Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-01
THE MAYOR UNDER ARREST
We Shall Soon Know Whether the Civil
Service Law Means Anything or Not

'"' 'N"' 'F'
MAGISTRATE CARSON showed
greater respect for the dignity Of
the office of Mayor than was shown by
the Mayor himself when hes went to the
Mayors office accompanied by a con
stable to serve the warrant for Mr..
Smiths arrest.
The Magistrate thus saved the city
the humiliation of the spectacle of its
chief executive officer going through the
streets in the custody of a constable to
give bail in court.
But he could not save the city the
humiliation of the arrest of the Mayor.
many humiliations that have been
heaped upon Philadelphia since Thomas
B. Smith took the oath Of Office.
He is accused of a misdemeanor in
~favorite to a position protected by the
civil service laws. If he has been inno-
cent, as we hope, for the sake of the
city, he may be able to prove himself to
DSs wv IL HS luh pNNh = loCh, ht
would have made an instant demand
that there be a full and fair investiga-
ton of all the facts connected with the
case and he would have FASTENED to dis
close the whole record. Instead he has
taken refuge behind his technical rights
and he apparently plans to fight the in
quiry with all the resources of the law
as interpreted by skillful counsel.
His alleged offense is not
in this city. Our political organization
leaders, who make the laws, have no re-
spect for their creations. They interpret
them to suit the eXigencies Of their po-
litical desires. No finer illustration Of
this disposition has been afforded than
the announcement last spring that Sena-
tor Penrose, one of the Town Meeting
leaders Of last fall, was not to be allowed
to vote in the Republican primaries be-
cause he had voted the Town Meeting
ticket, but that all the rank and file of
the Republicans who voted the Town
Meeting ticket would be welcome to the
NCPNuiiNdll Pi lid lSS' NHu ~ SdutlS
cited the law which would keep Penrose
out, and made so bold as to say that it
would be disregarded when it came to the
hitler men!
What is the civil service law which the
Mayor is charged with disregarding? 1t
is found in Chapter S3 of the laws Of
1906. That law provides that when there
is a vacancy to be filled by appointment
in the service covered by the statute an
examination shall be held and at least
four eligibles "shall' be certified to the
appointing power. The only exception
is when some one is needed at once to
fill a vacancy. Then a special examina-
ton may be given to a single candi-
date, who may be appointed to hold
Office until a list of at least four eligibles
can be secured, from which the perma-
nent appointee is to be selected. Who
ever violates this law is guilty of a mis-
demeanor.
The Mayor is charged with coercing
the Recreation Board into appointing the
sole man on the eligible list and with
inducing the Civil Service Commission to
arrange such an examination as the
man whom the Mayor desired to have
appointed could pass. The Recreation
Board protested against appointing the
man and insisted that a list of four
eligibles be submitted in accordance with
tnp law The nroteStinU mapobare ,,.ara
summarily removed and complaisant men
were named in their place and these
new men appointed the Mayors candi-
date.
This is the state of facts as set forth
in the affidavit on the strength of which
the warrant for the arrest of the Mayor
was issued. And this is the law which
the Mayor is said to have violated. Yet
his counsel is reported as saying that he
is guilty of no offense which justifes the
issue of a warrant. His counsel may be
right. But whether it is right or wrong.
the Mayor is guilty of an outrageous
violation of the purpose and intent of all
the civil service laws because he has
used the Civil Service Commission in
securing the appointment of a political
f~avorite to a well-paid office. 1t was the
intention of the law to reach Just such
an ~offense. We shall soon know whether
it actually does reach it.
It is pertinent to remember just now