The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1909-08-27
H. W. NORTH
FOR MAYOR
Is Strongest Candidate
in the Race, And Also
a Union Man.

| ticket. Mr.. North Is a member of the
local union of carpenters and a member
of the G. \. r.
In the near future, he will no doubt
state his policies to the public. Mr..
North has many strong supporters
among the aboring, business and pro
fessional men, and if elected, will give
the city clean cut business administra-
tiOn.
The Journal urges its readers to reg
lister early, and as this is a city cam
paign, to forget his party affiliations
and vote for the man.
with an election or controlling the result
thereof
No one has ever raised a protest
against such a rule as this, and no de-
cent citizen ever will For the Presi-
dent to require anything less than this
of the man under his control would be to
defeat the purpose of the civil service
law
OF course this refers, we may say eX-
cusively, to officeholders in the un-
classified service. 1t would be a rare
exception where classifid employe
would have any "offcal authority or
official influence" which he could use
for the purpose of interfering with an
election. If you could imagine a classi-
fled position that could be so used, the
offnse would undoubtedly be covered by
other rules.
So if there was to be any discrimina-
tion in regard to political activity, it
would seem that the abuse by uuclassi-
fled officeholders of their official in
fluence. might be considered reason
for forbidding them the right of po-
litical activity, but that there could be
no such reason in regard to the classi-
fled service
But Mr. Roosevelt has nominally de
MED the classified service political ac-
tivity, and actually punished them for
free speech. while he has mbmshingly
given permission to the unclassified
officeholders to indulge in political ac-
tivity to any extent short OF scandal.
Then he has the supreme inconsistency
to give as a reason for the discrimiua-
tion, the fact that positions in the class
flied service are permanent and EN-
ployes not dependent on political in
fluence for their Jobs, which fact is the
exact reason why no evil result can pos
sibly follow the political activity of
classified employees.
Language Is Misleading.
Right here we want to say that Mr..
Roosevelt's language in his different
declarations on this subject seems to be
purposely evasive and misleading. He
interchanges terms of different meaning
in most confusing way. After him
self pointing out the difference btween
the non political and permanent posi-
tions in the CLASSIFIED service, and the
temporary political appointments in the
/ hlNldSNtlitti Htt lNfs iN 'NlANihhtAAAN
treats the arguments used to show the
undesrability of letting the latter class
of officials become bosses of political
machines, as being applicable - the en-
tire service. He also creates needless
confusion by making his amendment
read as though it is a part of the origi-
nal rule. There is no connection what
ever between Mr. Cleveland's rule and
| Mr. Roosevet's amendment
The civil service commission in try
ing to explain the Roosevelt position,
also slip, perhaps mavoidably, into the
same Inconsistencies. This would be
come apparent if we had space TO quote
them at length, which in this article we
cannot do We wish, however, to call
attention to one glaring error which has
been encouraged by both Mr. Roosevelt
and the commission This is the idea
that the Roosevelt policy is simply a
continuation of, or supplementary to,
the policy laid down by Mr.. Cleveland.
4 The discrimination against classified
employees originated with Theodore
Roosevelt prior to his election TO the
Presidency, according to his own claim
made in his letter to the commission in
June, 1902: AS civil service com
missioner under Presidents Harrison
and Cleveland | personally
drew up the paragraph which YOU quote
This paragraph was drawn with a view
OF making a sharp line between the
activity allowed to public servants with
in the classified service and those with
out the classified service"
Whatever the time may have been al
which this civil service reformer con