Q. Is yours a New York, or a German name? A. English name, originally; my grand-parents came from England. Q. You attended public or parochial schools? A. Public. Q. Your present occupation? A. Clerk. Q. How long? A. Three months. Q. Where were you before that? A. I was in the lumber business with my father. Yes. Q: Were you always under your father? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you ever have any trouble with the police? A. No. Q. Who is Mr. W.? A. He is in the lumber business at No. Wall Street. Q. How did you happen to think of getting on the Police force? A. Well, I wasn't doing anything during the month of October, and I had to get some kind of a position, and my friends advised me to try for this. of. Q. Have any of your friends ever gotten one? A. Not that I know Q. Why did they advise you to try? A. I presume they saw the advertisement, and had a general idea that it was worth trying for. Q. It was not suggested to you by any politician? A. No. Q. Did you understand that it was necessary to get any influence ? A. I was given to understand that you could not use any influence. Q. Did you ever try to use any? A. I don't know of any that I could use. A. Q. Were your parents born in Germany? A. No, sir. They were How long have you been with them? A. Eight years. What put you into the idea of trying an examination for policeman? A. Well, in the first place the outlook on the Manhattan system is rather dubious. I went there with the expectation of being promoted. I am a man with a family, and wished to get a position whereby I could rear my family with some degree of respectability. Q. Did anyone suggest that you should come? A. No, sir. The idea originated in my own mind. Thought probably that I might suc ceed. Q. No politician suggested it to you? A. No, sir. itics; vote according to my liking. Q. Were you told that you could use any influence? I have no pol A. No. Yes. Q. Q. Where were you born? A. New York State.. Where were your parents born? A. New York State. How long have you been there? A. Three years. Who suggested the idea of applying for this position? A. I thought it might better my position. I do not want to remain single. Q. Did any of the men from West Point come down with you? A. No, but one man tried the examination from the engineers; he didn't pass. Q. Did any politician suggest that you come here? A. No. Q. Is it currently understood among the men at West Point that a man may get a good position in this department? A. Yes, sir. Q. Is it discussed to any extent? A. Yes. Q. How long has this been discussed up there? A. For about a year. Q. When you went up there three years ago was there any such opinion? A. No. Q. Did any of the men ever try it then? A. No. As each personal examination proceeded, the Commissioner marked upon the list in annotations, the answers to his queries, and his general estimate of the candidate. In no case had the candidate been personally known to the commissioner before his appearance for examination. The only recommendations considered were those appearing in the regularly provided blanks, and coming, in each case, from private citizens. The marks given were favorable, with but one or two exceptions. The exception in the list of those examined in our presence, was in the case of a candidate whose answers ran as follows: Where were your parents born? A. In Ireland. Were you educated at public, or parochial schools? A. Public. Q. How long? A. Three or four months. I had no Q. What were you before? A. I did general work. steady employment, but worked for three or four months at a time. Q. When you left school what did you do? A. I was office boy, and worked up to a clerk. A. Very nearly three years. I worked in the Register's office. Q. How long were you there? A. Four years. Q. ation. Q. Why did you leave? A. I had to; they cut down the appropri How much have you earned during the past year? A. About seven dollars per week-less than that, $300. The record of this candidate seemed to suggest to the Commissioner that he had been a political hanger-on, with little disposition for regular employment, and that for these reasons his employment on the police force would not be advisable. At a meeting of the Board of Police, subsequent to the date of our examination, which the undersigned secretary attended, 45 appointments were made from the eligible list for patrolmen, including the men the Committee had seen, with the exception above noted, and one or two others about whom the Commissioners still entertained some doubt. Excepting in these cases the order of the list was followed exactly. Each appointment is of course for the probationary period. At the end of this period, if the record of the appointee be satisfactory, it is made permanent. This is, in outline, the system of appointment. THE EFFICIENCY OF THE SYSTEM. Mr. Roosevelt, at the time of our interview, stated his desire to have us examine into every appointment or promotion, reduction or dismissal, that had been made, or that has not been made. He placed at our disposal the written records of the Commission, the private memoranda by which he had been governed, and the various letters of recommendation received from politicians, clergymen and