New-York tribune., 1896-11-27
A CIVIL SERVICE MAN NOW.
WHAT EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT CON-
MISSIONER NIsSEN.
WHEN APPOINTED LAST JANUARY HE WAS scEP-
TIcAL ABOUT THE CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM bOi

,,,co Ieforrn in th,s State special interest at
taches to the opinions on the civil oe'
system Of a man who Is familiar win ''s P'a'.
tical workings In Brooklyn through MS oin''"'
connection with it, and who. when tha' co",
nection was formed few months ago. was HUI
a firm believer in Civil Service reform az popu-
larly understood. When Ludwig Nisseh was
appointed one Of the Civil Service Commission
ers Of Brooklyn last January. there was d" ii'-
preston in some minds that he was piaceo Oh
the Commission In order to look cut especially
for the interests OF Mayor Wurster. so far as
that body was concerned He was known to
be personal friend Of the Mayor OF many
years standing. and ne was not known to be
an ardent believer in the system he was SET u
administer.
Mr. Nissen now candidy admits that he en-
tered on his duties with some misgivings and
with some doubts as to the wisdom of practical
Civil Service reform but he has become sound
" converted" as one Of his friends remarked
the other day. and 1t is safe to say that there
is no more ardent Civil Service man in Brook
lyn.
Commissioner Nissen has given close atten-
ton to the work Of the Commission since ne
became a member Of IT, The office is an non
orary one, in the sense that no Salary is at
tached to it. but it is by no means sinecure.
To attend to the duties properly requires
good deal of time but they can be attended 10
out Of regular business hours. as rule
Three or four meetings Of the Commission are
held every month. a general thing, at
O'Clock in the afternoon. but Mr. Nissen mas
found 1t necessary since he became one OF 'ts
members TO give fully half Of his evenings to
official work. and. besides. every now ana 'hen
he spends an hour or SO II the forenoon look
cials This is something of tax on busy
man. and all the members Of the Commission
are busy men
NO MISGIVINGS NOW.
Commissioner Nissen was at his office In
New-York by a representative Of The TRIBUNE
within a day or two. and expressed his willing
ness to set before the readers Of this journal
the views on Civil Service Reform which he
holds after ten months experience as Com
missioner.
when I accepted my appointment as men,
ber of the Civil Service Commission" he said,
"I had many msgivings lest should he unable
to make a strict performance Of duty consistent
with my views on Civil Service matters. had
believed with many other people who have not
fairly looked into the question. that there was
considerable humbug about Civil Service Re-
form. and that the system was being eXten-
sively used for the protection and promotion OF
political favorites But I told my friends at
the time that If Civil Service Reform was
fake woulA try to help correct 1t. and. fall
ing In that I would resign my office. l nave
got bravely over my misgivings. and / Will
frankly say that. in my opinion. no honest man
can make study Of the subject in all It's va
rious bearings upon public and political morals
without the result of making him conscien-
If fr1,a and
Civil Service Reform
THE RAID WILL NOT SUCCEED.
what do you think Of the threatened attack
on the system. of which there has been consid-
erable talk lately?" was asked
Mr. Nissen replied with emphasis: Il do not
think the intended raid on the Civil Service sys-
tenn viii succeed. There seems to be a strong
sentiment among the people in favor OF
STRENGTHENING rather than weakening the pres
ent method Of making appointments to minor
public Offices And. as a matter Of fact. II needs
10 be strengthened materially In order TO purify
the political atmosphere. In my Judgment. pat
ronaee Is the curse of our whole political system.
Does anybody suppose. for instance. that many
Of the present unscrupuous so-called leaders OF
the respective parties could maintain their hold
,,pon their followers II IT were not for the pat
ronage they control?
Take away from them the possibility Of bar
tering away the public honor by placing unfit.
irresponsible and dishonest men In public office.
and they would soon have to relax their grip
upon those who carry primaries and elections
for them: and then the people would cut loose
from the Shylocks that now in so many instances
lead them, and place at the helm OF the snip or
politics men of ability and integrity. and OF suf-
cient loyalty to principle to prevent them from
t.nt,rx <an
tions and parties which are now so common.
Patronage does strengthen the irresponsible
boss or leader but 1t always hurts the party
that has il to bestow. for II Is patronage that
creates factions, and facuonaTsm invariably
drives a party to the wall.
DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION.
"Thc public official who takes decided stand
against Civil Service reform. in the present tenn
per OF the people, is doomed to political destruc-
tion. We have lately seen several demonstra-
tions Of that fact. and hope we shall see many
more OF them in the near future There are. no
doubt some incongruites in the present system
of selecting men for office. but they should be got
rid of by perfecting the system, ins'ea1 az OF sell
ting II aside for something worse. There are
also perhaps. some irregularities committed In
the name Of Civil Service reform. But we know
there are crimes committed IN the name Oh re-
iieton but religion. is not abandoned on that ac-
count"
Justice KeOgh. Commissioner Nissen SAID tnat.
no matter which way 1t was decided. 1t would
doubtless be made a test case and be carried up
to the Court Of Appeals. He recognized that
there were some qualities which could not be de-
termined by examinations--such qualities. for
example as honesty and adaptability for the du-
ties OF the Office TO be filled Nevertheless he be-
lieyed fully in the provision Of the Constitution
that competitive examinations should be held
wherever practicable. He believed that any at
tempt to defeat the purpose Of such examina-
tions by having them held by heads Of depart
ments or by permitting appointing officers to
appoint any one whose name appeared on an
eligible list instead Of making his selections
from the three standing highest. would arouse
strong popular indignation and certainly be de-