"Civil Service Reform."

Mr. R. H. Dana '74, spoke last night before the Political Club on "Civil Service Reform."

The aim of civil service reformers, he said, is to abolish the boss system in American politics; the improvement of the civil service itself is but a by-product. The boss works through a large army of office-holders and would-be office-holders, and it is through his handling of the patronage that he controls primaries and conventions, and consequently legislation. The so-called examinations for entrance to the civil service are in the main practical tests of fitness for the various positions to be filled. There are over four hundred distinctly different kinds of examinations in the national service. The total salary of all the positions filled by appointment in the national, state, municipal and county service in the country, not including school teachers, is about three hundred millions of dollars a year. Only the civil service of New York and Massachusetts and about one-half of the national service are under civil service rules. Civil service reform methods have already produced increased efficiency, and where thoroughly carried out, as in Massachusetts, have practically abolished the party boss.