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Both the President's Committee on Administrative Management and the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government have stressed the need of administrative reforms such as those which these plans will accomplish.

In 1937 the President's Committee on Administrative Management said "the continued appointment by the President of field officials, such as postmasters, United States marshals, collectors of internal revenue, and collectors of customs is not only antiquated, but prejudicial to good administration."

More recently, the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government has said, "the primary responsibility for personnel selection and management [in the Post Office Department] other than the Postmaster General and the Director of Posts should rest in the service" and "all officials of the Department [of the Treasury] below the rank of Assistant Secretary should preferably be appointed from the career service without Senate confirmation." Although the Commission did not study the organization of the Department of Justice, these considerations apply with equal force to the office of United States marshal.

Through the years the following reasons for these proposals, given in the report of the President's Committee on Administrative Management, have become more compelling:

"The multiplicity of Presidential appointments defeats the power of the Chief Executive to control his establishment. Instead of increasing his control over personnel, it operates to weaken and dissipate his authority. It places him in a position of direct responsibility for many appointments which he has little time to consider and robs him of time urgently needed for attention to important executive duties. It interferes with the authority that should be vested in the heads of the several departments for the proper discharge of their responsibilities. It is difficult for them to maintain appropriate relationships, discipline, and morale when their subordinates feel that they have direct and immediate responsibility to the President who appointed them. Conflicts of interest and jurisdiction within departments frequently result."

In addition to the primary objective of making the executive branch more efficient by providing greater accountability in these executive departments, these reorganization plans will gain for us the benefits which will come from filling these offices strictly on the basis of merit under the classified civil service.

In the earliest days of the Republic when these offices were first created, there was no organized merit system in the Federal Government. The First Congress in 1789 determined the method, unchanged to this day, for appointing collectors of customs and United States marshals. The civil-service alternative was not available in 1836 when Presidential appointment and Senate confirmation were first prescribed for top postmaster appointments.

Today, in contrast, we have developed a civil-service system which has proved eminently satisfactory for examining Government employees and which now embraces 93 percent of all Federal positions in the United States. The magnitude and complexity of governmental operations requires many skills-skills which must be found and fostered through a professional career service, in which employees are unencumbered by allegiances or obligations outside the Government which distract them from official duties. We have proved beyond all doubt, since the passage of the Pendleton Act in 1883, that the best government is obtained when the tasks of a non-policy-forming nature are placed in the hands of civil servants who get and hold their jobs solely on merit. This principle, applied gradually over the years to a widening group of employees, now needs to be extended.

As I have stated on numerous occasions, the present method of appointing postmasters has been a matter of special concern to me. Under Presidential orders beginning in 1917, and now under a statute enacted in 1938, postmasters in the first, second-, and third-class post offices are examined by the Civil Service Commission but are required to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. This procedure injects a hybrid mixture of political and merit considerations into appointments to offices which should be in the career service. It discourages many able persons from applying for these posts because they believe political preferment is the determining factor in appointment.

Another and vitally important advantage will be gained from these three reorganization plans. The development of national policy is a complex and crushing task. The problems which we must jointly solve deserve our very best efforts.

Relations between the President and the Congress ought not to be complicated by the need for coming to agreement on the selection of a host of field officials in posts where policy is not made. I know, from personal experience in both the Congress and the Presidency, how much time and effort is lost and how we have been distracted from the consideration of issues of paramount national importance by the present method of appointing the officials covered by these reorganization plans. We must relieve ourselves of this burden of minor personnel actions in order to devote our efforts to the greater issues confronting our Government today.

We are indeed fortunate that the framers of the Constitution, in their wisdom, provided in article II, section 2, alternative methods for appointing inferior officers of the executive branch. What I am proposing today is that we cast off the now outmoded method of appointing these more than 20,000 subordinate officials and vest their appointment in the heads of departments.

