Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-12-05


 the world
 The Civil Service.
 The civil service law has been on the statute books for twenty-two years. Every president and vast majority of heads of departments who have been in office during that period have favor ed a gradual extension of the merit sys- tenn. The more thoroughly its princi- pies have been understood the greater has been the favor with which the law has been regarded by administrative officers. Any attempt to carry on the great executive departments of the government without this law would in evitably result in chaos. The civil serv- ice commissioners are doing excellent work, and their compensation is made quate considering the service they per form.
 The statement that the examinations are not practical in character is based on a misapprehension of the practice of the commission. The departments are invariably consulted as to the re- quirements desired and as to the char acter of questions that shall be asked. General invitations are frequently sent out to all heads of departments ask ing whether any changes in the scope or character of examinations are re- quired. In other words. the depart ments prescribe the requirements and the qualifications desired, and the civil service commission co-operates with them in securing persons with these qualifications and insuring open and impartial competition. In a large num- Der of examinations Jas, for example, those for trades positionsl there are no educational requirements whatever, and a person who can neither read nor write may pass with high average. Vacancies in the service are filled with reasonable expedition, and the ma chinery of the commission. which reaches every part of the country, is the best agency that has yet been de- vised for finding people with the most suitable qualifications for the various offices to be filled. Written competi- tive examinations do not make an nfdeal method for filling positions, but they do represent an immeasurable advance upon the ''spoils" method, under which outside politicians really make the ap- pointments nominally made by the ex- ecutive officers, the appointees being chosen by the politicians in question in the great majority of cases for req sons totally unconnected with the needs of the service or of the public.
 Statistics gathered by the census bu- reau show that the tenure of office in the government service does not differ materially from that enjoyed by em- ployees of large business corporations. members of the commission have call ed my attention to the fact that the rule requiring filing of charges and three days notice before an employee could be separated from the service for inefficiency has served no good pur- pose whatever, because that is not a matter upon which a hearing of the employee found to be, inefficient can be of any value. and in practice the rule providing for such notice and hearing has merely resulted in keeping in a certain number of incompetents because of the reluctance of heads of departments and bureau chiefs to go through the required procedure. Expe- rience has shown that this rule is who'll ly ineffective to save any man if a su- perior for improper reasons wishes to remove him and is mischieyous because it sometimes serves to keep in the serv- ice incompetent men not guilty of spe- ciic wrongdoing. Having these facts in view, the rule has been amended by providing that where the inefficiency or incapacity comes within the person al knowledge of the head of a depart ment the removal may be made with out notice, the reasons therefor being filed and made a record of the depart ment. The absolute right of removal rests where it always has rested, with the head of a department. Any limita- ton of this absolute right results in grave injury to the public service. The change Is merely one of procedure. II was much needed, and it is producing good results.
 The civil service law Is being ener- getically and impartialIy enforced, and in the large majority of cases com plaints of violations of either the law or rules are discovered to be unfOund- ed. In this respect this law compares very favorably with any other federal statute The question of politics in the appointment and retention of the men engaged in merely ministerial work has been practically eliminated in al most the entire field of government em- ployment covered by the civil service law. The action of the congress in pro viding the commission with it's own force instead of requiring it to rely on detailed clerks has been justified by the increased work done at a smaller cost to the government. I urge upon the congress a careful consideration of lbc EEEOAAAAFAAdlAVMS NoAtnAANn Ah tAS annual report of the commission.
 copyriaht Laws.
 Our copyright laws urgently need re- vision. They are imperfect in defni- ton, confused and inconsistent in ex- pression. They omit provision for many articles which under modern re productive processes are entitled to protection. They impose hardships upon the copyright proprietor which .-. ..z. ..s-s...a-f e. .L. fas. ,y-.ss~~fr~,