E. Cooper, judge first circuit; Wm. L. Whitney, judge first circuit; Wm. J. Robinson, judge first circuit; Selden B. Kingsbury, judge second circuit; John A. Matthewman, judge third circuit; Charles F. Parsons, judge fourth circuit; J. Hardy, judge fifth circuit; Sanford B. Dole, United States district judge; Charles F. Clemons, United States district judge. Court of Claims: Chief Justice: Stanton J. Peelle, Indiana; Charles B. Howry, Mississippi; Fenton W. Booth, Illinois; Geo. W. Atkinson, West Virginia; Samuel S. Barney, Wisconsin. Territorial Judges: District judges.-Alaska: Division No. 1, Thomas R. Lyons; Division No. 2, Cornelius D. Murane; Division No. 3, Edward E. Cushman; Divi sion No. 4, Peter D. Overfield. Circuit Court-First circuit: Henry E. Cooper, Wm. L. Whitney, William J. Robinson; Second circuit, Selden B. Kingsbury; Third circuit, John A. Matthewman; Fourth circuit, Charles F. Parsons; Fifth circuit, J. Hardy. United States District judges (term six years), Sanford B. Dole, Charles F. Clemons. Supreme Court-Arizona: Chief Jus- Supreme Court-Hawaii: Chief Jus- Leary, Adolf Grant Wolf, Emilio del Toro y Cuevas, Pedro De Aldrey; United States district judge, ; attorney-general, Foster V. Brown. Judges of the District of Columbia: Shepard; Associate justices, Charles H. Robb, Josiah A. Van Orsdel. Supreme Court: Chief Justice, Harry M. Clabaugh; Associate justices, Job Barnard, Thomas H. Anderson, Ashley M. Gould, Daniel Thew Wright, Wendell P. Stafford. Commerce Court.-A court to be known as the Commerce Court, and having jurisdiction (heretofore possessed by circuit courts) over all cases for the enforcement of any order of the interstate commerce commission, other than for the payment of money, The Commerce Court sits in Washwas established by Congress in 1909. ington. Its members are additional circuit judges, with a salary of $7,000 each. They were appointed as follows: Dec. 20, 1910, for five years. bald, Jan. 31, 1911, for four years. William H. Hunt, Jan. 31, 1911, for three years. John Emmett Carland, Jan. 31, 1911, for two years. Julian W. Mack, Jan. 31, 1911, for one year. Court of Customs Appeals.-The Supreme Court-New Mexico: Chief tariff act of 1909 created a new court justice, William H. Pope, Roswell; to hear appeals in custom cases to be Associate justices; John R. McFie, Santa Fe; Frank W. Parker, Las called the Court of Customs Appeals, Cruces; Ira A. Abbott, Albuquerque; which is constituted as follows: Merritt C. Mechem, Socorro; Ed- Supreme Court-Porto Rico: Chief Presiding judge: Robert M. Mont- Associate judges: James F. Smith, THE CONSULAR SERVICE The consular service of the United | reorganization there are fifty-seven States was reorganized by act of Con- consuls general, divided into seven gress of May 11, 1908. Under this classes, the salaries being as follows: .Salary $12,000.. 8,000.. Class 1. 44 2. 5 6 5,500. One at London and at Paris. Twelve in all. .Seventeen in all. Nine in all. Consuls.-The United States con- but one Class 2, at Manchester, Eng., suls are divided into nine classes, at a salary of $6,000. with salaries ranging from $8,000 There are in all 240 consuls, located down to $2,000. There is but one in the principal cities of the various consul of Class 1, located at Liver- countries of the world, and there are, pool, Eng., at a salary of $8,000, and in addition, 255 consular agents. CIVIL SERVICE CLINTON ROGERS WOODRUFF National. One of the most gratifying developments of the year, from the civil-service reform view-point, has been the vigorous attitude of President Taft toward the merit system. On Sept. 30, 1910, he put into the competitive classified service assistant postmasters in post offices of the first and second classes and clerks in non-free delivery offices. This order, which went into effect Dec. 1, affected about 3,800 employees, 2,105 assistant postmasters, and 1,746 clerks in non-free delivery offices. Further than this the President in his annual message urged upon Congress that all local officers under the treasury and interior departments, the post office and the departments of justice, commerce and labor, whose appointments now require confirmation by the Senate, should be classified subject to the same provisions as are applied to persons now in the competitive service, and that upon such classification the advice and consent of the Senate should cease to be required in such appointments. (See Twenty-seventh report, pp. 28-32.) To do this requires further legislation and a bill for this purpose has accordingly been introduced by Senator Burton of Ohio. Although there is no provision of law which makes necessary the application of merit principles to bank examiners, they are now appointed only after their fitness has been demonstrated by examination prescribed by the comptroller of the currency, and they are required on their appointment to cease all active participation in partisan politics. A striking illustration of the good results flowing from the elimination of political and spoils influences has been afforded