closing the streets, as is necessary in repairing the service pipes. They are common laborers who respond to the call of the water department in emergencies, although not steadily employed by them. It is very much to the interest of the department to continue their employment when needed; but it would seem to be impossible under the provisions of the statute. The same is true of laborers in the street department. Some understand how to lay a crosswalk in a first-class manner, and are given that work to do when such services are needed, yet they are common laborers. The fact is, that in this city the amount of work to be done was so much greater than the number of available men to do it that at times it would have been impossible for this commission to have furnished the various departments with sufficient names of laborers to carry on the works which had been started. In fact, even though the various departments had free access to all labor, still they were handicapped by the shortage of available men, and under such circumstances this commission is of the opinion that the enforcement of the statute will at times seriously interfere with an economical administration of the affairs of the city without imparting to the laboring class any corresponding benefits. There is appended hereto a copy of the roster of the city employees, including the laborers, so far as they have registered, the registry for the street department not having as yet been opened, as no work will be done therein till spring, and a new list must be provided about February 1st. (Signed) Auburn, N. Y., January 16, 1900 E. H. HERRLING Secretary Binghamton BINGHAMTON, N. Y., February 6, 1900 CLARENCE B. ANGLE, ESQ., Secretary of the State Civil Service Com mission Dear Sir: By direction of the municipal civil service commission of Binghamton, I have to report that there have been thir teen meetings and two examinations held by this commission during the year 1899. One examination was held on February 9th, at which there were thirty applicants examined, and at the examination on September 20th fifty-one applicants participated; making a total of eightynine applicants for the various positions in the classified service during the year. In regard to the observance of the rules, the commission knows of no violations or evasions. Hoping this report may be satisfactory, I remain, Very respectfully (Signed) M. PEMBROKE CONGDON Secretary Buffalo Pursuant to section 10, chapter 370, of the laws of 1899, the civil service commission of Buffalo presents herewith its annual report. Under the advice of the corporation counsel and for the purpose of fully complying with the law, Mayor Diehl reappointed as commissioners the persons appointed as such on the 17th day of May, 1899. The commission met and organized by the election of Daniel V. Murphy, esq., as president and William B. Dickinson as secretary. The following are the civil service commissioners of Buffalo: The commission immediately began the preparation of new rules and schedules, necessitated by said law, which rules and schedules were duly adopted by the commission on the 8th day of July, 1899, and approved by Mayor Diehl July 10, 1899, and by your honor able Commission July 11th, 1899, and went into effect July 24th, 1899, on which day they were filed as therein provided in the office of the city clerk. These rules have remained unchanged with the exception of some minor amendments relating to changes in the schedules. After the preparation and adoption of the new rules, one of the first acts of the new commission was to devote all its available time, which covered many weeks, to a careful and searching investigation of the various civil lists of the many departments and bureaus of the civil service, for the purpose of ascertaining if the appointments and employments therein were made in accordance with the civil service laws of the state and the rules and regulations which were in force at the times of such appointments or employment. You will observe from the civil lists hereunto attached that this was no inconsiderable task, particularly in view of the fact that the commissioners serve without compensation and all are exceedingly busy men, and able to devote only a comparatively small portion of their time to this work. The result of this investigation showed almost without exception that all appointments and employment in the civil service were made according to law and pursuant to the rules, and in the cases of the exceptions it was evident that the appointments were made through misunderstanding or ignorance, rather than with an attempt to evade the law and rules. In every instance when such irregular appointment was found the head of the bureau or appointing power immediately acquiesced in the decision of the commission and the utmost harmony has prevailed between the commission and heads of departments. During the month of July, 1899, the legality of our eligible list of clerks was questioned by some of the departments, and the opinion of the corporation counsel was requested. He held that the simple multiplying by two of the rating obtained upon an examination for merit, under the so-called Black law of 1897, was a violation of the constitutional provision requiring that examinations shall be for both merit and fitness, and cited the case of the People ex rel. Drake vs. Common Council of the City of Syracuse et al., 26 Miscellaneous Reports, 522. The examination for merit was held under chapter 428 of the laws of 1897. After the enactment of chapter 186 of the laws of 1898 new rules were prepared by the commission, which contain the following provision, viz.: RULE XXXIV The rules for admission to the civil service of the city of Buffalo, and to any branch thereof, not heretofore prescribed or established, and for the appointment of examiners thereunder, are hereby annulled and withdrawn, provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall affect any examinations held, or any grading had thereunder, or any eligible list heretofore formed, or any appointment heretofore duly made in pursuance of such regulations hereby annulled; and every eligible list duly formed under such regulations shall in all respects be deemed to be formed under the foregoing rules, and to be an eligible list for the class specified in annexed schedules most nearly resembling same except that when the civil service commission of the city has prepared an eligible list or lists for merit only it may and it shall be its duty to hold such supplementary examinations of the applicants on said lists as in its opinion may be necessary to make said eligible list complete under the provisions of chapter 186 of the laws of 1898. If in the opinion of the commission the examinations already held are sufficient to determine the relative merit and fitness of applicants, it may so declare and adopt such lists without further examina tion". Pursuant to said rule the commission adopted a resolution declaring the examination for clerks previously held sufficient to cover both merit and fitness and the eligible list was adopted without further examination. While the commission believed that it had complied with the requirements of the constitution and with the laws, it decided that in view of the fact that the list would shortly expire and that a long litigation might ensue, if it insisted upon the validity of its eligible list, to hold a new examination. This was done and the new list went into effect September 13, 1899. Three hundred and twenty-eight persons made application for this examination, and the result was an eligible list of one hundred and fifty-seven. Pending the preparation of this list and after the old list had been declared void, the comptroller and city treasurer requested the certification of clerks to be used in their offices for the preparation of the tax rolls, spreading of taxes and making out of bills, etc. As the necessity for these clerks was immediate and urgent, we held a non-competitive examination, as provided for in paragraph 1, section 14, of chapter 370 of the laws of 1899, in which examination one hundred and thirty clerks qualified and were employed by the comptroller and city treasurer for various periods, none of which were in excess of thirty days. For the first time, under the new rules, the commission and the police department jointly conducted examinations for promotion in the police department. The preparation of the questions, conduct of the examination and marking of papers was done by a joint committee from the commission and the police depart ment, and the result was most satisfactory to all, one of the most satisfactory features of the examination being the perfect confidence of the applicants that they had received fair and equitable treatment. In the examination for promotion to the position of captain of police, twenty-two sergeants who were eligible for promotion, under the rules, entered the examination, which covered generally the duties of a police captain. The examination was a most thorough one and the result was creditable to the intelligence of the applicants and to the police department. By reason of the promotion of a sergeant of police to the position of captain, an examination for sergeants became necessary and the commission decided to establish an eligible list. Of the first grade patrolmen who were eligible for this examination, forty-nine made application and forty-three appeared for the examination. The test was a rather severe one, covering spelling, handwriting, drill regulations, department rules and regulations, liquor tax law, criminal and penal code, charter and ordinances, and a marking |