PROGRESS OF MERIT SYSTEM.

In 1883, 16,000 federal employés were placed under a merit law. Now there are 250,000 employés of the national government appointed under the United States Act. New York and Massachusetts passed merit laws in 1883 and 1884. Wisconsin joined the civil service column in 1905, Colorado in 1907, and New Jersey in 1909. The Illinois Act for the charitable institutions was passed in 1905. Chicago, Evanston, Waukegan and Springfield are acting under the Chicago law, passed in 1895. Nearly 1,000 employés in Cook county are in the classified service, under a county commission. The cities of Aurora, Peoria, Joliet, Alton, Elgin, Streator and Rockford are operating under what is known as the Fire and Police Commission Act, passed in 1903. That law should be amended by the attachment of a penal clause and then the commission form of government Act should protect the cities which adopt it that now have fire and police commissions. The Commission Act furnishes protection to those cities which have adopted the Chicago Act.

URGE GENERAL EXTENSION.

The commission has reviewed existing conditions in this report and cited improvements that have been made under the merit law. In view of the great benefits to the charitable service derived from the administration of the civil service law, the commission believes that the remainder of the State service will be as greatly improved if given the aid of the law. It not only believes this, but knows it to be so. The commission, therefore, earnestly recommends that the law be extended to cover the remainder of the State service. This recommendation has also been made by the people of the State, or rather their mandate has been recorded in the decisive majority of 290,544 for the extension, at the last election.

Respectfully submitted,

W. B. MOULTON,

J. A. COUSLEY,

J. STANLEY BROWNE,

Commissioners.

VOTE ON EXTENSION.

The vote on the extension of the merit system November 8 was conclusive. The proposition was submitted as "Public Policy Question No. 2-Shall the next General Assembly extend the merit system by the enactment of a comprehensive and adequate State civil service law, thus promoting efficiency and economy?" The vote by counties on the proposition was:

CHIEF EXAMINER'S REPORT.

The chief examiner felt the necessity of possessing further information concerning all the positions in the service. Further, he wanted to know that the employés appointed and on the pay rolls of the respective institutions were actually present and on duty. For the purpose of checking up all employés, representatives from the commission's office unexpectedly visited all the institutions. They took with them copies of the pay rolls and checked them over at the institutions. Each employé was seen or his absence from duty satisfactorily accounted for. A check of this character injures no one and is a protection to the State. It may be argued that the head of a department or institution is responsible for the force under him. That is true, but it is no reflection upon him to have his force inspected by the commission, which also is responsible for the employés, and which approves the pay rolls upon which those employés receive the money. As a matter of fact, the heads of institutions generally were glad to have this work done, as it removed any suspicion that there might be persons on the pay rolls who were being paid without being present or performing any duties. It is the business of the commission to know that employés are employed, and as the performance of that duty was delegated to the chief examiner and his assistants, it was performed faithfully. The chief examiner feels that a complete check of all employés, wherein they will be seen personally, should be made at least twice each year. The assembling of the information obtained in such checks would result in a saving to the State of several times the salary of the inspector and result in greater efficiency in the service. Where there are from 200 to 500 employés in an institution or a department, it is difficult for the head to know all the details, and he often needs suggestions and assistance in the fulfillment of his administrative duties. As a general proposition, the department head who resents a visit from an inspector as an unwarranted intrusion, has something to conceal, and therefore the inspection is all the more necessary. The commission and its chief examiner believe in making the head of an institution or department responsible for its conduct. If an employé be inefficient, it may usually be traced to his immediate superior, or if due to laxity of discipline, to the department head. It, therefore, is manifestly necessary to call his attention to the deterioration of the service and to see that it is cor

rected. If there be one thing absolutely necessary in the State service, it is the "follow through" system. There is plenty of initiative and suggestions are innumerable. Intelligent suggestions and orders should be followed, so that it may be known they are carried out. Too many things are given ineffectual trials. A simple illustration: Temporaryemployés are required for certain work. The exact time they will be needed is not specified. The employés are retained sixty days and it becomes necessary to extend the time of temporary employment. If the commission refuse, it is accused of hampering the service by the enforcement of technicalities. If it readily consent, the temporary employés are retained indefinitely, to the detriment and the unnecessary expense of the service. Definiteness in temporary employment would mean a saving to the State, because temporary employés usually are paid more than permanent employés. The commission can and would be glad to reduce the number of temporary employés, but to do it intelligently, it must have the coöperation of institution heads. To obtain this it is necessary that projects or improvements requiring a force of temporary employés should be carefully estimated and then followed through to completion. The necessity for the retention of temporary employés should not always be left to the recommendation of the institution heads, who, in turn, depend upon their subordinates for information. The same course should be followed as to improvements in the service. They should be followed up and it should be definitely established whether they have succeeded or failed. Very often they simply become suggestions and no attention is paid to them until some abuse is discovered that makes it evident no action was taken upon the suggestion.

INCREASES EXAMINING STAFF.

There

The demands of the service required a larger number of examinations during the year. It is only necessary to scan the list of examinations in another part of this report to see that changes are necessary. were pressing demands for engineers, firemen, graduate nurses, attendants, domestics and laborers. Many of the best men on the eligible lists for engineer and firemen declined the positions offered them. As a result, more examinations were required. With attendants, domestics and laborers the demand was great and many eligibles were necessary. That some idea may be obtained of the service, it is only necessary to note that there are 222 positions paying less than $20.00 per month; 1,135 paying from $20.00 to $30.00;.820 from $30.00 to $50.00 and 423 over $50.00. A large majority of the service receives maintenance in addition. The chief examiner believes that the establishment of a uniform minimum and maximum schedule of salaries, providing adequate compensation in the different grades, would go far toward removing many of the present weaknesses of the service and reducing the number of changes. There were 1,860 appointments in 1910 in a classified service aggregating 2,500 positions. How is it possible for the commission to fill all requisitions with carefully selected employés under those conditions, when the present scale of salaries