by the recent reforms accomplished in the customs service at New York. On Sept. 16, 1910, a letter to an unknown Republican leader in Iowa, and signed by Secretary Norton, was published, in which it was openly stated that "the President felt it to be his duty to the party and to the country to withhold federal patronage from certain senators and congressmen who seem to be in opposition to the Administration's efforts to carry out the promises of the party platform. The President feels," continued the letter, "that the value of federal patronage has been greatly exaggerated and that the refusal to grant it has probably been more useful to the men affected than the appointments would have been." This frank confession by the President, through his secretary, of the use of the patronage to influence legislation at the time aroused much comment in the press, some extremely unfavorable, but the President's general record on civil-service matters has been so uniformly good that there has been a willingness to condone the letter as an unfortunate break of but slight significance. In his annual message to Congress in Dec., 1910, the President specifically urged the classification of all first, second and third-class postmasters, the application of the merit system to appointments in the diplo matic and consular services and went further than any other President has gone in stating that in his judgment "public opinion has advanced to the point where it would support a bill providing a secure tenure during efficiency for all purely administrative officials." To put into effect the recommendations of the President and of his cabinet advisers, bills have been introduced into Congress. Representative Lowden of Illinois on Jan. 11 introduced into the House a bill providing for the application of the merit system to appointments in the diplomatic and consular services, the effect of which would be to make permanent by legislative action system now dependent entirely upon the discretion of the President. Senator Burton introduced a bill to allow the President to put first, second, and third-class postmasters in the classified service and Senator a Frye introduced another bill making at Madison, Wis., for the purpose of a similar provision for collectors, discussing matters of common interassistant collectors, surveyors of est and exchanging views and sug. customs and naval officers in the gestions. The resolutions adopted customs service. Congress, however, declared that public expression did not either at the regular ses- should be given to the gratification sion ending March 4 or at the spe- it feels in the spread of the merit cial session take any action on system of appointment as evidenced these measures. by its adoption in the service of the nation, of six states and nearly 250 cities; and in the adoption by the State of Illinois of improved civilservice laws extending the operation of the merit system and giving enlarged powers and greater security from improper political interference to its civil service commission; and also satisfaction in the decreasing number of positions exempted from examination and the success attendant upon tests held for highly technical and scientific positions, and heads of departments in cities. Of the bills introduced into the special session two aroused considerable interest, one introduced by Senator Jones of Washington and the other by Senator La Follette. Both bills provide that employees may not be dismissed except on charges and after having been given an opportunity to make an explanation, and both loosen up the 80called "gag order" embodied in the Executive order of Jan. 31, 1902, as amended Jan. 25, 1906, which forbids all federal officers and employees from soliciting either individually or by associations for an increase of pay, or influencing or attempting to influence any other legislation before Congress except through the heads of the departments under whom they serve. Senator La Follette's bill, however, went even farther, practically making it lawful for federal officeholders to affiliate themselves with organized labor unions. During the year an inquiry into economy and efficiency in the various departments has been instituted by the President upon authority of Congress. The methods of transacting the public business in the different departments of the government are being examined by experts, under the leadership of Dr. Frederick A. Cleveland, of Philadelphia, Harvey S. Chase, of Boston, William F. Willoughby, former treasurer of Porto Rico, and Professor Frank J. Goodnow, all of whom are actively identified with the National Municipal League and prominent in its councils and on its various committees. State and Municipal.