Evening star., 1941-03-25
Lawyer Appointment
Controversy 10 Go 10
Roosevelt on Return
Alternative Executive
Orders Blanket In or
Exempt Attorneys

The controversy over the selective
method to be followed in appointing
Government lawyers. which tied up
the Reed Committee for months and
has since defled settlement by in
terested officials. is to be laid before
President Roosevelt when he returns
to the Capital.
This became known today when
representatives of the Civil Service
Commission and the Justice De-
partment prepared to confer with
William H McReynolds. admins
trative assistant to the President. on
drafts of alternative executive orders
for bringing under civil service
thousands of exempt positions that
became eligible for classification
through the Ramspeck Civil Service
Extension Act, and another group,
including those in the legal service,
which heretofore have been kept
outside the competitive system, in
conformity with the desire OF en-
ploying officers
Blanketing in Provided.
One order, it is understood, pro-
vides for "blanketing in" all posi-
tions not specifically excluded by the
Ramspeck Act. whose principal ex-
emptions are the Tennessee Valley
Authority and the administrative
staff of the w. P. A.
The other order eXempts the law
L.o +a proSilonf
to choose between the two.
About 4,40O legal positions are in
volved in the controversy. and vir-
tually every agency employing law
yers is concerned, the Interstate
Commerce Commission, the Federal
the Veterans Administration being
the only establishments with large
legal staffs who make their appoint
ments from Civil Service Commits
sion registers.
The Reed Committee, appointed
more than two years ago to devise
a program for recruiting and plac-
ing personnel for some 5000 pro-
fessional, technical and higher ad-
ministrative posts, debated on the
lawyers for months. and then split.
Supreme Court Justice Stanley F.
Reed. the chairman, Joined by As
sociated Justice Frankfurter, Attor-
ney General Jackson and Gano
Dunn, engineer member of the COM
mittee, proposed a selective plan
that would be administered by a
committee of Federal lawyers acting
independently of the Civil Service
Commission, whose processes were
declared inadequate. This proposal
was vigorously opposed by the other
four committeemen-AsSociate JUS
tice Murphy. Mr.. McReynolds, Gen.
Robert E. Wood and Dr. Leonard D.
White.
Commission Plan Opposed.
The Civil Service Commission then
was drawn in. In drafting a pro-
posed executive order designed to
bring both Ramspeck Act and Reed
Committee positions into civil serv-
| ice. the commission, it is understood,
| included the lawyers, a step that met
objection from the Justice Depart
ment and some other groups.
Under the circumstances, it was
decided to draft two orders and
leave the decision to the President.
Some question is reported to have
been raised as to the legality of the
lawyer-committee plan, and an ex-
preston is expected from Attorney
General Jackson as to whether this
could be put into operation without
additional legislation.
Whichever form the order takes
it is expected to be effective seven
months after issuance This, it is
felt, will be sufficient time to take
care of the details attendant upon
putting it into operation. 1t has
been estimated that approximately
$4,000 employees will qualify for civil
service status under its provisions.