New-York tribune., 1878-09-28
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
GAIL HAMILTON's PAPERS.
VXH
COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION

% sbould be stationary fall the other institutions
the country are advancing and there is no reason
NV the Civil Service should be selected for reform
hove any or all other national institutions On
tbis ground the discussion Of competitive eXamina-
AZ, becomes legitimate. On the ground almost
universally assumed by its advocates, il is offensive
The language used by Mr.. Eaton in his discussion is
NOT that usually employed by gentlemen toward
gentlemen The mlldest terms he holds regarding
those who DO not agree With him is mercenary
nortisans.D All his assertions and implications are
that the reformers are I" noble" band of un-
selfish patriots devoted to the higher elements" of
poltics while the rest of the world apostles Of
corruption intrigue and sel6shness" and LEADERS
Of mercenary politics" 1t Is perhaps necessary for
the reformer to cherish such phraseOlogy, and one
sbould not therefore censure him too severely.
When it was understood that man might be dis
missed from office appointed to Office for political
reasons it was not necessary TO tarnsh his Teputa
tion. Now that the TefOrmers have announced that
no man shall be dismissed so long as his personal
character remains untarnished and the performance
of his duties satisfactory, while yet they want the
places Just as greedily did the machine poll
ticians they can of course maintain their cOnsis-
tency only by smirching reputation. This method
they have adopted by wholesale and retail The one
trait which has characterized Civil Service Reform
for sander. Inconsistent, ,wavcring and weak IN all
else 1t has been consistent uniform, and strong in
welding its one weapon, slander. Unable to pre-
vail by its own vigOr and virtue it has steadfastly
sought TO prevail by pulling down others. 1t has
never been able to perceive that leaders lead be-
cause they are strong it believes that men lead
because they are willy and unscrupulous,
and that If the reformers can be more
willy and unscrupulOus they will themselves be
come leaders 1t is the misfortune Of the present
day. says Mr.. Welsh, our Minister to England " no
matter how pure ones motives may be and how
carefully ones step may be taken IN the discharge
of a grave trust, that the press WILL without
proper survey of the whole case pronounce its an
athemas and make the world believe that they are
deliberately and justly uttered"
The comfort is that 1t is not the misfortune. of the
present day alone While the Civil Service Reform
party is the only party have ever known that was
founded on sander-that must by slander reduce
the Civil Service down to a poiut where reform
meet tive know that SANDER has always been used
by both parties in addition to reason and right:
Said Mr. Webster, IL some moment of great sadness
"IfI were to live my life over again, with my
present experiences, / would, under no circum-
stances and from no considerations, allow myself to
enter public life. The public are ungrateful. The
man who serves the public most faithfully receives
which have been. before God the most disintercst-
ed and the least stained by selfish considerations
have been precisely those for which have been
most freely abused"
Undoubtedly if Mr.. Webster could have lived his
life over again it would have been public life all
the same Because that life was in him. Great
men are great men, leaders of men leaders. not
because they choose it, but because it is in them.
Our reforners not having Il in them to be leaders,
adopt the next best course and slander those who
are leaders This is the good part which Mr.. Eaton
hath chosen, and 1t shall not be taken away from
him But not on this basis viii intelligent Ameri-
can citizens discuss questions. If our political
leaders and our Civil Service officers must all be
included in corruption before there be any de-
bate upon change Of method we unhesitatingy de-
cline debate But if the refOmers can rise to the
level of the average American citizen and talk of
competitive examination and tenure of Office just
as men talk of tariff and minority suffrage and
growing corn IN hills we shall be very ready to lis
ten and may perhaps be persuaded to share some
humble part when grace hath well attuned our
heart, in the conversation!
Looking at it purely as a matter of expediency,
we should not herhaps be violently opposed to com
pettive examination Yet is there any real need OF
competitive examination No one will deny that 1t
is eumbrous and costly If it is really necessary, It's
count 1t is not necessary to the honesty OF ntel-
gence Of the Service for that has been demonstrated
to be above the outside level of both Is it neces-
sary to the efficiency of the service 7
Itis easy 70 see that under the English system,
where Office was wholly gwen over to privilege and
preyed upon by the ignOrantand whereas Professor
Loekyer says villages large some of our prairie
cities have not a SINGLE schOOl-bOuse, competitive
examination may have been at least for a time,
indispensable to reform. But in this country where
the same English scientist has seen with surprise a
universal energy and ingenuity culture enter
prise and industry, nineteen-twentieths OF winch
he attributes to our education, this recourse 70
competitive examination TO I'LL all the petty Offices
seems an altogether unnecessary gOng-Dack 10
schools and machinery.
For instance we read in THE TRIBUNE that I" the
competitive examination which has been in progress
for three days in the Department of the interior
closed yesterday. No less than 265 applicants
were examined very many of them coming from dis
tant parts Of the country. These latter nave been
here some time at considerable expense, and many
Of them Will remain fortnight longer, to ascertain
the results of their examination, the computation
Of such large number of averages cannot be
quickly ACCOMPLISHED. One of these ladies
tainted in the Patent Office Building on the second
day of the examination, from heat exhaustion and
Intense anxiety"
And what was it all for For "a few additional
eerkshIps created in the Pension Office by the last
Congress some half-dOzen clerkships at $10OOpe
anum in the Land Office, and a few existing va
eancles scattered through the other bureaus"
To Gil these Offices " the questions propounded
covered the usual ground of orthography, syntax,
the geography and history of the United States, and
some examples in the simpler mathematics. and In
rudimeuts of bookkeeping"
Here then 10 fill few modest little offices that re-
Qured only the SIMPLE knowledge taught in the com
mon schools 265 poor people, chiefly women, were
kept at hard labor three days and in suspense and