The San Francisco call., 1899-12-05
DISCUSSION ON THE NEW CHARTER.
Attorney Attorney Clement
of the Civil Service

and resignation will some time complete
the work.
article XIII which it is not SO, easy TO
get over. Section u, already referred TO-
says: .,o,.o &, the
CLASSIFIED civil service of the city and
county who shall have been aPpolh1sse'u
under said rules shall be removed or dls-
charged except for cause, upon "TIt'Sn tn Sn
charges and after an opportunity, 10 DC
heard in his own defense. 49,,
This establishes permanent tenureLthe
life and soul OF civil service REFORM, wiz e.
out which, indeed. merit and htness eN-
aminations are unnecessary and useless
expense. But when Mr. clement loOH oDH
this section from the New foTk laI Hn az
pasted IL up he evidently oVerlooheu sST
fion Is of article Xxx OF the State consu-
when the term of any officer or com
missioner is not provided for in TINS con
stitution the term of such officer or COM
missioner may be declared by law dlu -
not so declared, such officer or COZ, nff,
sioner shall hold his position as suSh @ oiIi
Ger or commissioner during the PleeSu..
of the authority making the appolnIiin.IfIlikSS;
BUT IN NO CASE SHALL THE Ihf'M
EXCEED FOUR YEARS ,, 49,,
Are persons examined or appointed !i uh-
der civil service rules in municipalities
''officers' within the meaning OF TINS sec
ton? IL so, section u OF article Alll VI
the new charter is unconstitutional.
III Mr.. Clement will consult the case OF OF
People VS.. Perry C79 Cal. lOol ne VIII HLlu e
nre,ne rre lo' Tomrt decision: fThe members Of
the Board of Health of the city ana
county of San Francisco are oa,tds oIntttls
within the meaning OF article M: sectTOn aol
is. of the constitution; and statute hX-
ing their term OF office at nVe years ~ .q III
constitutional, and leaves the durau4Sn i4n
of the term unfixed and subject 10 Ine
pleasure of the Governor, who may ap-
point an incumbent at any time. -,
The constitution OF 1873 (secuoh {, AZ IL,
Gle KID provided that when the duration
of any office is not provided for by thls
constitution il may be declared by laW'
and II not so declared II shall be held dur
ing the pleasure of the authority making
the appointment; nor shall the duratioh
of any office not fixed by this constitution
ever exceed four years" 49,,
Chief Justice Murray. in People VS.. Hill
q Cal. 90 construed this section (Which,
as we have seen, Is substantially repro
duced in the present constitution as fol.
will be found that the word duration. sig
nifes extent. limit or time. When. there
fore. the time OF holding is not fixed the
tenure of the Office is AT the pleasure OF
the appointing power. The power Of re-
movai cannot be divested or taken away
except by limiting the term"
The. word term" is used in the present
constitution instead Of the word .dura-
ton" Webster's Dictionary defines
term" as follows: "In law, a limit; the
whole time or duration OF an estate"
In the case OF Vaugn VS.. English rs Cal.
40), Justice Terry thus defined an officer:
1.-The term officer, in it's common accepta-
tion, is sufficiently comprehensive 10 in
clude all persons in any public station
or employment conferred by govern
ment."
II thus appearing that section 16 of ar
ticle Xxx Of the constitution applies 10
all Officers" of the city and county Of
San Francisco TO be appointed under the
civil service rules. and that. therefore.
none of them can hold for longer term
than four years, il may be asked how
Mr.. Clement proposes to enforce civil ser
vice reform at the City Hall. II the
practical politicians are 10 be allowed 10
scramble for the offices once in four years
instead of once in two, as at present. in
what respect are their morals 10 be i'm
proved and the Government benefited?
VIII Mr.. Clement please inform the
large number Of civil service reformers
in this city who are not looking for Of
flee why he did not neutralze this con-
stitutional Limitation on terms of public
employment by providing for the reap
pointment every four years of those who
passed the examinations? This could
have been done. Why was II not done2
AS article XIII stands, ii is manifestly
airy in a body and retains them indeh-
nitely. or at least until the officials who
appoint them retire from office. The con-
stitution limits the terms OF all appointees
under. civil service rules TO four years.
thus taking the very pith out Of the whole
The article, however. will serve one very
useful and beneficient purpose. II Will
provide three Civil Service Commissioners
with comfortable places at 500 a month
each, and give a chief examiner, clerk
and a bailiff a chance to earn a good
living at doing nothing. If II is godlike
TO care for the needy, the civil service
reformers who have placed their faith
in Mr.. Clements work ought to be happy
in the thought that they have at least
thrown the mantle of charity over a few
more tax eaters. Very respectfully,
GEORGE ID. SQUIRES.
San Francisco. December l, 1899.