Evening star., 1941-02-24

MIS-. POrCer LaSley, AZ, vile OF
effective psychological and psy-
chiatric service is required in some
cases, the committee recommended
that such service be provided upon
request for all agencies either by
the United States Civil Service
Commission or the United States
Public Health Service"
Retirement Provisions.
With regard to retirement pro-
visions, the committee indorses
subcommittee report containing the
following principal recommended
| tions:
l. That age for compulsory re-
tiremeht be standardized at 10 after
Is or more years of service, with
the President permitted to retain
employees beyond retirement age
when in his judgment the public
interest so requires.
2. That age of optional retirement
be standardized at so after Is or
more years of service. The option
would be open either to the employe
or the Government, but the former
would have right of appeal and
hearing as protection against arbi-
trary action.
3. That annuity of employees of
40 or more years of service shall
not be less than one-half of highest
average annual salary during any
five consecutive years. For less than
40 years of service there shall be
proportional minimum allowance.
4. Annuity of employees retired
for disability or after age of 10 with
5, but less than 10 years, of service
should be based on service credit of
10 years.
5. That the present contribution
of 3l2 per cent be increased to Al
per cent; that employees whose an
nual rate of compensation is more
than $3,120 make additional con-
tributions not to exceed SIG per
cent of total salary.
60 Pages Devoted to Lawyers.
More than 60 pages of the report
are devoted to a discussion of the
problem of bringing Government
legal positions into the civil service
systematic issue that reputedly de-
layed the report many months.
Although the committee is in en-
tire accord" It reported, las to the
necessity that legal positions be
made career service, it is divided
equally as to the procedure by which
attorneys may qualify"
Accordingly, two plans are sub
mitted in the report, Plan A repre-
senting the conclusions of Commit
tee Members Reed, Frankfurter,
Jackson and Dunn, while Plan B
embodies the view of Members
Murphy, McReynolds, White and
| Wood.
Plan A recommends an unranked
register of eligible candidates for
attorney positions, register giving
all eligible candidates equal oppor-
tunity to be certified to positions.
Contending that attorney posi-
tions present unique problem in
the professional service, which must
be solved individually rather than
by application of general formula" !"
the proponents of Plan A continue:
1T would be folly to place a good
research man, with retiring dis
position, in position requiring in
vestigative work or trial practice,
and equal folly to confine to the law
| libraries man with a fair for the
more tempestuous work of the trial
court.
Another iii Cited.
"The register may contain many
men who have, or appear to have,
the qualifications which the ap-
pointing officer seeks, but it is little
more than chance whether these
men will be included in the three
names which the commission Ger
tifies."
Present certification procedure, It
was argued further, also makes it ex-
tremely difficult for the candidate
to exercise any choice as to the de-
partment or agency in which he will
work.
THE men who lead their class in
a good school are not hunting for
jobs, in the sense that they want
no more than a job and a salary"
the plan A group wrote. These men,
who are precisely those the Gov
ernment must attract, will insist
upon Knowing the type of work
and the superior which will be their
| lot.
I'm the judgment of those sup
porting plan A the purpose of bring
ing attorneys under the merit sys-
tenn might be seriously jeopardized
If subjected to standard routine ap-
plicable to other professional fields
not comparable in the diversity of
positions or duties to the law pro-
fession.'
This group proposed that there
be created a committee on Govern
ment lawyers to accomplish extern
sion of civil service to legal posi-
tions, and that its composition, spe-
cif1c functions and relation to the
Civil Service Commission should be