When reductions of force become necessary they are required to be made on the basis of efficiency ratings, but here again the commission has no jurisdiction. The provisions of the law and orders requiring that dismissals shall begin with employees having the lowest efficiency ratings are not executed under the direction of the commission, but the departments concerned.

Section 37 of the Revised Statutes, 413, provides:

That in the event of reductions being made in the force in any of the executive departments, no honorably discharged soldier or sailor whose record in said department is rated good shall be discharged or dropped or reduced in rank or salary.

As records of employees are rated by the departments this provision of law is addressed primarily to them, and not to this commission.

The third paragraph of the introduction to the resolution reads as follows:

Whereas the morale and efficiency of many of the executive departments and independent establishments of the Government have been completely broken down by the injustice, discrimination, intimidation, and illegal dismissals in the civil service and much loss to the Government caused by the resulting maladministration of the laws:

The limitations placed upon the power of the commission in removals have already been discussed. This office is not aware of any breakdown of morale and efficiency, or of any injustice, discrimination, intimidation, or illegal dismissals. It should further be stated that the power of removal is incident to the power of appointment, and that both powers rest in the departments and not the commission.

So far as the disparity in the State apportionment of appointments is concerned, the commission is able and ready to state the full reasons why the disparity exists, to point out its constant efforts to maintain approximate equality in the apportionment, and, of course, to give to the committee of the Senate any other information regarding its work that is available or can be made so.

The Civil Service Commission is not interested in the residents of one State above those of another. The commission is wholly in favor of the apportionment provision of the civil service law. It is beyond the power of the commission, however, to create eligibles from the States that are in arrears under the apportionment. If the residents of States in arrears are not sufficiently interested in positions in the departmental service at Washington to apply for them and become eligible for appointment, after having had due notice of examinations and full opportunity to enter them, they can not reasonably object if residents of other States who have applied are examined and appointed. The vacancies must be filled. The Civil Service Commission has no alternative, but is required to certify for appointment the available eligibles, regardless of their residence. The purpose of Government employments is not to provide places for individuals but to transact the public business. If some States do not supply the workers, others must.

It should be borne in mind that the apportioned service in Washington, D. C., constitutes but 5.9 per cent of the entire executive civil service, or 7.9 per cent of the entire competitive classified service. Outside the District of Columbia, with few exceptions, cer

tifications of eligibles are made on the basis of "local jobs for local residents."

The present situation with respect to the apportionment of appointments in the departmental service gives to residents of States and Territories in arrears under the apportionment an excellent opportunity for Government employment if they will but qualify in the commission's examinations.

I would like to submit that, as I have read it to the committee, as Exhibit A.

The CHAIRMAN. It will be in the record.

Mr. DEMING. I would like to submit also copies of our twice-amonth report on the condition of the apportionment. (The report referred to is as follows:)

Condition of the apportionment in the civil service at the close of business Saturday, May 5, 1928

Senator BROOKHART. Who gets this report, Mr. Deming? Who does it go to?

Mr. DEMING. May I ask Mr. Morgan, of our publicity department, to answer? Have you a mailing list for this, Mr. Morgan?

Mr. MORGAN. No; we do not mail it. It is available for anyone who wants it, but it is not mailed.

Senator BROOKHART. The point I want to make is this: The information that is sent out into these States, so that these States might generally know if they are short in these appointments.

Mr. DEMING. Articles that I have written and sent out from time to time; and articles that Mr. Morgan, of the publicity department, has written; and especially constructed news items concerning each examination that is held-those articles are written and sent out by

us.

Senator BROOKHART. Now, do your examinations or have your examinations produced enough eligibles to fill the available positions? Mr. DEMING. They have not. That is the prime difficulty.

Senator BROOKHART. If these articles you speak of were sent to the county officers of each county-say, the county superintendent of schools so that the information would get around so that they would know about these positions, would not that be the proper thing to do?

Mr. DEMING. I should think that would be helpful.

Senator HEFLIN. If this information should be given, as Senator Brookhart has suggested, to the county judge or to the superintendent of education, giving the exact number that that State lacked of having its quota full, for instance, if Iowa lacked 100, and that information should go around, I should think that that would stimulate the boys and girls and the men and women in various counties to apply for these places.

Mr. DEMING. That might help.

Senator HEFLIN. Thousands of people do not know anything about these places being here; they do not know anything about these quotas, whether they are full or not.

Mr. DEMING. That is the very reason I have been emphasizing this fact and working on it for six years.

I wish to say for the record here that we send to every postmaster and our local secretaries, where we have local boards, copies of announcements to be posted in the post office or in some public place, with a request-and we especially request this-that they leave copies with the newspapers; but we have found, generally speaking, that the newspapers of the country do not give that as much publicity as they should. We have gone to the point of making a news item out of these coming examinations, and still we are not able, except in a comparatively few cases-that is, a minority of the cases-in getting the publicity we should.

Senator BROOKHART. Just for information, does this record show how many Iowa is entitled to have?

