Evening Star Newspaper, April 17, 1940, Page 6

Schwariz Opposes Civil Service for T. V. A. Workers Merit System Now Used In Selecting Employes Is Defended By J. A. FOX. Tennessee Valley Authority em- ployes “won't thereafter be worth a thin dime to the Democratic party,” if they are put under civil service, Senator Schwartz, Demo- crat, of Wyoming, today told the Senate Civil Service Committee in the course of an extended argument against including the T. V. A. force under the provisions of the Ram- speck civil service extension bill. Indicating his understanding that the Hatch Act barring political activity by Federal employes would not be applicable to the force em- ployed by the Authority, which is a corporation, under existing condi- tions, Senator Schwartz said he felt that “every American citizen should to the best of his ability work for the political principles in which he be- lieves.” He also saw the possibility that employes chosen by competi- Dutch Sports Editor Has Heard About The Phillies By the Associated Press. HOBOKEN, N. J, April 17— Alfred Van Sprang, 23-year-old sports editor of the Het Vader- land of Rotterdam, is familiar with the whims and foibles of the Philadelphia National League baseball club. Arriving today on the Volen- dam for & 6-month tour of the United States, Van Sprang re- marked that mobilization in Holland had weakened the Netherlands football team “so much that even. Luxemburg beat us.” “The Luxemburgers are like your Phillies,” he explained. table showed that 1743 came from the District of Columbia, 1,788 from Virginia and 1564 from Maryland. New York had most with 4,199 and Delaware fewest with 101. All told about 125,000 to 150,000 workers at present are subject to the bill. Mrs. Rogers, who opposed the bill in the House, said she felt that it discriminated against applicants for Government employment who had taken civil service examinations, and are being passed over for jobs. She said there are about 1,000,000 in this position. tive civil service, rather than by the heads of the Authority, would not | believe in the “wisdom and feasibil- | 1ty” of the legislation creating the: vast Southeastern development. | Earlier, Senator Schwartz pointed ! out to the committee that political | preferment in the appointing and promotion of Tennessee Valley work- ers is forbidden by law under pen- alty of removal. | W. P. A, Ban Opposed. | ‘The Wyoming Senator was one of | several witnesses called before the | committee headed by Senator Bu- low, Democrat, of South Dakota which is holding hearings on the bill, sponsored by Chairman Ram- speck of the House Civil Service Committee. The measure passed | the House in February. | Representative Rogers, Repub- | lican, of Massachusetts appeared in | opposition to the measure because it provides for granting civil service status to thousands of workers by | non-competitive examination. She favors competitive tests. Col. F. C. Harrington, Work Projects commissioner, urged that the prohibition in the bill against allowing W. P, A. workers to acquire civil service statds be lifted, declar- ing it was unjust, and Col E. W. Clark, acting P. W. A. administrator, urged that the 5800 employes fur- loughed by that agency in the last few months also have the oppor- tunity to acquire civil service, de- | claring they were competent workers | and had an average of 3.3 years | service in the Government. Defends “Merit System.” Senator Schwartz, who was a member of the joint congressicnal committee which some time ago in- vestigated the operation of the T. V. A, vigorously defended the “merit system” employed in the selection of employes there which often is re- ferred to as a “model” for non-civil service employment. He felt he said, $hat the rules and regulations of the Civil Service Com= mission would be too restrictive in choosing workers, and would not permit of the adoption of advanced methods of selection that might be developed. He also stressed the fact that the commission is far behind in its work, and expressed the fear that T. V. A. personnel problems would be subordinated. | The Wyoming Senator agreed | that civil service employes who | might be out of sympathy with the | philosophy of the T. V. A. venture because of its competition with pri- | vate industry would not resort to “sabotage” but insisted that the di-‘ rectors should have a free rein in| choosing their force. His observation about the political | worth of the employes to the Demo- | cratic party was occasioned by the| criticism he explained he had heard“ that the Ramspeck-bill would freeze Into office a large number of Demo- crats. “He opposed freezing them | in.” but for a different reason, he #aid jocularly. The Senator added that he was| once covered into civil service and | indicated