New Britain herald., 1916-12-05
HOW CIVIL SERVICE
 WORKS IN THIS CITY
Mayor QuiSley Addresses Gather ing at Hotel Taft This Noon

to the police and fire departments in New Britain is a step in the right di- rection toward the elimination of pol
 itics and influence in securing ap- pointments was the theme of the ad-
 dress given by Mayor George A. Quig-
 ley this noon at the Hotel Taft in
 New Haven before the National Civil l Service Reform league. Ex-President William Howard Taft presided at the
 meet1ng.F In his talk Mayor Quigley brought forth the following salient points in favor of civil service. speak ing in part as follows:
 Tt is with a feeling of diffidence
 that l arise here today to speak upon civil service. I fear that I am not quallhed to speak upon this import ant question; that perhaps my under standing of civil service may be wrong and my few remarks be m1sconstrued, but I am interested in civil service be- cause I believe it tends to efficiency in government; because it's tendency is to encourage trained men to accept po litical positions who, under the po- | 1itical spells system, would not con- sider the acceptance of a political ap- | pointment. I believe in civil service because it eliminates the inefficient and drives out seventy-ive per cent. l of the favoritisnn, pull and politics so prevalent in political life.
 Cosmopolitan New Britain.
 '"Therefore, is Is my belief, how l ever incomplete my understanding or knowledge, that civil service which 1 does eliminate the inefficient is in the ] interest of good government. I am keen for good governme ent and there ] fore asked the common council of ! New Britain to put civil service into 1 effect in our police and fire depart l ments which they did We are con- l stantly preaching to our new citizens | that they must respect our municipal,
 state and national governments and yet what an exhibition we sometim es ] make of ourselves to these new citi- l zens with European ideas of govern | ment when we preach American 1 ideals. The city of New Britain is 1 perhaps as cosmopolitan as any city in | this great land and our problems are ! your problems. In one street in our city we have representatives from al- 1 most every country in the world, ex- 1 cept Japan, engaged in business. It 1 is probably the most cosmopolitan l street in the United States. We have l churches of all creeds and people of 1 all races. In the northern section of l the city, except in a few localities, English is not the tongue spoken. ''Our police department, dealing as 1 it does with all these races, must be | efficient and not merely department 1 in which to place deserving political 1 workers and their friends. It is not a l place to play politics or favoritism. It l is the of the government with l which laws must be enforced in ! an honest, intelligent, efficient man. l ner. Men charged with enforcing the ! laws must not have the thought that some political boss is responsible for ] their appointment and that they | must have a list of his friends so that 1 no offense will be given. I do not want | to infer from my remarks that New | Britain is in this position but in order
 that the police and fire departments l should be free from politics civil ser
 vice was introduced in these two de-
 partments. Civil service is not the | panacea for all our ills; it is, however,
 a step in the right direction.
 l Past and Present Compared. l "Previous to the introduction of civ l il service In these departm ents the
 board of public safety did the ap
 pointing as it pleased. Today it ap-
 points from an eligible list presented | by the civil service commission. Pre-
 viously appointments were made on 1 nationality and political lines, You | had to have a pull, friends with a | pull, and if the pull was strong | enough with the commissioner or 1 commissioners, you were pulled across l and got the job. Today any man can 1 take an examination before the civil l service commission and if he passes l the board he Is eligible.
 "Whlel it is true that the safety 1 board commissioners can play favor itism and politics with the eligible list l yet the fact remains that those on the | list are eligible and no matter whom 1 they appoint, from the list of the five l highest, which is the rule they ap l point a man who is capable of filling 1 the position. As an additional safe ! guard all appointm are made for 1 a probationary period of six months
 and if, in that period, the appointee fails to give satisfaction he Is dropped.
 Criticism Not Justified.
 "Whle there is some criticism of 1 mainly from lack of understanding or | from political sources. It is my hope l that civil service will be extended in
 New Britain and the spells system,
 which degrades ideals in government, | be done away with. Civil service, as
 I said before, is not the panacea for all ills but it helps and serves to en- r tighten and educate the people along | the lines of clean, honest, efficient government