Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-02-05
RESEARCH BUREAU
R[BUKES DIRECTOR
o,tment Head Warned Not
q Criticize the Civil Service
Commission Prematurely
INK BEFORE LEAP ADVISED

A.. of the city department heads
1ar NToyor Moore receives attention
ana, h. wcekly bulletin. issued today, OF
u Irroau of Municipal Research. in
.L .h,ch premature Criticism is re-
,.hod He is advised to look twice
1Storo YOU leap because OF his oppo-
V 'S.n to tbc Civil Service Commission S
'D ..aoss, that city employees be pro
pvr .od in order of merit as determined
ss .' compctitivc examination.
The bulletin says;
~ ;s neither fair nor convincing for
.,. nrblc official to criticize pro-
.,s If thc Civil Service Commission
,.foro he has had an opportunity OF
,bserving their results
A Word Of Caution
oro every new public official we
,,a Give the counsel look before
,on loan' To those new public Of
so.,s who find some of the restraints
Il civil service regulations tribe lrk
.nn and who feel impelled to enter at
.oo unon war of emancipation we
aon,d mass on the word of caution
".ol twice before you leap. The
..orit system is too well established in
mJ, nnhl;c sympathy and has too long a
po""rJ pu~,rJ If successful operation to be
nsl.p .ss;ly attacked and ovcrtbrown.
"orc of our new city officials has
rocontly come out in opposition to the
nronosal of the Civil Service Commls-
s;on that city employees should be, pro
rotcd in the order of merit as deter
mined mined by competitive promotion ex-
animation. limited choice being per
m;ttod from among those having the
highest rating His argument was that
on employees fitness for promotion can
So % determined better by his superior
hon by a civil service examination.
An Old Story
"strangr as it may seem, there is
Nothing at all novel either in the pro-
nOsoi of thc Civil Service Commission
AZ in the argume It of the protesting new
oeEcial Wherever an effort has been
r,odo n insure to the young men and
women of the community an opportunity
for A career in the public service, rule
similar 70 the one proposed by the Phila .
donhia Civil Service Commission has
bepn adoptcd. In such cities as New
York. Chicago. Buffalo, San Francisco
and Cleveland. and in such states as
Ohio. New Jersey, New York and Call
forpia the employees in the service are
given reasonable assurance that pro
motion will be according to merit by a
rule recurring that when an appointing
officer wants TO make promotion he
must select one of the three persons
whose names stand highest on the list of
efgibles. As for the objection that an
examining board is not as capable OF
picking out the best qualified men as is
The amounting officer himself, we can
find it stated and reStated in every
variety Of form in the utterances of
spoils politicians in every community
where the merit system has, ever been
considered. Had this objection been
permitted to prevail wherever it has
been raised. we should still be as com
pletely in the grip Of the spoils regime,
with all its attendant evils, as we were
act was adopted in this country in 1883.
Let's Judge After the Evidence
'"It would be we'll. too. for this new
official who has made his protest
against the new promotion rule to wait
until he has au opportunity of observ-
ing its results. He Lay find the pro
motion examination a much better in
strument of selection than he ever
dreamed it to be. AS matter of fact,
the promotion rule in effect in Phila =
delphia during a considerable period just
prior to 1916 was essentially the same
as the one now under consideration. and
the results during that period appear
to have been highly satisfactory. There
seems TO be no good reason for antici-
pating less satisfactory results should
this rule be re established at the pres
ent time.
The Commissions Opportunity
-, 1T is true that the merit system.
!!iHe every other human system, may
Oe poorly administered and thus fail
snort OF its highest possibilities. We
must look to the Civil Service Commits
son to make the system produce the
pest results of which it is capable. At
!Ae same time it should not be over
l9oXed that no Civil Service Commits
sSil HGn has yet achieved all of the posi- =
ollltieS inherent in the system. In
he past there has been q little too
llucn emphasis on the negative side
VI evil service administration and not
enough emphasis on the positive side.
Lle SlVll Service Commission can and
sIould become to the city government
Naat a well organized employment de :
partment is TO private business. con =
cern' II can and should become much
Iere OF positive aid to administrative
Mlla MgIaclals than it has been in the past.
Inc new civil service law carries out
ne spirit OF this new viewpoint by i'm
posing upon the commission important
giuues that We're not required by the
lormer law. 1t is now up to the new
members of the Civil Service Commits
son TO develop to the full the oppor :
ulnitles for constructive service along
employment lines that the new law has
opened to them.
ine Administrative Officials Duty
l3e least that the administrative
Tymeldls oil the city can do in making
;a ;e employment work of the Civil Serv :
~e COMMISSION success is to give the
.UmulSslon chance to work out its
UMa policies in its own way and Ia
, ma,nnold criticism until those policies
may Dc judged by their results"
Gloucester Fire Chief Hurt