The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1870-11-24

A. II. HAMILTON, +
WIN. II. CALpwKLr. foca, rd,tor.
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Thursday, November oath, 1870
-.
Civil Service Reform.
The Chicago Post has q leader for
Jenckes' Civil Service Bill, and il
clamorous, lst. That law ahall b.
passed, prohibiting the removal Of
any officer for political reasons, and
second. that a rigid system OF com.
petitive examinations shall be insti,
tuted, Sdd thAsno one shall BE- ap.-
pointed unless he Or she successfully
runs this gauntlet.
Now, then, as to the frst proposk.
ton. suppose that it is really de-
ssrable thatthe officers of the Civil
Service shall be put on tho same
footing with The military; that Il
will be conducive to the public vel.
fare, and the efficiency Of the Civil
Service, that our army Of clerks,
consuls, postmastens. revenue collsc.
tors, &c, 80, shall BE- installed into
office fog life, or it's equivalent during
good behavior, and that the Republi-
can Congress shall proceed to quar-
ter its friends and part,sans on the
public permanently for the future,
don't tho Pest know, and all other
sensible people, thatit would b an
impotent and futile actp Suppose
that We should do this thing, and that
the hsxt President, Or the next one
after that, is elected BY the demo.
Gratis, together with majority Of
Congress, how long does che Pos,
suppose the hungry inconing I'd.
ministration would be ID tearing
your Civil Service law into tAtters;
kicking your hosts Of panpered
officials out INTO the cold, ana putting
in their places their own partisan
friends Nothing. bata constitutional
provision can reduce the fine art Of
office-holdinG into, aspermanent insti.
tuition, inthise country, and We doubt
if that can -besPassed. yes:sp assi
One ofthsrs6orns wAiohs ~ss -.
ostentatiously iAAtsufased, - asSe.
raj Grant, ssnds sxtsaded 30 IN M,
subordinate bureaus, Is the ests a6i G.h.
ment of these very competitive
boards which The Post den,ads, %
that now, the lowest class clerk nm.
dereossa rigid examination before NJ
is allowed 70 enter npon the disch ~
OF tAedaties' of hn oaloe rhe ~,
attempts, toridicsle tAsss boards, nd
sayssAat they are, Is now institated
governed BY the character OF the
party who recommends the applicant,
butitthis is 50. woaldn's the seme
trodbis happen with the board otsx.
animation, under the Civil Servioe
: BihasqWheo the regular army Wa
beings organised after the war IN
applicants had 70 60 before regular
oldsahovslty funk board Of antsdyluy.
iansrhowcregrey olsanbackto their
shirt collars, and We knewofthsm put.
ting to applicants such questions =
the following: g How many elephants
had Hannibal when he crossed the
AlpsT slow many crocadiles Il
there TO . square acre in the island Of
Madagascar r So, DC.
The truth about ali this matter. u.
that the Civil Service ofthis country.
never suffered for want Of sficient
officers; what it wants is moro
honesty es and II remains 70 DO proven
whether the proposed method win
better i an thst respect. I.
For our part, We believe the idea,
anti.republican and impracticabie,
and can see no better reason for
making these appointab!e ofice
holders retain their tenure
during life than the ! elective
ones. AT any rate, it il
visionary and 4 absurd in this, that the
law would be repealed with the in
coming of another party, and all
present incumbents kicked out, and
that y all the trouble complained If
in the present system.s y