The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-18

The letter set forth at len gth the bases upon
which the appointments were held to be il
legal. They were all made without civil SER
vice examination. Section 2S7 OF the char
ter.was supposed to justify this by It's provision
that following tho consolidation Of the forces
of the different communities into the Police
Department OF the Greater New York. the
necessary officers to com plete the organiza-
ton of the new force should be picked from
those IT, the grade below. so that a Captain
was made an Inspector, an INSPECTOR was
made a Deputy Chief. this to go on until the
nothing of civil service, examination. and an
exception was supposed to have been made
for the special emergency Of reorganiz .tion,
without competitive examination in the cases
Of Inspector Kane and Deputy Chief Nc;
LauEhlin that the local Civil Service Board
called, a halt. Their pay is now held up until
illegal decision has been arrived at in their
The section OF the charter was read wrong
ly. the Civil Service Reform Association set
ton with the succeeding sections which sPe-
officially provide civil service rules for the de-
%partment. SO read. the mistake could never
officially provided FOR q lapse, Of the civil; ser
vice rules in the transfer to the greater city. it
would have been void. Section 8 of Article V.
of the State Con s~titution declares that AL APP
pointmentS and promotions In the civil SER
vice Of the State and OF the civil divisions
thereof. including cities shall he
d n.r2f "sf9 so faEas 30 p meFit are H throaG;6 To e Ge Sa-
nations. which. 80 far as practicable. shall be
The Police Board had decided how far CON-
petitive examinations were practicable by
making its W rules, and these rules. were
the case OF any of the officers above named
They were, therefore. illegally promoted. The
Treasurer was warned that under the charter.
the Civil Service act and the Penal Code he
was liable for every dollar he paid as Treas
urer on account OF their salaries from this
fima on and that hp nnI hfQ hnnIamAn would
be held to account. The letter was signed by
George McAneny. Secretary OF the Civil Ser
vice Reform Association.
Counsel sst s ssid Mr. i Hess HeS &i,ha a t%'ST WssEs,
my friends" But it was not a merry laugh
with which he passed the letter around among
Il di fG5I'eG a%eunt F to mG GS22n aRG Esss is; 1h tSai t
would be all right But VI. Hess Hes was plainly
Civil Service Reform Association took the step
after a long conference with Gov. Roosevelt.
about civil service laws. Secretary McAneny
won't up to Albany on purpose TO see him about
the on aT ai1e Of Fobr "a r. 'H and Pi f M TO Hf sss' Pay "T the
disputed, salaries. to begin q taxpayers suit
against himm at once; NH i. Mono
tions.=The board will not carry out its prom.
ise 10 Hugh Mclaughlin to make u number Of
go ahead, e5en under the advice Of the Cor
p%oration Counsel. until the snaGs now iq
TO be multiplied. Chief Deyery's, cass is not
has been left, SO i is said. TO be dealt with
OF the Civil Service Reform Association, was
appointed an Inspector Illegally as soon as the
department was organized. After some weeks
delay to see II any one would say auything, he
was appointed a DeputylNhlef by order of Rich
ard Croker. There never was any ~pretence
that that was not illegal. 1t was Ulainly a case
OF What are you going to do about it," Last
lv he was made Chief. The Chief Is not sub
Iect to civil service examination. lie is eX-
empt, and he may be appointed from among
the Captains. 1t has been held that this pos
Sibility throws n bridge across the gan of ille-
gality to solid ground for the Chief. He was
ut least legally Captain. But it is q pretty
shaky bridge. The question may yet come to
turn upon the technical point whether IL was
plain William $. DeveTy who was made Chief
or Deputy Chief William $. Devery, In which
latter case he omes-up0n.. 1.-THE list. OF Illegally
appointed officers. The minutes OF the Police
Department will be oyerhauled to decide 1t.
The last eight roundsmen on the list, eX-
Guiding Taylor, come directly under the con-
tention of the Civil Service Reform Association;
AZ TO the others. the point is perhaps not well
and never made permanent" by the board;
in their ease the office stands for promotion.
The whole question Of what the charter meant
by a permanent" rOundsman will likely
come up in the coming contention. III an ir-
reducible officer. then It is promotion; I a
mere detail. subject to the pleasure Of the
Chief, the legality OF their position cannot be
attacked,