find that to a large extent appointments were made for political reasons. At the hearings, five district leaders. testified that to secure appointments they went, not to the comptroller, but to Senator Patrick H. McCarren, the head of the Democratic organization in Brooklyn. If the comptroller subsequently discovered that the men so appointed were qualified for their positions, the initial impulse leading to their appointment was supplied by McCarren. This was the chief complaint made by the Association-namely, that appointments had been made for political reasons. We believe that the testimony secured by the investigation proved the other charges of the Association, even though the State commission has taken the other view. Relatively speaking, however, this is a minor matter, for as the result of this investigation there will undoubtedly be considerable reduction in the number of exempt places in the comptroller's office, and a consequent diminution in their misuse for political purposes in the future.

The next two years should prove extremely fruitful for the Association. We hope to extend the scope of competition to the extreme limit set by the Constitution of our State-that is to say, wherever practicable, and we hope to make the civil service system in our State a model for other States to follow.

Mr. Fullerton L. Waldo submitted the report from the Civil Service Reform Association of Pennsylvania:

In so far as the metropolitan city of the state of Pennsylvania is concerned, the most unsatisfactory feature of the condition which confronts the Civil Service Reform Association of Pennsylvania is the attitude of the mayor and the civil service commissioners of Philadelphia toward the civil service law. The act of March 5, 1906, provides that "The persons appointed commissioners shall be men in full sympathy with the purposes of this act." A single concrete instance is sufficient to illustrate the fact that they have not scrupulously conformed to the provisions of the act. Section 15 of the Act says that provisional appointments in the competitive class "shall not continue for a longer period than three months, nor shall

successive temporary appointments be made to the same position under this provision." On December 20, 1907, Peter Carrigan was provisionally appointed assistant highway commissioner in charge of the 8th district at a salary of $2,500 per annum. He has since been examined three times, the last examination taking place on the morning of December 9. In the meantime, Mr. Carrigan's provisional appointment has been extended, so that it is now about a year since the date of the original appointment, instead of the three months by law allowed. It was after Mr. Carrigan's second failure to pass that the obliquities of William D. Earnest as chief examiner were discovered. Mr. Earnest was a survival of the Riter-Foss regime of even-handed and impartial dealing for all comers. He was a man of collegiate training and of Puritan conscientiousness and was therefore as obnoxious to "private-ear politicians" as Faithful was to the people of Vanity Fair. Mayor Reyburn framed up some ridiculous rubbish alleging Earnest's systematic discrimination against provisional appointees, and gave that out as a pretext to those of our members who inquired into the circumstances of Earnest's dismissal. There is not the slightest doubt that Earnest was officially decapitated because of his failure to allow Peter Carrigan to pass the examination for permanent appointment. The community is now awaiting with a considerable degree of interest the results of Peter Carrigan's third examination at the hands of Mr. Hoban, the new Chief Examiner. The civil service commission has just issued its second annual report for the year ending December 31, 1907, a compilation well edited, well indexed, and commendably complete. It contains a list of the "appointments made without civil service certification under soldier exemption," that is to say under the provision of Section 1 of the act of March 5, 1906, “That the provisions of this Act shall not apply to any soldier, sailor or marine honorably discharged from service in any war for the United States Government, nor to their widows or children." It appears from the

records of the commission that no fewer than 497 out of a total of 862 appointments in the competitive class during 1907 were made under this "soldier exemption" clause, that is to say, about 60%. To the great satisfaction of the Pennsylvania Association and the distinct discomfiture of the paramount political organization in Philadelphia, Judge William H. Staake in Court of Common Pleas No. 5, on November 14, 1908, handed down a decision which, like the shot fired by the embattled farmers at Concord, we hope has been heard around the world of our communal interests and sympathies as advocates of impartial examinations for all applicants. This decision was to the effect that "The proviso of Section 1 of the civil service act of March 5, 1906, P. L. 83, applicable to cities of the first class, which exempts soldiers, sailors and marines honorably discharged from service and their widows and children from the provisions of the Act, is in conflict with Article 3, Section 7 of the Constitution, forbidding the granting to any corporation, association or individual of any special or exclusive privilege or immunity,' in that members of the excepted class are relieved from the burdens imposed upon other applicants for appointments or advancement in the municipal service. The unconstitutionality of the proviso does not affect the other provision of the act, which remains complete and enforceable', after the proviso is expunged." This decision was published in full in the Legal Intelligencer of Philadelphia, of Friday, December 4, 1908. The proceedings, it will be remembered, had taken the form of a tax-payer's bill in equity to restrain the payment of salary to the son of an honorably discharged soldier who had served in the Spanish-American and Philippine Wars. The case will be appealed by the city.

