Hearings Before Subcommittee Of House Committee On Appropriations Consisting Of Messrs Breckinridge Ky Sayers Livingston Cannon Ill And Henderson Iowa In Charge Of Deficiencies In Preparation Of Urgent Deficiency Appropriation Bill For 1894

Author : UNKNOWN. AUTHOR
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781332015771
Total Pages : 138 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (157 download)

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Download or read book Hearings Before Subcommittee of House Committee on Appropriations written by UNKNOWN. AUTHOR and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-07-27 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Hearings Before Subcommittee of House Committee on Appropriations: Consisting of Messrs. Cannon, Barney, Van Voorhis, Livingston, and Pierce, in Charge of Deficiency Appropriations for 1900 and Prior Years on Urgent Deficiencies The Chairman. In other words, the sovereign, the people being the sovereign, whether they ask with full knowledge in all cases, from your standpoint, are entitled to attention? Mr. Scofield. Yes, sir; we are public servants. Mr. Van Voorhis. I want to inquire if the temporary force has been reduced or whether it is as great now as at other times? Mr. Scofield. It has fluctuated a great deal. The temporary force now is perhaps a little less in numbers than what it was at its highest point, but it fluctuates. We may have a call to-morrow from some bureau for three or four extra clerks to do work rendered necessary. Here is another thing which might happen: We very frequently have resolutions and requests from Congress for certain information. It takes you gentlemen thirty minutes to get it through, and it takes four or five days, or possibly longer, for a large force of clerks to answer the resolution; and all of those things take people off from the regular work, and the regular work perhaps gets in arrears and perhaps necessitates longer hours and a slightly additional force. The Chairman. Those people were appointed without reference to the civil-service law? Mr. Scofield. Absolutely. The Chairman. Appointed for their real or supposed efficiency, and you say they have become fairly efficient? Mr. Scofield. Yes, sir. Let me say right here, if you will permit me, we had to appoint them that way. The demand came upon us very suddenly, and you would be amazed to know and could hardly realize without actual experience how difficult it is to get good people of high grade for the Government service in an emergency. There are plenty of average people, but what we needed under the great stress and pressure of affairs were exceptionally qualified men. The Chairman. You find that under any system? Mr. Scofield. Yes, sir. Mr. Livingston. You would not have gotten that extra class of clerks any more out of the civil service than out of these people; or, let me put it in another way: If you turned all of the temporary clerks down to-day and filled them from the classified service, would you get as good clerks? Mr. Scofield. Oh, I think we would. The Chairman. Would they be as efficient to-day? Mr. Scofield. If the present temporary force was wiped out to-day, and we were obliged to fill them from the certification of the Civil Service Commission, as a physical fact, our service to-morrow would be less efficient than it was yesterday when the present temporary force was in. In other words, there is no question in my mind, in my sixteen years' experience in the Department, that it takes pretty nearly a year, on an average, to make a man of any particular benefit to the service. The Chairman. A really high-grade man, you say, to get on an emergency is very difficult. I suppose that is not only so in public life, but in private employment? Mr. Scofield. Yes, sir. The Chairman. If this appropriation is made as you submit it, will the present force substantially remain until the close of the fiscal year? Mr. Scofield. That is our expectation. The Chairman. You drop out these words, if you will notice, at the bottom of page 19: "Persons in the classified service of the Government shall not be eligible to appointment under this appropriation, or to be transferred from any position in the classified service to positions paid hereunder, etc." Would it not be well to have them restored? Mr. Scofield. There is no objection to their being restored; the omission was unintentional, as far as I know, on the part of the War Department. Mr. Livingston. Would you be willing t