that when that happened, | Government workers no longer have any political interest. Table Shows Coverage. In connection with her testimony, Representative Rogers introduced a table showing a cross-section of the employes to be brought under civil &ervice, according to their distribu- tion by residence. Covering 57,804 employes in 19 agencies here, the Emphasizing her support for civil service, Mrs. Rogers added that “when I had postmasters to ap- point” she always took the cant date ranking highest in examina- Answers Opposition. Col. Harrington undertook to an- swer the opposition that has been registered in Congress against bring- ing W. P. A. workers under civil] service, declaring that it would not tend to load up the Government with unneeded workers. He said that Congress alone cculd say how long the works program would be continued, and therefore controlled the tenure of the administrative force. In response to question from Sen- ator Mead, Democrat, of New York, Col. Harrington emphasized his be- lief that the employment situation indicated that in some form or other the works program would have to be continued “5 or 10 years.” Col. Harrington praised his staff and said that the feeling they are | being discriminated against by the civil service ban “engenders a sense of injustice that is very destructive to morale.” A. J. Sarre, personnel director for P. W. A, joined Col. Clark in asking Hhat furloughed employes get a | éhance to qualify for the benefits | of the bill. E. Claude Babcock, president of the Federal Personnel Association, said that he favored dismissals on the basis of seniority instead of efficiency if thousands of employes “who were appointed for elements other than capability” are to get civil service status, and come into competition with employes who were appointed by competitive examina- tion. The hearing was adjourned until Friday. Program to Aid Re(ugee Children Is Pushed An intensified international pro- gram to aid refugee children of bel- ligerent European nations will be carried out by the 8,000,000 members of the Junior Red Cross, in co- operation with school officials throughout the country, it was an- nounced yesterday after a meeting of Red Cross officials and educators at the mational headquarters here. The program is designed as an adjunct to normal American Red Cross war relief operations now | reaching youth 'of war-affected na- | | tions. It calls for increased support | and use of the National Children’s Fund, a Junior Red Cross reserve established in 1920 to provide relief after the World War. A committee, headed by Carroll Reed of Minneapolis, president ot the American Association of School Administrators, met with Vice Chair- man James L. Fieser of.the Red Cross and Livingston Blair, acting director of the Junior Red Cross, to prepare an action program to be presented to the Junior Red Cross national convention here May 6 to 8. Joins Reserve System RICHMOND, Va., April 17 (#)— The Federal Reserve Bank of Rich- mond advised banking institutions in the 5th Federal Reserve District | yesterday that the Bank of Quin- wood, Quinwood, W. Va., had been admitted to membership in the Fed- eral Reserve System. Capper (Continued From First Page.) by Mr. Mondell that James C. Wilkes, Republican State chairman for the District, was authorized at last night’s meeting to re-define the boundaries of the 43 precincts into which the Republicans divide the city. Passage of Bill Urged. Earlier, Mrs, Clara Wright Smith, who said she has been active in Democratic circles, charged that a number of persons from various States have been elected as Dis- trict delegates to that party’srcon- ventions in recent years. She urged passage of the pending bill and advocated election of bona fide ‘Washingtonians as delegates. Others who testified today includ- | ed William C. Lee of the Mount Pleasant Citizens’ Association, who favored the principle of the bill, but suggested changes in detailed pro- visions; H. L. Coleman of the North- west Citizens’ Council, who also in- dorsed the bill in principle. Mr. Mondell said he was not able to attend last night's meeting of the local Republican Committee because he was not notified of it until Sun- day and had a speaking engagement. He said the authority given the State chairman to rearrange the precinct boundaries “is more than a sufficient reason for passage of this bill.” The witness declared that if he | should decide to be candidate for delegate he knows the .present boundaries of his precinct, but that it would be possible by re-defining the precincts “to put me across Rock Creek.” Held Inadvisable. Mr. Tucker said his association has considered the pending question many times and has disapproved it, not on the merits of the bill, but on the question of its