The Washington times., 1937-02-17

members of Government organizations,
should contact the writer In the edi-
toria room by 5:I5 y. M, or phone ID.
1000, branChc 2l0.
Examinations given by the
Civil Service Commission and toe
Commission's alleged inability to
supply talent promptly upon de.
mand. have brought caustic crlti.
cis1n from Commander C. II. Cot
ter, blunt and matter-of-fact ex.
ecutive assistant of the National
Emergency Council.
Commander Cotter, appearing
before the House Civil Service
Committee to give his opinion o.
the Ranspeck bill to extend the
merit system via competitive tests,
strongly advised shifting to non
competitive exams for bringing all
emergency workers into a claSsi'
fled status-just as every otne-
witness had advised to date.
He advanced a pertinent rea-
son, however. for his diStruSt OF
the Civil Service competitive
quizzeS. He pointed out that the
MEG thinks it has many expert
stenographers who are very good,
but said that most of those who
took the Civil Service stenog-typist
exam in July received very low
marks. In one particular III
stance, he said, girl whom he
thinks could easily be claSSed as
an expert at making pothooks, re-
ceived only "a as Junior ste
nographer," which is just four
points above passing.
Commander COtter also thinks
the Civil Service Commission ter
ribly slow in providing qualified
personnel for particular and speci-
fled tasks, but doesn't blame the
Commission. He holds that the
Commission "is outstanding in the
overtime that its people put in"
and that it needs more approprl-
ated money and considerably more
personnel. Asked his opinion OF
veterans preference yesterday,
however, he said he wasn't pre-.
pared to answer that question" He
agreed, also, with the proposal that
department heads pass on which
workers may be allowed to take
blanketing tests.
Having heard most of the rep
resentatives of organized employees,
the House Civil Service Committee
is planning to have a bit OF tun,
from now on, with emergency
agency personnel officers. They
are to be quizzed on how employees
were selected, how they were
tested, ETC., and the more SquirmS
that result the better. Some of the
committee feel, for instance. that
the inability of expert stenog-
raphers" to pass cum laude indi-
Gates the desirability for a COM
petitive housecleaning.
And for the record, here is part
OF the testimony of Luther Stew
ara, N. r. r. Il. leaQeT:
Recognizing the very great
need for remedial legislation at
this time, and taking into consid-
Grafton the practical aspects Of
the entire situation, we favor the
use of noncompetitive examina-
tiOns rather than the competitive
tests as required in the present
bill"
Because of the great expense,
time and staff which would be
necessary for the giving of COM
petitive examinations. we do not
feel that that plan is at present
feasible. Furthermore, it must
be recognized as a practical mat
ter just what an examination is.
The Importance of the prOba-
tiOnary period is great. The
Government should take advan-
tage of the experience gained
by its employees, both in the new
and in the old established agen-
cies. Simply to ignore the net
results of it would not be sound
practice from my standpoint. In
many of the agencies a gradual
weeding-Out process has been
taking place during the past four
years; in sense a probationary
period"
at should be noted that this
DILL will bring the positions into
the competitive classified ser.
vice. In permitting the incum-
ments, with their long expert
ence, to qualify nOn.cOmpeti-
lively, there is no essential weak.
ening of the merit principle.
For, successors would be re-
quired to qualify competitively.
In view of the large turnover in
Federal personnel no great
length of time would elapse be-
fore all candidates would be TAX
ing competitive examinations
for these positions"
1--WE believe that the competi-
tive examination is an ideal to-
ward which to strive, but we feel
definitely that under present
circumstances the bill should be
amended to provide for non
competitive examinations"
The stenOgraphic ratings. re-
leased recent1V are rereivinp