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Committee of the New Haven Colony Historical Society and to the Women's Civic Club of New Haven. The resolution was unanimously carried by a rising vote.

The League then adjourned.

Attest:

ELLIOT H. GOODWIN,
Secretary.

A banquet to the visiting delegates was tendered by the Connecticut Association at Harmonie Hall, at 8 o'clock, Tuesday evening, November 20. Professor Henry W. Farnam, President of the Connecticut Association presided. Addresses were made by Professor Henry W. Farnam, Dr. Daniel C. Gilman, President of the League, Dr. Flavel S. Luther, President of Trinity College, Professor Edward B. Reed, of Yale University, and Hon. Charles J. Bonaparte, Secretary of the Navy.1

During the meeting of the League the delegates were tendered a reception on Monday afternoon by Professor and Mrs. Henry W. Farnam, at their residence, 43 Hillhouse Avenue. On Tuesday afternoon the Ladies' Committee of the New Haven Colony Historical Society and the Women's Civic Club of New Haven served afternoon tea for the delegates.

At the close of the preliminary meeting of the Council Monday morning the members were tendered luncheon by Professor Farnam at the New Haven House.

Printed in full 1 at page 180; 2 at page 185.

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Treasurer.

*Of which $55.31 in Special Fund Committee on the Organization of Civil Service Reform Associations.

Of which $175.31 in Special Fund Committee on the Organization of Civil Service Reform Associations.

January 7, 1907.

Audited and found correct.
WM. G. Low,

NELSON S. SPENCER.

Committee.

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL.

TO THE NATIONAL CIVIL SERVICE REFORM LEAGUE:

During the last year, the League has experienced a most serious loss in the death of the Hon. Carl Schurz on May 14, 1906. Mr. Schurz was one of the founders of the League, and became its President, and President also of the New York Association, after the death of Mr. Curtis, September 1902. He resigned the Presidency of the League in 1900, but remained President of the New York Association until his death. A committee has been appointed by the Council to sum up his valuable services in resolutions for this meeting of the League, to co-operate with the committee of the New York Association in preparing a memorial, and to take part in the Schurz memorial meeting to be held in New York on Wednesday evening, November 21.

At this gathering of the League we celebrate our twenty-fifth anniversary. On August 11, 1881, a conference was held in Newport, which led to the formation of the League. It may be well to review our work from that date. The Pendleton Bill was drawn up by the New York Association, was introduced into the United States Senate in 1881, and became a law much sooner than we had anticipated, namely, on January 16, 1883. At that time, the total number of employees in the federal service was 110,000, and of these, 14,000, or a very little over one-eighth, were put under civil service rules. Since then, the federal service has increased to the enormous number of 326,855, on June 30, 1906, and the classified competitive service includes 184,178 persons, which is two-thirds of the total number of employees, if we omit from the latter unskilled day laborers. All the more important branches are now included that can be included under civil service law, excepting the fourth class

postmasters, now numbering 62,480, the pension examining surgeons and a few other officials.

The enormous growth of the federal service is a point worthy of comment. One explanation of a part of this growth has been that a great deal of work has been thrown upon the field branches of the War and Navy Departments. The people are looking to the federal government to undertake work which might naturally have been left to the states, in no small degree because of the existence of the merit system in the federal government, and the consequent confidence in the efficiency of its administration. Those government works especially that are under the control of the army and navy engineers, with subordinates under the civil service rules, exemplify the highest ideals of the ultimate good that can be accomplished through civil service reform. The army and navy engineers have gained their positions after having undergone hard examinations at West Point and Annapolis, they are thoroughly efficient, and are wholly out of politics. They have charge of the making and enforcing of all the contracts, while their subordinates are also selected by the merit system. Thus, we have, from top to bottom, in these large departments, work wholly carried on by substantially permanent officials who have received their appointment without political influence or favoritism.

Outside the federal service, merit systems have been established in New York for the state, cities and the large counties; in Massachusetts for the state, cities and some of the towns; in Wisconsin, for the city of Milwaukee, for the police and fire departments of other cities over 10,000 population now numbering about twenty, for the state service and for the legislative employees at the State House, a new extension worth copying in the older states and at Washington; in Illinois, for the charitable institutions of the state and for the service of the cities of Chicago, Evanston, Rockford, Aurora and Elgin, and for Cook county; in Connecticut, for the city of New Haven; and in Indiana, for the state schools for the blind and deaf, four hospitals for the insane, and the state reformatory by voluntary action of the boards. In the chief cities of Ohio the employees of the boards of public safety in

charge of the fire, police and health departments are under a merit system with some good points and which prevents a clean sweep, though it falls far short of what we recommend; and the same may be said of the system applying to employees of the fire and police departments of the cities of Scranton and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The revised charter of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, has a semblance of the merit system, but, we regret to say, with the merit left out. In California, San Francisco and Los Angeles have civil service reform charters, and the same is true of Seattle, Washington; Denver, Colorado; Norfolk, Virginia; and Portland, Oregon. In Iowa, the Board of Control of state institutions has adopted the merit system; in New Jersey, cities of the first class are under civil service laws, and last, but not least, a civil service reform charter has been adopted for the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On the whole, we have much to be thankful for during the last twentyfive years. Those of us who attended the first conference at Newport can amply testify that the progress has been much greater than we then had dared to hope.

There are fewer local associations to-day than there were in the early eighties, but this is chiefly because many small associations have become consolidated into stronger state associations. During the past year, new associations have been organized in New Jersey, Luzerne County in Pennsylvania, and a Woman's Civil Service Reform Association has been established in Buffalo, N. Y. Chiefly to be noted is the increased activity of the associations throughout the county, working for new or ampler laws. or for further extensions to existing statutes.

The National League has also been at work, through various committees, on administration problems; for example, a committee was appointed on the employment of labor in the Navy Yards, the investigation being undertaken at the request of Secretary Bonaparte. This investigation covered the Brooklyn, League Island, Boston and Portsmouth yards, on which separate reports were made by the Assistant Secretary of the League, who visited the yards. The report of the full committee was

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