The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-29
Editor, Waterbury, Democrat, Waterbury, Conn.

Weterbufy, conn,
 Comments by MT. Fitzpatrick in The Democrat, regarding the ap- p0intment of Executive Secretary Smith of the Connecticut Merit system Association, Incorporated, bear out what Is being privately widely discussed throughout the state. Also, editorial expression that coalition government" in Connecticut is against the tradi' tionally.followed democratic way of life is amply sustained, But, while Governor Baldwin tells his New York audience that "coali- ton" in politics Is taboo" he gives clear indication that this is mere talk. Ills action in formng Q coalition government" with his Republican administration and the Merit System Association admin. astration is irrefutably clear-cut evidence. Tn fact, coalition gov- ernment" has existed in this state since the inception of the Merit Act, because of the nature of the super" domination attached to it's function. It is evident that few people have any understanding whatever of the Spirit" and "principal" of the Merit system. To begin with the system" cares little if anything for the Spirit" or "principle' behind the Merit Act. This is self-evident by the disruptive politics brought Into creation. According to the poli- tical record, the Democratic strength in the state legislature originally stood 20 to o against its induction Into the state structure. It is difficult to coincide this with the ultimate 0 to 20 result of their final decision. What influences were brought to bear to bring about this amazing political turn about-face? The offhand ex- planation Is that the Democratic senate believed that the house of representatives would turn 1t down. The latter Republicans dominated body passed 1t Into law, claiming 1t did not want to as- sume responsibility either way, which they wished the Democrats to shoulder. So Q political com- promise or "coalition' resulted, with both assuming responsibility. During its program, brought to frUtion by Horace Dutton Taft, after he had been converted by Robert Johnson, ex-head of the National Civil Service Reform league, public attention was
 "StFategic Bait"
 4 red herring in the claim of the merit system of being able to create greater efficiency" and lower state government costs with economy" was 6 strategic bait" To date, approximately one-third of . million dollars has been handed over in appropriations for the merit system administration, and the latest example of hand- ing over @ @4,b00 yearly post to the paid lobbyist of the Merit Association Is too plain for words to taxpayers. The merit system is not real civil service. The latter provides pay increases for in- creased length of service, and provides Q pension system upon duration. It also provides surety pS employment. The merit system Aoes none of those things. The case of the motor vehicle snspec- tors, still pending, is public evi- dence. Although frozen in" and placed on the unemployment" list when appropriations were dee nied for their salaries, they were cast aside for a merit system po- litical coalition" with the Re- publican administration, at least as far as the governor was con- cerned. Newcomers now have their jobs.
 An editorial in the Waterbury Republican of May 27 titled "The Democratic Way" says in part: "We love our freedom so strong Iy that we are not willing to toss at permanently aside in the inter- est of efficiency. We may be sarned to do so for . short time