Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1874-05-14
Report Of the Civil service Commits.

sion.
We have before us the report of the
Civil Service Commission comprising
9S pages Of printed matter. We can
give only some of it's salient points.
The members Of the Commission are.
Dorman b. Eaton, Samuel Shellabar-
ger, Dawson A. Walker, f. B. Elliott,
Joseph ID. Blackfan, David G. Cox and
Alexander G. Cattell.
First. II is not claimed for the sys.
TEN adopted that it is panacca for
all the ills attendant upon appoint.
ments to Office. 1T has not been long
enough on trial to yet have the bcne.
fit OF much experience to aid in per
fecting ii.
Second. Because of the want Of
experience, it becomes necessary tc
go over the whole ground. That its
application has great deal to contend
against in the fact that elected officer.
and Congressman especially, are very
DESTROYS of controlling appointments
for political ends. ~ ~ /
Third. The report regards it as .
great point gained to have the Presi
dent Of the United States favoring tht
system. That it is something new In
the history Of the country for a Presi'
dent to yield SO much of public patron.
age and speaks well for his earnest
and unselfish desire to better the pub
lie service.
Fourth. The broad ground is taker
that when promotion OCCURS in the
service it ought to be made strictly
upon the theory of giving it to thos'
who have shown themselves most fl
and worthy.
Fifth. Classification of appointee
and all new admissions to be in tn,
lowest grade and promotions to b,
made from lower to q higher grade
Sixth. Examinations to be made b!
Board of three persons, advised b!
the Commission and approved by tb,
President. The subjects on which OK
aminations arc to be made are as fol
lows:
% Pcnnanship; (2) writing ant
briefng letters; (3) elements of En-
glish grammar, chiefly orthograph,
and syntax ~ Observation-Disclosures
talrulcs, fractions, percentage, inter
est and disco % elements of &C
counts and bookkeeping; CO. history
and geography--gencral questions
principally such as relate to the United
States; and 20 prominent features Of
the Government ofthe United States
Examinations for promotion relate
to the practical duties Of the office com.
peted fer. They require just The
knowledge and capacity which any
clerk ought to possess. The question:
and answers are all in writing, and
are preserved. $3.50 @gs 49,
The report goes on to discuss al
length the, policy of its recommends.
tons and provisions. We are unable
for want OF space to give the reasons Of
the Commissioners in full.
We have long acknowledged ths
very serious objections to the policy
which has been always pursued and
we hope some moderate method may
be provided to remedy their evilt
without creating, as it were, a sort OF
profession of Office holders. We dc
not deem 1t in accordance with the
genius of our institutions to have fol
the civil service professional Officers
as we do in our military service, MOI
yet do we believe that appointed
should be subject to the whims or per
sonal preferences of members of Con,
gress or any other elective Offices.
WE have repeatedly urged the in.
justice and wrong OF charging upon
those who sought to increase the cir.
culating medium Of the country thai
they were for reputation. We have
never believed that intelligent men
could honestly make such charge.
We do not now believe they are
honest in making such statement. No
greater falsehood could ever be utter.
ed. The Inter, Ocean we'll says as fol.
lows upon this point:
"Contractionists have attempted to
fasten upon expansionists the stigma
of Reputation" Nothing could b
more unjust. The thought of repudi.
alton never enters the heart of am
large part of the American people.
The cry of reputation is mad dog
cry, sounded TO frighten the people
fraudulent pretense, covering the
purpose practically to confiscate a
large share of their property. Against
the charge of erepudiation," we offer
its counter, "confiscation." To force
specie payments is to impoverish la
Dor, paralyze industry, suspend traffic,
aud SO shrink the wealth of the coun-
try. If these effects are produced by
legislation, such legislation is confisca-
ton, pure and simple. No desired
result in national political economy
can possibly excuse a wanton destruc-
ton Of business. If, therefore, the
State enfOrces laws which shrink the
value Of property beyond the amount
required to properly conduct the affairs
OF government, it commits an act Of
confiscation. 1t matters not that the
end sought may appear to be exceed
ingly desirable. When the purpose
to be accomplished is any other thing
than the preservation OF the life Of the
State, the cOnfiscatiOn-i ut
terly unwarranted." ~ a
The Ottumwa Courier saya The call
for the Republican Congressional Con-
vention in that District will soon be
issued, and that It will be held at an
early day.-State Reyister, 18th inst.
In our issue of May 18th, We said we
had heard incidentally that our Con-
gressional Convention would be called
early, and proceeded to give our
reasons why we did not think Il
A. l. g. kYVtL :