Evening star., 1947-10-01

OcrS Oh G11G f1OuSc NOlIl11AlGtCc vi
House Civil Service Committee over
the commissions failure to appoint
members to the board and get the
crux of the program under way.
The commissions critics. say that
| it Is more than two months since
Congress appropriated funds for the
program and that the administra-
tive setup should have been COM
pleted weeks ago. At present the
preliminary phase Of the investiga-
ton is going on in the f1ngerprinting
and card checking of employees, but
the loyalty board has yet to pe ap-'
pointed.
To Be Appointed Soon"
Commission officials say the Is
man board will be appointed soon,
but they have not named the date
when this Job will be completed.
The success or failure of the loyalty
program will depend largely on the
boards performance. Not only will
the board be the last court OF ap-
peal in all loyalty cases, but it will
set the standards and procedure Tor
the entire loyalty investigation pro-
gram
Republican leaders confide that,
if the commisson doesn't take &C
ton son, it will give them "a
great" campaign issue for 1915
namely, that the administration Is
"soft-pedaling" the loyalty inquiry.
X X X
Boo! - During the past year
Chairman John Taber of the House
Appropriations Committee has &C
quired a reputation as a sort OF
bogey man to Government employees
as a result of his budget-slashing
activities.
Taking psychological advantage OF
this trepidation among Government
employees, there is one Government
supervisor who has habit Of sneak
ing up on his underlings when he
thinks they aren't working at full
blast, and shouts in hoarse voice:
John Taber will get you If you
don't watch out!"
His employees aren't amused. In
fact, several of them have privately
vowed to take swing at him the
next time he pulls the stunt.
More Hopeful-Government en-
ploye groups are hopeful that
perhaps Congress now will see their
point Of view that the present $6
a day travel allowance for Federal
workers whose duties take them out
of town is pitifully inadequate.
For the past few years, Congress
has turned a deaf ear to the plea
that Government travel allowances
be raised, and during the last ses-
sion ignored the Aiken bill to In
crease travelling expenses to So q
day.
But now members of Congress,
who also get Sc q day travelling ex-
penses, are touring the country on
official business and many of them
are finding out that S. day will do
If you skip eating.
For example, members Of the con-
gressional joint subcommittee in
vestigating prices in the Midwest
felt the pinch Of high prices when
they opened hearings in Cleveland.
Senator Sparkman, Democrat, OF
Alabama complained that his So a
day hotel room put him So In the
red before he even started. And
Representative Huber, Democrat, OF
Ohio said his expenses ran to SIS
q day. His colleague, Representa-
tive Tale, Republican, OF Iowa,
moved into "httle bitty" room to
cut down expenses.
So perhaps their own experiences
will make the members Of Congress
more sympathetic toward legislation
to boost Federal per diem travelling
expenses. At least, Government en-
ployes think 1t should.
BRITISH SHOW US HOW-Great
Britain is having more than Its
share Of postwar troubles, but the
Senate Civil Service Committees in
vestigating staff believes the British
have at least handled one problem
well-that of restoring their prewar
civil service system.
| Committee investigators say the
British achieved a much smoother
transition from war to peace in civil
service matters than did our own
Government.
The committees staff now Is
studying England's method OF re-
verting to a peacetime civil service
system, especially on that phase OF
the program that was designed to
protect career employees and to
facilitate the removal OF surplus
u,erkarS