Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-12-05

principles. ana III an tNI'tiltAC' wan - W
monstratcs their wisdom and exposes th'
! errors of their advcrsarics. Every wnrthl
officer desires to make his official action
gain and an honor 10 his country. but In
, people themselves. far more than their Off
, GERS in public station are interested in pure
, economical and vigorous administration.
BY laws enacted in 1868 and 1Slj, an'
now in substance incorpOratcdin the tcviSct
/, ! Statutes, the practice Of arbitrary appoint
mcnts to the several subordinate grades in The
great departments was condemned, and cN
aminalions as to capacity, 10 be conducted
by departmental boards of examiners, wer'
provided for and made conditions Of a'lm'S
: sion 10 the public service These statute
are a decision by Congress that examinations
of some sort rs to attainmcnts and capacity
are essential to the well-hcing of the pni'lI'
service The important questions since th'
enactment of these laws have been as TO thI
character of these examinations and whether
official favor and partisan influence or com
mon right and merit were 10 control the az
cess to the examinations. In practice, theSt
examinations have not always been open tt
worthy persons generally who might wish to
be examined oiiiclalfavortlSm and partisan
influence, as Il rule, appear 20 nave deSi"-
mated those who alone were permitted l" 9
before the examining boards, subjectlng even
the examincrstO Il pressure from the Trends
of the candidates very difficult to resist. ~
consequence a." standard OF admission
fell below that which the puhiic interest de
nan,led. II was almost inevitable that Il
system which provided for various separate
boards O.! examiners, with no common super
vision or uniform method Of procedure,
should result in confusion. Inconsistency,
and inadequate tests Of capacity, highly dc
trimcntal TO the public interest. further
and more radical change was obviously re-
quired In the annual Message Of December,
1870, nv predecessor declared that ' there
is no duty which So mach CmbarraSses the
Executive and heads OF departments as that
of appointments. nor IS there an! such ar
duOus and thankl,.s5 labor imposed on Sena-
tors and Representatives rs that If finding
places for constituents. The prcscn, system
does not secure the h,st men. and often not
even fit mcn, for the public places. The ele-
walton and puriiication Of the civil service OF
the Government will hc hailed with approval
by the whole pcoplc of the United States. "
Congress accordingly passed the act. ap-
proved March ). 1871. Ito regulate the civil
service of the United States and promote the
efiicicncy thereof. giving the necessary au-
thority 10 the Executive To institute i civil
service reform.
WORK UT THE CuNais-IoI.
Acting under this statute, which was inter
prcled rs intended To secure system OF just
and eiIettual examinations, under uniform
| supervision. Il number Of omincnlly compe-
| tent persons NcrS selected for the purpose
who entered with Zeal upon the discharge OF
their duties. prepared with an Intelligent ap-
probation Of the requirements ot the service
the regulations contemplated and took charge
OF the examinations, and who. in their caia-
city rs a board. have been known as the
Civil Service Commission Congress for
two wears appropriated the money needed
| for the compensation and fer the expense of
carrying on III" work of the commission. II
! appears from the report OF the commission.
submitted tn the President in Apnl, 1874.
that examinations had been held in various
| sections of the country. and that an appro-
! priationof about -, ,000 would he required
10 meet the annual expenses including sala-
rics involved in discharging the duties Of
the commission.
| The report was transmitted Ia Congress by
| special Message Of April Is. ISL, with the
| following favorable comment upon the lahors
| of the commission g." If sustained hv Con
grcss. have no doubt the rules can. after
the experience gained, he 50 improved and
| enforced as TO still more materially benefit
the public ryicc and relieve the Executive,
members Of Congress, and the heads OF de-
partmcnts from influences prciudicial to good
administration. The rules as they have
hitherto been enforced. have resulted hcncti-
cially. as is shown by the opinions of the
members of the Cabinet and their SllbOrdi-
mates in the departments, and in that opinion
| concur" And in the annual Message Of
December Of the same year. similar views
are expressed and nu appropriation for con-
advised The appropriation was not made.
and. as Il consequence, the active work of
the commission was suspended. leaving the
commission Itself still in existence. Without
the means. therefore, OF causing qualifica-
tons To be tested in any systematic manner
or of securing for the public service the ad-
vantages Of competition upon any extensive
plan, ! recommended in my annual Message
of December. 1877. the making Of an appro-
priatiOn for the resumption Of the work of
the commission. In the meantime. however,
competitive examinations. uu.!cr many en-
baTassincntS. have been conducted, within
limited spheres. in the cNccu'ivc departments
in Washington, and in number of the Gus
tOm-houscs and PostUlices Of the principal
cities of the country. with vicw 10 further
test their effects, and in every instance they
have been found to I've az salutary as they are
stated to have been under the admins ration
of NV predecessor. | think the economy
purity and efficiency uf the public service
would be greatly promoted hv their sysic-
matic Introduction, whenever practicable
throughout the entire civil service of the
Government together with ample provision
for lhcir general supervision, in order to st.
cure consistency and uniform justice Re
ports from the Secretary of the Interior. from
the Postmaster General. from the Postmaster
in the Citr of New ork, where such cXan-
nations have been some lime un trul, and
also from the Collector Of the Port. the Ma
val Officer and the Surveyor in tha, City,
and from the Posmasters and Collectors in
several Of the other large cities, show that
the competitive system, where applied, has
in various ways contributed to improve the
public service. The reports show that the
results have been salutary in Il marked dc
gree, and that the general application Of SINH
lar rules cannot fail to be Of decided benefit
to the service The reports Of the Govern
mcnt officers in the City Of New York, ospG-
cially, hear decided testimony To the utility
Of open competitive eXaminaiionsin their res
pcctiNe offices showing that these *
aminations and the excellent qualifications
of those admitted 10 the service through
them, have had 4 marked incidental effect
upon the persons previously in the service.
and particularly upon those aspiring tu pn'-
motion. There has been, on the part ul
these latter I'm increased interest in the work,
and idesirc to eXtendacg gnanlance with il he
yOnd II particular desk occupied and thus the
morale of the entire force has been raised.
The rXamnllinnsh have been attended 10y many
citizens who have hai an opportunity to
thoroughly investigate the scope and clarac-
ter of the tests and the method of detcrmi-
ming the results, and those visitors have
withuutu HcCption approved Tia" methods en-
plOycd, and several of them have publicly
attcstcd their iavurahlcopniun.' Upon such
considerations deem il my duty To renew
the Recommendation contained in my annual
Message of December, 1877. requesting
Congress 10 make the necessary appropria-
tinn for the resumption of the work "f the
Civil Service Commission. Economy will he
promoted hy authorizing a moderate coat
prnsati"n To- persons IN the Ii!hli" service
who may perform extra labor upon or under
the commission, rs the Executive may direct
| am convinced that if a just and adequate
les, 81 merit is enforced for admission 10 the
public service and in maxim. Promotions
such abuses rs removals without GOOD c'u>c
and partisan and official Interference with
the proper cNcrci>. OF the appointing power
Will, in large measure, disappear. There are
other udmlni.tiaiiN" :'H+.s Ia which th,
attention Of Congress should hv asked in this
connection. Mere partisan appointment and
the constant peril ui removal without eats,
very naturally lead Ia an absorbing and mis-
chievOus political activity "n the part of thOsc
thus appointed, which moi only inl,rfcrcs
with the due discharge 81 official duty. but
| is Incompatible with the freedom ut rlrCtiun,
Not without warrant, in The riCW, of several
Of my predecessors in ih, Presidential Office