Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1874-06-12
CIVIL SERVICE y

Il
any and all methods tho aim Of which
Is reform, an approach toward hon.
esty and capacity In officials, and the
Of jobs and trickery In
appointment. For these reasons
Butler opposed civil service reform
when Congressman Jenckss first
broachsd . plan, and has fought it
step by step sver since. It csnnst b
denied that the system. as evolved and
managed during tho past tive years,
has been but q broad farce, q travesty
upon the true principles underlying
the attempted reform In our civil SER
vice. But, this Is not the fault Of tho
principles, nor even Of tho system.
The error has been: a failure to rigid
ly adhere to both. While In
minor offices, such as low-grads
clsrkships In Government Bureaus,
the powers vested In the Commission
have been exercised with good results,
appointments Of higher grades have
been made without any reference
whatever, either 70 the principles or
rules Of the Commission. Tho result
has been that instead Of being a sue
cess, instead Of accomplishing the re-
suits anticipated, Its failure has been
conspicuous and complete.
The Civil Service Commission as
first created, comprised some OF the
best and ablest men In the nation,
prominent among whom wa Geo.
WIN. Curtis, editor Of HHper's Weekly.
This gentleman was enthusiastic In
his new work. The system devised by
him and his associates would, had IL
been carried out. have resulted In rad
lcai and most beneficial changes In the
personnel Of our civil officers a. well
as In the manner Of their appointment.
But Mr.. Curtis and his companions
found themselves hampered on all
sides. They were ridiculed, the
rules they adopted were scout.
ed rs absurd and impracticable,
and appointments were constantly
made, through the Influence Of Butler
aud other opponents Of the system, In
plain derogati0n Of the Commlssisn-
ers' authority and In violation OF tho
regulations they had adopted. Mr..
Curtis became dl.gusted and resigned.
An ex.Congrsssional back'payster was
appointed In his stead, and tho civil
service reform languished. 1t Is now
probably dead. A short time ago the
House Committee on this subject rec.
commended the continuance OF tho
Commission for another year, and an
appropriation for that purpose. But
Ter fought the molten viciously In tho
committee, and at a subsequent ses-
sion procured Its defeat and the adopt
ion Of another In this language;
Resolved, That the committee do
net recommend any further appropria-
ton to carry on an experiment In the
so-calicd Civil Service Reform In the
manner In which IL has been carried
cut.
Yesterday the matter came up In
the House upon the motion OF Mr..
Kellogg to appropriate 81, "ts
enable the President to carry out
the civil service rules" Ben But
Ter was on his feet instantly
aud vigorously denounced the
civil service system. He denied that
Ii was a recommendation Of the Presi-
dent, but alleged thatlt was the scheme
Of a cabal composed OF Schurz, rrum-
bull and others tho had the good taste
not to mention Charles Sumner) for
the purpose OF breaking down Grant
In the Presidential campaign Of 1872.
lie said alt passed Congress by the
votes Of dsmagogues who were afraid
to vote against 1t; 1t was the trick Of
an apostats politician tmeanlng Sena.
tor Trumbulll who VA, killed by his
vote on impeachment and who sought
by 1t to galvanlzs himself to life again
but failed" No action was taken by
tho Hsuse yesterday, but, II we may
judge by the temper displayed, no ap-
preparation will be voted this session,
and per consequence on the 30th Inst.
the Civil Service Commission. and with
1t an attempt to all aPpolntlve Offices
with capable aud honest men, will die
q natural death.
We cannot close thi, article without
referring once more to the language Of
General Butler and the falslty VI HE
assumptions. As we have said, 4 plan
Of civil service reform was first broaeh-
ed In Congress In 1861, by Mr.. Jenckes
Of Rhode Island. II vas more or less
discussed at every session thereafter
until at last q law wal passed author
izing tho appointment Of Comm ls
sion to organize asystem which should
regulate appointments to civil Offices.
Il was and has been a Republican
measure. Messrs. Trumbull, Schurz.
Sumner and ether "Liberals"were not
more jealous advocates Of its prln-
clples than were numerous Adminis-
tration Senators and Members. II
formed one Of the planks Of the Gin
cinnati platform, ratified by Democrats
at Baltimore, aud afterward was lnsor-
poratcd into tho Republican platform
adopted at Philadelphia. 1t has been
commended by the President, both In
general and special messages to Con-
grsss, and Is to-day as much
principle Of the Republican
party ~ was opposition to slavery
extension In 1850. II Is characteristic
Of Ben Butler that he never tells the