HEARINGS BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE OF US, Concress. HOUSE, COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, CONSISTING OF MESSRS. BINGHAM, M CALL (Tenn.), HEMENWAY, IN CHARGE OF LEGISLATIVE, EXECUTIVE, AND JUDICIAL APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 1897. : WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1896. COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, The Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, having under consideration the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation bill, this day met, Hon. Henry H. Bingham in the chair. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION. STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN B. HARLOW, CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIONER. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Commissioner, will you have the kindness to state to us why you estimate for an increase in your office force? Mr. HARLOW. We have the estimate, I suppose, which has been presented to the Appropriation Committee through the Treasury Department. The CHAIRMAN. The appropriation for 1896 was $91,340, and the estimates for 1897 are $98,480. What we desire for you to state first is why you wish this increased appropriation. Mr. HARLOW. It is owing to the additional inclusions which have been made, including the Government Printing Office and Indian agencies and internal-revenue service, and others that are expected to come in during the fiscal year. The CHAIRMAN. They have already been added by Executive order? Mr. HARLOw. Those I have mentioned have been. The CHAIRMAN. And for that you ask what increase? Mr. HARLOW. For that we ask increase from the fiscal year ending June 30 The CHAIRMAN. The increase I see is $7,140. Mr. HARLOW. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. I see you ask for $500 additional for your secretary? Mr. HARLOW. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Any special reason for that? Mr. HARLOW. The character of his work and the additional responsibilities. He is also the disbursing officer for the Commission. The CHAIRMAN. Have you made that request before? Mr. HARLOW. I am not certain. I am a new member on the Commission, and Mr. Procter had prepared himself to be the spokesman, and therefore I am not familiar with any of the previous requests of the Commission. I have been on the Commission about six months. The CHAIRMAN. You ask for two assistants to the chief examiner at $2,000 each; that is additional? Mr. HARLOW. That is a promotion of two clerks. It is additional of course, but it is for promotion. The CHAIRMAN. Your proposition is to promote two clerks from class 2? The CHAIRMAN. It is virtually an increase of $1,200 to two clerks? The CHAIRMAN. This $7,140 goes wholly into the promotion of clerks? The CHAIRMAN. Seven thousand one hundred and forty dollars, as I make it. Mr. HARLOW. Increased work on certain clerks. The examination papers of the whole country are now examined at Washington by the central board instead of at the local offices. That rule now obtains. Mr. DOCKERY. In your report, under date of December 17, you say the work is about six weeks in arrears, and that the work of customs, postal, and internal revenue about five weeks in arrears. Mr. HARLOW. That is in regard to getting them on the eligible list, reading up the papers, etc. Mr. MCCALL. I have not understood why you want these increases? 3 Mr. MCCALL. What does that amount to? Mr. HARLOW. Close on to 3,000 for the Government Printing Office, and the whole service is gone up now to 54,000 and something-I regret very much Mr. Procter is not here. He had this data himself, and I have only got it in my mind except a little data that is here. Mr. MCCALL. Three thousand in the Government Printing Office, and what about the internal revenue? Mr. HARLOW. I regret I can not answer that exactly, but the total revenue service, and there are to be additional inclusions in that also Mr. MCCALL. It is only a portion of the revenue service? Mr. HARLOW. It is only a portion which is in now, but we have every reason to believe the most of it will be in during this fiscal year. Mr. MCCALL. And the other class was what? Mr. HARLOW. The other was the Indian service. That will probably all be in. Mr. HARLOW. That I am unable to give you. I have explained why I have not got all this data in my mind. The CHAIRMAN. What is the number of subordinate officers of the Government in the classified service? Mr. HARLOW. That are unexcepted-about 54,000. The CHAIRMAN. Those are what you have supervision of? Mr. HARLOW. Yes, sir; there will probably be 60,000 in the coming fiscal year, including a large number that is expected will be included. Mr. DOCKERY. You base your estimate for increases of clerks on the additional inclusions? Mr. HARLOW. Not entirely, also on those which are now in. Mr. DOCKERY. Of course the 3,000 are inclusions added by the Government Printing Office, but as a matter of fact is it not true they are there already and you do not have to examine them? Mr. HARLOW. We examine them as they come in. Mr. DOCKERY. Yes, but you only examine in case of a vacancy, death, or resignation, or otherwise; that is, it does not involve the examination of 3,000 applicants. In other words the added labor is because of previous and recent additions to the service which have been included by Executive order? Mr. HARLOW. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. You said you are about three months behind Mr. HARLOW. No, sir; we are not now, but we were at that time, and we will probably be behind again in June, the semiannual examination. The CHAIRMAN. Have not all your Government Printing Office works been virtually disposed of? Mr. HARLOW. They are constantly coming before us. For instance, in assistant skilled laborers we have got an eligible list now that will last this fiscal year, and therefore all we have to do now is to certify those people as they are asked for. Of course, it is an unknown quantity that the Government Printing Office asks for; it is sometimes large and sometimes less. The CHAIRMAN. Why is there an increase in the amount for traveling expenses? Mr. HARLOW. As additional offices are added to the civil service, like free-delivery offices in cities, it requires it, as we have to send one of our agents to the office and organize the board. That is the main feature. Of our present appropriation, we have only exhausted about half of it-not quite half-at present. The CHAIRMAN. You mean for this fiscal year? Mr. HARLOW. Yes, sir; but it is these additional offices coming under civil