4
Honest Support of the Merit System
The League of Women Voters has
achieved a proud record in their ef
forts throughout the years since 1922
supporting and sponsoring merit sys
tem legislation in many state legisla
tures as well as in congress.
D uring those 20 years, the league
has had much experience w ith merit
system laws and w ith legislatures and
w ith politicians. In a booklet publish
ed June, 1940, "The Awkward Age in
Civil Service,” we find on page 38 the
following appraisal:
“Legislatures and political parties may give
lip service to the merit system but they are
apt to avoid positiye action. One of the more
obvious ways o f , giving the appearance of
support without the substance is to post
pone the day of reckoning.”
Oregon is a -relatively young state,
but the rapid growth of the state ser
vice in the last decade has made the
merit system an urgent need, a devel
opment not at once apparent to citi
zens located up State, who have no
direct contact w ith conditions in the
capitol city and in the metropolitan
area surrounding Portland. State em
ployees are in an advantageous posi
tion to observe the need of the exten
sion of the merit principle in the public
service, and it is an indication of sin
cere interest in the State’s welfare that
State employees should as a group sup
port this principle. The same publica
tion of the League of Women Voters
quoted above, speaks on pages 3 5 and
36 of the attitude of employees towards
the merit system as follows:
"The suspicion that the merit system will
not be in their tfwn best interests can make
the employee group a stumbling block in a
merit campaign. In New Hampshire, the
League of Women Voters, in working for a
merit law, has found that practically the
only significant opposition in that State
comes from the employees themselves. In con
sequence, special educational activities have
been carried on for the benefits of that
group. Likewise in Cleveland in 193 8, secur
ing the support of the employees was one of
the most important features of the campaign
which brought the labor positions into the
civil service system. Once convinced of the
value of the merit system, public employees
are a source' of strength. In the fight to se
cure passage of the Ramspick Postmasters Bill
by Congress, the employee organizations pro
vided telling support. Similarly in some of
the campaigns for State merit legislation, the
employee groups have been strong propon
ents.”
Many employees and officials have
long years of conscientious service for
the state to their credit, often in spe
cialized or technical fields. When the
wage scales of the state and private in
dustry are compared, it m ust be ac
knowledged th at loyalty and devotion
has had much to do w ith the continua
tion of these employees in the state
service. W hen employees of this type
endorse the merit principle, their en
dorsement should receive serious con
sideration. The Oregon State Employees
Association, composed of this type of
employee, and having forsworn pres
sure methods and seeking no unfair ad
vantages, has endorsed the merit sys
tem principle, but has not assumed to
specify definite provisions for such
legislation. They ask the best, most im
proved and up to date m erit system
law a conscientious and honest legisla
ture can evolve.
Honest legislators will receive all as
sistance and support towards achieving
such a merit system law th a t a cam
paign of education and support by the
Oregon State Employees Association
can extend.