Evening star., 1902-09-12
Mr.. SHAN''S ORDER
commentsdR on. by a Civil
Service Advocate.
A GAIN FOR REFORM
SHOULD BE ADOPTED BY OTHER
DEPARTMENTS.
First Examination Should Demon
strate the Clerks Efficiency in All
Branches of Educational Tests.

| "The recent reported order of Secretary
| Shaw that clerks in the Treasury Depart
| ment who attain S5 per cent in their de-
| partmental examinations on promotions
| shall not be subjected to another examina-
ton for recurring promotion for period of
| five years, if the order be so understood, ls
distinct gain for the underlying principles
of civil service reform. and it is remarka-
| Bile that the practice in vogue in the de-
partment in question of requiring Sxamina-
tions upon promotion should have been per-
mitted to so long Obtain remarked we'll
known advocate of the classified service
this morning to a Star man.
This Treasury Department rule, to the
pest OF my belief, has not found favor in
the other departments unless in isolated
cases with which l am not familiar. At
any rate 1t does not prevail in most of the
departments. and the basis for not putting
IL IN universal practice in official life in
washington will at once become apparent
upon analysis ~......
Il believe in the ma intenance and the
permanency of the classified service in the
executive departments in this city and in
other branches of the government wherever
clerical forces are employed. But if there
is anything In the examination system
"hich forms the gate through which appli-
cants Join those on the inside of the breast
taken ought to be sufficient, and that the
other departments have not followed the
treasury rule confirms the point.
Mhen person passes the required eX-
aniinatlon and is duly qualified as a clerk
ms efnclency in English, arithmetic, SPELL
ing and other branches of educational tests
is thus demonstrated satisfactorily. If not,
ne fails to pass. The same Is true of the
special examinations such as for Stenogra-
pher and typewriter. To submit the clerk TO
examination along these same lines every
tlme ne Is advanced a mere grade and Sc
cures an increase In salary is cumulative
ana superlative, and of no additional bene-
III 10 the clerk nor to the service.
Points About the Classified Service.
THE weakness of such a system is fur
ther shown when it is considered that the
promotions are not open to all of the clerks
in the grade from which the promotion is
made Were this the case all clerks would
stand upon an equal footing. and an ex-
animation would be of some object and
benef1t, as 1t would be competitive and
an equal chance would be fairly given to
all to compete
Instead the chief of the division desig-
mated the erk~Who was to receive the
promotion, and this clerk took a non-com-
petitive examination, rarely falling The
clerk, as a matter of fact, had no more
aptitude or adaptab bility for his work than
ne had before he undertook the examina-
ton, and in most instances the charac cter
OF MS work was not even changed. 1t was
not like in the navy and the army where
higher rank and augmented RESPONSIBILITIES
attend the passing of an examination in all
instances. Clerks were often retained at
the same desk, yet promoted several times
w hefeln the practical value of such an eX-
animation lay was certainly problematicaI
under the circumstances, yet so strong is
precedent and red tape in the service that
this anomaly existed for years until done
away with by practical man at the head
of affairs.
THE old system was simply a cumber-
some eXemplification of the rule which al
lows the chief Of the division or the head
of a bureau to say that certain clerk or
clerks should receive preferment. Once a
clerks educational abilities are established
his value to the government depends upon
the quantity of knowledge he can absorb
regarding the duties he performs and of
the general work of his Office A clerk ex-
perienced in the clerical work of the gov
ernment can be thrown up against almost
any kind of new work and do it well, where
an outsider or new clerk would require
much instruction and consume much time
in mastering the details.
System of Promotions Discussed.
There is. and must necessarily remain
a divergence Of opinion to what consti-
tutes an equitable system of promotion in
so large a force as that employed in the
departments. The present system is that
this choice rests with the chief of the re-
spective divisions of the various bureaus.
A clerk who secures this choice is sure OF
quick or ultimate advancement, and clerk
who has it not is sure of remaining sta
tionary in his or her grade indefinitely
This is an incongruity which is SO ap-
parent that it needs little examination to |
attest its faults. Under it favortism Is
and may be exercised without the privilege
of word from the clerks discriminate ed
against, while bias and prejudice at the
hands of men who are not cannot be fair
is allowed full play. This method is the
outgrowth of the old spois system, which
placed this power OF recommendation in
the hands of the chiefs, and it has there |
remained, though the classified service has |
changed for the better many other fca-
lures of the management of clerks.
THE great difficulty in outlining and |
successfully carrying into operation a uni
form system OF promotion in the depart |
ments in Washington lies in the divergence |
of official views and the vast difference in |
the work per rsDrmed by the clerks. a clerk
at one desk may be engaged at intricate
work which calls for considerable ability, |
and the clerk at an adjoining desk occu-
pied by work very simple in it's characte er |
and such that any person at once per-
form. 1t may have taken the first clerk
years to have absorbed what he knows,
yet the second clerk will be receiving an
equal salary, and, in many instances, even
a greater one.
The Clerks Millennium.
The millennium in clerical life in Wash
irgton will come when a system will be
evolved which will take into consideration
the difference In sex, age, education, health
adaptability activity, sluggishness, length
of service temperament, past environment
knowledge of the work and a score of other
important elements which go to make up
the superior qualifications of one person on
| the pay rolls over another. Mere aptitude
in figures for instance does not signify that
one clerk is better than another, for a math-
ematician may beswoFthless on work that
requires an exercise Of Judgment and dis
NAV be passed dewn iaIl along the line Of
human endeavorI &c
uITndor the present system to he fr.,,,