At the convention of the League of Third Class Cities, in Altoona, August 26, it was unanimously resolved by the delegates present that the "merit system" in Pennsylvania should be extended to include the appointive offices of third class cities. A bill to

that effect has been drafted and was on Wednesday, December 16th, presented by the Secretary of the Association to the Law Committee of the League of Third Class Cities in session at Harrisburg. This draft incorporates the best features of similar legislation in other jurisdictions with the proviso that the Act shall be operative only in case the people themselves or their duly constituted representatives in councils elect to accept its provisions. The bill includes not the civil service of the third class cities merely, but the appointive offices of the state and the larger counties, and we are discussing with the State Educational Commission whether it shall or shall not include the teachers and other school officers and employees in this commonwealth. The separate provisions of the bill are by no means in their final form as yet, and will require recension and revision at various hands in order to make the bill applicable to the requirements of the several jurisdictions mentioned.

Mr. John A. Butler submitted the report from the Civil Service Reform Association of Wisconsin:

The first application of the merit system in Wisconsin was to the fire and police departments of Milwaukee and a group of the interior cities of the State. Some years afterward the appointments in the large force of the board of public works of Milwaukee were placed on the merit basis under a separate commission, called city service commission. Subsequently the merit system was applied to the State service, and a significant fact in the situation is the popular approval and support of the people in general. The State Association is at present investigating some emergency appointments by the mayor of Milwaukee which are believed to be illegal, i. e., the appointees have retained their positions far beyond the term provided for emergency appointments, at an expense to the taxpayers of thousands of dollars. The incumbents were presumably minor political "workers." The facts have not yet. been fully developed, but, as the mayor is a declared enemy of the merit system, we are justified in regarding the situation with suspicion.

It is not too much to say that Milwaukee is at present a storm center of reform sentiment. Twenty-five or more civic bodies are interested in progressive ideas, and are united in a central civic federation, the constitution of which contains a strong merit system clause. The prospective City Club will also be devoted to the principle of civil service reform, and the prospects of a thorough enforcement of the law are excellent. The law is well sustained by all the city departments except the board of public works, which, in some cases, is said to have rejected successive lists of three, refusing to make appointments until the men desired were reached. This situation will certainly be met by necessary legislation, and a removal rule similar to the old rule in the national service will also be adopted and fortified by an amendment to the law. With regard to the State law, I am glad to be able to say that it is well reinforced by public opinion. The politicians are against it, of course, and an effort may be made to curtail it in the next Legislature, but its integrity will surely be maintained. We have an excellent State commission and the law is well administered, so that the entire situation is encouraging.

Miss Marian C. Nichols submitted the report from the Women's Auxiliary to the Civil Service Association of Massachusetts:

As the strength of the Massachusetts Auxiliary lies largely in continuity of effort, along the same lines, we have again devoted our attention to work educational and legislative. Since our last report to the League over 56,000 pamphlets have been distributed to schools, libraries, and individuals. Of these 46,000 have been sent to grammar, high and normal schools. Requests for 30,000 copies of Miss Cary's admirable "Primer of the Civil Service and the Merit System" came from over 1,200 grammar schools, scattered in almost every State. The largest single orders were for 1,250 copies for 50 grammar schools in Seattle, and for 1,425 copies for 57 schools in Kansas City, Missouri. Though we limit the number of free copies to 25 to a school, we received within two weeks