It should be emphasized that these plans are not the result of hasty action nor do they provide for an immediate separation from Government service of the thousands of incumbents now on the job. The proposed reforms are not aimed at them as individuals or as groups; rather they are aimed at modernizing a system which is no longer useful. Each reorganization plan contains specific provision for the gradual application of the changes. As a general rule these changes in appointing officials will occur at such times as the present offices become vacant. The United States marshals and the officers affected in the Bureau of Customs, with certain exceptions, now serve for a stated number of years, while present postmaster appointments are for an indefinite tenure. The complete change-over to the new method of appointment, therefore, will require several years. I want it clearly understood that this gradual application of the full merit system to these offices as they become vacant grants no partisan advantage or disadvantage to any political party. These plans cannot, therefore, rightfully be opposed on the ground that they help or harm any political group. We must at all times endeavor to take every step to assure the people that their Government is effectively organized and managed. We must increase efficiency; we must adopt every true economy; we must eliminate overlappings and duplications; we must improve accountability; we must promote the better execution of the laws. It is indeed significant that the Reorganization Act of 1949 specifically sets forth these broad objectives for Government reorganization. In proposing reorganization plans under that act, I seek to accommodate all these coordinate purposes. The reorganization plans which I am transmitting today aim primarily at making the executive branch more efficient by increasing the accountability of three department heads. They will fully extend the merit system to cover more than 20,000 non-policy-making officers of the Government. They will relieve the Presidency and the Congress of the unnecessary burden of appointing and confirming a host of subordinate officers. I highly commend these reorganization plans to the Congress.

THE WHITE HOUSE, April 10, 1952.

HARRY S. TRUMAN.

[H. Doc. No. 425, 82d Cong., 2d sess.]

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TRANSMITTING REORGANIZATION PLAN No. 2 of 1952, PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REORGANIZATION ACT OF 1949 AND PROVIDING FOR REORGANIZATION IN THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT To the Congress of the United State:

I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1952, prepared in accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1949 and providing for reorganization in the Post Office Department. My reasons for transmitting this plan are stated in another message transmitting to the Congress today.

This reorganization plan provides for the gradual elimination of Presidential appointment and Senate confirmation of postmasters at post offices of the first, second, and third class and the institution of appointment by the Postmaster General under the classified civil service. This is accomplished by abolishing each present office of postmaster at post offices of the first, second, and third class at such time as it next becomes vacant, except that each such office vacant on the date determined under the provisions of section 6 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949 is abolished on that date, and by establishing a new office entitled "Postmaster" to be filled by the Postmaster General. The complete transition to the new method of appointment is expected to require a period of several years.

At the end of the last fiscal year there were 2,732 post offices of the first class, 5,905 of the second class, and 12,801 of the third class—a total of 21,438 such post offices.

Many persons and groups have on several occasions in the past advocated the reforms contained in Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1952. In 1937 the President's Committee on Administration Management proposed the transfer to the Postmaster General of the function of appointing all postmasters. In 1949 the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government specifically recommended this reform. In a message to the Congress on June 24, 1949, I proposed legislation to accomplish this purpose, and in this year's budget message I renewed this recommendation.

The abolition of offices by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1952 will not abolish any rights, privileges, powers, duties, immunities, liabilities, obligations, or other attributes of those offices except as they relate to matters of appointment and tenure inconsistent with that reorganization plan. Under the Reorganization Act of 1949, all of these attributes of office will attach to the new offices of postmaster, either automatically or upon the occurrence of an appropriate delegation of functions to such new offices by the Postmaster General.

After investigation, I have found and hereby declare that each reorganization included in Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1952 is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in section 2 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949.

I have found and hereby declare that it is necessary to include in the accompanying Reorganization Plan No. 2, by reason of reorganizations made thereby, provisions for the appointment and compensation of officers specified therein. The rates of compensation for these officers are not in excess of those which I have found to prevail in respect to comparable officers in the executive branch.

The taking effect of the reorganizations included in this plan may not in itself result in substantial immediate savings. However, many benefits in improved operations will be made possible by the plan and should result in a reduction of expenditures as compared with those that would be otherwise necessary. An itemization of these reductions in advance of actual experience under this plan is not practicable.

