Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-05-18
CIVIL BOARD BEARS
ROOSEVELT STAMP
His Term, Devoted to Work
for Merit System, Ended
80 Years Ago.
BY WILLIAM C. DEMING.

BY WILLIAM c. DEMING.
President United States Civil Service Com
mission
Thirty years ago this month, the
SIX years service as United States !
civil service commissioner of Theo- |
dore Roosevelt ended.
Roosevelt entered upon his duties
as civil service commissioner in @ |
characteristic way. He burst into the
commissions building and fired this +,
Volley at one of the employees:
Il am the new civil service COM
missioner, Theodore Roosevelt of New
ork. Have you a telephone handy? |
Call up the Ebbitt House. l have an
appointment with Mr.. Blank. Say j
VIII be there at 10 o'clock"
Roosevelt's service of six years was
vigorous defense and constructive
effort in behalf of the merit system of
employment in public Offices.
civil service reform is not merely
a movement to better the public serv
Ice, said Mr.. Roosevelt in an article
in Scribner's Magazine in 1895. 1T
achieves this end, too; but it's main
| purpose is to raise the tone of public
| ilte, and 1t is in this direction that its
effects have been of incalculable good
! TO the whole community"
| I'm his six years of service" said
| Henry Cabot Lodge. speaking of Roose-
Neit, he gave to the civil service law
! reality and a vitality which it never
! possessed before, and a position of
| strength to the commission which it
| has never lost since"
| The force of the commission itself
was all chosen through competitive
| examinations, Roosevelt said on one
| occasion, "and it includes men of
every party and from every section
| OF the country; and | do not believe
| that in any public or private office of
the size it would be possible to find q
| more honest, efficient, and coherent
| body Of workers"
Share i'm Tribute.
Twenty men and women still with
| the Civil Service Commission are en-
titled to share in this tribute
| One of them is now a civil service
! commissioner himself - George r.
| Wales. Another has been secretary of
! the commission for many years-Dr.
John T. Doyle. Three are chiefs of
| diyision-Dr. Thomas A. Griffin, DIR.
! Thomas =. Chapman, and Henry A.
! Hesse. Two are district secretaries
DIR. Bolivar L. Falconer at Boston and
| Charles l.. Snyder at San Francisco.
| All of the others hold positions of
| Importance in the commissions Or
| ganiZation. Every one of them had
! humble beginning. Their advancement
! has been an eXemplification of the
practical application of the merit sys
| TEN at its fountainhead, Of honest
| effort honestly rewarded.
In its Washington office and its
field offices the Civil Service Commits
| sion has 469 employees. Only five of
| ftcers in the organization are ap
| pointed ough nomination by the
| Presiden. md confirmation by the
| Senate. These are the three members
of the commission, the chief examiner
and the secretary. Like Commission
| er Wales and Secretary Doyle, the
chief examiner, Herbert A. Filler.
| came up from the ranks. Every other
key position in the organization is in
| Guided in the competitive classified
| service and has been filled through
| promotion on merit.
Vivian Carlson, assistant chief of
1 the certification section; Elizabeth
| Downing, disbursinis officer; Caroline
! |. Griesheimer, a special examiner;
| Guy Moffett who re represents the COM
mission as alternate member of the
Personnel Classification Board; Laura
! j.. Tracy, assistant chief of the exam
lining division; Anna Z. Black, in
! charge of the information bureau;
! Kenneth c. Vipond. assistant chief eX-
! aminer and budget officer; James G.
! dOen, CIlleI OIL I16 OIL
vision; Lewis II. Fisher. superintend-
| ent of the field force, and Herbert l..
! Morgan, director of information and
recruiting, began their public service
| either with the Civil Service Commits
| sion or with some other branch of
! the Government at the bottom rung
| of the ladder, as did also District Sec
| retaries Henry c. Coles at New York,
| Stewart Wilson at Philadelphia. Law
AL I
Earhart at Cincinnati, James V.
| Swanson at Chicago, Joseph NJ. Shoe
| maker at st. Paul. Ballard H. Clemv
! mons at st. Louis, Edward H. Jen-
| nings at New Orleans. Charles w.
| Paine at Seattle and John G.. fletcher
! at Denver.
!, William c. Hull. clerk to the COM
misSionerS, started as a messenger
boy.
Served From Beginning.
! Three of the Commissioner present
employees, DR.. Doyle, secretary; Mat
thew Halloran, cantact representative,
and AnaniaS Davis, messenger, have
served the Commission ever since the
| Civil Service law was passed in 1888.
/ Men and women alike have been
awarded for faithful and efficient SER
vice. The result is seen in har-
monious, loyal and Woodworking force
throughout the organization. This
stable institution, built on merit alone,
is an example of what a business or
ganization may be when worth is rec.
| ognized.
/ What has been accomplished by
these men and women in the office of
the Civil Service Commission can be
accomplished in any other branch of
the classified Civil Rervice of the
United States, it is declared. The Gov
eminent service offers a wide field of
opportunity where individual tastes
may be developed and where real con-
structive work may be done. l could
fill a good-siZed volume with brief bio
graphical sketches of former messen-
ger boys, minor clerks and scientific
assistants who are now holding inpor-
tant administrative and professional
positions in the Federal Civil Service.
| The subordinates of one generation
are the executives of the next. The
employees in private business today
may be the proprietors tomorrow. The
same principle of promotion, the same
outlook and opportunity, are found in
Uncle Sans civilian army.