The state has spent some money for the preservation of two other landmarks: the old custom house and Colton Hall, both at Monterey. The former belongs to the national government and the latter to the city of Monterey. Colton Hall is the building in which the first state constitutional convention met in September, 1849. 177. The State Civil Service Commission.1— The legislature of 1913 passed an act creating a state civil service commission consisting of three members appointed by the governor. The term of office is four years, and the salary of each commissioner is $3000 a year. A rather long list of appointive positions are exempt from civil service regulations. Among these are all appointees of the legislature and the governor; superintendents, chiefs, and heads of departments and institutions; attorneys, chief deputies, head secretaries, and stenographers of all elective officers, and all boards and commissions; employees of the railroad commission, teachers, common laborers, and a few others. This leaves, subject to civil service regulations, a large number of positions filled by subordinate clerks, stenographers, accountants, inspectors, assistants, engineers, and others. The commission must classify the positions that come under its jurisdiction, and must hold examinations throughout the state for the purpose of making up an eligible list for each class. When an appointment is to be made the appointing power notifies the commission. The commission submits three names, if it has that many on the proper list, and one of these must be accepted. Promotion in the service is attained through examination. Either the appointing power or the commission may remove for cause any appointee whose position is subject to civil 1 Statutes of 1913, chapter 590. service regulations. The commission is authorized to appoint a chief examiner and such other assistants as it may require. Many details respecting the work of the commission are here omitted, which may be ascertained by reference to the creating act. This act was passed in response to a steadily growing public sentiment that appointment to positions in the civil service of the state and of its political subdivisions, as well as in that of the nation, should be based upon merit rather than on political influence. 178. Conclusion. This long list of officers, boards, and commissions, interspersed with numerous statements of powers and duties, is doubtless somewhat bewildering. It may not give evidence of a well worked out, systematic plan of government, and one has some difficulty in seeing through it all the will of a great people striving to realize itself in action. But that is exactly what the student should endeavor to see. Back of every duty imposed upon, and every power granted to, any governmental agency, should be discerned some public want which the people are trying to satisfy, or some public interest which they are trying to advance. These officers and boards have been established from time to time as need for them has developed. The greater number has been created by the legislature, and even those that are provided for in the constitution must look to the legislature for detailed assignments of their powers and duties. The personnel of the legislature changes every two years, our public wants and interests have been increasing rapidly in number and intensity, and it is therefore not surprising that our governmental machinery should be · characterized by a lack of system. In some cases the functions of two or more departments overlap and a higher degree of centralization would seem to be both more economic and more efficient. For instance, it is difficult to see why the board of health and the board of pharmacy could not be consolidated with profit; also the board of agriculture, the dairy bureau, the office of state veterinarian, and the office of horticultural commissioner; and possibly the offices of bank commissioner, insurance commissioner, and building and loan commissioner. It furthermore seems as if the governmental machinery for the management of the state hospitals is more complicated than it should be. Something has been accomplished along this line in recent years. The legislature of 1907, in creating the department of engineering, gave to it the work of five former departments and commissions. The legislature of 1911, in creating the state board of control to take the place of the state board of examiners, took a long step toward centralization by giving the new board greater power than the former board had exercised, in supervising the expenditure of state money by other boards and officers. The same legislature, at its extra session, by placing the duty of supervising all public utilities on the state railroad commission, gave additional proof of its belief in a higher degree of centralization in the state government. On the other hand the legislature of 1913, by creating a number of independent commissions, the duties of some of which slightly overlap those of former officers and boards, has rendered the state government less systematic and centralized than it has ever been. In spite of any lack of system that may appear in the work of the legislature respecting the machinery of the state government, there can be no doubt of its general purpose, in repudiation of the doctrine of laissez faire, to subject all private enterprises, in so far as they affect the health, happiness, and general welfare of the people, to the supervision and control of the agents of the people. In the following list of officers appointed by the governor, a star (*) indicates that the appointment must be confirmed by the senate. This was once thought to be a valuable check on the governor, but such is no longer the prevailing opinion. Many appointments provided for by recent legislation are placed exclusively in the hands of the governor, which, if provided for fifteen or twenty years ago, would have required the sanction of the senate. For example, the appointment of the boards of trustees of the three most recently established normal schools, contrary to the rule followed in respect to the older of such schools, does not need to be confirmed by the senate. The same inconsistency is seen in the appointment of trustees for the two reform schools. . Accountancy, State Board of. Five members. § 161. Adjutant General. § 127. Adult Blind, Home for. Five trustees of. § 167. Advisory Board, Bureau of Tuberculosis, Health Department. Four Advisory Board, Engineering Department. Three members. § 145. Architecture, Board of. Ten members. § 161. Attorney of State Board of Health. § 159. 3 Banks, Superintendent of. § 141. 3 X Building and Loan Commissioner. § 143. Burial Grounds, State. Three trustees of.* (Grounds located in Sacramento. Any person who dies a state officer may be buried there.) Board of Control. Three members. § 135. Capitol and Grounds, Superintendent of. § 174. X Charities and Corrections, Board of. Six members.* § 168. Consulting Board, Engineering Department. Five members. § 145. 6 Dairy Board. Three members. § 156. Deaf and Blind, Institution for. Five trustees of.* § 166. Dental Examiners, Board of. Seven members. § 161. 5x Engineer, State. § 145. 5x Fish and Game Commission. Three members.* § 152. 3x Forester, State. § 148. 2x Harbor Commissioners. sx Health, State Board of. Three for each harbor.* § 146. § 159. Highway Engineer, State. § 145. 5 Horticultural Commissioner, State. § 153. Hospitals, Superintendent of. § 162. Board of five managers for each. § 162. Immigration and Housing, Commission of. Five members. § 169. 3 Industrial Welfare Commission. Five members, § 158. 3X Insurance Commissioner.* § 142. Labor Commissioner. § 157. Library, State. Five trustees of. § 172. Marshall's Monument. Guardian of. § 176. Medical Examiners, Board of. Eleven members. § 161. Mineral Cabinet. Three trustees of. § 151. Mineralogist, State. § 151. National Guard. § 127. General Officers of the Line.* Governor's Staff. Normal Schools. Five trustees of each. (The senate must approve these appointments except for the trustees of the Santa Bar bara, Fresno, and Humboldt schools.) § 191. Optometry, State Board of. Three members, § 161. Pharmacy, State Board of. Seven members. § 160. Pilot Commissioners. Three for each port.* § 147. |