Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-08
AIDS SKILLED LABOR
Presidents Order Classifying
Navy Yard Employees.
ALL PARTIES SATISFIED
Machinists' Union Officials Believe
Improvements Will Result.
CONTINUES THE MERIT SYSTEM
Navy Department Explains That
Result Is Emancipation From Po-
1itical or Personal Coercion.

Announcement of the Presidents order
covering all skilled laborers in the vari-
GUS navy yards of the country into the
classified service, printed in The Evening
Star last night. was received with appro-
baton at the Washington navy yard.
Officers and employees. without excep-
tion declared yesterday afternoon that
the order will prove beneficial to all the
employees included in the order. Rear
Admiral Beatty, commandant at the navy
yard. in the absence Of copy of the
Presidents order. declined to discuss the
matter in an official way. but expressed
satisfaction at the action of the Presi-
dent
Officials Of the machinists' union. which
has a strong local at the navy yard.
stated that the order will not affect the
status of members of the union, and ex-
pressed the belief that the replacing of
skilled laborers in the classified service
will result in improvements of certain
conditions that formerly have proved
detrimental to the men who will be
affected by the order.
Navy Department View.
In an official. statement in regard to
the new navy yard order issued yester-
day at the Navy Department it is stated:
This order has the effect Of giving to
navy yard mechanics the status they
were regarded as having from November
2, 1896, to July g. 1909. 1t continues the
merit system of appointments prescribed
by an act approved May %, 1872. requir-
ing that labor shall be employed in the
several navy yards by the proper officers
in charge with reference to skill and eff
ticiency and without regard to other con-
siderations. The general orders based
upon this law were combined into order
issued under date OF November ], 1884.
which. with slight modification, has re-
manned in force.
THE regulations obtained in this order
were revised November It, 1895, and the
civil service commission July %, 1885,
adopted them under authority conferred
by the civil service rules. for the reason
that they had been found useful and 1t
was important that they should be given
stability independent of changes Of ad-
minstration. and as 1t appeared that ex-
aminations and other tests of fitness pro-
vided by these regulations were based on
the principle that personal fitness should
prevail over recommendation, and that pO-
litical influence should be dtsregarded.
Confirmed by President Cleveland.
president Cleveland confirmed this ac-
ton by an executive order of November
%, 1885, which directed that no modifica-
| ton of the existing regulations should be
made without approval of the civil serv-
ice commission. 1t will thus be seen that
the merit system of appointment at navy
yards antedates the civil service act, and
that for years 1t was believed classical
ton had been accomplished.
I'm 1908 the Navy Department and the
civil service commission designated rep
resentatives to consider the amendment
of the navy yard regulations. and their
labors made it desirable to obtain an
opinion of the Attorney General upon
certain questions. In an, opinion of July
g. 1909, the Attorney General held that
persons appointed under the regulations
had not been classified, but could be clas-
sified by the President by modifying or
revoking the navy yard regulations.
Since that time representatives deSig-
mated by the Secretary of the Navy and
der consideration appropriate modifica
at navy yards should again be classified.
Examinations Competitive.
1.-The new regulations provide for COM
petitive examination. and that district
secretaries of the civil service commission
shall be members of the various labor
boards. They will afford employees clas-
sifed hereunder the protection of the
civil service act, of other statutes re-
lating to the classified service and Of the