has always been able and willing to hold a just balance in all controversies, Hon. Wm. D. Foulke, has been called to Washington and placed in the office of a Civil Service Commissioner, where his knowledge, his independence and his judicious qualities will enable him to render most effective service to the government.

Our estimate of social progress is largely a matter of temperament and it is fortunate when men of different temperaments are brought together in such counsels as those of this League. There are times when it is well to read the Book of Jeremiah and repeat his denunciations of those who transgress the laws of the Eternal. It is well, at other times, to omit the imprecatory psalms and join in the ascriptions of thanksgiving that so much good has been accomplished. It is most important that in our struggles to put down bad government and promote good government that we should constantly study the lessons of history. There is a chapter in Walpole's History of England which records what has been accomplished in that land since the days of the reform bill. A similar record, if not as brilliant, could be made in respect to the progress of reforms in this country.

When we consider the admirable administration of the national government in several of its departments, we may take great satisfaction in the fact that we are American citizens. Look at the accuracy of accounts in the Treasury Department. Look at the high character of our army and navy. Look at the superb work of our scientific bureaus, the Geological Survey, the Coast Survey, the Library of Congress, the National Museum, and the Department of Agriculture, not to mention others, and we must admit that there is little room for improvement in their methods of administration and appointment.

But we have great problems still before us. That which impresses me most profoundly is the need of organizing in our newly acquired possessions the best principles of civil government. I wish every one could hear the details in respect to Porto Rico, which are to be brought before this League by one who participated in all its proceedings. Let the hands of Gov. Taft be upheld and his endeavors to put before these distant islanders, and especially before all who go to those distant islands from this country and other coun

tries, the true principles of administration, be encouraged and not hastily censured. In fine, my word to you is one of hope and courage, not blinded to existing faults, not unobservant of failures, not discouraged by occasional reverses, but determined to stand now, as we have stood twenty-one years, sure of our principles, resolute in our defence of them, hopeful of their ultimate success.

Brethren, press forward your advocacy of the merit system until every citizen looks upon those who violate its principles as he would look upon those who tamper with the coins of the republic. Let us eradicate from private life, from all the offices of education and philanthrophy, and from all posts of trust and emolument, every consideration but that of fitness in place of Marcy's unfortunate dictum, "To the victor belongs the spoils;" let our watchword be-to merit only let office be awarded.

The Danger of Harmful Legislation.

FROM THE REMARKS OF WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE.

LAST year I thought that civil service reformers were

rather more disheartened than they need have been. To-night I would utter a note of warning against over-confidence. We very properly rely upon the support of the President, and believe that he will leave nothing undone which is humanly practicable to advance the merit system.

must remember that its destiny reposes not simply in his hands, but also in the hands of Congress. Adverse legislation may cripple or destroy it, and the friendship of the legislative branch of the Government is by no means assured. It was in Congress that the glaring abuses revealed by the Moody Committee were permitted to exist, and that body is very likely to adopt measures which may seriously weaken the competitive system. Let us consider what these meas

ures are.

In the first place, there is a very large number of places in the Census Bureau which are very soon to become vacant. These places were filled by the patronage system, and appointments were made by the members of Congress, of both parties. The Democratic members did not get quite so many as the Republican members, and my impression is that the Representatives did not get so many as the Senators, but if I recollect aright, nobody got less than six, and regular books of account were kept in which these appointments were charged to the proper parties. The candidates nominated by the Congressmen for these places were required to pass a rather strict examination, and in a limited way the examination was competitive, because each member of Congress nominated about twice as many as were actually appointed, and those who passed the examinations best were chosen, unless, as sometimes occurred, the candidates were so poor that they

could not pass at all, in which case a new batch was nominated. In this way a better class of clerks was secured than when the previous census was taken, but the appointments were still patronage appointments, which went by favor and through personal and political influence, and were tainted with the essential vice of the spoils system. Now, the bulk of these clerks are soon to be discharged, and each one will naturally betake himself to his influence-that is, to the Congressman who secured his appointment. The Congressmen are already at work, insisting that the clerks appointed by them shall be transferred to other places, and urging their superior qualifications. According to the rules, they cannot now be transferred to the classified service, and there are very few other places left. What will be the result? Necessarily an attempt will be made to secure their appointment in some way. The suggestion may first be made at the White House and the office of the Civil Service Commission for an amendment of the rules, but it is doubtful whether either of these localities will be hospitable to the proposition; and I think it is inevitable that finally a vigorous and determined effort will be made in Congress for the enactment of a law transferring to the classified service the political and personal favorites who are now about to lose their situations in the Census Bureau. If that is accomplished, the Civil Service Commission might as well go out of business for the next year or two, so far as departmental clerkships are concerned. For wherever favoritism and competitive examination come into competition in this way, favoritism is sure to win, and the great bulk of the appointments will be made by transfer. Such an act would be a monstrous injustice to those who, in good faith, have taken the examinations and are now upon the eligible list. It would weaken the faith of every applicant in the integrity of the competitive system, and those who seek admission to the service would betake themselves in the future, not so much to examinations, as to the acquisition of Congressional influence to secure their places. I invoke all the aid which the friends of civil service reform can give us in the creation of a public sentiment which will prevent Congress from enacting such disastrous legislation.

The next measure which threatens the integrity of the merit system is the so-called Veterans' Preference Bill. There

ought to be no misunderstanding upon this point as to the feeling of the friends of reform. In the first place, I recognize, in common with all patriotic citizens, that the men who were willing to sacrifice their lives for the preservation of our Government forty years ago, as well as those who responded to the calls of their country in the late war with Spain, are entitled to the undying gratitude of their countrymen. For one, I desire to repel indignantly the sentiment that casts a sneer upon the soldier. I desire that he shall receive everywhere the honor which is his due, and even such official preferment as will not injure the service. But I believe that the great mass of the soldiers themselves, as they were first in patriotism when the call to arms was sounded, are today, not behind in the patriotism which would renounce personal preferment at the call of civic duty. I do not believe that the Grand Army of the Republic, or any organization of veterans fairly representative of the whole, will deliberately insist upon a measure which will impair the efficiency of the Government. But the Veterans' Preference Bill already introduced by Mr. Grosvenor will certainly impair that efficiency. That bill provides that any veteran who has passed the examination, no matter how low upon the list, shall be entitled to a preference over the competitor who has passed highest, and he is to be preferred not only for admission to the service, but also for retention therein as well as in all promotions. What will be the inevitable result of such a preference? The average age of these veterans is considerably over sixty years. They have reached a time of life when those in the service are already, many of them, proper subjects of retirement. The law contains a provision, indeed, that they shall only be appointed if they possess the necessary business capacity; but how long would men of that age continue to possess such capacity? One of the complaints against the merit system. is that it produces the evils of superannuation. And yet some of the very men who raise this objection propose to create a preference in favor of a class of men whose average age is now over sixty-five years. Moreover, it is more than probable that Mr. Grosvenor's bill will be amended, as a similar bill was, a year ago, by a clause including in the preference the veterans of the Spanish war. There are several hundred thousands of these veterans, and they are nearly all young