Identifier: biennialreportof1910cali_1 (find matches)
Title: Biennial report of the Board of State Harbor Commissioners for ..
Year: 1865 (1860s)
Authors: California. Board of State Harbor Commissioners for San Francisco Harbor
Subjects: California. Board of State Harbor Commissioners for San Francisco Harbor Harbors Waterfronts Shipping
Publisher: San Francisco : Winterburn & Co
Contributing Library: San Francisco Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: California State Library Califa/LSTA Grant

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
gh both legislative and administrative action. 2. The habitual appointment of harbor employees, especially of thehigher grades, from political retainers, very frequently of delegatesto State conventions, who secured their positions in the harbor employin exchange for their convention votes. The substitution of the directprimary for the convention system in nomination to public officelargely destroys this possible source of evil for the future. 3. Gross favoritism to itself and its allied corporations in harborand ferry privileges, of which a clear illustration will be shown here-inafter. Policy of the Board. Appointed under such auspices, the present Harbor Board felt itto be its imperative duty to carry out the State administration policyof uprooting Southern Pacific control, with entire fairness but thor-oughly and faithfully. Discharge of Employees. Obviously the quickest method of removing Southern Pacific in-fluence from harbor affairs Avas to discharge such employees, especially
Text Appearing After Image:
• REPORT OF BOARD OF STATE HARBOR COMMISSIONERS. 17 those at the heads of departments, as owed their positions, and there-fore paid their allegiance, to the Southern Pacific machine. Andthis has been done, with gratifying improvement in the personnel ofthe force and the conduct of the harbor business. Not all the employees were of this class, but many of the most im-portant were, and such were discharged. Devotion to public interestshas thus been substituted for responsiveness to private interests. Civil Service Reform. The Board is strongly in favor of the enactment of a law applyingcivil service reform rules to the entire harbor working force, a veryfew of the higher positions, possibly, excepted. The harbor businessis of tremendous importance to the material interests of all the in-habitants of the State, and with the completion of the Panama Canalwill increase in importance with great rapidity. The harbor forceshould be organized, selected, and operated on business principlesund

Note About Images