Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1906-02-19
EDUCATIONAL MEN WOULD OMIT
TESTS OF FITNESS.
HEARING OF COMMISSION
State Board Listens to Reasons Ad-
Vanced for Taking University Reg
istrar and Architect Out of Compel
tive Glass, Also Scientists on State
Survey and Teachers Examiners.
Madison, Feb. 16.

The state civil service commission,
consisting of Professor Samuel E.
Sparkling, T. j. Cunningham and Otto
Gaffron, held a hearing in the senate
chamber yesterday on proposals to
exempt various positions from COM
petitive examinations. President Van
Hise of the university asked that the
university registrar and the university
architect be exempted from the appli-
cation of the civil service merit law,
Dean E. A. Birge, as director of the
state geological and natural history
survey, asked that the scientific staff
of the survey be. exempted and State
Superintendent Cary asked to have
the examiners for state teachers GER
tificates exempted.
President Van Hise argued that the
registrar of the university was a very
confidential official being secretary Of
the faculty and having to do with
confidential correspondence, and there
fore he ought not to be subjected to
a competitive examination. The pres
ident argued also that the university
architect was paid a salary of $4,000
year, was ranked as a full professor
of mathematics and that it would be
better for the university if the author
tiles were allowed to select their man
without reference to what the state
civil service commission did. The
greatest reason advanced for exempt
inc the position from the merit system
was that under the civil service stat
ute the applicants are confined to cit
liens of Wisconsin, and IL was stated
that the university did not want to be
confined to citizens Of the state of
Wisconsin in filling positions, especi-
ally the most important and desirable
ones. They desired to range all over
the United States or the whole world
and seek out the man they thought to
be the best, without being limited by
civil service rules or confined to the
citizens of the one state Of Wisconsin.
Milwaukee Men Object.
John R. Butler and J. GlenWay
Maxon of Milwaukee, representing the
state civil service reform league, ap-
peared and resisted the demand OF the
president with reference to
the position OF university architect.
They claimed that with respect to
technical positions it was exceedingly
practicable to give an examination OF
fitness and that it was in the spirit OF
the law to determine the question OF
fitness by competitive examinations
so far as possible. They were not
strenuous in resisting the exemption
of the office of registrar, on account OF
the confidential character of the du-
ties of that officer. They suggested,
however. that there was no immediate
necessity for the exemption of either
registrar or architect, as both posi-
tons were now satisfactorily filled,
and that whenever a vacancy should
develop in. either place the commission
might then take up the question in the
light of the situation as it should then
be presented.
Dean Birge was not disputed at all
in his presentation of the case Of the
state survey. He said that the state
appropriation was limited and that
the work was large; that the United
States survey and commercial enter
prises attracted the young men of fit
ness for this work far more than did
the work of the state survey and that
it would be impossible to get men to
take competitive examinations for the
less desirable positions in the state
survey, when better positions were
available constantly in the federal de-
partments and the commercial world
without examination.
State superintendent Cary said that
it would be impossible to maintain
the high character and standing OF
the state teachers examining board if
the men were compelled to take a
competitive examination.