The Washington times., 1937-02-27
CARD QUERIES
FOR CLERKS
PROPOSED
By ]. EARLE MOSER


pecially members of Government Organi.
zatiOns, should contact the writer in the
editorial room by 5:15 p. M, or phone DI.
1000, branch 21O.
A suggestion that might prove
of real value to legislators anxious
to improve their knowledge of
Government personnel conditions
was offered to the House Civil
Service Committee recently-but
it will probably be lost in the
shuttle.
Mrs. Margaret Hopkins Worrell,
who represents small group of
veteran Government employees
banded together as the League Of
the American Civil Service, told
the House group as it ended hear
ingS on the RamSpeck Civil Serv.
ice extension bill that it should
inaugurate QUESTIONABLE probe
into all emergency agencies.
Mrs. Worrell would have Con.
gress distribute questionnaires for
each employe lacking classified
Civil Service status, requiring
agencies to have them filled out
and returned to Capitol Hill within
so days of distribution.
The cards would ask name,
age, marital status, number of
relatives in the service and who
they are, native State, citizen.
ship status, date of examination,
if ever tested, educational qualifi.
cations, service record and vet.
erans preference-if any. AS to
appointment, each employe would
be required to state whether he
or she came into the service by
Civil Service examination, inde.
pendent test, Executive Order or
old-fashioned influence.
The net result would be a com,
pact set of facts to serve as
basis for statistics answering
many questions which Represen.
tatives now ask in vain, receiv.
ing ambiguous answers at best.
The idea will probably ski into
the waStebaSket, however, because
Of the cost and trouble of break
ing down such data into StatiSti
cal tables of varying structure.
Mrs. WOrreII doesn't command
as much attention on the Hill as
some employe representatives be.
cause she doesn't claim thou.
sands of members throughout
the departmental and field Serv.
ice-but at one time she made
legislators sit up and cry "Uncle"
That was during the time. some
years back, when Congress was
considering the Welch bill. She
gathered up 5000 angry women
employees one morning and
Stormed Capitol Hill. The women
invaded the Capitol, House Office
and Senate Office, collaring Rep.
resentativeS and Senators wher.
ever they could find them. But it
is a matter of history that the
Welch bill passed.
In a two column front page edi.
torial, the official newspaper of
the American Federation of Gov.
ernment Employees has announced
that the organization is absolutely
opposed to Sections 8 and 9 of
the McCarran measure for raising
Government salaries.
While the pay raising and $500
minimum salary features of the
measure are heartily Endorsed, the
two sections mentioned have been
placed under fire because they
would allegedly introduce a
"Speed-up" system among clerks.
The sections plovide for repeal
of the efficiency rating system
and substituting a system of work.
records, kept by the Civil Service
Commission, with salaries ad.
juSted every six months according
to clerks ability to do the amount
of work prescribed for them. Sec.
ton 9 concludes:
"In case the empIOye fails to
maintain, for a period of six
consecutive months, the stand
ard of performance correspond
ing to his rate of pay, his COM
penSatiOn shall be reduced to
the rate corresponding to his
performance; and he shall be
denoted or dropped from the
service if he fails for a period
of six consecutive months to
maintain the minimum stand
ard of performance fixed by the
commission.
A. F. G. E. officials have con-
demned the plan as being worse
than the present efficiency rating
scheme, adding editorially:
"The plan suggested in his
bill would open the door wide
to favOritism and would force
an inexcusabIe competition on
Government workers merely to
hold their jobs"
Saturday night schedule for
Federal folk:
Carlton Hotel-Federal Bureau of In
vestigation Athletic Association dance,
10 p. m. until / a. m.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Recreationsl
Association dance patio of Admtnstra-
tion Building. p. m. until u.
Hayloft rear OF 1926 Massachusetts,
Avenue n. WD-Social Security Board
Union party, p. m.
Washington Hotel-Adjutant Generals
Office Lodge, A. F. c. E., card party,
8 p. m. dance. 10 p. m. until a. m.
The recent flood relief dance
sponsored by ReSettlement Ad-
ministration employees at the Ma
tional Press Club netted $648.
which was turned over to the
American Red Cross. This was
in addition to individual contri-
buttons collected, RIA folk an