The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-01-25
island MEN
ARE N OFFICE
Porto RiCanS and HaWainS Sc
cure Appoints.
ARE ON SAME FOOTING
As Other EIigibIes Under
Prevailing Merit SYSTEM
ARE ON SAME FOOTING

1t had pat in a requisition for some clerks
to Mi vacancies, and the Civil-Service
Commission had informed it that If the
regular superintendent system were TO be
foliowed IN the new insular possessions
as well as on the mainland the next
certitications would come from Hawaii
and Porto Rico. To these islands the
civil-service law had been extended, with
other applicable laws, by the organic
acts establishing their respective govern
ments, and. as they had not previously
been drawn upon. it would require a
pretty active series of drafts to bring
their quotas abreast of other parts Of the
republic.
The prospect was fair that it would
take month or two to conclude ali the
rrelfminaries of certificatICn to and Sc
lection by the Department, notification of
the eligibles chosen, acceptance by them
and the time consumed in getting ready
and travelling from their homes 10 Wash
irgton. and installing them in their new
positions. But Assistant Secretary Allies
as chief of the personnel board of the
Treasury. argued that. as ir took several
weeks sometimes to bring an eligible from
q distant State or Territory within the
Union proper, mere question of time
ought not to be allowed TO operate
against the Hawaiian and Porto Ricans;
and that the best way to assure the
islanders that they were now really of
us as well as with us, would be to put
them upon the same footing with the
rest of our people in the civil service or
elsew here. So, with Secretary Shaw's
approval, he made his choice of eligibes
and the notifications went out forthwith.
With the Hawaiians there will be no diff
fcuifty in working into the service almost
anywhere, as they are English-speaking
Re rsons, and probably of Caucasion origin
the case of Porto Ricans little more
consideration was necessary. They were
natives of their island and took their
examinations in Spanish, and what Eng.
fish they know they have picked up as a
: foreign language. Their papers, however.
indicate that they are bright, and it is
believed that they will prove adaptable.
They will be set to work as sorters of
money orders in the Office Of the Auditor
of the Treasury for the Postoffice Depart
nent. Eventually. those who show the
right qualities will probably be put By
transfer where their knowledge of Span
fish or their acquaintance with insular
conditions can be made useful to the
Government
This incident alone. though it is prob
ably in line with the action of some
ether departments, gives the lie to a re-
cent newspaper illumination at San Juan,
p r., by one Manuel Romero Haxthaus
en- abusing the United States govern
rent and its civil-service commission for
having sent 4 commissioner down to
Porto Rico, held a civil-service examina
ton with a great flourish of trumpets.
End then disappointed the Porto Ricans
Who had gone into the competitive con-
test. by discriminating against them in
appointments. Senior Manuel del Vale.
ho regards facts as of more practical
value than rhetoric. has answered Hax-
thausen's outburst by citing the Official
figures to show that out of the l63 per-
sons who passed the examination referred
&c more than 30. many of them natives.
have already been appointed to positions
Under the federal government.
The efforts of civil-service reformers
now are directed tow ards the establish
ment Of a merit system for the insular
civil service Gov Hunt, during his re
&C Mt visit TO the United States, gave
them much encoura cement. Even with
{ ut a statute he has planted the be-
ginning of merit system. and what IS
x.eeded now is the direct and public sane
,tion of a law. The insular administration
has sent in a bill. over which the legis-
latiye assembly is now milling. approx
,imating the feieral system as nearly as
xsssible in the general lnsular and mn
ricipaI organizations of Porto Rico. IL is
understood here to be either the same.
or drawn on the lines of the bill proposed
by the National Civil-Service Reform
League, and drafted in part by the COM
mission here. Gov. Hunt believes that IT
IS safe TO pass.
The suggestion has been made that it
might stimulate interest in the bill to
have one OF the political partes-the Fed
eral or the Republican-espouse its cause
and push il. as our parties in the United
States push legislation to which they
are committed by their platforms. Per-
cons in Washington best acquainted with
conditions on the island question this
somewhat. Neither party is now very
favorabiy disposed towards any scheme
which threatens its own dominance when
sr power, and it is orly by earnest labor
that the insular administration has sue
eeeded in inducing both pars CO - go in
and contend by peaceful methods for
the mastery Henceforth. IL has been
the practice of the outs TO sulk and
exhaust their activities on mere abuse
Of the .-ins" At the last election. how
ever, though there was some rioting-
net as much as the sensational reports
n represented but enough to call for re-
euke-it was regarded. By those who
know the people. well. as hopeful sign
that so many citizens were really inter
csted IN politics and believed that thew
So,sld have a chance TO make themselves
agrd. If now that the legislative as ,
eeuahIy is so well divided between tie I.
nsn-ties The interest of enough lenders 4
ms both sides can be enlisted for tho +
support of the civil-service bill 20 carry II I
tAlroueh. il is thought thai the influence
or the victory will be better among the
tpecrle at large than il one party only
was able to claim a monopoly Of the
reform legislation.
A great deal OF importance attaches &c .
SAe success Of this movement For the \
preeent. ell the most resnon~ih'e admin I
Narrative officers on the island have 50 be 4
H1ied from the United States. The oc-
cupants hsve come well recore nded as
a rule Mr.. willoushby. who succeeds
Prof Hollander IF Jo1Hs HOPKINS Unit
serslty as Treasurer. was found for the
President BY Carroll d Wright: Mr.. Gar
ytson. the Auditor was Deputy Comp
troIler OF the United States Treasury for