National Republican., 1877-11-08

based on common sense, that the good Of
the service, while it is not, perhaps, perfect,
is not confined to it's regulations, 1t de-
pends upon talent and integrity more than
upon any regulation that any administra-
ton can devise. 1t is cOntended that the
civil service contains within itself u high
degree of ability and integrity, and the fol-
lowing strong defense is interposcd:
There are, or were recently, according to an
official report to tho Senate, 62l72 persons In
all the departments of this civil service of the
United States, and IL would 10 very difficult
to select an equal number from persons in pri-
vate business who would surpass them in intel
lgcncc, accuracy or integrity.
We cannot tOrhear single comparison. The
business of tho Treasury Department is done
by l2iS2 Tersons, large proportion of whom
are directly employed in the handling OF
money. In the collection Of internal revenue
and customs, tho furnishing of funds for all
tho departments OF tho Government, the sale
and redemption of bonds, the printing and
coinage of money, the issue and redemption OF
currency. &c, the sum that passes through
their hands in the course of year H.
immense. Over and against these place
tho officers and employees of tho 2,DSl
national banks. The latter arc selected
involved, from among their personal acquain
tanccs, for supposed unquestionable integrity.
They certainly should furnish tho example OF
perfect service, If such is attainable. Yet, IL
we compare the number and amount of
the deialcations that take place among the
2,0sl cashiers OF these banks with those that
take place in the Treasury Department, the
result is not at all to the discrcdit OF the latter
and If we are to extend the comparison so as
to take in other large financial Institutions
insurance companies, savings banks and the
like--wc doubt it there is n single advocate of
reform that would consider tho introduction
of such business principles" us control them
in the light of an Improvement.
Still civil service is by no means perfect.
1t can and ought TO be improved How Is the
Improvement to be brought about2 We
answer emphatically, not by the methods that
have been generally proposed by those who
have claimed to be authority on civil service
reform. Those methods We believe to he
based on an entirely mistaken idea, both Of
what the service itself is and what its needs
are, which would be dangerously mischicvous
il II were not impracticable. To bc moro cx-
plcit, wo lay down boldly and unhesitatingly
,is proposition: That The Fundamental idea Of
so-cdl,ed "ciril serrice retorm"-numoy, that tho
srrrce should be dirorced from politics and poliii
cal infucnces-is entirely wrong and absurd, and
rould, il carried into practice, dcmOrdiise the SER
rice instead cJ making H6etfd.
The writer then proceeds:
What Is politics, We do not know that we
can give better definition than that of
WEBSTER: The science of government; ;
that part of ethics which has to do with
the regulation and government of II nation
or State; the preservation of its safety,
peace, and prosperity; the defence of its exist
ence and rights against foreign control or con-
quest the augmentation Of its strength and
resources, and the protection Of its citizens in
their rights, with the preservation and i'm
provemcnt of their morals"
And this is what the wOuld-bo reformcr pro.
poses that the civil service shall have nothing
to do with But there has come to be a Sec
ondary meaning to the word politics, which we
quote also from WEBSTER: "The management
OF political party; the advancement of can
didates to office in a bad sense, artful or dis
honest management to secure tho success of
political measures or party schemes political
trickery."
The reader will, we assume, do us the jus
tice not to imagine that we mean to advocate
politics in The bad sense as proper to employ the
attention of officers in the civil service. Nor,
on tho other hand, will we suppose that tho
reformer means only politics in the bad sense
when he proposes to prohibit all politics. That,
then, being out of the discussion, there re-
mains between US an issue distinct and plain
The rciormer thinks that men In the civil SER
vice should be forbidden to have anything to
do with " the management OF political parties y
and the advancement of candidates to office"
We think such prohibition not only improper
and unjust, but calculated to injure the service
itself and increase the evils 1t is intended to
cure.
The civil service is made up of mon. 1t is
not machine 1t Is our boast and the pecu-
liar charnc terstic of our Government that it is
ia hn
hold positions in it are citizens, having the
same obligations rs other citizens, and not dis
tnguished from them in any way. Is it in
accordance with the spirit of our institutions
VIII 1t give us any more efficient OF reliable
service to draw line separating the office
holding class from the rest of the people, eX-
cmpting it from one set of political duties, and
those the very duties that connect the citizen
with the Government, and giving it another
set to perform which the ordinary citizen ma y
not intermeddle with We think not.
What, then, is the true way to reform the
| civil service? We answer the first and most
important thing is to let il alone. We do not
mean by this t. intimate that II Is all right
and needs no Improvement, but that this is actu
ally the most efficient and certain method 10
secure improvement.
| Now, it is the easiest and simplest thing In
the world to keep good men in office. Nobody
need waste any time or thought in deyising
regulations to secure such u result. All that
il needed is to refrain from apponting Others
in their stead. They will remain in them
selves If they are not removed. All the regu-
lations that we have thus far seen adopted or
proposed seem calculated TO make vacancies
rather than to keep men in; so We say If they
could be all abolished, If the appointing mill
could be given a rest for time, and the
whole army of Office seekers sent home on I,
vacation, and il the President and Cabinet
should drop the whole subject and turn their
attention TO other matters, we believe the en-
tire civil service would receive decided ad-
vartage and If, in addition to this, it should be
| given ont that hereafter this would he the rule
| that in future consideration would be given
not to the claims of applicants, hut 10 tho hon.
csty and efficiency Of the men that are in, and
that there would lie no removals except fol
cause, We believe that not only would the ser
vice rapidly improve, but the President would
iind the pressure upon him greatly relieved
the most Of the scandals connected with the
greed for office would be done away and tn,
dreaded powcrand abuse Of patronage would b,
almost entirely abolished.
We hav" extracted from this paper NOR
liberally than we had intended at the out
SET but il contains so much of sOun,
,,I,i,nt mn the suliprt Ia ~ hi,h |