New Britain herald., 1920-08-25
State Civil Service Commission Urges More Attention to PayrOllS
PRESENT SYSTEM TOO LOOSE
Ci,ii Service Law Has Been In Opera tion Long Enough tc Provo It's De- fccts and 1t should T,c Rcpcalcd or Changed According (" Eccommcnd- ations

stions.
 Hartford. Aug. s5.-The fifth bicn- nial report of the state civil service commission for the period from Oc- tober i, 1918. to July 1. 1920. submit ted today to Governor Holcomb. gives R list of commissions and departments under the law and those that are not. partially or wholly. and says tho present situation is indefensible and that there K no way to check frauds iu the expenditure of the states money. ft urges that proper and bus .inessiiko like methods be adopted to prevent overlapping of work and ac- tuai fraud and that the personnel should be limited in number to the needs of the state. Miss. Alico. R Fay Tor. tho secretary and Chief examiner of the commission. refers to the ab- Scnce Of departmental payrolls and the lack of stnndn rdization of sul- aries
 Miss Tnyior's Report.
 Tt is seen" says rne report, that the positins In the classified service were not to he determined by tho law or rules esta hiished hereunder. but solely by the will of either the elective officials or Of the governor. We have. therefore. the utterly indc- fenaibic system under which certain state departments commissions and officials arc exempted and certain otherH arc not exempted"
 After listing the state departments which como under the civil service law and those which arc partly or whlly exempted, thu report reads.
 system criticiycd.
 ''whatever may be said of the merits of the arguments pro and con. none can be advanced in support of the present system. which is inde- fensible. One result of marked inn portance Is that thcro s nowhere available at a particular time a com plete list of Inc persons on the pay. roll Of ths state so that payments Of th. states funds may be checked to 1,rovcnt fraud. Out or the total dis irursement made by the state during tho last fiscal year a very large amount was paid for salaries, and tho citizens ot Connecticut should he as- surcd by proper means that business like methods arc used. not only to prevent overlapping of work and actual fraud. but that the business Of the state Is being conducted as eco nbmicaiiy as possible with a personnel limited An number to its needs. Those ppwers need not he conferred upon q civil service commission hs at presnnt organized. but the problem tR really one of employment in the best inter est of the state and should ho han died by persons convorsant with em- ployment matters. There Is no par tlsan issue here. The principles should be acceptable to all thoughtful citizens. The present commission vryes this improvement in the changes as more than civil service reform; they will mean the installa- ton Of business principles in the gov crnment of the state.
 Law In Encct Some Time.
 The present civil service law has been In effect long enough to nake clearly apparent its inherent defects and we. therefore. renew our recom- mendation that the law he strength sned in accordance with this report and tho recommendation of the com mittee in 1918 or that it he repealed"
 Commissioners Serving.
 The civil service commissioners arc: John C. Brinsmnde. of Wash inEton. president: Hugh NJ. AIcorn. Of sgffield: William Rro smith. of Hart ford: Ulysses e. Church. of Water bury. and Thomas Hewes. of Farm ington. Mir Aicorn's term expires on September 1 and he recently asked Governor Holcomb not to reappoint him. giving as his reasons tho exist rnce of the asserted faults to which tho report refers.