Evening star., 1952-11-09

nate the chairmen of these, but
except for cause, their members
cannot be removed until their
terms expire. President Roose-
velt's summary custer Of Federal
Trade Commissioner William e.
Humphrey in 1888, because he
wanted to bring in his own man,
inaugurated an historic legal bat
tie. which the Administration
finally lost in the Supreme Court,
which held the. removal illegal.
Civil Service Under President.
Members of the Civil Service
Commission serve at the discre-
ton of the President, as do the
heads of such organizations as
Reconstruction Finance Corp.
Federal Security Agency and other
groups under one-man control.
Federal Reserve Board member
ship is for a term of IA years,
and that of the Tax Court, for IL.
The Controller General and his
assistant, have 15-year terms, and
are not eligible for reappointment.
Controller General Lindsay C..
Warren-one of the staunchest ad-
vocates of economy in Govern
ment, in season and out, still has
about three years to go.
The hefty Foreign Service comes
under the State Department, and
career diplomats of many years
service, are in numerous important
posts. Some of the more desirable
plums-Great Britain for example
can be expected to wind UP as
political prizes. but there are no
restraints on any of the top ap-
pointments-other than a veto by
the Senate.
Justice encompasses the Federal
Bureau of Investigation-but Di-
rector j. Edgar Hoover and his
organization rate as untouchables.
Director Hoover dictates his own
hiring and firing policies.
iva Controls Own Jobs.
The Tennessee Valley Authority.
whose three members serve Is
year terms. also controls its own
employment.
The Postoffice Department, once
the happy hunting grounds for the
|patronage-minded, has had a
face-lifting under Democratic rule,
but while nominal civil service
status and life tenure were con-
Iferred on postmasters by the
Ramspeck- -O'Mahoney Act, sew
Ieral years ago, appointments in
the big oficeS-flrst, second and
third class-have continued in po-
Ilitical control because conflrma-
ton is up to the Senate. President
Truman unsuccessfully tried to
eliminate this factor. The little
fcr0ss-road fourth class Offices
often undesirable, are civil service.
Reorganization which followed
in the wake Of the tax scandals,
brought abdiit d shirt TO civil serv-
ice In the Bureau of Internal Rev
enue a few months ago, and In
one quarter, the opinion was ex-
pressed yesterday that the set-up
there will be permitted to remain
undisturbed, for a while, at least,
to see what happens.
There are . number Of other i'm
Iportant Treasury Units, including
the Secret Service. subject to
change under the new rule.
And everywhere jobs are held,
downgrading can be resorted to
by new administrators. This al
ways has been recognized as q
weak spot in the civil service
setup. for career employees who
have only their own efforts to
thank for high ratings, may have
to depend on goodwill some
political backing to hold their
gains.
The Judiciary cannot be
touched. as the appointments are
for life. The one thing certain is
that the Republicans will be nam
ing fellow-partisans for vacancies
from now on. Any administration
does that, and there have not
been any members Of the COP
who have doned judicial robes in
the past 20 years. OF nine men on
the Supreme Court. only Justice
Harold Hitz Burton is Repuhli-
can. And he was an old Senate
associate to whom President Tru-
man gave his first appointment.
AS a by-product of the job die
lcussionl here yesterday, Fred z.
Hetzel. director of the United
States Employment Service, said
he would call on the Board of
Trade, which includes many en-
ployers. If his Office was con-
fronted by any sizeable list OF
unemployed bacause of Govern
ment turnover.
Under any circumstances, the
Government employment picture
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