service. This spring there is a large number of free-delivery offices which will require our agent to visit, and it was to meet that, although we will possibly turn in a little money. The CHAIRMAN. The increase seems to be very large; $7,000 was the appropriation given before, and now you ask for $8,000. That is a large percentage. Mr. HARLOW. I presume that sum was stated because of the additional offices that are added, so we would be able and would not be embarrassed, but could attend to them all. It seems to me there would be some left over on this present fiscal year, but it is because we have had very few inclusions in the shape of offices this spring, but we will have a larger amount for the last half than before. The CHAIRMAN. Have you anything further you wish to submit? Mr. HARLOW. No, sir; I have not. I regret very much Mr. Procter was not able to come here and meet you gentlemen, as he was prepared on the subject. Hon. H. H. BINGHAM, UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives. SIR: Referring to the needs of this Commission in the matter of appropriations, I have the honor to state that since the last increase in the Commission's appropria tions, on July 31, 1894, the classified service has been extended to 12,446 additional places, including the Internal-Revenue Service, the Government Printing Office, pension agencies, experts in the Geological Survey, the Department of Labor, and in the Department of Agriculture; messengers, watchmen, firemen, engineers, etc. There are now 55,736 places subject to examinations, and the increase of 12,446 places has been made without any increase in the appropriations. The Commission has been able to perform this large amount of additional labor without an increase of force on account of the greater efficiency of the Commission's examiners since they were placed under its direct control by the act of July 31, 1894. During the past year, however, the Commission has fallen behind somewhat in its work, and it will not be able to keep up with the work now on hand unless one or two examiners are added to its force. As indicating the directions in which the business of the Commission will be materially increased, the attention of your honorable committee is invited to the following information: 1. The Secretary of the Interior in his last annual report recommended that all the subordinate places, both at the agencies and the schools in the Indian service, be placed under the rules. 2. About ninety additional post-offices are entitled to be given free delivery, which will bring them within the provisions of the civil service rules. 3. The rule recently made by the President consolidating small unclassified postoffices with metropolitan offices will add to the work of the Commission by increasing the classified postal service. 4. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have recommended the extension of the civil service rules to cover the municipal service at Washington. 5. Examinations for promotion in the Departments, although required by section 7 of the civil service act, have not yet been undertaken by the Commission. . The question is now under consideration. In this connection it may be stated that as the work of the Commission grows it becomes more difficult. The places first classified were of course the easiest to deal with, and the work of the Commission, with respect to the management of examinations, preparation and grading of examination papers and other incidental work in relation thereto, becomes more varied and complicated with each subsequent extension. In its estimates the Commission has asked for a net increase of six in the clerical force. It is believed that this additional number will be necessary to carry on the work during the next fiscal year. The Commission desires to emphasize the need of two assistants to the chief examiner, at $2,000 each, as recommended in the estimates. It is intended that one assistant shall act as chairman of the central board of examiners and the other as chief of the postal and customs division. These are very responsible positions, and require a higher order of ability than is required of almost any of the chiefs of divisions in the Executive Departments, who are paid salaries of $2,000 and upward per annum. An increase of $1,000 has been asked in the appropriation for traveling expenses. This increase is recommended for two reasons: 1. It will enable the Commission to conduct examinations at additional points for the convenience of applicants. The examination for the departmental, railway mail, Indian, and Government printing services are held by examiners sent out from the office of this Commission. With a smaller appropriation for traveling expenses the Commission could hold sufficient examinations at Washington, D. C., and in the neighboring States to meet the demands of the Departments. This, however, would not enable the Commission to comply with the apportionment provision of the civilservice law, which requires that appointments shall be apportioned among the several States and Territories, and that examinations shall be held twice a year in each State and Territory. The Commission aims to hold examinations at convenient points for applicants, so that they may be put to as little expense as possible. An extra few hundred dollars expended by the Government for holding examinations at some additional points contemplated by the Commission would result in a saving of thousands of dollars to applicants, as they will have shorter distances to travel in taking examinations if they are not examined at their places of residence. 2. The extra appropriation recommended for traveling expenses will also enable the Commission to carry on its work of inspecting local offices and instructing local boards of examiners. There are now 714 classified local offices, and without constant and rigorous inspection of the work at these offices the Commission can not insure a full observance of the law. On account of its small force and inadequate appropriation for traveling expenses the Commission has not been able to make these inspections as frequently as should be done. In addition, the classification of the new free-delivery offices which is contemplated will require extra traveling in order to put the rules in successful operation at those offices. The following table is a comparison of the salaries of this Commission with other civil service commissions. The British civil service commission examines about 30,000 applicants a year, a somewhat smaller number than is examined by this Commission. The expenses of the British commission are about £40,000 a year, or about |