7
matic service; the career lines that had
developed over long years in forestry,
public health, and engineering, for ex
ample, he knew less well. One of his
long-range objectives was to develop a
career service in all phases of govern
ment work, and in his first conversa
tion with me he invited me in general
terms to give attention to this prob
lem. The first foundation— permanent,
non-partisan employment— he succeed
ed in fully achieving, in principle; the
junior civil service examiner examina
tion, later transformed into the option
in administration of the junior profes
sional assistant examination, was an
other promising lead; the remarkable
development of in-service training fa
cilities during the years from 1933 to
1940 and with even, greater volume
since, established still another base; the
report of the Committee on Civil Ser
vice Improvement set out a plan for a
career in the specifically administrative
positions.
The President watched these and
other pieces of a complete career service
take shape with satisfaction, but he
never formulated a systematic program
of his own. In general he wanted a
system that would be democratic, with
no barriers to the recognition pf men
and women of capacity. He also wanted
a system that would automatically
eliminate its own deadwood.
In a conversation on this subject,
the President called to my attention
the Navy "plucking system” and sug
gested that it might be adapted to the
civil service. A naval officer who is
three times passed over fo r promotion
is retired from active service. The
President was conscious of the fact
that in many parts of the federal gov
ernment there is no promotion system,
and that in consequence some rise to
relatively high position propelled by no
other force than the passage of time.
Mr. White’s description of Franklin
Roosevelt’s views on the extension of
the merit system to state services joint
ly supported by the federal government
is as follows:
In 1939 the President recommended
and Congress approved amendments to
the Social Security A ct which specific
ally authorized the Board to require
"the establishment and maintenance of
personnel standards on a merit basis.”
In the message supporting this delicate
matter was one of his deftest para
graphs.
"Much of the success of the Social
Security A ct is due to the fact that
all of the programs contained in this
act (with one necessary exception) are
administered by the states themselves,
but coordinated and partially financed
by the Federal government. This meth
od has given us flexible administration,
and has enabled us to put these pro
grams into operation quickly. However,
in some states incompetent and politic
ally dominated personnel has been dis
tinctly harmful. Therefore, I recom
mend that the states be required, as a
condition for the receipt of Federal
funds, to establish and maintain a merit
system for the selection of personnel.
Such a requirement would represent a
protection to the states and citizens
thereof rather than an encroachment
by the Federal Government, since it
would automatically promote efficiency
and eliminate the necessity for minute
Federal scrutiny of state operations.”
The importance of this amendment
to the steady improvement of personnel
standards in the state and county gov
ernment cannot be exaggerated. This
provision may well be recognized, over
the perspective of the years, as one of
thp two or three principal contributions
of Franklin Roosevelt to a better pub
lic service.
Franklin Roosevelt’s views on the
role of organization of government em
ployees are given by Mr. White thus:
The views of the President on civil
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