Arizona republican., 1920-06-02

their two accomplices were jailed for attempting it. the practice continued with disturbing frequency. Use of pic lures put a stop to it at once.
 Preparation and correction of tests for several hundred kinds of posi- tions, ranging from crop expert to messenger boy, keeps 75 people busy al the federal job headquarters. Besides. these regular employees, university professors and government OFFICIALS assist in planning some of the tech nical quizzes.
 Practically all of the thousands Of people who swarm in and out of the government buildings at Washington. and the larger part of those who serve Uncle Sam in the field captured then jobs under the merit system. Tn some cases a long written ordeal lasting two or three days was required; in others | only the candidates statements as to l his experience, training and physical l condition.
 In exact figures. 425.O0O out of the | 650,O0 government employees are in l the classified service, appointed by | examination. The rest are presiden- tial appointments and laborers- most | ly laborers.
 Preside ntiaI Appointments l The presidential appointments are | in the main a relic of the old patron l age system. For years, the Civil Ser vice functioned under the old motto ' ITO the victors belong the spells. l Every time a presidential adminiStra- tion ended the greater part of the | government force packed it's trunks | and gave way to friends of the new
 regime. The cost of continually train ing new employees was obviously tre- mendous, and only the fact that ef- ficiency had not been discovered kept some of the bureaus from succumbins
 to a lack of it.
 But gradually the presidents signed
 away their powers of appointment, | until now trifIing 15.O0O of the gov | ernment jobs are at the disposal of the i chief executive. Of these. some 12.- 900 are postmasters of the first, sec
 ond and third classes. There is no law regulating the method by which
 a president shall select his nominees.
 MT. Wilson decreed that his post
 master appointments should be made
 through competitive examination. | thereby increasing the efficiency ot
 the postal service to 8 marked degree
 Of the remaining presidential ap- pointments, several hundred are heads
 of bureaus and commissions and sim , liar positions of importance. It i. generally conceded that the preSi- dent can get the best results from 2 cabinet in sympathy with his admins ! tration. But when it comes to the heads and sub-heads of bureaus there is a growing feeling that a soul at tuned to that of the chief executive i. ) less important than a knowledge of tn, work that particular bureau does. ] Since examinations have been re quired of diplomatic and consulai agents and of postmasters, these chief f and superintendents are about the las stronghold of the spells system. Tn . reclassification commission is ex
 pected to use it's influence to urg advancement of experienced employe
 to the high grades, according to meriI
 If outside appointments to these DO
 sitions continue, it might be a prof
 table experiment. to require of tn
 chiefs at least a simple mental alert
 ness test It would be a comfortin
 thought for the people of the countr,
 to know that the executives as well a
 the clerks of their government hal
 had their brains certified by the Civi 1 Service commission.