17
Goals Reached
The f o lm w i^ ^ h a p te r s ’.have passed
their initial 1950 goal in the “ 50%
m ore in ’50% Campaign:
P resent
Cnpbter
M em bership
Bend No. 3 ........................ I.....I............ 97
Coquille - N o « M g | | ’-l!:..................... 63
Success No. 30 ..................
104
EOSH N o . 52 ......... . . . .................. 205
M arion Nor 18
300
Round-Up No. 24 ................................ 50
V eterans’ A ffairs No. 50 .................... 42
State Prison No. 56 ............1...........,...109
How does your chapter stand on
m aking its goal for 1950?
Another Spoils Win
In Louisiana
The campaign: of the Louisiana Civ
il Servic^League to ‘"Restore th e' m erit
system to L ouisiana,Jqarried; H m ili-
tantly
repeal of the
K . t ^ ^ » il service law by a spoils-
m inded legislature two years ago, has;
met a tem p or ary setb ack through re
fusal of th e le^ ftaH gattp approve a
referendum for a m erit system am end
m ent to the: 'B ^R frC ofSjtution.
; .'ìn 1948 th e revived Long machine,
in spite of pre-election pledges to pre-
serve the state civil service law and
in spite of overw helm ing public dis
approval, .jammed a repeal bill through
tthW B & J $ u r e . I A fter
th an twc£
y ears-o f the spoils system, Governor,
Long announced in his message to the
1950 lé g i^ a tu h e B à t h e w ante& |tq re -
tstòrè th e R ^ ^ ^ ^ i ^ ^ s t e m a n d j ^ 9 ||||
R R B H 8 | th e Louisiana Civil Service
league to help him in preparing a m u
tually satisfactory civil service b 9 H
Convinced by the 1948
that a self-operating constitutional
p r o w M w hich could only begm angéd
by the voters of Loujw gna, was neces
sary if the m erit system m / t h p s S |
governm ent I w ere to be perm anent,
the league^^ ^ j ^ L g d th e governor to
support a constitutional am endm ent
ra th e r th an a statute. It w orked out
w ith' his I representatives a proposal
which it believed would insure non
politicaL civil :s:ery ^^^o m m issio n s for
the fu tu re and w ould lay the fram e-
w ork for an effective, non-partisan
civil ser vice system.
The ■ am endm ent: provided- th a t one
flfvthe « 1 1 m em ber! of the new. civil
servie^com m i-ásion should be an ap
pointee of the governor alone, while
the other four and also the director of
personnel should be'; appointed by th e i
governor w ith the advice and consent
°f the board of governors of 'the Lou
isiana Civil'-ServiQ *league. Appoint-
m e h Q to fu tu re commissions would be
m ade by- the governor as follows; one
by the goyernbj in hl^di§creM bn; one
'•from .three n om inati^ts^by the BfflB
board of education; two from five no-
m inations for each I commissionership
m adp by the presidents of th e five
principal cblíéges, and universities in
the s ta te ^ a n ^ ^ 'n e from three nom in-
m ade by a nonpartisan state
civic, business or professional organ
ization designated by the^ governor
w ith the advice and consent of the
board of governors of the Louisiana
Civil Service, league. Any future ap-
g M T m gntsB
the;<officeA'o f director
of personnelfw püld. be m a d e f y the
State Civil Service Commission.
In spite of a personal appeal by the
governor to I the house of representa-
tives to adopt the R eferendum bill,
and the |@sjgrme of objections to the
bill on its m erits, a sufficient numb'er
of Long adm inistration adherents in
th e house repelled' against- th e g o v e r-
no r’s leadership to upset the hope
of<get¿ihg~ theí*íyí3®Pffiws m ajority re-
quired for adoption of a coñ^itptional
referendum . The I pro-m erit system
forces w ere able to muster, only 54
votes instead of the 67 required. The
4 6 representatives who voted against
the ^amendment -frankly E m itte d that
f f i^ J g ^ a n te d to retain the'/spoils
tern in the state government.
Charles E. Dunbar, / jr., known ás:
“the f p t ^ r - p f^ the civil service sys
tem ” in Louisiana, I first chairm an of
th e L o u is ia r|||c iy ii Service Commis-
sion, first president of the Louisiana
Civil Service league, and m em ber , of
f e e M m ciifio f the N ational Civil ¡Sér-
vice league, held prim ary responsi-'
b^ ^ ^ f q r preparation of the proposed
ilmnendment p n d its acceptance , by the