New-York tribune., 1877-07-07
PRICE FOUR CENTS.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
LETTER FROM GAIL HAMILTON
RuLFs ADOPTED BY THE cADrNEr-H0w rnEY uAv'


TO the EdftOr Of The TrtJUne.
SIR: All minor matters of the Civil Service Reform
are swept ont of sight by the pronuncamcnto all
the wild March morning of the 29th. We had been
having SundGy blind announcements" as the pub
fishers call them, of n code of laws by which tho
Civil Service was TO be regulated and the nation
purged of that corruption which. for Mr.. Schurz,
poisoned all the sweets of our Centennial year. Tho
President was reported closeted with Mr. Schurz,
and Mr.. Schurz opened the door a crack and Let in
Mr. Evarts then the rest Of the Cabinet were, one
by one, worked in and then some of the older and
more experienced clerks; and, from time 10 time.
even the general public was allowed to peek"
From these "pcels" we learned that a mysterious
and powerful set Of rules" were terminating
whose mission was to greatly check, n not TO
tirely STOP oiice-seeklng" "They will provide for
an assured tenure OF Office. based upon mcritOrous
service" "Thcy are to apply to all branches of the
Civil Service not in Washington alone. bnt through
ont the country" "Their main purpose is TO estab-
lish certain principles" one of which is assured
tenure of otfice.D On March 20, they are TO
be reported at the Cabinet tomorrow" On
March 27, they are in course of preparation
for adoption by the Cabinet" After all this
delay and trumpeting, what is our surprise
to learn that they :" are very much the same as
those adopted by the Civil Service Commission
have whipped that old raglan out of the camphor
chest, and had it beaten and turned, and cut over
and made mp, and ready to wear again a dolman
before this Tunes but Mr. SchuTz, SAYS the special,
is troubled that the salaries of the Asssi ants and
Bureau officers of the Interior Department not
large enough to attract the great talent of the
try which he had expected to call about him. That
is bad certainly but not the salaries just large
now as they were when Mr.. SchuIz was whacking
away at the serylcci Would it not have been
well in fact for Mr. Schurz to have acquainted him.
self with simple yet fundamental matter as the
salaries of officers before he characterized them
ian army OF political mercenaries TO be paid out Of
the Treasury of the Govenment"f Aud, in general
are subordinate cerkships OF a character to attract
either great talent great salaries
But never mind. We can climb over much higher
walls than that in order to walk in the green
pastures and b. the still waters, where tho voice Of
the oice-seeker is heard no more at all forever But
hardly have set ourselves seriously 10 the task
than we are rudcly dslodged. On March %, "a
Washington correspondent, VINO appears to have his
information from responsible sourcesp and whose
statements bear the stamp OF reliability" tlings the
| fat into the fire again. We have all been mis-
taken it seems about tenure of Office. ;" and faithful
ucss and ftness-or rather the President has c6nsid
cred human nature, and passed upon it. FathfuIness
has its limits which Ohio has shown to b. four
years. The President has concluded generally
to rcappoint postnasers, customs and revenue ofi-
GERS vino have served faithfully four years. But
beyond the period of eight years. the fact OF holding
Office cannot he regarded as "A general argument in
favor of another appointment la short, and not
to put too fine point on It, "the conclusion to which
the President and his advisers arrive in this mattel
is that. rs a general thing it will moi b. best to re-
appoint man who has served eight years. That
| il 1pr af off
| holding but then there is a yirtue-shed and the
next four years 1t is steadily running down hill.
abuses are liable to grow upunder the best officers,
| which new men will root out.' Why, that is Gen.
| Buffers principle, IN full length portrait The solo
difference is of detail. Gen. Butler shuts down
sharp on four years; the Reiorul ; ade, oif
another tour: but Ills like my fingers to
my fingers. and there's fat political salalon in both
The President holds 10 the opinion that eight years
the X1num term which man should b. retained IN
public service. prOVdei On equally competent ana her'
iorous Is an applicant FOR the place.
So it is simply for cause" that the man is to
be removed. He is admitted to be competent I'D
meritorous. All we ask Of the new man is that he
be as good as the old. How is this going TO stop
olice-seekingl How is this going to prevent tho
pressure upon a new Presidenti What is the rad
cal change" between this and the old waysi
This rule is to be specially applied 10 the appointment
of whose salaries exceed 1lOO) per annum
Tie rule VIII no. b. applied |lth tn SAM ii-or 10 posi-
istcr~ whose S111es are below 7l,OOO per dNnunl.
Naturally, the high-Salared men will oe most like
ly to grow corrupt and inefficient, but the poor
VINO cannot get a thousand dollars a year viii
duct their business with enterprise and integrity,
and ma, be let alone
There is 10 reason why one should raman all his
liz Minister t. England o. France no more than ono
should remain IN Congress or the Cabinet forever.
in all clerical Oiccs and tue heads OF bureaus,
changes should be made with great cauton ana JoF
Oniy
That is a man who needs only TO know the multi
pcaton table and write good round band must DO
contemplated with caution because every third man
on the street would make good clerk as he; but
man like Charles Francis Adams at the Court OF
St. James may be whsked out at pleasure! This
does not look like Reform, but perhaps il is Ii is
certainly a radical change from what is called
mon sense outside of the Civil Service That it is
change for the better is not apparent
But" says the Reformer ' the theory is that
these higher diplomatic offices sustain relations 10
the President somewhat similar to those OF Cabinet
ministers; that Civil Service rules do not apply to
them and that they, the very nature of the case,
ought to change with an Administrations "An Ad-
mmistration must have ministers who are IN SYM
pathy with its foreign policy" e" Mr.. Eyarts assured
Mr. Boxer thar it not account of the eastdis-
satisfaction, or any want Of confidence, but simply
because it had been decided by the President and
Cabinet to renoye all foreign ministers, and that
there would b. no exception made"
If this is not flying in the face of Providence, as
seen in the establishment of Reform, it would bo
difficult to say what is. Ofcourse Civil Service rules
do not apply wherever the Administration chooses
not to apply them. That goes without saying. But
SIMPLY to say that the rules do not apply 70 such and
such a case is TO reerate a statement. not TO give
reason One of the great ends of Reform is To ele-
vate our Civil Service abroad. One of the great rules