7
The Merit System and the Veteran
It is the conviction of the Oregon
State Employees Association that the
extension and maintenance of the merit
principle in government will result in
great benefit to the state. The merit
system is recognized throughout the
nation as contributing to efficiency
and economy in government by raising
the character and efficiency of the
public service.
We feel that the extension of the
merit principle in government is a high
purpose and one which every honest
citizen can wholeheartedly endorse.
General public concern for the vet
eran treatment under the merit system
does not appear unreasonable. Veterans
preference has come to be recognized as
the custom of the land and a common
practice in which the Federal Civil
Service has taken the lead. Recent
federal legislation provides 5 point pref
erence on examinations to all honor
ably discharged service men and wo
men who have served on active duty
during a war or campaign. Ten point
preference will be allowed disabled vet
erans. Similar veterans preference in
state merit systems should meet no op
position. Some restrictions might be
added in a state system such as have
been added in Seattle, Washington,
where the preference is granted only
when the veteran was a resident of the
state at the time of entry into military
service. The danger is that the con
scientious objector or the recruit dis
charged for psychiatric defects after
the briefest training will receive the
same consideration as the veteran ser
iously disabled overseas or more con
sideration than the able-bodied veteran
who has been in the thick of combat
on the battlefield.
Another concern of the public
should be the holding open of govern-
mental appointments until the veterans
have had opportunity to return from
the war and to return to peace-time
pursuits. The veterans are in the war
for the duration plus six months. Most
of the great mass of war production
workers will be turned loose the day
the war is over and they will be the
first to return home to secure first
choice of all peace-time jobs available.
A merit system law enacted by the next
legislature could declare all oppoint-
ments from Pearl Harbor to one year
after the war to be temporary appoint
ments. This would give returning vet
erans an opportunity to return home,
adjust themselves to peace-time pur
suits, and qualify for appointment to
state employment. A merit system law
appears to be the only measure which
will assure the returning veteran an
equal chance with the shipyard worker
when the war is over.
The Oregon State Employees Associ
ation is pledged to support the merit
system in state government and com
mends the cause to every patriotic citi
zen of Oregon.
Quiet Waterwheel
By RALPH GIFFpRD
Quiet now is the quaint waterwheel,
with the frost upon the pumpkin and
nature painting the Vine Maple a vivid
hue. It waits for next Summer, when
once again you may hear the splash of
water and the creak of the wheel as it
delivers the life giving moisture to the
fields and garden of this little farm,
nestled in a small valley on the banks
of the Wallowa river near Minam,
Oregon.