The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1879-12-10
WHOLE NO. l4S3.


April is. 1874, With the following
favorable commens upon the labors Ct
tue commission
( If sustained by Congress, | have
no doub. the rules can, after the ex-
| perience gained, be so improved and
enforced as to still more materially
benefit the public service and relieve
the Executive, members of Congress,
and the heads of departments, from
Influences prejudicial 10 good admin
istration- TIE rules, as they have
hitherto been enforced, have resulted
beDehciaiIy, as is shown by the opin-
ions Of the members Of the Cabinet
and their subordinates in the depart
ments, and in that opinion | concur +"
And in the annual message of De-
cember of the same year similar views
are expressed, aud an appropriation
for continuing the W rk Of the COM
mission again advised
The appropriation was not made,
and, as consequence, the active
work of the Commission was sus-
pended, leaving the Commission it.
self still in existence. Without the
means, therefore, of causing the quail
iications to be tested in any system
attic manner, or of securing for the
public service the advantages of CON-
petition upon any extensive plan, |
recommended iu my annual message
Of December, 1877, the making of an
appropriation for the resumption of
the work of the Commission
In the meantime, however, com
petitiVe examinations uhder many
embsrrassments have been conducted
within limited spheres in the Execu-
tive Departments in Washington, and
in number of the custom-houses
aud postoiliees of the principal cities
Of she country, with view TO further
test their effects, and. in every in
stance, they have been found to he as
salutary as they are stated to have
been under the administration OF NV
predecessor l think the economy,
purity and efficiency Of the public
service would be greatly promoted
by their systematic introductioo,
wherever practicable, throughout the
entire civil service Of the government,
together with ample provision for
their general supervision, ia order to
secure consistency and uniform JUS
Tee
Reports from the Secretary Of the
Interior, from the Postmaster GeGer-
al. from The postmaster 10 the city Of
New York, where such examinations
5sve been sometime on trial, and also
from the collector of the port, the ns-
val officer, ard the sufv yor IA that
city, and from the posi sslers and
collectors in several Of u, other large
cities, show that the competitive sys-
TEN, where applied has, in V. rious
ways, contributed 10 In prove the
pn5Iic service.
The reports show that that the re-
SuLt6 HdNc DcO1 odlutUi III u uldl AtI
degree, and that the general appli-
cation of similar rules cannot fsiI
10 be Of decided benefit to the ser
vice.
The reports Of the government off
GERS, in the city Of New York espc-
cially, bear decided testimony TO the
utility of open competitive e&amin-
ations in their respective Offices, show
ing that "these examinations, aud
the excellent qualifications of those
admitted to the service through them,
have had a marked incidental effec;
upon the persons previously in the
service, and particularly upon those
aspiring to promotion. There has
been, Oh the part of these latter, an
increased interest in the work, aud
desire to extend acquaintance with it
beyond the particular desk occupied,
aud thus the morale of the entire
force has been raised
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