696 



REFORM IN THE CIVIL SERVICE. 



not more than ten days, without pay, in the 

 repair-shop or with some tire company. All 

 appointments, together with the names of the 

 citizens certifying, are published in the cor- 

 poration newspapers. Promotions from one 

 grade to another in the following three classes 

 are to be made only upon merit and competi- 

 tive examination : Class 1. Clerical, book- 

 keeping, and like positions. Class 2. Uni- 

 formed police force. Class 3. Uniformed fire 

 force. Promotions from one grade to another 

 in the other classes rest with the appointing 

 officer, who is required to make them upon the 

 basis of merit, though he may, if he please, 

 open the promotion to competitive examina- 

 tion. All of the papers and records of the 

 commission are open to public inspection. 



The Civil - Service Commission, of which 

 Ethan Allen Doty is chairman, made its first 

 report Dec. 26, 1884. The first examinations 

 were held Dec. 28, 1883, and Feb. 28, 1884, 

 and were for clerical places in Schedule B. 

 Eleven examinations had been held. They 

 were for clerkships, building inspectors, fore- 

 men of street-repairing gangs, plumbing in- 

 spectors, draughtsmen, levelers, rodmen, sew- 

 er-inspectors, street-inspectors, watchmen, pa- 

 trolmen, etc. There were 441 competitors, of 

 whom 215 reached the eligible list and 95 had 

 been appointed at the date of the report. In 

 the eleven months ending Dec. 1, 1884, there 

 were 698 appointments and 512 removals and 

 suspensions of laborers or day-workmen. 



The examination of March 3, 1884, for build- 

 ing inspectors, the commissioners believe to 

 have been " the first municipal examination 

 for places of this practical kind. . . . The suc- 

 cess of this examination led to a competitive 

 examination for street-inspectors, inspectors 

 of plumbing, and foremen of street-repair gangs 

 on April 17, 1884. The examination for fore- 

 men of street-repair gangs was deemed an ex- 

 treme application of the competitive test." 

 The result of the examination was very suc- 

 cessful. In an examination for watchmen in 

 July, 1884, the examiners first tried the ex- 

 periment of rating the testimonials furnished, 

 as well as the physical merits of the candi- 

 dates. The experiment was highly successful. 



The success of the competitive examinations 

 for these and other places requiring special 

 qualifications induced the mayor, upon the rec- 

 ommendation of the commission, to abolish the 

 pass-examinations, and to extend greatly the 

 operation of the competitive test, in framing 

 the regulations under the act of 1884, and was 

 " very largely instrumental in causing the ex- 

 tension of the competitive test in the new regu- 

 lations for New York city and for the other 

 cities of the State." 



The number of salaried places included in 

 Schedule A and exempted from examination is 

 81. The number of places in Schedule B, filled 

 solely by competitive examination, is 1,418. 

 The entire expenditure upon the civil-service 

 work for the first year was about $1,400. 



In the State of Massachusetts. " An act to im- 

 prove the civil service of the Commonwealth 

 and the cities thereof " became a law June 3, 

 1884. Its provisions are in general conformity 

 with those of the national act. The three 

 Civil-Service Commissioners authorized are to 

 hold office for three years, their terms being 

 so arranged that one commissioner goes out of 

 office each year. They are directed to prepare 

 rules for the selection of persons to fill offices 

 in the government of the Commonwealth and 

 of the several cities thereof, which are required 

 to be filled by appointment, and for the selec- 

 tion of persons to be employed as laborers or 

 otherwise. The commissioners are to super- 

 vise the administration of the rules. James M. 

 Bugbee, of Boston ; Charles Theodore Russell, 

 Jr., of Cambridge ; and Charles W. Clifford, of 

 New Bedford, are the Civil-Service Commis- 

 sioners; Henry Sherwin,of Boston, theChief Ex- 

 aminer, and Warren P. Dudley, of Cambridge, 

 the Secretary. Civil-service rules prepared by 

 the commissioners were approved by the Gov- 

 ernor and Council, Dec. 17, 1884, and went 

 into operation March 30, 1885. The offices 

 and places to be filled under the rules are clas- 

 sified in two divisions, " the official service 

 of the Commonwealth and the several cities 

 thereof," and " the labor service of the city 

 of Boston." Under the first division there are 

 two Schedules : Schedule A, embracing clerks, 

 and Schedule B, embracing policemen of the 

 State and cities, prison-guards, overseers, and 

 watchmen connected with the penal, reforma- 

 tory, and charitable institutions, members of 

 the fire department of Boston, and certain oth- 

 er places in which physical capacity is of prime 

 importance. The second division includes male 

 day-laborers in the various departments of the 

 city of Boston arranged under one schedule, C. 



The general examination for admission to the 

 service in the first division covers about the 

 same ground as that for admission to the Fed- 

 eral service. The examinations may be com- 

 petitive or non-competitive. They are conduct- 

 ed by examiners, appointed by the commis- 

 sioners. Those examined are graded accord- 

 ing to their excellence. When a vacancy is 

 to be filled, the commissioners present the 

 names of the three most eligible persons, and 

 from these the selection must be made. Pref- 

 erence is given to men that have served in 

 the Army or Navy of the United States 

 in time of war. Every original appoint- 

 ment or employment in the permanent serv- 

 ice is made for a probationary period of six 

 months. 



Men seeking employment in the labor serv- 

 ice of Boston are required to apply for regis- 

 tration at the commissioners' office. Each 

 applicant must produce a certificate signed 

 by two reputable citizens of Boston, of his 

 capacity for labor and his habits as to indus- 

 try and sobriety, and must give, under oath, 

 his name, residence, citizenship, age, number 

 of persons depending upon him for support, 



