United labor bulletin., 1913-03-27
Denver Trades Assembly
Sustain's Presidents Action
CONTINUED from page Il

estimating, were entirely ignored and
set aside for naught Now, in the mark
ings, was given 42.19 points on general
tests; 20 points on general experience
as a printer. and points on miscellane-
GUS questions, such as you, Mr.. Editor,
mention in your article of the goth ult-
imo. This totaled 68.19 per cent. as /
was officially notified. l should have
had S419 per cent.
Well, to be brief, / sent in my protest,
accompanied by seven specimens of esti-
mating, computing and tabular matter,
varying from a twelve-page booklet to
an eighty-page book of 1000 copies that
had been gotten up by experts III that
line of work throughout several eastern
cities and states, and requested re-
view.
On March 8, 1 was officially notified
that my papers had been reviewed and
considered by the commission, and was
given passing rating of 7419 per cent,
just six more points than at the original
rating. l am still deprived of ten points
to which / was justly entitled. l was
not informed as to just what test the
six points were allotted, but merely ad-
vised and congratulated upon the fact
of my passing, and told that was
placed eighth on the eligible list for ap-
pointment. l sent in a further protest
and demanded the additional ten points.
as no error occurred in the tabulating,
but merely a technical point raised that
| had used too simplified a form in my
system of tabulating, instead Of adhering
to the old style of complicated rule and
figure work. (Had adhered to the COM
plicated style, the work would cost at
least three times the amount OF the sim
plifed form) My second protest was
denied.
Now, Mr.. Editor, where is the justice
in bringing in an outsider and having
his assistance in making the ratings?
What are the commissions duties and
for what purpose is it constituted? If
it is not competent to pass judgment on
the modes, methods, ratings, ETC., where
in can the commission Judge Of my abil-
ity as a printer to compose an envelope
corner, or impose a forty-page form
two sixteens and an eight, saddle
stitched?
The civil service procedure as now in
vogue is somewhat of a farce, and ap-
plicants are not given strictly impair
tial, non-political examination. l was
not aware that was to~compete with
non-union labor, conditions, ETC., but
am now led to thus believe when l sur
vey the final outcome
The examination was too hurried,
blusterous, and crowded affair. As a
sample of some of the tests. take arith-
metic for example. We were given ten
problems to be worked out in full in 80
minutes, and one of these ran about
thus: -Four men enter into partner
ship; capital stock $1,000; each mans S
share is as /. 3. and 6: find each part
ner's interest in the business" Ten
such as these to be worked out in 35
minutes, and expected of men who had
not looked inside of an arithmetic book
in 35 years, 'Tis fine to know all this.
and work II out in an off-hand manner,
but what printer. who has devoted the
best part OF his life to the art of print
ing, can grasp ten such problems in 35
minutes? The writer mentioned this
test to an experienced everyday teacher
and he stated he would want at least
one and a half hours time for such
work Is such a system of civil service
just what the citizens of Colorado
thought was in vogue when they voted
for the law as IT now stands?
We mechanics who are classed as
-hewers of wood and drawers of water,
and are biblically commanded to "eat
bread by the sweat of our face" do not
wish to think that we are always to be
classed as such, and when an opportun-
ity seems to arise whereby we can SEEM
ingly better our position in life. we feel
deeply humiliated when such system
as the present Colorado civil service
law turns out to be rank farce,
Fraternally submitted.
WILL H. HEDLEY.
1882 Moncrief place.
Union label badges. ceIluIoid buttons.
metal novelties. Bastian Bros. Co. 31i