-Connecticut and Illinois record the most important advances in the merit system in state services during the past year. The Connecticut legislature on April 8 adopted a civil-service law which may be put into effect in any political sub-division of the state by popular vote. At its last session, the Illinois legislature passed four important civil-service laws. One, a state-wide law extending the merit system from the state charitable institutions to the entire state service; the second, a law covering the entire service of Cook County, where previously only employees in the county institutions were classified; third, a law puts under the merit system employees in the parks of Chicago, and a fourth makes it possible to extend the Chicago civilservice law by popular vote to about 250 positions in the municipal courts. The state-wide and Cook County laws were passed as the result of popular vote at the November elections last year, when the advisory "little ballot" in favor of such legislation was adopted by a vote of 411,676 to 121,133, a majority of 290,543. National Assembly of Civil Service Commissions.-On June 7-8, 1911, the National Assembly of Civil Service The new state law is remarkable Commissions, composed of represen- in that it gives very wide powers tatives of the various commissions, to the commission, which is empow federal, state and municipal, ered to make rules to carry out the throughout the country, was held purposes of the act and thus is granted quasi-legislative powers. It may also make rules for examinations, appointments, transfers, removals, for maintaining and keeping records of efficiency of all officers and employees, and all groups of officers and employees, and it may from time to time make changes in such rules. These rules do not require the approval or sanction of any other authority. All persons in the service July 1 become members of the classified civil service without original examination. positions, most of them in the office of the state comptroller. This was recognized as the beginning of a spoils raid and was with vigor opposed by friends of the merit system, but the requests were granted none the less. The matter, however, was taken into the courts and the action of the commission held to be illegal by Supreme Court Justice Rudd, whose decision in turn was overruled by the Appellate Division. The matter is to be carried to the Court of Appeals. Other requests Attempts in other states to obtain for exemptions, however, followed, civil-service legislation were not im- the most important single request mediately successful, but ground for being that of the state excise comadvances in future years was laid. missioner, who wished to have the A state-wide civil-service law apply- 60 special agents in his department ing to the state and county services exempted. This was denied, but at was defeated in California, although a meeting in Albany July 27 the the legislature was progressive; a state commission granted exemptions bill covering about 6,000 state em- of over 60 positions in various other ployees in Pennsylvania and provid-state departments. ing for a referendum vote on its adoption in third-class cities and in counties of over 150,000, was defeated in the lower house of the Pennsylvania legislature by the close vote of 87 to 86. Bills putting the state service under the merit system were also defeated in Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota. Governor Wilson's plan for electoral reform in New Jersey embodied in the "Geran bill," adopted at the 1911 session of the legislature, provides for the Ichoice of election officers after noncompetitive examinations. An attempt to repeal the Colorado state civil-service law was defeated, but the legislature practically accomplished its purpose by failing to appropriate the necessary funds for the expenses of the state civil-service commission. New York City's civil service likewise was subjected to a fierce attack through the medium of the "Gaynor" charter which placed the civil service on an entirely new basis; but the resistance was so great that the sponsors of the charter abandoned their effort to change the existing legislation. (See also XI, Municipal Government.) The competitive promotion examination to fill the vacancy made by the resignation of Fire-Chief Croker was considered by civil service reformers the most important competitive examination ever held in this country, and its character and its conduct aroused favorable comment. In New Jersey the submission to the people of the respective divisions by referendum of the question of adopting the provisions of the state civil-service law for Newark, East Orange and Essex County resulted in the acceptance of the law by large majorities. Numerous In New York State a return of the Democrats to power was immediately followed by a change in the personnel of the state civil-service commission. The two Republican commission charters members "resigned." The Demo- adopted during the past year concratic member of the commission tain civil service provisions. With was retained and made president. the exception of the Oakland charImmediately after the appointment ter, however, the civil service proof the new commission and at its visions in none of these new charfirst meeting, requests were made for ters are at all adequate to accomthe exemption of a large number of plish their purpose. |