Morning Session at the Hotel Kimball

Richard Henry Dana, President of the League, presided.

The annual report of the Council to the League was read by the Secretary, and upon motion was adopted. The report is as follows:

The Report of the Council

General View

In a retrospect of the past year it is important to note that the specific problems raised by the war have absorbed less of the attention of the League, and it has been possible to resume the program of enlarged activities projected in 1916 and almost wholly suspended by the war emergency. Certain legacies of the war remain, it is true, notably the new phase of the question of veteran preference; but for the most part the work of the League has dealt with situations in which the political spoilsman has appeared in his familiar role, and his challenge has been met with the weapons tested in many a past conflict. It has been upon the whole a year of progress. Along with some disappointments there remain to the credit of the League certain positive achievements which contribute to the betterment of administrative processes in federal, state and municipal government.

Vacancy in the Civil Service Commission

After a long period of waiting the reorganization of the United States Civil Service Commission was well begun in March, 1919, as recorded in the last report of

the Council. Altho the third member has not yet been appointed, President Morrison and Mr. Wales have efficiently carried on the work throughout the year. A special committee of the League wrote to President Wilson under date of November 8, 1919, calling his attention to the type of man the League would like to see appointed to the existing vacancy on the commission and suggesting some names as indicating such type. The Committee suggested that salaries now provided for the members of the federal civil service commission are inadequate to retain the best qualified men.

Chief Examiner Not Yet Appointed

Since the promotion of Mr. Wales to a commissionership, the Commission has had no chief examiner. In the hope that it might facilitate the filling of that important position. the League through its executive officers on September 10, 1919, urged the President to appoint a special board of three to select a man for the place. The President unfortunately has not acted upon the League's suggestion nor has he taken any steps to fill this vacancy, although the President of the League again on January 15, 1920, called his attention to the situation and the consequent embarrassment to the Commission.

Lack of Funds for the Commission

The Civil Service Commission is not provided with an adequate examining force and one of its greatest handicaps is its lack of sufficient appropriation to enable it to carry on its business properly.

Investigations of Examinations for Postmasters

Several attempts were made by Congress to get at the facts of allegations made by Charles M. Galloway at the time of his resignation from the Commission in July, to the effect that the Postmaster General had intimidated the Civil Service Commission in connection with examinations for presidential postmasters. All these attempts were so colored by the political bias of the investigators that no clear judgment of the merits was

possible on the part of the public. A sub-committee of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads of the Senate held an extended investigation in connection with the nomination of Mr. Robert Wade for the postmastership of Morehead City, N. C. The sub-committee after considerable delay reported upon its investigation that it could not lend its approval to the nomination of Mr. Wade because the Civil Service Commission and the Post Office Department had permitted an applicant for the position to furnish additional evidence and secure a revision of the ratings. The original ratings were made by two clerks not regular examiners, on whom must fall in the first instance the responsibility for the error. Such assignments we understand were not unusual. The system which permits re-ratings of this kind is the result we believe of the fact that the Commission has had an insufficient force to rate properly through expert examiners the examinations which it conducts-itself a consequence of the insufficient appropriation to which we have already referred.

Presidential Postmasters

The examinations for first, second and third class postmasterships held in accordance with the President's executive order of March 31, 1917, have been subject to violent attacks on the floors of both Houses of Congress on the part of both Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans have repeatedly charged that the Postmaster General has not executed the order in good faith and that he has let political influences govern the rating of candidates as for example in the Morehead City case. The Democrats have attacked the system of examination because of some of the regulations prescribed for candidates and also on the ground that postmasterships were policy determining offices.

Boston and Newark Cases

As evidence of the impracticability of these examinations the delays in the Boston and the Newark cases have been cited. The Boston case has given rise to the most controversy. The man at the head of the eligible register, Mr. Roland Baker, was a Republican. In spite

of the attempts on the part of those politically interested in this appointment to secure a re-rating of various candidates, Mr. Baker has been nominated and the officers of the League are informed that his appointment will be confirmed. The candidate highest in the Newark list is also a Republican. No nomination for this office has yet been made.

Permanent Classification of Postmasters

The Postmaster General in his annual report has again repeated his previous recommendations that Congress enact legislation to place all postmasterships permanently in the competitive classified service. Such legislation would permit the application of the rule of selecting one of the first three persons on the eligible register instead of the head of the list as now provided by Executive order.

The League joins with the Postmaster General in his recommendation, but makes the further recommendation that the President retain such portion of the Executive Order as requires appointment from the head of the eligible register. The experience of the past three years has amply demonstrated the practicability of competition for these positions. The Postmaster General reports that 7,483 nominations of Presidential Postmasters have been submitted since the issuance of the Order; 6,195 of these, or 82.78 per cent, have been reappointments. In 1,188 cases not reappointments the first eligible was appointed and in 79 cases only was other than the first eligible selected. In these 79 cases the failure to appoint the first man was due to his death or refusal to accept the office; or the condition of his health or because of disqualification on account of "character or residence."

Classification of Other Positions

To legislation for the classification of postmasterships should be added without further delay the classification of all collectors of customs and deputy collectors of internal revenue and United States marshals and deputy marshals. In connection with any legislation to extend the merit system to collectors of customs and collectors