The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-09-05
Defeats Purpose, of Law,
How Applicants Fare.

Anybody who knows how the business
OF the commission is conducted knows
that nothing even resembling partizan-
snip is permitted: The civil service
examination papers of any As statement Mt
or suggestion which will disclose the
politics Of the applicant: This rule, it
is asserted, is strictly enforced, and the
person who violates it is. punished by
having his examination Cancelled. The
papers of all applicants are sent here
to Washington and are graded by
ing the politics Of. the authors. The
board is supposed to be wholly non-par-
tlzan, but, even if it were not, it is
asserted that it could not possibly Sc
cure any information regarding the
matter named. s.: 49,.
From the papers, as passed on by the
examiners, registers are, made up for
the various states and from these regis
tiers names are certified to the various
departments, as clerks are needed, in
the order Of the grade obtained. -.
,, Ii, therefore, a large proportion Of
the successful applicants from the south
are republicans, it is contended that
there has not been any partiality or par
tizanshlp. but merely that only repub-
Hcans, in large majority Of cases,
make themselves eligible for appoint
ment. @-.s
Southerners Grade Lower.
Altho the statement may seem a
broad one, it is, fact susceptible of
proof that the average ratings obtained
by competitors from southern states
are lower than those of applicants from
northern states. The reason for this
is near at hand. The democratic party
generally, it comprises the better in
telligence Of the community, the city or
the state. To put it another way, there
are more intelligent people among the
democrats of the south than, among the
republicans of the same section mot be-
Intelligence and politics, but because
the democratic party is the larger Of
the two, and because, moreover, a large
percentage Of the membership of, the
republican party is composed tof.. ne
groes of varying degrees of ignorance.
It seems evident, therefore, that if
democrats entered the lists for federal
Of eligibles from the south would be
raised and more democrats than repub-
licans would show up, with :$the requi-
site qualifications. Such change,sit is
| firmly believed, would be advantageous
all around. E.s5;Fs
The arrears of southern states, it. is
said, are partly due to the large mum
DO1 VI Cn1lS LII dAN ny PO-
writer's and for persons to fill positions
requiring technical qualifications. The
northern states furnish much larger
proportion Of eligibles having such
qualifications.
How the States Are Slow.
With view to bringing the quota
Of the south up to what it should be,
examinations for clerks and book
keepers were held turnout the south on
May 2 and 8. Nine hundred persons
were examined, of which 1853 took the
bookkeeper examination. OF the whole
number, 1874 were women, IL Of whom
| took the examination for bookkeeper.
The result Of the examinations was
encouraging to the members Of the
| civil-service. commission. for it added
342 names to the lists Of eligib1es for
! clerks and ~ to The registers for book
keepers. As calls are received for fill
| ing vacancies in any Of the de-
& u Z : - q