Putnam patriot., 1924-01-18

and In the employment which they pro vide they are the backbone of our com
 nunities. l. Is these industrial com munities which provide the markets for the produce Of the farms Of the state Rural Connecticut has an in- terest in the prosperity of the manu- farfuriHe concerns in the cities and other centers Of population It has been demonstrated time and again that Che manufacturers of Connecticut require protective tariff to enable them ta compete with the products ot cheap labor iH foreign countries. Free trade would be the death knel of Con aeefiegts industrial prosperity his fact can be proven by the prastiea.i experience of manufacturers. Prest- dent Mckinley stood firmly. and with out apology. for the policy Of fr9tec- ton On one occasion he said n speech ip Hartford If the Mehin= Icy bIii is not F protection measure then if does not carry out the intention of it's author IL is gratifying to see evidence of the fact that the kepubil- can party will emphasize the import ance of protective tarlH n thls years campaign They will find that many Democrats will be sympathetl- caliy responsive to the emphasis. protective tariff, that will protect, is more necessary today than ever be- fore German made goods are food ing the markets in America, as they are in England. The flooding Is, in q great measure, responsible for unem- pIaYmeut in England The same causes will produce the same effects h this country. and, particularly, in a manufacturing state like Connecticut The Republicans of this state will pag the greatest possible honor to Me Kinley by pr0eiaimiHg. resolutely and without falter to uphold hss cardinal principle of protecting American in- dustries bg q protective tariff.
 Prof. Farnum Retires
 Does the retirement of Professor Henry \. FarnHm. of New Haven, from the presidency of the state civil service reform association. mean that be Will be no longer active in the work 8f promoting its purpuse3 Every one would regret to see in his retire mrut from the ehairmaHshIP evidence If the abatement af hts enthusiasm Tor etNfI service reform II Is one of his ideals and however imptaetieahle f may seem to others. he continues to advocate the merit system ln the eiEh service 6f the state with a per lHteaee which even the opponents of the sss= tem admire. By the way, the term
 merit ystem E more eurhenlaus
 HH ezHHa iaa than accurate in lis et= feet The experience which the state ha had with civil service reform shows that the term may easily he Hisanulled There does not seem ta ha any doubt that at the next session of fhe general assembly aH effort and strong aHe tun. wili be made ta re= store the la2 that was repealed lu 1Hzf# t8 fhe statute books af the state. That laW 0as tried for years and found wanting k Was an absolute failure as a means af improving the civil service af the state or of demon sfraliHg fhe benefits If the merit zEs= fam. Various reasons have been gIkeu faf its failure bs the apelagists af the svatem. and for the purpose of show Inr that there was nothing inherently
 2fane in if The reasons are plaust- bic enough as theories. but they have carried little weight as 8H argument
 when met with the evidence of praeti- cal experience The law thut was wiped oH the statute books in 1921 had zau existence for eight years and its only accomplishment was to add to the already overloaded pay roll of the state and tu create confusion m de nartnents IL interfered with the au- tharltY af those who were responsible fur the work done by departments without inerea sing the efficiency of the sabardinaies. Heretofore the bugbear nf che refermers has been the intlu- ence of politics tn the filling of posi- tions. There IS very little of that in iuence in evidence now The Repuh- Hcaus have been in control of the ex- oeUtNe offices and departments of the etate government for ten years with the result that about one=half of the employees vote the Democratic ticket