Legislative Messages of Hon. James V. Allred, Governor of Texas 1935-1939 Page: 242 of 263
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-243
The
important thing, of course, is that the Land Commissioner must be
a man of unquestioned integrity and ability. Any board established by the.
Legislature must largely depend and rely upon him.
There is no occasion, however, for the creation of any new board carrying
with it new employees. It seems to me that the matter could be handled
very simply by requiring approval of the State Board of Mineral Develop'ment
(which is composed of the Governor, the Chairman of the Railroad
Commission and the Land Commissioner) to all leases made by the
Land Commissioner. The Attorney General would also make a splendid
member of such a board since, from the very beginning, he has been regarded
as the people's representative.
I caution you to proceed carefully in the enactment of any complicated
land law legislation. Our statutes on the subject are elaborate enough
and have been construed by the courts. Oftentimes when needed reforms
are sought, such as the one now desired by the people requiring divided
responsibility in land leasing, there are those who would take advantage
of the situation and seek to hamstring the State.
I think this new legislation should by all means authorize the sale of
leases at public auction as well as by sealed bid. The experience of The
University of Texas in auction sales of Texas lands has conclusively demonstrated
that competition is keener and far better prices are obtained
through this method of sale.
CIVIL SERVICE
One of the greatest handicaps to modern government is the constant
drain and demand made upon all our public officials by requests and recommendations
for employment. I have personally experienced it as Governor.
I have talked with other State officials and heads of departments.
I have had repeated complaints from members of the Legislature who say
that their time is taken up by requests for endorsements.
From the moment a governor, or other State official, is nominated until
after all his appointments have been made, 90%/( of his time is taken
up in interviewing people seeking employment or desiring to endorse others
for employment. These applicants are not to be condemned. It is the
natural thing to do under our system of government. Nevertheless,
public officials are compelled by political necessities and the requirements
of common courtesy to interview applicants, sometimes into the late hours
of the night. As a result, these public officials are unable to attend to
pressing problems of government and oftentimes find it impossible to
even discuss these problems with members of the Legislature.
The official involved has no means of checking abilities or qualifications
of the applicants. Every official .or legislator with whom I have discussed
the matter agree with me that something ought to be done about it.
There is one answer, and one answer only! Some form of civil service
for State employment should be required.
Applicants for employment should first go to a central agency within
the department and the applicant should be subjected to examination to
aetermine qualifications, character, etc. This would relieve the public
officials involved and, in my opinion, result in securing more efficient help
in the departments of State government. I, therefore, recommend early
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Allred, James V. Legislative Messages of Hon. James V. Allred, Governor of Texas 1935-1939, book, 1939; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth3899/m1/242/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .