The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-04-14
CITIZENS LEAGUE SENDS
 CIRCULAR TO VOTERS
Continued from First Page.l ;

work.
 We are satisfied that, while the pe-
 lice force is on the whole made up of
 men of good quality, they are discour-
 aged by the authorities from putting
 forth their best efforts, and that the
 efficiency of the force has been under
 mined by the political methods and
 practices of Mayor Studley.
 We believe that the police and fire departments should be divorced from
 politics, and that the good men who compose the greater part of these forces Ishould be encouraged by promotions for
 merit instead of by political pull.
 l SecCnd-The Civil Service Board lThe system of appointment by merit has been embodied in the city charter, lin the establishment of this board.
 Under Mayor Farnsworth and under Mayor Driscoll this board did its work Il without reference to politics. Under Mayor Studley the terms of the city charter in reference to civil service have been violated. Impartiality and fair play in the examinations and ap-
 pointments have been set aside for pei itics.
 
 action of the civil service board in 1904 with regard to the secretaryship. When
 this position was filled under Mayor
 Farnswort administration a regular
 civil service examination was held.
 Under Mayor Studley the appointment
 was first made without any examina-
 tion whatever. After the corporation
 counsel of the city had decided that
 this mode of appointment was illegal
 an examination was tardily. held and live applicants passed it. The exanlira-
 tion was so easy as not fairly to test
 the qualifications required for a posi-
 tion of so much importance, yet the
 original appointee of the board passed
 at the foot e the list. Though the
 the boards own test showed him to be the lest qualified of the five men apply ing TOT the position, lie was given the II disappointment, and no reason was ever given out for prefe. 'als him tc the four men who passed with higher
 marks. It was, however, wel! known tthat he was an empioye of the reeog- Inize leader of powerful pclitiCal fac ton, and was also the chairman of the campaign committee of his ward. Many other cases of laxity and parti- I lality have occurred since that time, l and have been brought to the attention | of the mayor without receiving any 1 consideration from him.
 l The effect of bringing politics into the 1 lcivil service b9ald has been to so lower I it's efficiency that t has shown itself | Iunable to properly test applicants for | lpositions in the public library. As a i consequence proposal is now before I the legislature to take toe examination l lof candidates for these positions from l lthe civil service board and turn it over Sto the library board. Thus the public l library, which is one of the most bene- 1 ficial instruments of popular education | in the city, has found itself actually I ihampered in it's work by the inefficiency l Iof the present civil service board Mayor Studley has justified us ill hold
 ling him accountable for this state of I things, not only by his failure to cor I rect the abuses complained of, but also l by his reappointment this winter of one l lof the members of the board responsi- 1 ble for these abuses. .. I Third-The b9ard of finance, which is | universally conGeded to, be the strong | est safeguard of the city charter to the taxpayer has under Mayor Studley's
 administrations been manipulated by
 the mayor for political purposes. May
 or Studley was the sponsor of the bill,
 passed by the general assembly of 1903,
 which enlarged this board and gave the
 mayor the power to appoint three ad-
 ditional members of the board By
 ...A,. ,1.
 tained control of this board. His poll
 icy in the board of finance has resulted in the withdrawal from the board of
 able business men who had served the
 city faithfully and we'll, and who, by
 their long experience, had become val
 uable counsellors in the board. ss.
 Mayor Studleys adherents have call-
 led attention to the retiring of city
 bonds as an illustration of his financial |. policy. The facts are that the city ? Icharter requires orle-half to one mill on , the grand list to be. appropriated annu- , Ially to the sinking fund for the retire. a ment of bonds. This is compulsory. r lThe board of finance, before it's en- I tlargement, voted annually an appro- lpriation of ninety-five thousand dollars, - or substantially one mill on the grand f list, for this purpose but Mayor Stud f Hey has been consistently opposed to F 1setting aside this amount and at one 1, time refused to sign the estimates of f the year because the board would not t reduce this appropriation. Whatever e. reduction there has been in the. city's r indebtedness through the sinking fund l has been due to the provisions of the p law and the determined stand of the . board of finance, in spite of Mayor
 Studley's opposition.
 s Under the new form of the board, , giving the mayor through his appoint f ments, practical control, We cannot hope for the same determined stand against unwise financial policies. For 5 the present year the appropriation for the sinking fund, the retirement of city notes and meeting deficits is sixty thousand dollars less than in 1903, and
 forty-five thousand dollars less than in , 1904. We are satisfied that Mayor Sud- ley's policy compels the city to negoti-
 ate increased loans in anticipation of
 taxes, and thereby bear the unneces-
 sary burden of interest on the amounts | bNrrpwod fTba 4ay' ra a has also beaYY