I urge the Congress to permit Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1952 to become effective.

THE WHITE HOUSE, April 10, 1952.

REORGANIZATION PLAN No. 2 of 1952

HARRY S. TRUMAN.

(Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled, April 10, 1952, pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, approved June 20, 1949)

POSTMASTERS

SECTION 1. Abolition of existing offices.-All now existing offices of postmaster at post offices of the first, second, and third class are abolished. The Postmaster General shall make such provisions as he shall deem necessary respecting the winding up of the affairs of any postmaster whose office is abolished by the provisions of this reorganization plan.

SEC. 2. Establishment of new offices of postmaster.-There is established for each now or hereafter existing post office of the first, second, and third class an office which shall have the title of "Postmaster." Each postmaster provided for in this reorganization plan shall be appointed by the Postmaster General under the classified civil service and in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of the Act of June 25, 1938, chapter 678, 52 Statutes 1076, as amended (39 U. S. C. 31b), and the Act of May 20, 1944, chapter 200, 58 Statutes 224 (39 U. S. C. 31c), and shall receive the same compensation that would be payable to the postmaster of the post office concerned under applicable law in the absence of this reorganization plan.

SEC. 3. Transfer of functions.-The functions that have been vested by statute in postmasters, including postmasters not affected by other sections of this reorganization plan, or in any of them, since the effective date of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1949 (63 Stat. 1066) are hereby transferred to the Postmaster General.

SEC. 4. Effective dates.-(a) The provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this reorganization plan shall become effective as follows: (1) In the case of any

office which is then vacant, the effective date shall be the date determined under section 6 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949; and (2) in the case of each other office at a now existing post office, the effective date shall be the date on which the first vacancy in office occurs. In the case of any post office hereafter established, the effective date of the provisions of section 2 shall be the date such office is established. The provisions of section 3 of this reorganization plan shall become effective on the date determined under section 6 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949.

(b) The Postmaster General for the purposes of the provisions of section 4 (a) hereof shall determine when a vacancy in office has occurred.

[H. Doc. No. 426, 82d Cong., 2d sess.]

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TRANSMITTING REORGANIZATION PLAN No. 3 OF 1952, PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REORGANIZATION ACT OF 1949 AND PROVIDING FOR REORGANIZATIONS IN THE BUREAU OF CUSTOMS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

To the Congress of the United States:

I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1952, prepared in accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1949 and providing for reorganizations in the Bureau of Customs of the Department of the Treasury. My reasons for transmitting this plan are stated in another message transmitted to the Congress today.

This reorganization plan provides for the abolition of all offices of collector of customs, comptroller of customs, surveyor of customs, and appraiser of merchandise, to which appointments are now required to be made by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Under the authority of section 6 of the Reorganization Act of 1949, I have provided that incumbents in these offices may serve out their present terms of office. The abolition of offices, therefore, will occur gradually.

As the existing offices are abolished, the Secretary of the Treasury will provide for the continuation of the functions now delegated to them. The Secretary will delegate the functions to officials of the Treasury Department appointed by him under the classified civil service, including certain new offices, for which more adequate compensation is authorized, established in the Bureau of Customs by this reorganization plan. These officials will be selected wholly on the basis of merit. The most qualified persons will be sought, from both within and without the service. When this reorganization is completed, all officials and employees of the Bureau of Customs will be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury under the civil-service laws.

This reorganization plan also provides for the abolition of certain functions relating to customs administration now vested in the Secretary of the Treasury. These functions are obsolete and unnecessary. They impose unduly restrictive fiscal procedures upon the Bureau of Customs. Their abolition will promote a more efficient performance of customs functions and a better service to the public.

