Evening star., 1941-03-09

it perpetuated one spoils practice in the
requirement of congressional approval for
appointees To the postal employees 1t
meant new opportunities for advance
ment, providing life tenure for post
masters who previously were subject
to removal with each change of admins
tration.
Applying as they do to the broader
field of Government service as a whole,
however, the Ramspeck Act and the
Reed report, which are in fact compile
mentary, have a correspondingly greater
importance The act freed the President
from successive exceptions fixed by Con-
gress over a long period of years to block
the extension of civil service. The re-
port of the Reed Committee reflects the
conclusions of an eminent group of men
drawn from public and private life, as
to the methods by which this extension,
and consequent upbuilding of the public
service, can be carried out most effec-
lively.
The committee was appointed two
years ago by President Roosevelt to ap-
praise the various processes involved in
recruiting, training and placing men
and women in the higher grade posi-
tions-professional scientific, adminis-
trative and technical. Some groups are
under civil service; others are outside.
The committee consequently was in a
position to determine how far standard
civil service procedure had been able to
meet the demand for this sort of per-
sonnel, and, where deficiencies were rec
ognized, to recommend, in the light OF
experience, how they might be overcome.
Two Factors Mentioned.
The committee found that at the very
outset of any effort to improve the
functioning of Government, two inter-
dependent factors must be recognized.
First, recruiting must be on scale de-
signed to attract desirable type of en-
ploye, and second, conditions of employ
ment must be such as to encourage this
type of person to look to Government
service as career.
Any organization, said the committee,
(which is able to employ only persons of
second-rate ability, which is unable to
furnish conditions of employment which
stimulate good morale, and which is
characterized by frequent requirements,
cannot expect either success in the COM
petitive world or respect in the govern
mental world
In good part, the committee recon-
mendations on recruiting are along lines
followed in recent years by the Civil
Service Commission. In recognition,
however, of the fact that this is an area
in which the Government. under ordi-
nary conditions, competes with private
industry, and not always successfully, it
is emphasized that closer contacts must
be maintained with such sources of
supply as educational institutions, and,
for specialists, with professional and
scientific groups.
Once past the recruiting and initial
placement stage, the committee is of
the belief that the observance of three
principles is of primary Importance in
the development of an adequate person.
mel program, explaining:
IL ID uCSll W 0CCulC 1CdSOlldUlC
opportunity for advancement for quail
flied employees, especially in the early
years of service when offers of employ
ment from outside the Government are
most likely to be forthcoming; full op-
portunity for personal growth and de-
velopmeut by in-service training and by
the enlarging practice of ones profess
sion or art, and reasonable financial
recognition, especially to the men and
women who carry high responsibility
near the top of the official hierarchy"
Principles Widely Recognized.
The report adds that these principles
"have beer widely, although not uni
versally recognized" and expresses con-
viction that the degree of excellence
which generally prevails" in the profess
sional, scientific and administrative Serv-
ices is due to this partial recognition.
1--WE believe that their more nearly
complete recognition would improve the
public service" the committee says.
While stating that generally speaking
1t is the practice of the various estab-
lishments to fill vacancies in the upper
brackets by promotion, the committee
is of the opinion that there are pos
sibilities for greater improvement within
the framework of the present system.
One recommendation is that the higher
grade administrative and professional
positions be classified as a single oc-
cupational group and that opportunity
be afforded for interchanging personnel
between them.
Men with professional or scientific
training and administrative skill should
be clearly eligible for appointment as
administrators in professional or
scientific agencies" the committee says.
''The converse should be equally pos
sible."
The committee declares that wider