Evening star., 1949-07-17
SEC Staff Here 10 Drop
s i Senate Fails 10
Restore House Slash
Star Staff Photo.

At least So employees in the
Office of the Securi-
ties and Exchange Commission
will lose their jobs Immediately if
the Senate fails to restore a $220.-
900 cut in the agency's $5.970.000
budget for the current fiscal year.
officials said yester-
day.
The cut was voted by the House
and the Senate Appropriations
Committee took no action to re-
store any part Of it while approx
ing additional funds for, other
agencies whose 1850 appropria-
tions also are included in the In
dependent Offices bill now pending
in the Senate.
What makes the reduction
ironic for. officials and employees
Of the SEC. which asked for less
funds than last year, is that the
agency was praised only a short
time ago by a Hoover Commits
SION task force as IAN outstand-
ing example of the independent
commission at its best"
Staff Called Able.
= The task force of the commits
sion headed by former President
Hoover on reorganizing the Gov
executive departments
in the interest of efficiency and
economy, also said the SEC ION
the whole has been notably we'll
administered" It added that
even its critics concede that its
staff is able and conscientious,
and that the commission gener-
ally conducts its work with dis
pa.cil and expedition where
speed is most essential"
The agency. which regulates
trading in securities, has 1923
791 Of whom are in the
Washington Office. BY a commits
sion decision almost all reduction
required by the budget cut will be
made in the staff here.
Commission officials said a re-
duction in staff is the only way
to absorb the budget cut.
The reductions will involve al
most all categories of employees
lawyers, accountants, analysts.
and clerks-with sal
aries averaging $4,000 a year.
They will be divided equally be-
tween employees below the CAF-7
and P-2 levels and those in and
above those grades.
Average Service ,61a Years.
A preliminary commission sur
vey indicates that the average
length of service of those involved
in the reduction Is about six and
a half years.
A House Appropriations Com
mittee report calling for an SEC
appropriation of $5,750,000 for the
current year as compared with a
I949 budget of $6.121,1 ,140 said the
commissions payroll was So posi-
tions short of the authorized num-
ber and that the commission was
overstaffed in its Washington
Office.
SEC Chairman Edmond. M.
in appealing to the
Senate Appropriations Commit
tee to restore the cut. said the 68
already have been elimi-
mated by absorbing general pay
raises granted by Congress.
Would Impair Service.
"The cut" he added. would
reduce our service to the lowest
level we have yet reached and i'm
pair it to an extent out of pro-
portion to the relative amounts
Of money involved"
Only one witness appeared
against the SEC in hearings be-
fore a Senate appropriations sub
headed by Senator
o OMahoney, Democrat. Of Wyo-
ming. He was Cyrus Eaton. the
Cleveland financier, who is in
volved in litigation with the SEC
in connection with a stock offering
by the Kaiser-Frazer Corp. last
year which was underwritten in
part by the Cleveland investment
firm of Otis 81 Co.
Mr.. Eaton urged a $3.50. 900
reduction in the SECS appropria-
tom as part Of an overall so per
cent cut in funds Of the Govern
ment's regulatory agencies. He
said sach q move would stimulate
,tagnant capital markets.