Mr. DEMING. Yes, sir.

Senator BROOKHART. That is on this paper?

Mr. DEMING. Yes, sir.

Senator HEFLIN. And Alabama, and all the others?

Mr. DEMING. Yes; absolutely.

Senator HEFLIN. I have had complaints made to me that there are eligibles already on the list, but they are far removed from here, and they are waiting for action to be taken, and these people who are here in the District and in Virginia and Maryland are forever and eternally dogging the commission to give them these places, and that they yield to that pressure frequently, instead of picking out the people who are on the eligible list and bringing them in here. Is there anything to that contention?

Mr. DEMING. There is not, Senator; and I assume what you wish here this morning is accurate detailed information, and not discussions that go too far afield.

Senator HEFLIN. Yes.

Mr. DEMING. So with your permission I would like to present as part of it, a table

Senator HEFLIN (interposing). Before you get into that, I want to ask you something further. You suggested about this apportionment. You suggested that apportionment applies to the appointment, and you say it is incident to appointment. Does not the apportionment apply to the reduction also?

Mr. DEMING. In what way?

Senator HEFLIN. In reducing the rating or the grade?

Mr. DEMING. You mean before a reduction is made, the rating is to be taken into consideration?

Senator HEFLIN. Yes.

Mr. Deming. I think not. I would like to ask Mr. Bartlett to answer that question.

Mr. BARTLETT. No; I think not.

Senator HEFLIN. You have had the complaint made, I assume. I have had it made to me, and I have no doubt Senator Dale and Senator Brookhart have, that sometimes an efficient worker, a worker with an efficient record has his rating cut down, or his grade lowered, and they think it is done for the purpose of getting them out and making room for some one else. Is there anything to that?

Mr. DEMING. The Civil Service Commission would know nothing about that, unless they come to them with their complaint, and some do. I think I have explained, in my preliminary statement what is the power of the commission, and the rule with reference to investigations. Nevertheless, when we can with propriety do so, we make what we call a benevolent inquiry on these complaints, and are glad to do so. We do not stand too much on the letter of the law. When we can make an inquiry of that kind we do it.

Senator HEFLIN. Would you suggest that the law be changed so as to specifically set out that certain States should not have more than a certain number?

Mr. DEMING. I doubt the wisdom and practicability of that. As I have thought about the thing somewhat superficially, because I do not pretend to be an authority on the apportionment question, because it is a very intricate question, and for that reason I have brought with me some experts to-day, who, I hope, will be given an opportunity to be heard. But to my mind, the most immediate method of starting in to equalize it would be to close the examinations, possibly, to applicants in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland, and one or two of the other States that are in excess of their quota, until such time as the apportionment is equalized.

But then we are face to face with the probability that we would not have enough eligibles to carry on the business of the Government. Senator BROOKHART. If you did that, they would come out into the States and find more eligibles. They would come out and get them.

Mr. DEMING. We would hope they would. May I ask whether that has been done?

Mr. DOYLE. Yes; we have done that.

Mr. DEMING. We have experimented with that.

Mr. DOYLE. Yes, sir.

Senator BROOKHART. How would it be, after one State reaches its quota, if they had some surplus to maintain it, to close the examinations in that State?

Mr. DEMING. I did not get the question.

Senator BROOKHART. How would it do if, when any State has reached its quota, or the District of Columbia, with a number to give them a little leeway, and then close the examinations for residents of that State?

Mr. DEMING. The only difficulty that I see is the possibility, as I remarked before, that we might not get eligibles enough for the particular jobs. There are a number of positions, particularly in the lower grade positions, that seem to appeal to those to whom they are of easy access.

Senator BROOKHART. Here is Iowa, for instance, shows on this statement 797 in arrears. That other figure, 630, what does that mean? It is No. 43.

Mr. DEMING. Iowa is entitled to 797, and has received 630 places in the service.

Senator HEFLIN. What is Alabama's status in regard to that? It is No. 14 down the first column.

Mr. DEMING. Alabama is entitled to 778, and has received 322.

Senator BROOKHART. Well, now, if the examinations were closed as to the District of Columbia, and an effort was made in Iowa and Alabama, and these other States, they could easily fill this quota?

Mr. DEMING. That would depend who made the effort, and how much of an effort was made. Up to this time it is not our experience that it can be done.

Senator BROOKHART. If that is the law, somebody ought to make that effort; certainly it ought to be made. I am quite sure there would be no trouble at all in filling these places from Iowa if it were known they could be had; but the trouble is they pass the examination and never get the appointment. You are not to blame for that, as I understand the law. You have nothing to do with the appoint

ments.

Mr. DEMING. No.

Senator BROOKHART. I think that is the trouble with our resolution. The Civil Service Commission makes up the eligible list, and the appointment is made elsewhere; the appointing power is elsewhere. I think they are the people we will have to get another resolution and get after them.

The CHAIRMAN. Let me ask this question here: Are there on the eligible list names of people from Iowa who have not been appointed, who could be appointed?