From the Women's Civil Service Reform Association of Buffalo:

The Women's Civil Service Reform Association of Buffalo began its work in the early spring of 1905, taking as its first object the arousing of interest in Civil Service Reform and the diffusion of intelligent ideas as to its meaning. To this end we undertook to distribute its literature among men, women and juniors. Chief among our readers have been the pupils of the High Schools, an impulse having been given by the offering of a medal, by our president, for the best essay on Civil Service Reform by a High School scholar.

Believing that hero worship is good we considered ourselves fortunate to have George William Curtis to remember and extol and have chosen his birthday as the occasion for bringing together our active and reading members, winners of the medal and teachers, to be addressed by men prominent in the work of good govern

ment.

Such a meeting was held on February 26, 1906, when there were speeches by Mr. Ansley Wilcox, Mr. T. Guilford Smith, Messrs. Henry W. Sprague, J. B. Olmsted. The members met socially and civil service took on a new aspect to many of our members. Our Association sent letters to the Assemblymen and Senators of New York, urging that the Probation Officers should be put. under civil service rules.

We have begun putting the "Primers" of Civil Service Reform with the higher grades of the Grammar Schools.

We purpose to continue the work of the first year and add to it the study of Civil Service Reform in its relation to Municipalities.

SECOND SESSION.

WOOLSEY HALL,

MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 19.

AT 8:00 o'clock P. M. the League reconvened at

Woolsey Hall. The meeting was presided over by President Arthur T. Hadley of Yale University, who spoke as follows.

"It is a great pleasure to welcome the National Civil

Service Reform League to New Haven. It is a special pleasure that Yale can use Woolsey Hall as a means of welcome. It makes me feel pretty old to think how I have witnessed the growth of civil service reform and of the National Civil Service Reform League from the beginning until now. I have seen it laughed at, I have seen it disliked, I have seen it gradually reckoned with as a power, I have seen it finally taken as matter of course. We have come to the time when civil service reform, in a broad way, has the people behind it. In fact its chief danger is that just because it represents the ideals of the community and has the nominal support of the most of the community, there should be a little apathy that will give power to the other side. When I witness the conflict between civil service reform and its opponents I am sometimes reminded of the Scotchman and his comment on the conflict between God and the Devil, for though the pastor assured him that God was stronger than the Devil, it only led him to the melancholy reflection that the Devil made up for his inferior strength by his superior activity.

"The Civil Service Reform League has no longer the task of creating public sentiment, no longer the task of making appeals for recognition, but of keeping the place it has won. I do not know what the speakers of the evening are going to say, but knowing who they are, I do not care very much what they are going to say. I feel as the boy did when the bishop came to consecrate the church and he went to the bishop and said he wanted to be consecrated too. The bishop explained to the boy the difference between consecration and confirmation; but the boy, after the bishop got through, said he didn't know as he cared very much what they called it as long as they did it to him. That is the way I feel about the speakers of the evening.

"The first speaker is an old friend. When I was a boy and used to go to Yale College Library for books, I looked to the man who was at that time librarian of Yale College as the compendium of all information in the world that was really worth knowing. I grew older and so did he. He left New Haven and went to California and went

to Baltimore and went to various other places and gathered experience all the time. He comes back here occasionally to visit us, and I find that my mental attitude toward the former librarian of Yale College has not changed; that I still think what the first speaker of the evening, President Gilman, does not know is not worth knowing."

Dr. Daniel C. Gilman, President of the League, then delivered an address.1

Mr. Richard Watson Gilder presented the resolutions in memory of the late Carl Schurz, President of the League from 1893 to 1900, which were on motion unanimously adopted.'

Hon. Charles J. Bonaparte, Secretary of the Navy, then delivered an address.

THIRD SESSION.

NEW HAVEN COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY BUILDING, TUESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 20.

THE Mr. W. W. Vaughan pre

'HE League reconvened at 10:30 A. M., President

Gilman in the chair.

sented the report of the Committee on Nominations, as follows:

It was moved and seconded that the Secretary be directed to cast one ballot for the election of the gentlemen named. The motion was unanimously carried, the Secretary cast the ballot and announced the election of the ticket as read.

Mr. A. S. Frissell presented the report of the Treasurer. The Secretary of the League reported that as the fiscal year did not close until November 30, the Council had voted that the annual report of the Treasurer, to be printed in the proceedings with the report of the Auditing Committee, should include all receipts and disbursements up to and including that date.'

In the absence of the Chairman of the Special Committee on Consular Reform, Mr. Ansley Wilcox reported that the formal report of the committee had not yet been completed, but that by direction of the Council, when completed, it was to be published in the proceedings Mr. Wilcox then reported informally upon the progress. of consular reform during the past year.

ร

In the absence of the Chairman of the Special Committee on Removals in the Civil Service, Mr. W. W. Vaughan presented the report of the committee."

Mr. Horace E. Deming, chairman, then presented and read the report of the Committee on Resolutions. After some discussion and amendment the report was approved and adopted.*

Upon motion of Mr. Ansley Wilcox, that portion of the report which dealt with the appropriation for the Federal Commission and the salaries of the Commissioners was ordered referred to the executive officers of the League, with power to secure the co-operation of others and with instructions to present such resolutions to the appropriate committees in Congress.

Hon. Nelson S. Spencer then presented the preliminary report of the Special Committee on the Application of the Merit System to the Higher Municipal Officers. On motion the report was received and referred back to the committee for further report.

Printed in full at page 54; 2 at page 76; 3 at page 82; at page 70; at page 86.