one political party; one to hold office for one year, one to hold office for two years, and one to hold office for three years; and in each April thereafter the Mayor shall appoint one member of said civil service board for a term of three years from the first day of May next succeeding. They shall serve without compensation. Said board shall elect one of its number to be chairman, and shall also appoint a secretary.

Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of said board to prescribe rules for ascertaining the competency of applicants for position or promotion in the police and fire departments, and for all positions in the city government, except the elective and judicial officers, commissioners, officials appointed by the Mayor or with his written approval, officials chosen by the Court of Common Council, employees of the board of education, the deputies of principal executive officers authorized by law to act generally for and in place of their principals, the secretary or chief clerk of each officer, board and commission authorized by law to appoint a secretary or chief clerk, the prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, clerk of the city police court, cashier of the water department, superintendent of charities and unskilled labor

Among other things the said rules shall provide as nearly as the conditions of good administration will warrant, for open, competitive examinations for testing the fitness of applicants for positions in the public service to be classified by the civil service board. Such examinations shall be practical in their character, and, so far as may be, shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the service into which they seek to be appointed. These examinations shall be conducted by the civil service board, and all offices, places and employments so arranged or to be arranged in classes shall be filled by selection according to grade from among those graded highest as the result of such competitive examinations.

Sec. 3. Whenever said board shall have adopted rules relative to the appointment or promotion of any class of such officials, no appointments or promotions.

within such class shall be made, except from those who shall have passed an examination of at least seventy per centum and have received a certificate to that effect from said board, and are upon the list of those eligible to such position or promotion, under the rules of said board. And after the adoption of such rules no removals shall be made of persons holding positions in any department of the city, subject to the provisions of such rules, except for sufficient cause duly shown, which cause shall not be political.

Sec. 4. Any appointment or removal made in violation of the provisions of Section 3 shall be null and void; and it is hereby made the duty of the controller of the city to ascertain and make record of all appointments lawfully made in accordance with the provisions of said Section 3, and he shall make no payments of salary or other compensation to persons within the classes prescribed in Section 2 otherwise appointed. And said controller shall be chargeable by the city with all moneys unlawfully paid to persons appointed in violation of the provisions of said Section 3.

Sec. 5. Any violation of any of the provisions of the foregoing sections relating to civil service and appointments thereunder shall be a misdemeanor, and any official found guilty of such offense may be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the secretary to attend all meetings of the board, keep correct records of the same, prepare and keep on file in the office of the controller lists of those eligible for the several departments and clerical positions, send out official notices, and perform such other official duties as may be required of him by the said board. He shall receive such salary as the board may fix, not to exceed five hundred dollars per

annum.

Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of the secretary of said board to certify to the controller all lists of those eligible for appointment, giving names, ages, street addresses, examination grades, and to what position each one is eligible.. Such certifications shall be made within twentyfour hours after such lists shall have been made out by

the board. Said secretary shall also place a duplicate copy of each of such eligible lists, within twenty-four hours after it shall have been made out by the board, in a position in the office of said controller easily accessible to the public, and shall keep each of such lists on file at least six months from and after the date of its origin.

Sec. 8. The civil service board shall have the power to employ expert examiners in the conduct of examinations involving special technical subjects, and also to make suitable arrangements for conducting such physical tests as may be needed. The civil service board shall annually present to the board of finance an estimate of the sums required for these purposes.

Sec. 9. Public notice shall be given of all competitive examinations required under the several foregoing sections by one advertisement inserted in each of the daily newspapers issued in the City of Hartford, which advertisement in each of said papers shall be not less than five days prior to the date set for each of such examinations so advertised.

If the scope and bearing and the limitations of this. law were once thoroughly understood, I am convinced that the citizens of Hartford would be glad to adopt it. They are a conservative community and somewhat cautious about innovations; but when once satisfied that they are right they have never hesitated to go ahead with a will. Civil service reform in Connecticut must progress a step at a time. One city after another will, I believe, adopt regulations suited to its needs, the State will ultimately follow their example, and finally a general law, covering all communities of the commonwealth, framed in that wisdom experience alone can supply, will find a place upon the statute book.

The venerable error, so hard to dislodge, that the civil service is a plum-tree to be shaken by the prevailing party for the benefit of its adherents, is already doomed in this State. Its injustice and cruelty to competent public servants have aroused the conscience of the citizens, and their convictions will bear fruit. Already we hear the cry that one office and another must be taken out of politics. The cry, however, is sometimes misleading.

Not long ago, in a probate district in this State, each of the two candidates for Probate Judge announced to the public, that, if elected, he would take the office out of politics-each meaning apparently that he would accomplish so desirable an end by the simple expedient of keeping himself in the office and keeping the other fellow out; all of which illustrates again the necessity of discussion and agitation as to the purposes and methods of genuine civil service reform.

I cannot refrain, in closing, from a word or two on the broader general aspects of the topic under consideration. There is a good deal of truth in the statement of Holmes, that "if you want to reform a man you must begin with his grandfather." And so, if you want to reform a service you must begin with its source. The character of legislation must largely depend on the character and intelligence of the law-maker, and he who seeks wholesome reforms in public service, must attend to the methods of choosing those by whom offices are administered and laws are made. Thoughtful men rejoice in the enactment of a corrupt practices act in this State. I think all will agree that, that act notwithstanding, there is still too wide an opportunity for the use of money in elections. It is one of the functions of a civil service reform association to do its utmost to correct that evil. We will never have the sound and clean elections we are entitled to, we will never secure the free and untrammelled and fair expression of the popular will, until the State shall prescribe what are the reasonable and necessary expenses of an election and pay those expenses itself. Candidates should be prohibited from making any expenditures; for political services that are bought and paid for by the candidate can hardly be in the interest of the public welfare, however much they may contribute to the ends of a personal ambition. I venture a final suggestion as to methods: When Kansas was in the throes of populism, a Yankee, who had been some time domiciled there, wrote home to a friend: "I have a burial lot in good old New England; my sole remaining ambition is to gather together sufficient of the remains of a shattered fortune to secure me decent

burial there in a community that has faith in something and sometimes takes a rest.”

The cause of civil service reform in this conservative old State will suffer if its friends pursue their purpose with din and clamor and denunciation. Steadily public opinion is growing in its favor, and its staunchest advocates are to be found in the ranks of conservative men. It is a business proposition and is to be supported by business methods. Step by step its principles will be recognized in the charters of cities and the laws of the State. It is a reform whose propriety and fairness must eventually appeal to the reason and judgment of men; for it is based on justice and conceived in that wisdom "whose ways are ways of pleasantness and all whose paths are peace."