Evening star., 1936-06-07

plified that such action not only was
customary. but that it was good civil
service practice.
That was correct. When the civil
service law was enacted under Presi-
dent Arthur, after a long struggle,
in January, 1888, less than $4,000
employees we're brought within its
scope. these coming from Treasury
and Post ONCE Departments. 1t was
provided that others should be in
cluded (hence, "blanketed in'D there
after on such terms as the President
of the United States should prescribe,
and this power has been principal
factor in the upbuilding of civil serv-
ice, rough estimate putting at
nearly 177,000, the number Of places
that have thus been made subject to
competition. Almost twice as many
have been developed through natural
growth-that is. by expansion of the
organizations to which the Presidents
applied civil serNce-and the minute
residue is the fruit of statutory
enactment.
Democratic Attack.
Then came another Democratic
attack, led by Senator Mcclellan,
Democrat, of Tennessee, who piloted
through, q Senate resolution under
which the Civil Service Commission
was required to compile the celebrated
patronage poll"-a list of all nom
civil service positions. This was a
very popular publication, but inter-
estingly enough, in furnishing the
desired information to the commits
sion, several Offices failed to include
all the jobs that were available for
distribution.
BY this time, election was past,
and the hitherto minority party
was prepared to take over the Govern
ment, after IL years, with the same
definite policy that was enunciated
by Petroleum V. Nasby of fond
memory:
Il want offs; need a offs; a
offs wood suit me. Therefore, !
Shood like to hev a offs"
The House was getting particularly
job conscious. A couple of self-styled
patronage committees made their
appearance, one under the leadership
of Representative McClintic of Okla
homa-since defeated-who announc-
ed that 100000 employees had been
blanketed in by Republican Presi-
dents, and that the Democrats in
tended to get these jobs by "un-blan-
keting," (any Executive order being
subject to invalidation by a succeed
ing order).
Employees Get Jitters.
The same sentiment was abroad
elsewhere, and Government employees
were developing an advanced case of
jitters, intensified no little by the
fact that on the previous July l the
Government had embarked on an
economy program that cut Sla per
cent, enforced furloughs, suspended
annual leave, barred the filling of
vacancies, and in various ways, ap-
piled the screws. No one knew what
might be expected further, but they
were not left long in doubt.
Elected on platform pledging a
IS per cent reduction in ordinary ex-
penditures, the new administration
promptly ran the pay cut to Is per
cent; added restrictions and slashed
appropriations right and left, making
certain that the start of the new
fiscal year on July / would see thou
sands of workers walking the plank
And then, while thousands of those
who had won their places by COM
petitive test were facing this bleak
outlook, the new emergency agencies
began to come into being, with the
invariable proviso that personnel
should be chosen without regard to
the civil service laws or the classifi-
cation act" With the patronage force
mushrooming, July saw approx
imately 1000 civil service employees
dropped here. So far as is known,
no approximation ever was made as
to the reduction outside of Washing
ton. The rank injustice of such pro-
cedure provoked storm. Labor
leaders protested; even churches
joined in. The upshot was that Pres
ident Roosevelt caused to be set up
at the Civil Service Commission a
special unemployment register of
those losing out in the old-line agen-
cies, from which the new groups were
to draw their forces as far as possible,
giving them ostensibly q preferred
status. With the exception of those