citizens, with the action taken noted in each case. In investigating the system, both of appointment and promotion, we availed ourselves of this offer, so far as possible. Although the invitation to investigate every case was not accepted literally, we were satisfied that the men and papers examined in each class were fairly illustrative of the whole. With regard to appointments, Mr. Roosevelt expressed to us the general conviction, gained as the result of his experience, that the competitive system is not only the best possible, but the only possible system. The fact that the men reaching the eligible lists, with so few exceptions, had passed the personal examination of the Commissioners, he suggested as proof on this point. Of the list of 45 to which we have referred, not more than three or four have been rejected absolutely. From the last previous list, containing 64 names, 63 appointments had been made, each in the order of standing, the only man passed by having failed to convince Commissioners Roosevelt and Andrews of his freedom from certain undesirable political connections. With regard to promotions, however, Mr. Roosevelt expressed the conviction that the competitive plan, by formal examinations, is not the best. His experience had steadily inclined him to the belief that only as one element in the general promotion test are the written examinations in the case of the police of practical use. After careful consideration of the subject the Commission had arranged a plan of promotion approved since by the State Civil Service Commission, under which the candidate is given a maximum of 35 per cent. as the result of a competitive examination, and a maximum merit mark of 65 per cent. representing the Commissioners' personal judgment of his record and qualifications. THE PLAN OF PROMOTION. The plan of promotion is practically identical in each grade from roundsman to chief. The written examination is conducted by the Police Civil Service Board, and relates principally to the Department regulations, provisions of the Penal Code and of the general statutes, etc. The merit mark is given for practical efficiency, and is designed to represent such diverse things as the personal record of the candidate-i. e., the number of complaints that have been made against him, the aggregate of fines imposed, the number of arrests made by him, instances of personal bravery of any description, etc.the value of the candidate's service in some special work or probationary assignment, the fact that he is faithful and able, or the general belief of the Commission that if promoted to the higher grade he will be a good disciplinarian. The Commission adopted the plan of never giving a man a mark of more than 40 unless satisfied of his ability to perform the higher duties. As a general average of 75 per cent. is required to place the candidate upon the eligible list for promotion, he cannot reach this list if the mark is below 40. This plan in its practical effect gives the Commission complete control of promotions so far as the acceptance of candidates is concerned. It permits a personal discretion, which, when exercised by an honest Commission, is bound to secure the best of results. Under a dishonest or even indifferent Commission it would of course work badly. In each of the cases examined, we found that the considerations governing the Board in giving a merit mark had been specific and that the reason for the Board's action in any given instance seemed plain. Preparatory to the examination for promotion from patrolman to roundsman, the Commissioners had prepared a list of men in each precinct whose service had been particularly good. Each of the men on this list was examined personally by each Commissioner and the details of his record noted in exhaustive data. The men marked over 40 were permitted to enter the mental examinations; and the eligible list for promotion was formed by averaging the marks received. Promotions were made absolutely in the order of the list, with the exception of one man, whom the Chief informed the Board he had reason to believe gave fraudulent testimony in a certain case. THE CLASS OF MEN SELECTED. The first four men on the list of those promoted were examined by us personally. The records upon which the merit marks had been estimated in these cases are characteristic of the entire list. William McCullagh had been on the force eleven years, and during all that time had had no complaints made against him for dereliction of duty. He had stopped several runaways, had made many good arrests, and had received hónorable mention from the Board for arresting a felon who shot at him and whom he caught. Patrick Burke had been on the force six months. Six weeks after his appointment he arrested ex-Assemblyman Callahan for violation of the Excise Law. He was the first man to take the Board at its word regarding the abolition of the "pull" and to arrest a notorious law-breaker of wealth and political influence. Shortly after this he had arrested a violently insane man and sustained severe personal injuries in doing so. Previous to his appointment on the police he had served for several years in the United States Navy. Since his promotion as roundsman he had made seven complaints |