advisability. “We have been working many years for national representation and feel that is an American right,” Mr. Tucker continued,- “This ques- tion of representation in Congress and the right to vote for President and Vice President is very near to| the hearts of all our people—cit- izens associations, laber and wom- en’s organizations. We feel that to | set up election machinery at this | time, with the conventions only a| few months away, would not appeal to the people sufficiently to have them go to the polls.” The psychological effect on mem- bers of Congress would be harmful to the cause of national representa- tion, if in the short time available, the people did not turn out for the proposed primary, Mr. Tucker pre- dicted. The people of the District have | been without political rights so long they are not politically minded, Mr. | Tucker said, adding that many | Washingtonians do not indicate whether they are Republicans or Democrats. Four Years to Act. Stressing the fact that national representation is the important goal, | Mr. Tucker pointed out that the | proposed primary election would be | held only once in four years, and if | the pending bill is postponed for the time being Congress would have four years in which to take action on the national representation pro- posal. “Assuming this bill passes, and all the people who want suffrage turn out at the primary, what would be the effect?” inquired Senator Austin, Republican, of Vermont, chairman. Mr. Tucker said that would be a good thing, but he feared it would not happen. Senator Capper, Republican, of Kansas, author of the primary bill, who also is sponsoring the joint resolution for national representa- tion, disagreed with Mr. Tucker's prediction. : Chairman Austin announced the subcommittee would continue the hearings this afternoon. When the subcommittee recon- vened at 1 o'clock no further wit- . "THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 1940. Taft Says States Should Administer Relief With U. S. Aid Operating Engineers Told Federal Share Should Be About 66% Senator Taft of Ohio declared today that relief “should be ad- ministered locally in each State” with a “substantial Federal grant amounting perhaps to two-thirds of the total cost of all work relief and direct relief.” The Republican presidential as- pirant, speaking at the closing ses- sion of the International Union of Operating Engineers, an A. F. of L. afMliate, at the Raleigh Hotel, said that present methods of adminis- tering the W. P. A. have “little relation to relief.” “Projects are undertaken,” said, “where no relief is really needed. In other communities, where excessive unemployment or unusual poverty prevails, W. P. A. is inadequate and throws back on local communities with inadequate tax resources a burden they cannot bear.” Calling the engineers’ attention to a W. P. A, general letter issued April 1, “suggesting that local spon- sors require contractors to use W. P. A. labor,” Senator Taft de- clared this “may take care of the contractor, but it does not take care of the regular labor union member.” Costs Taxpayers More. “As a matter of fact,” he said,” I do not thing the contractors will be pleased with this provision. Un- fortunately, it will attract some sup- port from the local governments because the cost to the local spon- sor would be less since the Federal government pays for the W. P, A. labor. Nevertheless, the total cost to the taxpayer will be greater in the end, and I think even the con- tractors would prefer to have their regular labor and get the job done quicker.” He said the same object for use of 1elief labor appeared in President Roosevelt's proposal for Federal con- struction of 50 hospitals throughout the United States which would be leased to cities and counties. The bill, now before the Education | and Labor Committee of the Senate, he | constructed by the Federal Works Agency and it is contemplated that it be constructed with W. P. A. labor, although power is given to let con- tracts, and perhaps some of the me- chanical branches will be contract- ed,” he added. “Too Expensive.” | country, he declared, show that at- | tempts to meet the whole relief expensive to be permanent or even effeetive,” he said. gram on its own merits and let it be handled by contract; then handle the remaining unemployment on a an end in itself. “I believe that prosperity can be brought about, but only by the en- couragement of private industry. If money is invested in a government building, it gives jobs while it is being constructed, but never again.” power next year, he asserted ‘“relief will be continued.” Senator Mead, Democrat, of New York declared members of Congress “cannot be satisfled with balancing the budget and freezing the debt limit” because unemployment would be increased. with Low-Cost, H'rgh«Quarl!y “BARRELED SUNLIGHT” Paints . OUTSIDE BARRELED SUN- LIGHT—Keeps your home YOUNG. Stays clean and fresh-looking for years, Wears down slowly and evenly White and standard colors. modern colors. 