Evening star., 1948-04-14


should get more than the others.
But the postal groups are well or:
ganized and exerted lot OF political
influence on Capitol Hill.
There isn't expected to be much
pay raise activity in Congress Tor
several weeks, at least. Although
the House Civil Service Committee
has approved s46S and $685. pay
boosts for Federal and postal work
ers, respectively, further action will
be delayed until Republican lead
ers decide what to do about the
legislation.
It's almost certain that, In the
event the leadership does back
some sort of pay raise legislation,
it will insist that the bill be trim
med down.
NEAR MISS-The $3.50 Federal
nav raise bill approved by the Sen
ate Civil Service Committee came
within a hairs breadth the other
day of slipping by on the Senate
consent calendar.
Usually non-controversial oius
are put on the calendar, where they
are approved automatically if no
member objects. The pay raise bill,
however, is definitely controversial,
and the Senate Republican leader
ship has not yet acted on the bill.
That's why it was rather surpris-
ing when it popped up on the con-
sent calendar the other day. Fed
eral pay raise supporters kept their
fingers crossed, but after a moment
the ever-alert Senator Wherry OF
Nebraska, the Republican whip IN
the Senate, leaped up and asked
that the bill be put over.
II have been asked by other Sen
ators to object to these bills" Sen
ator Wherry declared.
This means that the measure Will
have to go through the regular pro-
cedure on the regular Senate CAL
endar, like all important bills.
ECA STARTS ROLLING - The
new Economic Cooperating Admin
istration as of this moment has
only two employees on its payroll,
but it already is settling down to
business.
~patu Hoffman, chief of-ECA, and
Wayne c. Taylor, former 1Undersec-
retary of Commerce, the director OF
operations, are the only two persons
officially on the staff.
Mr.. Hoffman wants to go easy
on hiring until a definite program
is worked out, and ECA will be
in a better position tog zee just
what it wants in the way OF per-
sonnel. Meanwhile, the agency ex-
poets to be in shape at its head
quarters, 805 Connecticut avenue
NV, by Monday to begin inter-
viewing job applicants.
Carl Blaisdell, executive assistant
to Defense Secretary Forrestal, has
been appointed to serve as ECA's
chief of administrative services.
Here are some Of the other Federal
officials who have been loaned to
ECA on a temporary basis until it
really gets its operations under way:
Frank Cawley, budget oflcer OF the
Commerce Department, serving the
new agency as budget officer; DON
aid C. Stone, assistant director OF
the Budget Bureau, chief OF admin
istrative management; James H.
Hard, Treasury Department per-
sonnel chief, personnel director, and
Gilbert L. Clark, associate commits
sioner Of Treasury's Bureau Of Ac-
counts, chief of Accounting Division.
*x r
DAWN PATROL-Several men,
bers of the House and Senate Civil
Service Committees are complain
ing about being awakened at the
unearthly hour of 2 am. recently
by callers asking them to vote for
Federal pay raise legislation.
Whoever the callers were-and
they did not represent any of the
regular Government employees
unions-they certainly hit on a new
way of losing friends and antago-
nizing people.
The callers are said to be volun-
teer unregistered lobbyists who pass
the hat among fellow employees in
out-of- town agencies to get the
money to come to Washington to
lobby" for the bill.
At least, that is the information
that has come to the Senate Civil
Service Committee. Pay bill spon-
sors appreciate any support they
can get, but they ask these night
owls to confine their activities
strictly to the daytime. A mem