There is still room for improvement, especially when it comes to expert service of a very high order—the service which needs men whom the position must seek, the men who will never take examinations.
At the present time the harmonious coöperation between the Wisconsin civil service and the state commissions in selecting men of this type bids fair to solve the problem although in the past there have been some contentions over such matters.
China is the greatest civil service nation of the world but the spirit of the bureaucratic autocrat or the Chinese scholar must not be allowed to creep in here. There are signs that thinkers in this line—and it is particularly true in Wisconsin—are alive to this danger and stand ready with remedies for it. Because something went wrong once in some part of the world is no reason why it should go wrong here now—indeed quite the reverse, especially when history is studied as carefully as it is to-day.
Recently we have seen wonderful results from the new studies in business efficiency. Dr. Frederick A. Cleveland was probably the first man to apply this idea to the administration of governmental institutions. The work of the New York bureau of municipal research showed that certain definite responsibility could be fastened upon public officials, the cost of service standardized and efficiency records established.
