Morning Session, Council Chambers, City Hall

Richard Henry Dana, President of the League, presided.

Hon. Albert C. Ritchie, Governor of Maryland, delivered an address of welcome and reviewed the introduction of the merit system and the organization of the Civil Service Commission in Maryland.

"I think it is very remarkable," he said, "the way the merit system has been put over in Maryland. I think in some states that its inauguration has not infrequently been accompanied by public upheaval. We have not had anything of that kind so far as the State of Maryland is concerned." He pointed out that there were no eleventh hour appropriations, so that there was no opportunity whatever for spoilsmen to create and fill new positions under the old system before the merit system was put into operation. He pointed out that it was nearly a month before they had any eligible lists from which appointments could be made and until such eligible lists were established he told the Merit Commissioner that "we would not appoint anyone to fill these positions in January or February unless they had his O. K. as the Merit Commissioner. This plan has worked out well and there was no friction on the part of the department heads; everybody fell in line."

Hon. William F. Broening, Mayor of the City of Baltimore, reviewed the adoption of the Baltimore City Charter which contained a provision for the merit system and the creation of a civil service commission. He said:

"We have a provision in the civil service law which states that if the heads of departments fail to comply it becomes the duty of the Civil Service Commissioner to report that fact to the Mayor and those facts would be sufficient to warrant a dismissal. It might be interesting for you to know that up to the present moment (the civil service has been in operation for more than a year) there has not been a single complaint, so we must assume that there is no trouble in this reconstruction or readjustment of the civil service in Balti

more.

"I believe as time goes on and the law begins to be understood, and there is a proper readjustment, there won't be any trouble, because men understand after all that no man has a right to a position in the public service any more than a private establishment unless he is willing to render that service to the public interest."

The annual report of the Council of the League was read by the Chairman, Hon. Arthur R. Kimball, and upon motion, the report was adopted. The report is as follows:

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL

In a year which covers a change in the political complexion of the administration of our federal government, the League is always faced with the serious danger of setbacks and reversion to the spoils system. It is in such a year, with success at the polls, that the clamor of "the faithful" for reward for party service is loudest and the demand that the new administration "turn the rascals out" most insistent.

During the past year the League has been called upon to exert every effort to counteract these insistent demands for party spoils, and fortunately with considerable success.

Merit System Endorsed by Candidates

Without exception the candidates for nomination for President who replied to a questionnaire of the League were in favor of the application of the merit system of appointment to public office. On September 3, after a conference with the Secretary of the League and after consideration of a memorandum from the League as to the purposes sought to be accomplished with relation to the civil service, Mr. Harding wrote as follows:

"I have understood from you that your program for improvement of conditions in the federal civil service is founded, to use your own excellent expression, upon the undoubted fact that the time has come for the federal government to organize its agencies of employment in accordance with the principles which have been tested and approved by the best modern business practice. With that expression I concur, and, more important, I believe the Republican party concurs and will give relief not only in words but in deeds.

"The whole subject of government efficiency and government thrift compels my interest because it is outrageous for public administration, which should be an example and a guide to our people, to indulge in waste and extravagant inefficiency. As any business man knows, the conduct of his business depends upon the men who did it. Therefore, though the neces

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sity for a budget system is great, perhaps even greater is the need for a system which will give federal employes a square deal in promotions, pay and continuity of service, while obtaining for the nation's taxpayers, in return, a high standard of skill and continued loyalty among the employes who serve them.

"If I may apply these principles and suggest legislation which furthers them, I trust that I will find in your League a great assistant whose long and conscientious study and service will be of greatest value.

"I understand from you that your program of correction, remedy and betterment includes

"A larger appropriation for the Civil Service Commission and a wider acceptance of its counsels.

"An extension, under tests, of the merit system of appointment and promotion to a larger group of federal employes, not to create a bureaucratic inflexibility which would rob a great private business as well as a great public business of its efficiency, but to give promise to those of merit and capacity that federal employment has all the stimulus of competition and reward that is offered elsewhere in private business.

"A readjustment of rates of pay, and of the system of making these rates, to the end that several hundred thousand faithful employes shall have recompense sufficient to hold them content in service and that incompetent persons and those doing overlapping work shall not continue to receive the money of our taxpayers.

"A closer contact between federal employes and the Civil Service Commission, so that, representing the Government, the Commission may act for the employer as the friend of the employe, hear and adjust his grievances and be closely associated with his promotions and be a close observer of his efficiency. This will save unrest and waste and assist the heads of the ten departments in the now impossible task of deciding employment questions.

"If these are your policies they are all one with mine, and this statement may be published by you as widely as you desire."

This statement of President Harding's, coupled with the civil service plank in the Republican platform, commits the new administration to the maintenance of the merit system. Many politicians, however, are insisting that certain offices which have been filled through competitive examination should

be returned to the field of partisan spoils, particularly the positions of postmaster of the first, second and third classes commonly known as presidential postoffices. The League is glad to record its gratification that the President has heretofore withstood this pressure and there is reason to believe that he will continue to do so.

In the campaign of 1916, as the result of the activities of the League, the candidates for the presidency of the two major political parties were pledged to proper steps to apply the merit system to the appointments of presidential postmasters. In fulfillment of his pledge to the League, President Wilson signed the executive order of March 31, 1917. This order, however, limits the application of the merit system to the postoffices where a vacancy occurs on account of the death, resignation or removal of the incumbent of the office; furthermore, the order does not place these positions in the classified civil service as that term is technically understood, but merely provides that the Civil Service Commission shall act as an agent of the Post Office Department in the matter of the selection of a person whom the President shall nominate to fill such vacancy. The appointment, in order to be completed, must of course be confirmed by the Senate. The competitive classification of these positions and all other positions filled by nomination of the President and confirmation by the Senate cannot be accomplished until Congress removes the restriction placed upon such extension under the civil service law.

The result of the method employed in the executive order of March 31, 1917, is, however, practically the same as if the places were classified under the civil service law. There are approximately 12,000 postoffices of the first, second and third classes and since March 31, 1917, vacancies have occurred in approximately one-third of them on account of the death, resignation or removal of incumbents. As evidence of the fairness with which the examination system, provided for the filling of these vacancies, has been administered, the former Postmaster General, on March 1, 1921, just before leaving office, issued a statement showing the results of an inquiry he had made as to the political affiliations of persons appointed through examination. His statement is based on the incumbents' own answers to a questionnaire. Out of a total of 2,376 replies, 1,131 appointees were stated to be of democratic affiliations, 1,014 of republican, and the rest scattered among independent, prohibition, socialist and no affiliation. Omitting the eleven