The Detroit times., 1911-01-20
n SERVICE FOR !.
|DH0OL TEACHERS
uuits System should Be Extended
. include Them, W. D. Foulks
Tells Board Of Commerce.

me guest Oh honoI ~ the DooiN W
cmmerce luncheon In the Hotel Tul
~. Thursday noon. was William bud
~ Foulke. OF Richmond, Ind, one
~ the most prominent writers and
1Doakers on the subject Of civil ser
t1oe. Levi l. Barbour. president OF
- municipal civil service commits.
1nn. introduced Mr.. Foulke. He
noko briefly upon the aims OF the
nntroif commission, which Is just be-
"a organized. In introducing Mr..
Xonlke, Mr.. Barbour told OF his work
- the United States civil service COM
nission.
Mr.. Foulke spoke in part as follows:
Detroit A. TO be congratulated upon
The Specific and drastic character OF
1he civil service amendment 10 It's
1hartei. Generally the provisions OF
n|lS civil service law are general ana
~H1ue leaving a wide discretion To
- 0nicipal officers. IL you had state
( &omnission In Michigan IL would lie
letter still TO put the city civil ssrv a..
General supervision OF that body But,
Having none, you have made the best
arrengement practicable.
The provision for an unpaid commls-
o{on il also a good one. A higher class
"a men can be secured without COM
mountfon than could be upon the low
nlafy that would have TO be allotted
rs srch ar, office. An appeal to pubic
.opirit rarely fails TO call out citizens
~ standing and patriotism who Will
|1eyote their very best EFFORTS 10 mu
nicipal service from the pure sense OF
1Ofy.j These you can get, two from
zach party. with the mayor TO decide
IN case Of tie. The restriction, too,
the mayors Th e1~s are si oniS three
causes for thfs--incompetency, neglect
'ox duty and malfesance. and the COM
missioner whose removal Is sougnt rs
entitled to a hearing. The reasons
must be reported. All these steps, with
their attendant publicity. will measur-
ably protect the commissioners against
arbitrary or capricious removals Tor
Dorsonal or political reasons. IL would
~ hard to substitute any other plan
such as removal by Judgment OF a
Seonvs Mnssn s0s and nd dangers.
Your provisions for promotion are
a. advance of the system now prevail
<nG In most OF the federal departments,
nut Il will be found that In the future
ever these provisions can be improv-
al The National Civil Service Re-
form league is endeavoring to insti-
tute new system providing that mere
increases OF salary when the duties OF
The position remain the same, shall be
6otermined by efficiency records. These
xecords have now been c aeye.ope1 G Ghin
cago and New York and the system In
ko9h places Is well worth study. But
promotion from one position to an
other where the duties are different,
can IL Is believed. best be determined
byh competitive examination and pro-
bation In the new grade
Your civil service commission might
provide in it's rules Tor
u0ch efficiency records and examina-
lions and require that the reasons for
Dnch promotions by the appointing Of
Ter should conform TO such regula-
r..
a Your list OF excepted places Is still
Inreer than IL ought TO be and larger
<hsn Il will finally become. Teachers
nd other employees of the board OF
nducation can well be selected by COM
cetitfve methods and the deputy or as
snf;o can w aithousS he may o tem n
<orIly perform the duties Of the head
- q department Still IL may be bet
|1ef Tor you not TO go too fast and these
|13ceptions may be eliminated hereaf-
have always found that the best
results I'm regard TO the discharges OF
men from the classified service are not
1anched when there are too many re-
&frfcfions placed around the appoint
INK officer. II is of course, only fair
that the man whom Ii Is proposed to
S7ncharge shall know the reasons and
~ permitted to answer them. but the
ur0vfsion that the civil service commits
on shall investigate and pass upon
Les the head OF department I'm max
InG removal where he ought to have
= Tree hand. He will. in general. not
<nake removals arbitrarily where he
~ no discretion In filing the place
0k the man removed. while the knowl-
1dGe that his action may be investi-
r1{ed and reversed by the commission
Will often deter him from making re-
Unovals that ought to be made. Under
your law the commissioner will have to
>xorcise great care not 10 paralyze his
D0wer except in the most clear and
Urgent cases. There are far more bad
men retained than good men dischara-
81. even where the power of removal
~ discretionary. e
4 On the whole, your law Is an admir-
nb1e one and the foregoing criticisms
re not made to discredit II. but TO
@oint out some OF the pitfalls which
may still lie I'm the path OF those who
are seeking to enforce ii.