Evening star., 1935-04-10
Civil Service Body Cites
Mandatory Provisions Of
Proposed Law.
CHANGE IN WORDING
OF BILL IS EXPECTED
Phraseology of Relief Law Also
Said to Permit Discretional
Appointments.
BY j. A. FOX.

The Civil Service Commission has
moved to prevent the National Recov-
erv Administration and those groups
flowing from it from being maintained
mandatorially OH patronage-ap-
pointment basis
This was made known today when
it was admitted that the commission
rad called 10 the attention of the
Senate Finance Committee the word
ing of the proposed legislation to con-
tinue the life of the N. r. A. which
would have brought about this condi-
ton, in cOntravention 10 efforts to
extend civil service to those emer-
gency agencies likely to be more or
less permanent.
AS drafted. the bill authorizes and
directs" the President 10 appoint the
lunGreos of officers and employees en-
gagged on recovery functions without
regard 10 the provisions of the civil
service laws and to fix their salaries
without regard 10 the classification
act.
Wording Is Explained.
The commission explained TO the
Senate committee that use of the
word directs" arbitrarily would take
away from the President the right to
put any position he might desire under
civil service or TO regulate their sala-
ries under the classification act. The
olo n. r. A. act simply authorized
the President to make appointments
and fix salaries as he saw fit. The
Attorney General has held that this
language was permisSive and thus
cleared the way for the President to
bring under civil service any of those
groups created under the N. R. A. he
might desire.
In view of the Civil Service Com
missions representations. it is expected
that the new recovery act wordine
will be made to conform.
At the same time. it was said thai
the phraseology of the new S4.880,-
900 900 work-relief act will allow the
President to make civil service ap-
pointments in his discretion. The act
reads that he may" make appoint
ments without regard to civil service
and fix pay without regard to the
classification act. but here also the
Attorney General has held that me
legislation is permissive.
Urge Civil Service.
While the work relief measure was
under consideration about two months
ago the Civil Service Reform League
wrote the President and urged that
any personnel appointed to administer
this huge fund should be from the
civil service registers, the argument
being advanced that the public would
have far more confidence in the dis
bursting methods applied if it was
known that political preferment was
not to guide selection of the workers
involved.
At that time. the President re-
sponded that he had taken the mat
ter under consideration and that the
Civil Service Commission had pre-
pared an amendment to the law which
would bring about the desired emo.
1t developed today that the COM
mission had prepared an amendment
which would unQuestionablv have
given the President the right to make
merit system appointments, but that
when the Attorney General held thet
the bill as worded was permiSsive that
the amendment became unnecessary.
For those positions that may be Gre
ated without regard to the classical
tion act the salaries will be fixed
under the scale set up by executive
order nearly two years ago when the
wide divergence of salaries between
the old line and new agencies led the
President to move to harmonic them.