The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-19 00:00:00

THE AMERICAN CIVIL SERVICE.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
The first step taken by Congress to establish
Federal officers beyond those especially created by
the Constitution was in July, 1789, when the
Secretary of State and a chief clerk were appointed
to managen
aaffairs, these two officers
sufficient for the purpose. Before
h
Civil Service of the United
tbeeieon considered
itie there
dConstitution, foreigns
ut hffi e
States included only the officers appointed by the
Congress of the Confederation, the entire adminis-
tration being under the individual States, who ap-
pointed and it was not till the
ion, which itself created
independent of the States
sapeciovoi
enprttaei
lodnFt
ehodef ierrt
aholewoll
officers own officers;
and superior to them for Federal purposes, that
the power to create United States officers came
into being. Following on the Act which created the
Department of Foreign Affairs was one to regulate
the collection of duties, another which established
the War Department, and a series of Acta made
provision for the coasting trade, registering and
clearing vessels, light-houses, &c., by which several
of the State Departments, were transferred to the
United States. Then followed the Treasury De-
partment, and finally an Act was passed, Septem-
ber, 1789, authorizing the Heads of Departments to
appoint such clerks therein respectively as neces-
sary, their salary being limited to $5OO per annum.
From these small beginnings commenced a Civil
Service, now perhaps one of the greatest in the
world, and certainly the worst organized ; and
no man could have devoted himself to • a more
useful task than that undertaken by Mr. Jenckes of
Rhode Island. President Washington spoke of the
employe's as a mere handful, and he was able,
the number being so limited, to bestow great care
on the selection of each. Acts being afterwards
passed establishing duties on distilled spirits and
their retail sale—on carriages, stamps, snuff ; on
property sold at auction:, and regulating the collec-
tion of duties on imports and tonnage—the persons
and offices were increased, but no authentic record
of their roll was given until 1862, when President
Jefferson transmitted one to Congress. From this
statement the officers in the Customs then num-
bered 713, drawing an annual salary of $439,567 ;
the whole of the force not equalling the number at
present in the New York Custom-house alone.
The Internal Revenue officers were 493, drawing
$113,000 ; the postmasters, 994, drawing $69,900 ;
land officers, 8, drawing $4,765 ; the remainder
summing up4l4, at an annual total cost of $445,000.
The service now numbers more than 53,000, at an
annual expenditure of $30,000,000. It was not
till 1816 that a register was required by Congress
of all officers—civil, military, and naval, to be
compiled every two years, which has since been
continued, the first small octavo volume of 190
pages containing 5,608 names published in 1817,
having swollen to the Blue Book of 1867, contain-
ing 878 large octavo pages, with over 60,030 names.
The power of appointment is vestei in a President,
or heads of departments, or courts of law; the
patronage of the latter extending only to the
officers of the courts. During the term of Jef-
ferson 39 officers were removed. Mr. Madison re-
moved five; Mr. Monroe, nine; Mr. John Quincy
Adams, two ; and the careful inquiry of the com-
mittee could not bring to light a case of removal
among the inferior officers, whose dismissal did not
require the sanction of the Senate, except for good