St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-11-27
Gen. Rosecrans Not Impressed
With Competitive Exam
nations OF Clerks.
He Strongly Favors Rating
by a Monthly Record off,
Efficiency. Ya
Proposes an Increase Of the
Salaries Now Paid in His
Bureau. ~
Pension Estimates for 1893
Show Increase Of Over g
$3O,O0o,o00. ~

WASHINGTON. Nov. 26.-Gen. Rose
Grams has submitted his annual report
for the operations of the registrars OF
fee of the treasury. over which he pre-
sides. He says:
1.-The vaStneSS of the records and con-
Stantly increasing number OF tile gov
ernments fiscal transactions make nee
esSary some simple and effective way
of making examinations into them
and searching out cases. as library
requires catalogues, or the more recent
system Of index cards. A beginning OF
the work has been made, ten eXpend-
lures from 1873 to 1888 have been com
peted, so that any question as to eX-
penditureS propoupded to the depart
ment relating 10 that period can be
promptly answered. 1t will take
year longer to ascertain the amount OF
interest the government has paid oil Its
several loans since the foundation OF
the government"
Prefers tin e Monthly Record.
Onlthe question of civil service Gen.
/, RoSecrans strongly favors the system of
rating each clerk and standing by a
monthly record Of efficiency as provided
by the presidents order of Dec. 4, 1891.
He said:
competitive examinations for pro-
motion, as conducted in the two or
three head bureaus, have given very
unsatisfactory results. The public Serv-
ice does not, as prime qualities, demand
that the employees should be quick
Witted, of average Intelligence, able to
give pedagogic instruction Oh depart
ment and general matters. 1t requires
efficient clerlcala service. Therefore
the monthly record of efficiency is
greatly superior to the haphaZard re-
suits of the competitive examinations,
which requires no respect of chiefs or
subordinates in this Office. But the record
of efficiency only counts for twenty
per cent, while the competitive results
count 80 per cent. in sp ite of all their
defects from the chances of comparative
quality of opportunity sometimes ocea-
stoned by length of service and of eX-
elusive attention to Office work. 1t
would be vastly better for the service
and the
Competitive Examinations
to reverse the ratios and make the eff
cheney record count 50 per cent aud the
results of the examinations 20 per cent.
AT any rate the proper provision for the
exercise of the best Judgment of the re-
sponsiDle head officer i'll the matter
should be made" q
Registrar Rosecrans closes by saying:
''rhiS is one of the oldest as we'll as
Que Of the most responsible. bureaus in
this department, being c0-eXiStent with
the government itself, but the salaries
paid to the registrar, assistant registrar
and chief of departments are less than
those paid to such officers of other
bureaus, as will be seen by the tg-
ures given here. The registrars sal
airy is $4,000. assistant registrars
S2,250; that of chiefs of divisions, 50, 900.
This bureau has no chief clerk, and yet
there is as much necessity for such an
officer as exists in any other burea- of
the department. In part to correct this
inequality of pay, Irecommend that the
salary of the registrar shall be increased
to $1,000, that Of the assistant registrar
to So, 700, aud that of the chiefs of diyiS
ions TO s. 100 - gas