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Te ' -- ereeaaaieees 4 -- a% ; K .").'... \ ~A c ""'i";.";"'::w C¥3 "- . * § . ' C . --n-------_.. 4 § Vote Down Liberal Motion to -- Abolish Bad System ~ € # # ® $ 4 : @romeemmnenctrememmmtnnonn mmses se Hon. I. B. Lucas, Attorney--General, Makes Amazing Adtmmission, but Refuses to Support Move for a Change to Better Things, . Pro] ' 'The Ontario Government vesterday ' 'rejected a motion by Mr. William | Proudfoot (Centre Huron) calling for the abolition of the patronage sys-- tem, the creation of a Civil BService | | Comtuission ~to make appointments | |and promotions in the civil service by , merit, for the purchase of all sup--» 'plies for the public service on a 'busi-- ness basis regardless of the political or personal aMfliations of the vendors, and for purchase by tender in open competition. | I Mr. Proudfoot in his speech gave | figures to show the growth of the civil | service, and contended they would i; get betier employees by putting them under a Commission that would ap-- | point them on merit, regardless of | political pull. He urged an examina-- tion for all classes, and desired the | reform to apply to both inside and 'uutside services. i Pleased With Themselves. |__The --motion wWas debated at con» 'siderable length in the Legislature, the discussion ending with the mem-- bers of the Government, on motion | of Hon. I. B. Lucas, Attorney-Gen-, eral, passing an -- amendment con-- | !grutulating themselves on the high| | standard ~maintained in connection with appointments and promotions in the civil service. The amendment, l:nlso expressed the opinion that a| | Civil Service Commission was unsuit--' |able, and would form a barrter which !would prevent returned soldiers from | lgetting Government positions. l l"l'esn- for a Ssheriff, | | | Thers were some humorous inci--| idems during the debate. Hon. I. E. Lucas, Attorney--General, wanted to | know if Mr. Proudfoot would have a Civil Service Commission decide ap-- Ipointments for the outside service, and Mr. Proudfoot said he would. | _ _*"What test would you have for a | Sheriff, a hanging?" asked Dr. Jessop | (St. Catharines). | _ "Doctors would be able to qualify | for that position," remarked Mr. Dew-- lart (Southwest Toronto). '\\'rm\g system, Bat --=, | _ Hon. Mr. Lucas said if they could show him how the evils of the patron-- age system could be wiped out the! discussion would be worth while. |Everybody recognized, more or less,| | the eviis of patronage. The evil | effects still existed at Ottawa, even with a Civil Service Commission ap-- | pointed by the Liberal Government. "l"You can't determine a man's ability | by competitive examination," he said. Anyway, Ontario had not enough civil | servants to make it worth while. The Attorney--General declared there was |no spoils system in Ontario, and sup-- plies were purchased by open com-- petition. Different Under Sir Adam. Mr., Sam Carter (FSouth 'Welling-- ton} declared that in many . cases where positions were vacant a man had to be a Conservative before he could secure the appointment. Sir Adam Beck, however, had bucked the Gevernment in connection with ap-- pointments -- to _ the -- Hydro--electric} Commission. If an . electri¢ian is needed, a man has to be an electrician, whether he--is a Conservative or a Liberal, before he can secure a posi-- tion<with the Hydro--electric Commis--| sion, sald--Mr..Carter, ;