The evening times., 1899-11-01

the departments for whom the examina
tions were held would make a temporar,
appointment. And it often happened tha
the temporary apointee failed to make thu
| average required to secure certificatioI
and was therefore not eligible for regular
appointment. This fact has often embar-
| rassed the Commission and the depart
| ments. In order to meet just such cases
Mr.. Server proposes plan by which list
Of eligibles can be named that would pos
sess every qualification that could be call
ed for by a department.
| The report continues: From the spe-
cial examinations which have been held
in the past it has been demonstrated that
| 1t is well nigh impossible to suggest any
| combination of peculiar and dissimilar
| qualifications that cannot be found, af er
| reasonable notice to the public, that per-
| sons possessing such qualifications ara de-
| sired for employment in the public ser
| vice at a reasonable compensation. 1t
would seem, therefore, that the Commits
sion might with profit establish a standard
Of general intelligence which could be
| considered as a preliminary test, and all
persons satisfactorily meeting such a re-
| quirement might then be given an oppor-
tunity to have their qualifications tested
along any lines Of work for which they
! consider themselves especially equippei.
"In order to make the most use OF the
| qualifications thus developed, the Com
| mission might retain the names OF all
persons of this character on its registe. .,
and eligible for certifcation. so long as e l.
gibiIity is continued, from any one of these
examinations. This plan would seem to
encourage persons with the greatest va
riety of ability to compete for positions in
the Government service. as they would be
enabled to obtain sd much better prospect
of employment by reason of the broader
qualifications which they might possess
and their greater versatility.
LAS an illustration of the plan which has
been SO briefly sketched, 1t is suggested
that for all positions requiring consid-
cradle degree of general intelligence, to-
gether with special training or experience.
the preliminary test might consist of the
present clerk examination. After that has
beeen successfully passed, the competitors
could then be permitted to qualify in any
of the different branches. such as book
keeping, stenography and typewriting.
higher mathematics. natural sciences
literature, history, languages, civil and me-
chanical engineering. different classes OF
drafting. law, medicine, veterinary science.
pedagogy. etc. II this plan were followed
and competitors given as much information
as possible in advance as to what qualifica-
tions might be in demand for the Govern
ment service, l am persuaded that the
Commission would soon be in possession Of
a supply OF eligibles whose qualifications
had been tested for nearly every variety Of
position for which acquisitions may be ex-
pected from the different departments. In
putting such a plan into execution the
widest latitude should be allowed TO appli
cants in order TO put the Commission In
the possession of as complete detailed
knowledge as possible Of the qualifications
they possess.
IF opportunity for examination were Of
fered at intervals. say, Of once or twice
year, see no reason why. in the course
of two or three years. the Commissions
registers should not be a vast storehouse
of information which would always be at
the disposal OF the heads Of departments in
their efforts to secure the ablest and best
qualified employees. While 1t would not af-
feet. to any extent, the ordinary examina-
tions for the postofhces. custom houses.
and for positions elsewhere below the grade
OF clerk. yet those examinations that are
the most expensive to prepare for and hold
would be provided for at the very minimum
of cost.
''It would appear that in some such man.
ner as here proposed the information con-
cerning persons desiring appointment can
be satisfactorily collected and made availa-
BILE, so as to promote the greatest ad-
vantage both to the service and the indi-
vidual."