REPORT OF THE COUNCIL

TO THE NATIONAL CIVIL SERVICE REFORM LEAGUE:

The twelve months since the last annual meeting of the League, held at Pittsburg, form a period of great activity on the part of our organization and no mean progress in the history of the reform.

Before we go into these subjects, however, we must first record our serious losses among the personnel of the League during the past year. On February ninth, Hon. E. O. Graves died at Seattle, Washington. He was an early supporter of the reform, both in and out of office. He was a member of the examining board of the federal service in 1872 under President Grant. Henry C. Lee, of Philadelphia, died October 24th. He was a Vice President of the League, and connected with the reform from its earliest days. Lastly, on November 18, died Richard Watson Gilder, the "poet patriot," a member of the League and of its Council from its beginnings, and one whose wise advice, ardent purposes and enthusiasm for the reform we shall greatly miss. The Council has had prepared resolutions commemorative of these distinguished gentlemen, which will be read and presented at this meeting.

During the past year the League has made two notable efforts. One is the investigation into the political activity of federal office holders, and the other the fight against the patronage features of the census bill.

The report on the political activity during the last presidential campaign was completed in April last, and was published in the April number of GOOD GOVERNMENT.

Political activity was found to be confined almost entirely to those who were not under the civil service rules. By an order of President Roosevelt of June

3d, 1907, the employees in the competitive service were strictly prohibited from doing more than voting and expressing their opinions privately among their friends; and the enforcement of this rule was entrusted to the civil service commission. Excepting in a few cases, which have since been referred to the civil service commission and acted on by them, we found no evidence in which the order was not fully obeyed. In the unclassified service, the story was entirely different. By an order of the President, these officials were not prohibited from political activity, provided they did not neglect their duties nor cause scandal.

Evidence was wholly lacking to substantiate the charges as to coercion of officeholders by the President in order to secure the nomination of a particular candidate. President Roosevelt allowed his appointment lists for a considerable time prior to the convention to be examined, and not only were the oppointments made. in the usual manner, on the recommendation of Senators and Congressmen and others claiming the patronage of offices involved, but sometimes those on whose recommendation the appointments were made were notoriously opposed to the candidate whom President Roosevelt was known to favor.

We showed that 10% of the delegates to the Republican national convention at Chicago were officeholders. In the southern states an average of about 33% were officeholders. The officeholders all over the country, particularly in the south, generally controlled the Republican party organizations in their respective states, and frequently resorted to unfair means in order to retain their power. Their chief motive for retaining power was to hold in their hands their offices and what patronage went with them. What candidates they supported was often a secondary matter. In local fights between the officeholders and other Republicans, both sides often supported the same candidate for president.

The active participation of those who have a personal interest at stake, in the caucuses, primaries, conventions and elections, seriously interferes with the

free choice of candidates by the people, and in some parts of the country can actually prevent it. One hundred and twenty-three thousand appointees in the federal service are still outside of the civil service rules. Many of these are high officials, wielding wide political influence, in the north as well as the south, subject to possible dictation from Washington, and therefore constitute a menace to free institutions until their political activity is curtailed.

It is quite clear that much of this political activity results in absenteeism from office; and that the government is paying salaries to officials whose main interest and activity are in politics, while their offices are left in the control of subordinates for much of the time.

This report received wide newspaper comment. As to the remedy, we trust that the extension of the civil service rules to a number of the fourth class postoffices will gradually be extended to include them all. This will take nearly one half the most "active" unclassified officials cut of politics. We trust, too, that ways may be found for taking the first, second and third class postmasters out of politics in ways which we consider later.

For a long time, however, there will probably be many high officials of great influence who will not be under civil service rules, and we must therefore consider the political activity line which President Roosevelt drew between the competitive and the non-competitive service. Already, President Taft, by extending the order against political activity to census supervisors and enumerators, who are unclassified, has crossed the line, and we trust that this may be a precedent for further restricting the political activity of other unclassified officeholders. Federal judges and United States army officers abstain rigorously from activity in politics.

As to collecting political contributions from employees, Ulysses G. Glick, statistical secretary of the National Drainage Association, was found guilty and fined $800 and costs for collecting assessments in the customs service at Wilmington, Delaware. Since the

passage of the civil service law, nine federal officeholders have been removed by the President, four have failed of re-appointment and twenty-three have been removed by heads of departments, for collecting political assessments.

At our last annual meeting, the Council reported that Congress had met so much opposition to the patronage provisions of the census bill, that it had decided to wait until after the elections before taking action, and that just after the election, the House had voted III to 65 against the competitive examination amendment. The League had furnished the press of the country with literature on the subject, showing the expense and demoralization caused by the patronage method of appointing the census clerks; had corresponded with some thousand commercial bodies, many of which passed resolutions; and had aroused many prominent citizens to write to their members of Congress in favor of the merit provision. On December 15th, 1908, a committee of the League appeared before the Senate committee, and ably argued our cause. Notwithstanding our efforts and the almost unanimous public sentiment on our side, the Senate, by a vote of 32 to 15, defeated Senator Lodge's amendment in favor of appointment by competition.

On February fifth, in a powerful message, President Roosevelt vetoed the census bill, solely on account of the patronage provisions. This message of President Roosevelt may fairly be said to have demolished all the arguments of the spoils congressmen, and incidentally did much to educate the public at large on the advantage of the competitive merit system. This veto message had the unanimous support of the press of all parties and sections of the country. No attempt was made in Congress to pass the bill over the veto.

Nothing further was done by our legislators on the census matter until after the inauguration of President Taft. Mr. Crumpacker, of the House, said, in the debate in March, that if "we hand the same proposition [referring to the patronage clause] to the present Chief Executive. ... I have no doubt it will be vetoed."

After much difference between the House and the Senate, chiefly as to whether the Senate should have the confirming power over the appointment of the supervisors, on which point the House yielded, and on a Senate amendment making the apportionment law more strict, the bill was passed June 28, with the appointment of the four thousand extra clerks all under open, competitive examination.

Since then, Mr. Durand, the director of the census, though no examination is required by law for the positions, has prescribed for the selection of the seventeen hundred special agents by a carefully worked out scheme of competitive examinations, to be conducted by the United States civil service commission. In the appointment of supervisors, Mr. Durand has sometimes been able to select capable experts; but in other cases, the men he has suggested had to be given up for others apparently less capable, on account of the "courtesy" of the Senate.

Thus, with great effort, we have achieved a lasting victory towards getting a non-partisan and scientific census. Before that goal is reached, however, we shall have yet to devise and secure some means of selecting supervisors and enumerators by a better method than the present.

Work for extension of our reform has been actively carried on in many states and cities during the past year. Efforts to secure state laws in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Connecticut and extensions of existing law in Illinois were unsuccessful but will be renewed. In Baltimore and St. Louis new charters containing civil service provisions are under consideration.

The year, however, has not altogether resulted in failures. In Wheeling, West Virginia, civil service rules have been applied to the fire and water departments under its new charter.

Muncie, Indiana, at the demand of the Indiana Fire Insurance underwriters, has, by ordinance, adopted civil service rules for the fire department.

Civil service rules have been extended by the New York commission, with the approval of Governor