The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-07-20
Civil Service Looms As Prominent Issue
 In Campaign; New Deal Record Analysed
Commission Given Credit for Doing
 High-G Grade Job

program succeed as well as to re- elect him.
 MESS IN HOLC
 HQLO soon became . Stench in the national nostrlls under Chair man "eeaboard Bill" Stevenson. Chairman John Fahey succeeded him, cleaned out many of the worst, and later staged still another purge.
 NRA became . hodgepodge of General Johnson,S friends, friends of General JohnsonS political and other friends, friends of indusTial and labor leaders. IVA and Rural EIectriflcation developed their own excellent civil services. AAA early tried to take most employees from civil service and found 1t couldn't get good ones: now all AAA enl- pIoyes under 42,500 must come from civil service rolls. RA gives examiraa" tons.
 Tn most New Deal agencies to- day political endorsements are Ike ly to be available, but not essential.
 Recent tendency has been to put now, permanent agencies under civil service. The Social Security Board, Railroad Retirement Board, National Bituminols Coal CommlS- sion, Soil Conservation Service, ana the 100 bus section are completely under civil service. So is Securities & Exchange Commission, except Tor at- torneys, examiners, experts and cer- tain officials and Federal Communi- cations Commission, except for Q very few chiefs and assistants. Tne bulk of FCA has been placed unoer civil service.
 ROOSEVELT RECORD FAIR
 Roosevelt, simultaneously com. pelled to try to run the government efticiently and to bolster party power by filling as many offices as pos- sible with loyal party members, has 8 good civil service record In many respects. .
 He appointed commission which nearly all critics agree n high grade. In 1884 the commission asked for and promptly received more funds.
 Roosevelt asked the commission to submit an amendment to put administration handling the $4,- sO,OOO, 900 relief fund under Civil service, although that one died ID committee, At the end of the ses- sion he pushed the O,Mahoney blll to place the l6,000 first, second. and third-class postmaSters under civil service, and the bill failed m the House by but six votes.
 Concerning the merit system, he once wrote Senator George Nor" ris: T know I'm not moving as fast as you want me to, but I'm moving as fast as I can"
 ELEGIBLEs ARE HIGH GRADE
 The existing civil service sys- tenn leaves much to be desired, ale though the depression and the coEn- missions recent work have given it the most high-grade eligibility rolls ever.
 Although no strong and effective merit system has been developed, the present commission is making strides. Its improvements of examination technique and studies of employe training faciliteiS and service ratings have been commended widely. Every expert agrees the govern" ment needs . career service of dis- interested, impartial employees which will produce able, non- policy making administrators, such as the New Deal has so sadly lacked. These employees, tdealisti- caliy, would be impervious to politi- clans and to private interests.
 Under the old civil service Sys- tenn, administrators were brought up by seniority and might be good or bad, but were nearly always old and unimaginative. When the pace became fast and furious ana government stepped into untrodden paths, the old system didn't work and the result has often been messy