Evening star., 1948-03-25

CIdl clIlplOyIllEllt seSeSh AoshA'
in Washington increase by at least
$4,000 during the coming months.
The same proportional increase will
be reflected in Government employ
ment nationally.
Mainly Defense Personnel.
The personnel increases during
the past month were mainly in the
National Defense Establishment
(Air Force, Army and Navy Depart
ments) and, in lesser degree, in
the Post once, Treasury and Com
merce Departments. The number of
Government employees now totals
2,ol6,30o.
Here is how Government officials
expect Federal employment to in
crease during the coming months,
with the departments listed in the
order of the heaviest hiring expect
ed:
Air Force Department, Army De-
partment, Navy Department., State
Department, Atomic Energy Com
mission, European Recovery Agency,
Commerce Department, Civil Serv-
ice Commission and the Treasury
Department.
COMPROMISE OFFERED-House
conferees on the very dangerous
bill which would give Federal
agencies the right to fire employees
summarily are repeatedly working
on a compromise plan to offer to
Senate conferees on the measure.
It's expected that the House con-
ferees will propose some procedure
whereby dismissed employees would
have the right to appeal to the
Civil Service Commission. An
other compromise proposal that
might be added to the appeal fea-
ture is one to allow agencies the
right merely to suspend employees,
rather than dismissing them out
right.
The Senate couferees, however,
are expected to demand that the
entire provision granting agencies
the right to dismiss workers sum-
marily lin the interest of national
security" be eliminated from the
bill. They contend the amendment
adopted by the House has abso-
lutely no relevance to the original
measure passed by the Senate,
which provided that employees un-
justly fred by their bureaus collect
back pay.
And the Civil Service Commission
is also holding out for the outright
dropping of the firing proviso in
the bill. Despite the fact that the
commission is heartily in favor of
the original measure, it will rec
ommend to President Truman that
he veto the bill, If the summary
firing amendment is not eliminated
in conference. - ~-'-,~-- e,
~
THE HARD WAY-All but one of
the approximately $4,000 persons
who wrote us to ask for a copy of
the civil service retirement booklet
should have received their copies by
now. This one reader, who, Incl
dentally, lives less than a mile from
The Star Building, sent her post
card to us by the roundabout way
of Paris.
II seems that she inadvertently
put the postcard in a package of
magazines which she sent to q
French library. The librarian, how
ever, noticed the card and mailed il
to us from Paris.
The reader will receive her book
let within the next few days.
n X X
CIVIL SERVICE PROBE-The
House Civil Service Committee is
speeding up its investigation of var
ious Government departments sus-
pected of violating veterans prefer
ence regulations as well as civil serv-
ice rules in hiring and firing en-
ployes.
During the past week end, Com
mittee Counsel George M. Moore
journeyed to the Nays air base at
Atlantic City to investigate reports
that civilian employees were being
deprived of civil service protection
in a number of instances.
The committee will act formally
on Mr.. Moore's report in few
weeks. Last month a special sub
committee investigated conditions
in the Railroad Retirement Board
in Chicago, and a report is expected
soon.
It's fairly certain that a number
of Washington agencies and depart