Many of these abolished functions have been handed down since 1789, when the Customs Service was established by the First Congress. Some of them are regulations carried over from pre-Revoluntary days when the British Crown provided an independent check on colonial customs revenues through its naval officers. These procedures have been reviewed by the Bureau of the Budget, the General Accounting Office, and the Treasury Department under the Government's joint-accounting program. The abolitions contained in this reorgan ization plan are based, in part, on that study. They will permit the Secretary of the Treasury to utilize fully in the Bureau of Customs the authority given to him by the Congress in the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950.

This reorganization plan will ultimately produce economies. There will be some savings in salaries resulting from the abolition of offices. There will also be savings resulting primarily from modernized fiscal controls. These latter savings will be realized only after the accounting reforms have become fully effective. It is expected that within a few years the annual savings, based upon present enforcement levels, business volume, and salary scales will aggregate at least $300,000.

After investigation I have found and hereby declare that each reorganization included in Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1952 is necessary to accomplish one or

more of the purposes set forth in section 2 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949.

It should be emphasized that abolition by Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1952 of the offices of collector of customs, comptroller of customs, surveyor of customs, and appraiser of merchandise will in no way prejudice any right or potential right of any person paying duties or imposts. The abolition of offices by Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1952 will not abolish any rights, privileges, powers, duties, immunities, liabilities, obligations, or other attributes of those officers except as they relate to matters of appointment, tenure, and compensation inconsistent with that reorganization plan. Under the Reorganization Act of 1949 all of these attributes of office will attach, as may be appropriate, to personnel of the Department of the Treasury to whom the Secretary of the Treasury delegates the functions formerly vested in the abolished offices.

I have found and hereby declare that it is necessary to include in the accompanying Reorganization Plan No. 3, by reason of reorganizations made thereby, provision for the appointment and compensation of officers specified therein. The rates of compensation for these officers are not in excess of those which I have found to prevail in respect to comparable officers in the executive branch. For the purpose of the requirements of the last sentence of section 3 of the Reorganization Act of 1949, with respect to specifying in the transmittal message of the President the statutory authority for the exercise of functions abolished by a reorganization plan, the statutory citations set forth in section 3 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1952 are hereby incorporated in this message by reference and shall be deemed to be a part hereof as fully as if set forth at length in this message.

This reorganization plan will permit a needed modernization of the organization and procedure of the Bureau of Customs. It will permit a more effective administration of the customs laws.

I urge the Congress to permit Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1952 to become effective.

THE WHITE HOUSE, April 10, 1952.

REORGANIZATION PLAN No. 3 OF 1952

HARRY S. TRUMAN.

(Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled, April 10, 1952, pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, approved June 20, 1949)

BUREAU OF CUSTOMS

SECTION 1. Abolition of existing offices.—All offices in the Bureau of Customs of the Treasury Department of collector of customs, comptroller of customs, surveyor of customs, and appraiser of merchandise to which appointments are required to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, are abolished. Except as to the functions abolished by this plan, the functions of the said offices shall be assigned to such civil-service positions as the Secretary of the Treasury may specify. The Secretary of the Treasury shall make such provisions as he shall deem necessary respecting the winding up of the affairs of any officer whose office is abolished by the provisions of this section.

SEC. 2. Establishment of new offices.-There are established in the Bureau of Customs so many new offices not in excess of twenty existing at any one time, with such title or titles, as the Secretary of the Treasury shall from time to time determine. Each officer provided for in this section shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury under the classified civil service and shall receive compensation which shall be fixed from time to time pursuant to the classification, laws, as now or hereafter amended, except that the compensation may be fixed without regard to the numerical limitations on positions set forth in section 505 of the Classification Act of 1949, as amended (5 U. S. C. 1105).

SEC. 3. Abolition of functions. (a) There are hereby abolished the following functions, all of which were transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury by Reorganization Plan No. 26 of 1950:

(1) The functions prescribed for the collector of customs, the comptroller of customs, the surveyor of customs, and the appraiser of merchandise by section 3 of the Act of March 4, 1923, chapter 251, 42 Statutes 1453 (19 U. S. C. 7);

(2) The functions prescribed for the assistant collector of customs, the assistant comptroller of customs, the assistant surveyor of customs, and the

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