plan for the appointment of teachers which was drawn up with the kind and valuable help of Prof. Hanus and Prof. A. O. Norton of Harvard University. Whether our suggestions were of service we do not know, but we are highly gratified by the adoption of these civil service rules in the Boston schools and we trust that other cities may be encouraged to follow suit.

Such are the recorded facts of the year's work, all directed towards the same goal, an enlightened public conscience in regard to the merit system; but of its real significance, of the wasted or the fruitful sowings, no record can be given.

Miss Emilie J. Hutchinson submitted the following report from the Women's Auxiliary to the Civil Service Reform Association of New York:

Within the last few months the New York Auxiliary has mourned with others the loss of the Honorable Carl Schurz. The Executive Committee, called in special session to honor the memory of Mr. Schurz, adopted the following minute:-

"The Executive Committee of the Women's Auxiliary to the Civil Service Reform Association desire to place on record the expression of their profound sorrow for the death of Mr. Schurz. Our society remembers with gratitude and pride that it was to Mr. Schurz that it owes its existence, for it was he who twelve years ago asked Mrs. Lowell to form an Auxiliary to the Association, and we know how heartily and successfully she carried out his wish. Mr. Schurz's idea that women might co-operate with men in their endeavor to improve the civil service of their country has had a wide result.

"This work and many others inspired by Mr. Schurz's patriotism and humanity will go on, but the true vision, sense of justice, liberal views, love of liberty, wise counsel, and staunch loyalty of our dear friend are lost to us and to the country except in so far as they may be recorded in our hearts and commemorated in our lives."

The Auxiliary has also suffered the loss by death of one of its own members-Mrs. Winthrop Cowdin,-and in her memory the Executive Committee adopted the following minute, November 12, 1906:—

"Lena Potter Cowdin, who has lately passed away, was one of the founders of this Auxiliary. To her appreciation of the great need of the reform of the civil service, as a measure of public good, her recognition of the place of women in this movement, and the eager energy with which she undertook the organization of our work, we chiefly owe our successful early years, and the inspiration that has carried us forward. In the difficult post of Secretary, which she cheerfully assumed, as Treasurer, and frequently as the representative of the Auxiliary in the councils of the National League, her personal effort for this cause seemed never to cease, and her faith in its ultimate triumphs never to flag.

"It was part of her nature, when the war with Spain called for a new and, for the time, more pressingly needed service, to give herself to that. As Acting-President of the Auxiliary of the Red Cross, she passed the hot and trying summer of 1898 in the direction of that great work of patriotism and humanity, rarely leaving the city except to visit the camps and giving so freely of her phys ical powers, that she broke beneath the strain, and fell into that long illness and suffering that have but just ended.

"In the truest sense, her life was given for her country, and her service, both in the field of civic betterment and in the time of the stress of the war, should be not only an inspiration but an encouragement to the women of America.

"Those who knew Mrs. Cowdin, and especially those whose privilege it was to work with her, will cherish always the memory of her devotion, and of her goodness and her wonderful personal charm. The officers and board of the Auxiliary, while attempting to express in this minute their appreciation of the significance and the value of her life, feel in her passing, the keenest sense of personal loss, and offer to her family the deepest sympathy in the greater loss that must be theirs."

Though we mourn their loss, the memory of their lives shall continue to stimulate us in the work that enlisted their sympathetic activity.

The general work of the Auxiliary in the past year

has been chiefly along the following lines:-1st, the school work; 2nd, organizing meetings for clubs in social settlements; 3rd, an investigation of the women probation officers serving in the magistrates courts of Greater New York

The work of sending circular letters concerning the merit system to elementary schools has been successfully continued. Enthusiastic demands for the "Primer" have come from every State in which we have corresponded. We have had several letters from principals who, not being able to use the "Primers" when they were first brought to their attention, have kept the matter in mind, and have asked for them some months afterward. The total number of States partially or completely canvassed in the elementary school work is now 18, and the total number of "Primers" distributed is 28.505. We are continually receiving testimony to the value of this kind of work, and we are now engaged in the introduction and distribution of the "Primer" in the schools of Wisconsin and Michigan.

