Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-07-27
Improving the Civil Service

1t would be unfortunate If an over
emphasizing of the points OF disagreement
between the Hoover Commission and the
Civil Service Commission should obscure
the fact that very large area OF agree
ment exists between the two groups. Apt
to be lost sight of in the headlines is the
csc declaration of general approval OF
the entire Hoover report on Federal per-
sonnet management-a report which csc
President Harry B. Mitchell describes as
constructive document"
And when the objections raised by Mr..
Mitchell and his colleagues to certain
parts of the report are studied in relation
to the Hoover task force recommended
tons. 1t becomes apparent that most OF
the Civil Service Commissions reserva-
lions have to do not with general prlnc1-
pies but with degree of application OF
those principles.
The chief csc reservation, as stated in
O letter from Mr.. Mitchell to the Senate
Executive Expenditures Committee, relates
to the Hoover proposal for further de-
Capitalization of Civil Service recruiting,
examining and selection procedures. The
Civil Service agency concurs with the
Hoover suggestion that decentralization Is
advisable in the recruiting and examining
of applicants for positions of "a relatively
high level or of complex nature" but
1t urges a go slow policy" further down
the line. The agency fears that too much
decentralization might result in personal
and political favoritism and discrimina-
ton
But the Hoover Commission too, recog-
nized this threat and sought to meet 1t
by giving the Civil Service Commission
greater supervisory powers than it has had
in the past The task force added res
ervation OF it's own to its recommendation
for extensive decentralization of personnel
recruitment and selection. It advocated
such decentralization only to an extent
consistent with reasonable economy and
protection of the merit system"
Actually, decentralization already has
been carried out to degree unknown be-
fore World War II. That war imposed
sudden burden that the then centralized
recruiting, examining and selection system
of the Civil Service Commission was un-
able to handle. The commission quickly
moved to delegate more and more au-
thority to the individual agencies, in ad-
dition to setting up numerous regional
boards of it's own. This decentralized setup
proved to be so practical and so satisfac-
tory both to the commission and the de-
partments that it was continued into the
postwar period-and even amplified.
Thus, it was largely on the basis of the
Civil Service Commissions own favorable
experience with decentralization that the
Hoover group made its recommendations
for improving the Governments personnel
procedures. The success of further de-
Capitalization will depend, Of course, on
the ability of the Civil Service Commission
to maintain strict supervision and control
of recruiting, examining and selection &C
tivities among the departments and agen-
cies. If there is to be wider delegation
of authority in this field, good government
requires that the Civil Service Commission
be given the increased supervisory and
inspection powers-and the requisite staff
to safeguard the executive establishment
against abuses of the type feared by Mr..
MITCHELL