546 ROSA: REORGANIZED CIVIL SERVICE 



For six months or a year in such cases even well educated men 

 or women are really going to school in the laboratory or training 

 class. Some progress rapidly and at the end deserv^e a con- 

 siderable advance in pay in recognition of their ability and use- 

 fulness. Others deser^^e smaller promotions, or perhaps have 

 demonstrated their incapacity and are dropped. Any arbitrary- 

 rules about promotion that prevent the proper recognition of 

 different degrees of progress and usefulness would be very un- 

 desirable. 



In certifying persons for reinstatement or transfer, an effort 

 should be made to find positions which the applicants are thor- 

 oughly competent to fill, and where they are needed and will be 

 welcomed. A transfer from one department should require 

 sufficient advance notice so that the vacancy created by the 

 transfer may be properly filled unless the consent of the heads 

 of the bureaus or establishments concerned is secured for an 

 earlier transfer. No other barriers should be interposed pro- 

 vided all rules of the classification authorized by the law and of 

 the Civil Service Commission are complied with. If the trans- 

 fer is to a position of higher salary, qualification for such posi- 

 tion must be clearly established. 



At present, transfers between departments to positions at 

 higher salaries are forbidden by law, unless the position is a 

 statutory one. If a man or woman is unfortunate enough to get 

 into a position where promotion is impossible, and the salary is 

 inadequate, the law forbids correcting the injustice by transfer 

 to a lump -fund position at a just salary, but requires that the 

 injustice be continued for at least a year in the new position. 

 This is one of the most serious defects of the present system, and 

 every consideration of justice and good administration requires 

 that it be corrected. 



A transfer register maintained by the Civil Service Commis- 

 sion would contain the names and qualifications of all applicants 

 for transfer. Only those giving satisfactory reasons for seeking 

 a transfer would be placed on the register. In some cases such 

 application would reveal causes for dissatisfaction which could 

 readily be remedied without a transfer. In other cases, the inter- 



