What are the qualifications of the more responsible and more or less permanent professional and technical officials on our federal regulatory commissions? In seeking an answer to this question, data were collected concerning 500 federal officials drawn from the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Power Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The commissioners themselves were not considered.

Where possible, the records of all staff members receiving $5,000 or more a year were examined. This could not be done on every commission, however. The Federal Trade Commission answers were confined to about 80 of the higher administrative and professional employees. In order to get a larger group, a lower salary limit was adopted for the Federal Power Commission.