The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-22

asked to restore the original reading of
 the charter and a public hearing was
 held on the subject, no one was willing
 to appear as the author of the obnox- ious clause.
 While laws are necessary, they are
 worth little without the backing of
 public opinion. It would be better,
 perhaps, if no laws on the subject were
 necessary, and there are countries in
 which people cannot understand that a man can be so base as to use a public
 office for his private benefit An off, cial with whom the speaker conversed
 in Switzerland last year and who asked
 what there was to prevent him from
 appointing lis own fife ds to office, said
 with evident surprise, Why, if I did
 such a thing as that, I should never be elected again.
 | It is because the women of the coun- ] try have the training of the next gene
 ration and in that way instill the prin- ciples which are to leaven the public
 opinion of the future, that it seems pc
 cuiarly fitting for them to study the
 subject of civil service reform, which,
 however elaborate the legal machinery
 Ufldl may p6 neceSSdIy lO tdIIy It | through, is in itself as simple as the eighth commandment
 Following Professor Farnam, George
 McAneny, secretary of the National
 Civil Service Reform league, addressed
 the associa tion. His subject was.
 Civil Service Reform in the United
 States; Past Achievements and Future
 Prospects, Opportunities" He said last
 nights session was unique in the his
 tory of the federation, it being the first
 time the male sex had an opportunity
 to monopolize it's platform. He spoke of
 the work being done by the federations in New York and Massachusetts, and
 took up the movement throughout the country, especially in it's relation to the federal government, from it's inception to the present time. He said that President Madison once said that pres ident who would remove a person from office for political reasons could be im- peached from office, But afterwards came Jackson, with new ideas pertain ing to the appointments to and remov- als from office. With the convention system of nomination came the spells system. Appointments to office were made as payments for ante-election work and this finally led up to numer- our rings which were many at the close of the civil war and a shame and scandal to our government. There was the whisky ring in Washington and the Tweed ring in New York Tweed said that until a scheme of appointments to office supplanted the spells system it was useless to hope for reform. The first national civil service reform act was signed by General Grant in 1871. George William Curtis was appointed chairman of the commission, but he too much at the beginning. 1 Things dragged along until the assas- sination of Garfield. This was the di- rect result of disappointment in seeking office Public attention was again | aroused and new civil service laws were passed by large majorities in both | houses of congress without much de- I bate Many of these laws are still in force He then gave a very simple | explanat ton of the methods of the na- tional civil service board. He thought | many people had very wrong impress sion of what civil service reform really | s It is entirely erroneous to suppose that a candidate for clerkship was expected to translate Latin and Greek pr that a day laborer was expected to pass an examination in arithmetic. On the contrary, candidates were examin- ed as to their fitness for the office to which they aspire. In some cases the examination was physical, in others mental, but in all cases character was he final test. The methods in the va ,ious departments were touched upon The registration system is in force at he Brooklyn navy yard and also at he government gun factory in Wash ngton. It is hoped that the service will soon be extended to the consular service and to executive appointments. The prospects for the future were bright and much will no doubt be real zed under the administration of Presi- lent Roosevelt.
 The last speaker of the evening was Richard A. Dana, secretary of the Mas Civil Service Reform asso- iation and president of the Cambridge association. His subject, Civil Ser ice Reform and the Boss System in Politics." His address follows: