The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08

ments at Washington and in the field ser vice. shall be made with the assistance of the United States civil service commits sion, under a system of registration to test the relative fitness of applicants for l appointment or employment. The system i Is competitive, and is open to all citizens of the United States qualified in respect , 10 age, physical ability. moral character, industry, and adaptability for manual la bor; except that in ease of veterans of the civil war the element of age is omitted | This system of appointment is distinct from the classified service and does not classify positions of mere laborer under i the civil service act and rules. Regula- tions in aid thereof have been put in oper- alton in several sof the departments and are being gradually extended in other E'rts of the service. The results have been very satlfactoEy, as extravaganza has been checked by decreasing the num- Der of unnecessary positions and by in- creasng the efficiency of the employees re- mainlng.
 Charities 1or District of Columbia.
 The congress as the result of thor ough investigation of the charities and reformatory institutions in the District of Columbia. by a joint select committee of the two houses which made it's report in March, 1898, created in the act approved June {. 1900, a board of charities for the 1lStilcl OL 0plullDid 10 cOnSlSl or i've residents of the district, appointed by the President of the United States. by and with the advice and consent of the sen- ate each fer term of three years. to serve without compensation President Mckinley appointed five men who had been active and prominent in the public charities of Washington. all of whom upon taking office July l. 1900. resigned from the different charities with which they had been connected. The members of the board have been reappointed in successive years. The board serves un- der the commissioners of the District of Columbia. The board gave it's first year 10 a careful and impartial study of the special problems before 1t. and has con tinued that study every year In the light of the best practice in public charities elsewhere. It's recommendations in its annual reports to the congress through the commissioners of the District of Col umbia flor the economical and efficient administration of the charities and re- formatories of the District of Columbia" as required by the act creating it. have been based upon the principles commend cd by the joint select committee of the congress in it's report of March, 1S9S and approved by the best administrators of public charities, and make for the de- sired systematiza ton and improvement of the affairs under It's supervision. They
  the congress.
 The Army.
 The effect of the laws providing gen eral staff for the army and for the more effective use of the national guard has been excellent. Great improvement has been made in the efficiency of our army in recent years. Such schools as those erected at Fort Beavenworth and Fort Riley and the institution of fall manenver
 
 good effect of these maneuvers upon the national guard is marked and ample ap propriation should be made to enable the guardsmen of the several states to share in the benefit. The government should ag soon as possible secure suitable perma- nent camp sites for military maneuVers in the various sections of the country. The service thereby rendered not only to the regular army. but to the national guard of the several states. will be so great as to repay many times over the relatively small expense. The only peo- pie who are contented with a system of promotion by mere seniority are those who are contented with the triumph of medlocrity over excellence. On the other hand a system which encouraged the ex- ercise of social or political favoritism in promotions would be even worse. But it would surely be easy to devise a method of promotion from grade to grade in which the opinion of the higher officers of the service upon the candidates should be decisive upon the standing and pro- motion of the latter. Just such system now obtains at West Point. The quality of each years work determines the stand ing of that years class, the man being dropped or graduated into the next class in the relative position which his military superiors decide to be warranted by his merit In other words, ability fidelity,
 
 determine the rank of a man ysar after year in West Point and his standing In the army when he graduates from West Point; but from that time on all effort to find which man is best or worst, and reward or punish him accordingly Is abandoned; no brilliancy, no amount of hard work no eagerness in the perform ance of duty, can advance him. and no slackness or indifference that falls short of a court-martlal offense can retard him. Until this system is changed we cannot hope that our officers will be of a high grade as we have q right to expect. con sidering the material upon which we draw Moreover when a man renders such service as Captain Pershing rem dered last spring in the Moro campaign. ii ought to be possible to reward him without at once jumping him to tho grade of brigadler general.
 The Navy.
 Shortly after the enunciaton of that famous principle of American foreign pol icy now known as the Monroe Doc trine," President Monroe, in a special message to congress on January 30 1921 spoke as follows: "The navy Is the arm from which our Government will always derive most aid in support of our rights. Every power engaged in war will know the strength of our naval power, the number of our ships of each class, their condition, and the promptitlde with which we may bring them into service and will pay due consideration to that ar gument." heartily congratulate the congress upon the steady progress in building up the American navy. We cannot afford a let-up in this great work To stand still means to go back. There should be no cessation in adding to the effective units of the fighting strength of the fleet. Mean- while the navy department and the off cers of the navy are doing well their part by providing constant service at sea under conditions akin to those of actual war fare. Our officers and enlisted men are learning to handle the battleships, eruis- ers' and torpedo beats with high eff ciency in fleet and squadron formations and the standard of marksmanship is being steadily raised The best work ashore is indispensable but the highest duty of a naval officer is to exercise conl- mand at sea.
 The establishment of a naval base in the Philippines ought not to be longer postponed. Such a base is desirable in time of peace; in time of war it would he iudtsDeD Sa blp. and it's 1a unuId bo ,,,ir