The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1870-03-10
The Civil Service.

the contrary, and lSo las therefore
concluded that office holding Is Il
:t"od thing, and has introduced a bill
niliuh has passed TO the second read,
HHS, and which, if il becomes a law,
"'il 'rcate in this country an uxclu-
HIve a,iotecracy Of Office holders, and
render Tho profession of seeking and
retaining Office, one os The fine arts.
lie proposes that the President by
and with the advice and consent of
She Senate stall appoint board of
1--we cmincnt and distinguished bar
ua,'os who shall hold their offices for
tiHc wears, and who shall receive five
Thousand dollars per annum each tor
Their services, and who shall be enti-
''ed to all the necessary machinery
required by SO heavy abody, inclu.
ding ofcouIsc stcnographers, clerks
and messengers, and when this body
is organized all applicants for office
except those receiving large
enough salaries 10 be appointed by
the President by and with the advice
and consent Of the Senate) shall APP
pear before them, and undergo a
critical competitive examination, the
applicant beforehand however paying
Il fee oftive dollars Tor the privilege
of being examined, and ten dollars if
he is favorably reported on.
The whole country is to be divided
into districts, and this ponderous and
luminous body, will travel around
over the land, and, hold its sessions
at Chicago, st, Louis, New Orleans,
Louisville. New York, Boston, &c,
nc, very much like an itinerant
smelling committee, or travelling
show, and will remain at those places
which are indicated rs the head
quarters Of the different districts, as
long as the applicants for office, and
good old whiskey holds out.
BY this system, once in office, al
ways in Office, and the President
himself cannot remove ever SO hum.
bic an officer as clerk in anyone of
the departments at Washington or
elsewhere, except for cause, which
practically makes their tenure good
for life lit the great majority of cases.
Toour minds, the bill is a tissue of
absurdilies.
FIRST, he has got the thing wrong
end foremost. The offices of the
country which pay salary over
and above one thousand dollars are
considered the personal p,rquisi,cs
ct the President and are filled by
him, by and with the advice and con-
sent ct the Senate, and they, if any,
are the men who should be examined
for competency because as rule
they are responsible for the conduct
and efficiency of their subordinates
whose duties are, for the most part
merely clerical.
In the second place, the country
never has suffered, and in all human
probability never will suffer for the
want Of ability among it's Office
holders. 1t is want of honesty which
is generally the matter Without
Mr.. Jencke's travelling circus is en-
dowcd with sufiicienct prescience to
indicate i'll advance who is going to
serve the government honestly, and
who not, it will be OF no practical
benefit to the country in this respect.
The war office was full of old
schoveltyfuuks who had been in
office all their lives when the war
broke out, but no well informed SOL
der, will claim that they made better
Adjutants, &C., than we improvised
Oh short notice in all our regiments.
Of course these fellows would at
once become the creme de la creme of
the office holding aristocracy; they
would be beyond the power of the
President himself; they would loose
all sympathy with the people, because
not amenable to the people, and
would, as a body, and individually,
when clothed with this power, cut
such fantastic tricks as to directly
bring the whole thing into disrepute.
Rotation new blood; honest men,
fresh from the people, is the very life
of the civil as well as the military
service.
Mr.. Jencke's Bill is. we are happy
to say, in no danger of passing mean
time, he should change its title so
that it would read, "a Bill creating
an American aristocracy of office
seeking and office holding, and to
strengthen and perpetuate the great
race Of Barnacles."
-. . -
Hon. j, b. Howell feshed his
maiden sword in the Senate the other
day on his resolution providing that
hereafter ali lands granted to Rail
roads shall be at all times open to
actual settlers, and no others, at
price not exceeding $3.50 per acre.