6

In the early part of the year the administration acquired possession of the Grand Street and Greenpoint Ferries. Section 824a of Greater New York Charter as amended by Chapter 331, Laws of 1904, provided that Captain, Pilot, Quartermaster, Engineer, Ticket Agent, Deckhand, etc., who on the first day of January, 1908, was employed as such on any ferry the operation of which shall thereafter be assumed by The City of New York may, after a non-competitive test, be retained without examination. Basing his claim upon the foregoing and the further fact, as stated, that he was in employ of his company on December 14, 1908, the chief engineer of the Grand Street Ferry requested to be transferred to the civil service without examination. The fact that fourteen years had elapsed before the city took over this ferry created both a legal and an ethical question and the Corporation Counsel advised that, while a technical point presented itself in the long time elapsed before the city took over the ferry, he was of the opinion that the act was more or less a beneficient act and should be liberally construed. The Commission followed this advice and the employees, after passing a non-competitive examination, were transferred to city service.

The transfer of Greenpoint Ferry in respect to its employees involved the question of titles of certain marine positions used to designate certain duties; those now in use in the Department of Plant and Structures differing from those enumerated in the law, such as present title of Mate, designated in the act as Quartermaster, and others of similar character. We were advised by the Corporation Counsel that he saw no objection to the transfer by reason of a difference of titles. The transfer, therefore, was allowed on conditions similar to those required of Grand Street Ferry employees.

Three positions in the classified service of the College of the City of New York were withdrawn, by special act of the Legislature, from the jurisdiction of this Commission. Under Chapter 120, Laws of 1921, the positions of Curator, Auditor and Secretary to the President were transferred to the teaching staff. The first two were given the rank of professor, and the last Assistant Professor. The Corporation Counsel advised that the Legislature acted within its rights.

Another matter referred to him for opinion was as to our power to order a new oral examination where we felt that improper questions had been asked, or that the conclusions were not justified. He replied that in absence of statutory authority we have no such power.

Attention was called in previous reports to the growing tendency among certain departments, able to procure legislative action, to lessen the jurisdiction of Civil Service Commissions by establishing tests and examinations subject to their sole device and authority. If this pernicious encroachment is permitted to continue the result will be an irregular and ill-equipped assortment of Civil Service units, with widely contrasting standards of merit and fitness for public service. The work of a Civil Service Cornmission naturally centers in the examining division, in a corps of experts specially qualified by

training and experience to develop and maintain scientific methods in conduct of examinations. Such work requires painstaking investigation of widely differing problems, all directed to securing the best available men and women to carry on the city's business, and then to develop ways and means by which ambitious employees may grow in usefulness to the service and profit to themselves. To do this work successfully calls for special knowledge, technique, up-to-date business methods and ample resources. An examiner must have a wide range of information concerning the character and scope of the city's increasing activities. Unlike most other departments Civil Service Commissions derive their power and prescribed duties from the State Constitution and the Civil Service Law. It is to these constituted employment agents of the state and its subdivisions that the people look for proper administration of the civil service, and the full responsibility, therefore, must be centralized so that the public may know whom to hold responsible. We are in duty bound to safeguard the authority conferred upon us and to oppose vigorously every attempt to undermine the merit system. The time is opportune, we believe, to petition the Legislature to repeal the special acts in question and to make impossible any future attempt to disrupt administration of the Civil Service.

Dwelling upon this line of thought the Commission has been led to consider the wisdom and feasibility of requiring persons seeking civil service positions to help defray the actual expense of conducting the examination. Numerous precedents may be cited where certain municipal departments charge a fee to candidates in examinations given under their direction. The Police Department, for instance, imposes a fee of $2 for the written examination for Stationary Engineer and for Fireman. In a similar test conducted by the Examining Board of Plumbers candidates for plumber's license must pay a charge of $5. The Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity charges candidates for Master Electrician license a fee of $10 and $5 for each renewal.

Few persons realize the enormous waste of money, labor and time involved in giving out thousands of application blanks each year that are not filed. Some conception of this may be gathered from the statement that every applicant for an open competitive examination receives three, sometimes four, separate and distinct forms: a four-page application blank; a three-ply "result" card; a form for recording citizenship or naturalization, and military service; for examinations requiring special experience a fourth form is inserted. In 1921, 55,300 applications were issued and only 24,514 filed, practically 57% were thrown away. In 1922, 68,550 applications were given out, and but 31,084 were filed, close upon 55% wasted. So that for the two years something like 204,756 separate forms actually were thrown away. These figures do not include applications in the Labor Class. Nor do they tell the whole story of thoughtless waste of expensive material. During the year thousands of applications are filed by persons who fail to appear

at examinations, and by others who do take them but are totally unqualified for the positions sought. Here the waste of money is increased greatly by expenditures for postage, stationery and service, of one kind or another, contracted for on the basis of number of candidates notified.

Appointment to the civil service of The City of New York now carries with it insurance and pension benefits superior to any other known system in either public or private employ. This protective feature is not fully known or appreciated by those who seek to enter the service. By reason of this pecuniary obligation assumed by the City toward its employees, the Municipal Commission is charged with grave and additional responsibilities before it can certify rightly to an applicant's fitness and eligibility for a given position. It is unnecessary to explain here in detail the means employed, and the great expense entailed in discharge of this exacting duty. In terms of dollars and cents the sum expended for this work in 1922 was upwards of $250,000.

How to overcome the gross waste of money and labor heretofore cited is a perplexing problem. That something should be done to effect economy along this line generally is admitted. One remedy suggested is to exact a fee, say twenty-five cents, for every application blank, and a flat fee of $1 for candidates in open competitive written examinations, and for practical tests calling for technical skill. It is argued that aimless persons with no definite intention of taking an examination would be discouraged from applying if they had to pay for applications. So, too, would the wholly unfit, untrained, would-be candidate who is ever ready to take a "chance" if it does not cost anything. It is believed that such a system would tend to create at the threshold a higher respect for civil service than it now enjoys, apparently, among those who trifle with and belittle the means provided for worthy applicants. The practical considerations are that it would reduce greatly the useless expenditure of money and labor, as under the present method it is impossible to determine with any degree of accuracy how many applicants will show up at an examination, and what supplies and monitor service will be necessary. To be on the safe side these latter are based on the total number of applicants notified. Unfortunately, by reason of absentees, they are too often in excess of the actual needs of an examination. Furthermore we should be spared to a great extent the time and trouble involved in rating or passing upon applicants that had no business to take the examination.

We are not yet committed, however, to the fee system. By the very nature of the case the question calls for careful consideration. We have dwelt at length upon the subject in hope that we may derive benefit from an exchange of views with those interested in progressive civil service.

Close study of ways and means to promote the general serviceableness of this Commission as a public institution prompts us, by way of experiment, to consider the advisability of inviting outside employers to consult certain

of our eligible lists when in need of employees. This would not be done, of course, until an eligible list has been in existence at least six months, thus giving department heads ample opportunity to appoint the best available candidates on a list before allowing addresses of candidates to be copied therefrom.