85: Quart The Evening & Sunday The Evening Star The Night Final Star. The Sunday Stor ... nesses appeared and Chairman Aus- tin adjourned the meeting. He said another meeting will be called before the hearings are closed. “expressly provided that these be | Experience in England and in this | | problem by public works is “far too | “It is much | better to adopt a public works pro- | relief basis. Relief must not become | No matter what party comes into | FOR PROMPT DELIVERY—Phone NA. Sold Exclusively in Washington by HUGH REILLY c. Since 1888 1334 New York Ave. N.W. PAINT for Every Surface—GLASS for Every Purpose CALL NATI ASK for CIRCULATION DEPT. The Night Final & Sunday St New Tags Delayed, Fredericksburg Police Use Taxis By the Associated Press. FREDERICKSBURG, Va., April 17—The Fredericksburg Police Department resorted to taxicabs when the deadline for 1939 automobile license tags caught the officlals without a new plate for their “cruiser” car. Chief of Police 8. B. Perry explained that the tags are given by the State for city- owned vehicles, and that they are sent each year from Rich- mond. Licenses arrived on time for other vehicles, he said, but none for the police car. Civil Rights Conference Set for Week End The Washington Committee for Democratic action today announced a two-day Washington Conference on Civil Rights Saturday and Sun- day, at the Washington Hotel. Merle D. Vincent, president of the Sponsoring Committee, said that civil liberties in the District and the Nation as a whole would be dis- cussed at the sessions, which are to begin Saturday at 2 p.m. with a forum on “Civil Rights and Labor.” Speakers will include Representative John M. Coffee of Washington, Lee Pressman, general counsel of the C. I. O, and James B. Carey, secretary of the C. 1. O. Others to participate include Rep- resentative Joseph Gavagan of New York, Prof. Robert K. Speer, New York University; Charles Houston, general counsel for the National As- sociation for the Advancement of Colored People; Morris Watson, vice president of the American News- paper Guild, and Ned Dearborn, member of the Executive Committee, American Committee for Democracy and Intellectual Preedom. A session on “Civil Rights and the Negro,” will be held at 3 pm., 8at- urday, and at 10 am. Sunday, the conference will discuss “Civil Rights and Minority Groups.” | Sponsors of the conference in- | clude Senator James Murray of | Montana, Representative Vito Mar- cantonio of New York, the Rev. | Theodore O. Wedel, Kenneth Craw- ford, Gardiner Jackson and Mrs. M. O. Lorenz. Established 1895 OUIS ABRAHAMS OANS ON JEWELRY FENCES-GATES GICHNER IRON WORKS, INC. 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Even as these maps were made ready for a new campaign, a brief respite in base camps overnight re- freshed men after 48 hours of pup- tent and sandwich life in the field. They streamed into quarters late yesterday with weapons and equip- ment in the motor vehicles which gave to initial exercises of the 4th Corps and a provisional opposition force a mobility never before at- tained on such a scale in the United States Army. A fresh test is starting tomorrow, the second in a series of four. Even * EFORE you drive a Mercury a mile you'll discover why no modern new car ever won such instant popularity. Good news travels fast! ... and what Mercury had was larger scale training will follow in Louisiana and Texsas in May. It 18 in the control room, far from the sounds,of mock conflict, that the box scores are drawn up on the war games. The maps, made up from reports of neutral consrol of- ficers by courier, telephone and wireless, provide a comprehensive picture of the swift thrusts and counterthrusts. Two !dentical maps, each 10 feet by 12, are tacked o a wall in the control office headed by Col. Ed- mund L. Gruber, veteran field artil- lery officer of the 1st Division. They represent approximately 100 square miles of the United States Infantry School reservation and the rolling farm lands to the east. ©On one are placed cards to indi- for LATEST NEWS The Night Final Star, containing the latest news of the day during these dramatic times, is de- livered every evening throughout the city and suburbs between 6 P.M. and 7 P.M. Telephone National 5000 for immediate delivery. cate contemplated plans of unit commanders; on the other the re- sult of the attempt at execution, Four officers, telephone clerks, stenographers and draughtsmen labor to piece together fragmentary reports. 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