the hope that the next few
years would see start made. He en-
phasized in this connection the merit
system would prevail and that neither
new legislation nor additional funds
would be required.
The type Of problem under which
the Government is now staggering can
be dealt with only on the basis of
the most extensive knowledge, the most
critical judgment and the most pro-
found insight" he said. These quail
ties, incidentally, are not those which
develop without systematic planning
in huge governmental machine, the
great bulk of whose operations are
repetitive and routine"