The Auxiliary has also sent other of its publications to federation meetings in various States, to club women, to correspondents, and to libraries. The total number of publications of the Auxiliary during the past six years. now amounts to 33 different kinds of pamphlets with an aggregate issue of 83.175. During the same period of time, 77,368 of these pamphlets have been distributed where they will be used to create an intelligent public opinion in favor of the merit system.

The Auxiliary continued through last winter to hold meetings in the social settlements. Fifteen evening meetings were held, and the time was devoted to an exposition and discussion of the merit system. The Auxiliary gratefully acknowledges the help of Messrs. Burlingham, Chapman, Goodwin, McAneny, de Roode, Schieffelin, and Spencer, in arranging for these meetings and in speaking at. them. It is obviously impossible to estimate the value or the direct results of these meetings; but the fact remains that about five hundred men, women and boys in New York City have heard about the merit system, who probably would not have heard it

through any other means, and perhaps by repeated expositions of its principles at similar meetings in the future, they may come to some realization of its true significance and worth.

Last November, at the suggestion of the Civil Service Reform Association, the Auxiliary undertook the investigation of the women who were serving as probation officers in the magistrates courts in Greater New York. It seemed fitting that we should do this work, since it concerned the women officers and their treatment of women prisoners. The position was at that time unclassified, and appointment depended on the personal favor of the judges. A trained woman was sent to visit the twenty courts in which the probation officers. worked, and from personal interviews with these women she collected statistics as to their age, nationality, length of time in service, affiliations, education, previous occupation, and tried to get as definite information as possible about each officer's conception of her duties.

As a result of this investigation the Auxiliary found that only five out of sixteen officers who were interviewed seemed to us of a desirable type of woman, or, so far as we could judge, really competent to fill the position; that appointments in some cases had been made apparently for political or personal reasons without consideration of the fitness or the training of the appointees.

The results seemed to warrant the Auxiliary in writing an argument on the Method of Selecting Female Probation Officers, in which we pointed out the existing conditions, and advocated competitive examinations as a test of fitness before the appointment of a woman probation officer could be made. The argument was submitted to the State and Municipal Civil Service Commissions, and to the Probation Commission that was at the time considering the question of the classification of the position of female probation officer, which had recently become at salaried one. The report of the Probation Commission contained a recommendation that a fair trial be made to appoint women probation officers by competitive examinations, and we were successful in our efforts in so far as

the testimony furnished by our investigation contributed to this result.

Our membership has grown steadily during the past year. Its increase since last December being forty-four per cent., which is more than at any other time within the last eleven years. This brings an addition to our income of five hundred and forty-eight dollars.

The outlook for the coming year is an encouraging one, though we shall miss the services of Miss Meyer who fulfilled the duties of Secretary so successfully for six years. We are especially pleased with the interest shown by the Federated Club women in their decision to try to bring State institutions under a civil service law, and we are eager to help them in this work.

Strongly feeling the need of instructing the children. in the school of our State in the principles of the merit system, the Auxiliary plans to hold its seventh competition for the best essay on some topic, to be chosen by the Auxiliary, and open it to both Grammar School and High School pupils. It will be the first time that such a competition has been open to the children in the Grammar Schools, but it seems important to do so in the light of recent statistics that show that a very small percentage of the boys in the Grammar School go to the High School.

Beside our educational work, we are planning a revision of our Bibliography published in 1900-a revision that shall not only bring its references up to date, but shall present them in a more practicable form for working purposes.

We hope to have continued opportunities for co-operation with our sister Auxiliaries or other reform associations, and we look forward to a year of increased efficiency in the regulation and promotion of our work.

The following reports were also received to be printed in the Proceedings:

From the Chicago Civil Service Reform Association: The situation with reference to civil service, not only in the State, but in the City of Chicago and in Cook County, is very promising. On November 1st, 1905,