Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-06-25
Probe Finds l in $50
Gets $1l61OU.S. Pay
CSC Chiefs
Quiz on
TopJobs
By JOSEPH YOUNG

A House group charged today
that Government empire build
ing" has resulted in one out Of
every $50 Federal employees re-
Iceiving annual salaries of $l1,6l0
a year or more.
Calling the situation almost
unbelievable" the House Civil
Service subcommittee on Fed.
eral manpower utilization sum-
moned Civil Service Commission
officials to find out what the
csc plans dong to hold down
the number of Government top
grade Jobs.
The subcommittee said the
ratio of top-salary jobs in rela-
ltion to the total Federal employ
ment has increased 1000 per cent
since 1887.
Headed by Representative
Davis, Democrat of Georgia, the
group disclosed the following
facts;
There are now 1000 Federal
employees in grades Is ($11,610
a year, or above. Based on Q
total Federal employment of %
million. this is a ratio of one
GS-15 and above employee to
every $50 workers.
Dropped This Year
This one-to-350 ratio COM
pares to a one-to-3,738 ratio In
1887 and a one-to-2,503 ratio in
1914. Last year the ratio dropped
to one to 447 and this year
dropped again to one to $50.
Mr.. Davis noted that during
World War II, when there were
more than 3 million Federal
workers, there were only 1,486
employees in equivalent GS-15
jobs, compared to the total Of
1000 top-grade positions today
among only 2,3 million Federal
workers.
/ The subcommittee said it did
not have figures on the number
of employees in grade Is and IA
Jobs but assumed that there also
were a large number of employees
in these positions.
! The subcommittee charged
that Federal officials, in order to
build up the Importance Of their
Town jobs and consequently in
crease their grades and salaries.
were adding more employees to
their units than were necessary
to do the work. This empire
building" the subcommittee de-
Iclared, was getting dangerously
out of hand.
The group said that empire
building" has resulted in loading
the Federal payroll with far
more employees than are neces-
sary. Mr.. Davis has declared that
100000 Federal jobs could be
abolished without hampering
Government operations.
Sees Lack of Control
Mr.. Davis told the Civil Serv.
ice Commission:
1T is evident to me that either
the Classification Act gives little
or no control over the number
of higher graded positions or
that the expansion has been APP
proved BY the Executive Branch.
I'VE would like to hear your
views as to the underlying rea-
sons for this imitation of the
grade structure. We also want
your views on steps that can and
should be taken to assure that
in the future adequate control
VIII be properly exercised. am
not overly concerned about the
so-called super-grades grades
l6 to 49,, where Congress exer-
cises control. / am referring pri-
marily to the GS-l3, IA and Is
grade levels where control has
been delegated to the Executive
Branch. The increase in these
do. however. generate demands
for more super-grades."
The subcommittee also criti-
cized the increase in jobs among
the assistant secretary levels.
Three years ago there were 46
assistant secretary jobs in the
departments, the group noted.
Today there are 28O such posi-
tions, the subcommittee declared.