Relation of the Federal Government to Research 



213 



assume posts of leadership elsewhere. But the work 

 of the Bureau is of such fundamental importance to 

 social science generally that the Nation cannot afford 

 too great an exodus, especially if the process of selec- 

 tion should leave beliind the less qualified individuals, 

 protected in seniority by Civil Service. 



In spite of the ausj^icious beginning in 1902 and in 

 spite of several vei-y able subsequent additions of pro- 

 fessionally trained men who remained permanently, 

 tlie Bureau of the Census did not keep pace, up to 

 1933, with the needs for professional leadership in its 

 more imjiortant positions. 



By January 1, 1933, there were in the classified civil 

 service in Washington more than 2,000 statisticians 

 and social scientists. Of these, the Bureau of the Cen- 

 sus had only six, and of these six only one was under 

 45 years of age. Some of the most important techni- 

 cal posts in the Bureau were in the control of men 

 viith little education beyond high school. In the en- 

 tire Division of Manufactures, which compiles the most 

 important economic data in the Nation, there was 

 nobody who had had a graduate course in economics. 

 Wiile many newer statistical agencies were thriving 

 under the leadership of men with advanced university 

 degrees in statistics and economics, the Bureau of the 

 Census, in some of its divisions, was running on the 

 momentum of an earlier day. 



The explanation of this condition, in the opinion of 

 the writer, is two-fold. On the one hand, some of the 

 directors of the Bureau were appointed without re- 

 spect to scientific qualifications. They had little or 

 no interest in maintaining or improving scientific 

 standards. This type of appointment was a direct 

 cutgrowth of the century of American tradition, 

 traced in part I of this Section, of close association 

 between census taking and politics. On the other hand, 

 ■svhen an occasional director had the will to improve 

 the quality of the personnel, he met almost insuperable 

 obstacles through lack of funds. The Bureau of the 

 Census was not acquiring new functions. The new 

 functions were being allocated to other statistical 

 agencies. The only new appointments could be replace- 

 ments, and under civil service regulations, opportunities 

 for making replacements were few. 



Under the leadership of the present director, 

 William L. Austin, who understood the basic prob- 

 lems of the Bureau as the result of a lifetime in its 

 service, the rehabilitation which has taken place, at a 

 time when the Bureau's budget is the lowest in many 

 years, has been remarkable. The number of men in the 

 Bureau with a professional and scientific classification 

 has grown from 6 to 42. The key positions of chief 

 statisticians in the divisions are being given to men 

 ■with a modern university training in statistics and the 



social sciences. In view of the thousands of university 

 trained people now in the Government service, the 

 increase from G to 42 in-ofessional and scientific people 

 in the Bureau of the Census may seem small to an 

 outsider. It is only when one has such a perspective 

 of the Bureau's bacligruund as is presented in part I 

 of this Section that one can appreciate how great is this 

 accomplishment.-' 



It will be helpful to consider separately in soma 

 detail the personnel problems related to various types 

 of positions. 



The Higher Positions 



The problems encountered by the present adminis- 

 tration of the Bureau in the effort to place more of 

 the key positions in the hands of men with professional 

 training in statistics and the social sciences will illus- 

 trate certain difficulties which would be conmion to 

 any Government agency. However earnest the desire 

 to make imjjrovements, these improvements can only 

 be made gradually unless an agency is exjDanding. 

 There are two main difficulties, as follows : 



1. The principle of protecting civil service tenure ujust be 

 respected. 



2. When a vacancy in a high position occurs, it is difficult 

 to find the right man to fill it, because — 



(a) The combination of administrative ability and profes- 

 sional eminence is rare. 



(6) The salary scale is low. 



These factors could and, perhaps do, constitute prob- 

 lems for most Government statistical agencies. Let 

 us review them briefly. 



Difficulties Encountered 



The principle of protecting civil service tenure 

 must be respected. In practice, it is undesirable and 

 difficult, and indeed all but impossible, for any agency 

 to demote a conscientious division chief whose princi- 

 pal fault is his lack of professional competence for 

 the post he holds. Almost the only practicable course 

 is to create a new position in the organization which 

 will use his experience without loss to him of civil 

 service status. This puts a strain on an agency's 

 budget, produces an illogical and unbalanced organiza- 



^The director has had unusually able assistance. Dr. Stuart A. Rice, 

 of the University of Pennsylvania, a former president of the American 

 Statistical Association, was appointed assistant director in 1033, resign- 

 ing In 1030 to become chairman of the Central Statistical Board. 

 Dr. Uice's successor Is Dr. Vergil D. Reed, an economist with census 

 training and a background of successful business experience. Another 

 acquisition was 'that of Mr. Oliver C. Short as executive assistant to 

 the director. Mr. Short had made a notable record as director for 13 

 years of the Maryland State Employment and Registration System, 

 and had been in charge, under the G'lveruor, of the administration of 

 the State merit system law, which is widely accepted as a model statute. 

 The experience of Dr. Joscpli A. Hill, which spans nearly 40 years of 

 Bureau history, has l)een particularly useful, as have the general serv- 

 ices to the director of Dr. Calvert L. Dedricl<, formerly of the faculty 

 of the University of Wisconsin, who entered the Bureau in 1035. 



