Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1879-12-02

49, ~ NAV RuakV~D VS.
entered with zeal upon the discharge Of
their duties, prepared, With N. Intelligent
4 appreciation Of sAs requtrsmsuts 81 the ser.
vice, the regulaiiepss ooatsnplatsd, and took
charge Of The EXAMINATIONS, and who. In
their capacity ssa board, haven ssn known
- the "civil.sefvice commission" Congress
for two years appropriated the money needed
for the compensation aud for the expense OF
carrying on the work Of the commission.
II appears from the report ofths commits
sion. submitted 10 the president TO- April,
1874, that examinations had been held In
~various sections Of the .couaty. and that an
appropriation Of about $4,000 would Be
required to meet the annual .expsnsea,
including salaries. Involved in
diacharymg the duties Of the commission.
The report was transmitted 70 congress BY
special message Of April Is. 1874, With the
following favorable comment upon the
labors Of the commission: "If sustained
by congress, l have no doubt the rules can.
after the experience gained, !be,so improved
and enforced as to still more materially ben.
eht the public s~ervics, and relieve the
executive, members of congress, and the
heads Of departments, from Influences pre-
Judicial to good administration. The rules,
~ they have hitherto been enforced, have
resulted beuefcially, Is is shown BY the
opinions of the members of the Cabinet and
their subordinates in the departments, and
in that opinion l concur" And in the an
nua! message of December of the same year
similar views are expressed, and an appro.
priation for continuing the work Of the
commission again advised.
The appropriation was not made, and, rs
. consequence, the active work of the COM
miaoiOn vwao o,,oranNaA 0n.-s-- Al--.--..
sion itself still in existence. Without the
means, therefore, of causing qualifications
to be tested in any systematic manner, or of
securing for the public service the advan.
tages Of competition upon any extensive
plan, l recommended in my annual message
Of December, 1877, the making of an ap.
preparation for the resumption of the work
Of the commission.
In the meantime, however, competitive
examinations under many endorsements
have been conducted within limited spheres
in the executive departments in Washing
ton, and in a number of the custom-houses
and post Offices of the principle cities Of
country, with q view to further test their
effects, and in every instance, they have
been found to be as s~alutary us they are
stated to have been uuder the administra.
ton Of my predecessor. l think the econ.
omy, purity, and efficiency of the public
service would be greatly promoted by their
systematic Introduction, wherever practical.
bic, throughout the entire civil service of
the government, together with ample provis-
ion, in order to secure constituency and
uniform justice.
Reports from the secretary of the interior,
from the acknowledgement, from the post.
master in the city of New York, where
such examinations have been sometime on
trial, and also from the collector of the port,
the naval officer. and the surveyor in that
city, and from the postmasters 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 q marked degree. and that
the general application of similar rules
cannot fail to be of decided benefit to the
service. y.rf[rt
Tit reports of the government officers,
in the city Of New York especially. bear
decided testimony to the utility OF open
competitive examinations in their respec-
tive offices, showing that "lhese examina-
tons. and the excellent qualifications OF
chose admitted 10 the service through
them. have had q marked incidental effect
upon those aspiring to promotion. There
has been. on the part of these latter, an in-
creased interest IN the work, and q desire
TO extend acquaintance with it beyond the
particular desk occupied, and thus the
morale of the entire force has been raised
4 \ The examinations have been at.
tended BY many citizens who have bad an
opportunity to thoroughly investigate the
scope and character of the tests aud the
method Of determining the results, and
those visitors have, without exception, ap.
proved the methods employed, and several
Of them have publicly atsested their favor.
able opinion"
Upon such considerations, I deem it my
duty to renew the recommendation con-
tanned In my annual message of December,
1877. requesting congress to make the
necessary appropriation for the fesump-
ton OF the work Of the civil-serylce com.
msssioD. Economy will be promoted BY
authorizing q moderate compensation to
persons 10 the public service who may per.
form extra labor upon or under the CON-
mission, as the executive may direct.
I am convinced that If a just and Iade
quate test of merit is enforced for sdmis-
sion TO the public service and in making
j PASAASssSoo0 ouSu 00uSSo ~ AVu1OVou0 VIII
out good cause and partisan and official in.
reference with the proper exercise of the
appointing power, will 10 q large measure
disappear.
There are other administrative abuses tc
which the attention of congress should be
asked ia this connection. Mere partisan
appointments, and the constant peril of re-
moval without cause, very naturally lead Il
az absorbing aud mischieveus political &C.
tivity, on the part of those thus appointed
which not only interferes with the due dis
charge of official duty. but is incompatible
with the freedom of elections. Not with,
ont warrant, 10 the views OF several of my
predecessors In the presidential Office, aud
directly within the law of 1871, ALREADY cit
ed, I endeavored. by regulation, made or
the 22d day OF June. 1877. to put some rea-
sOnable limits to such abuses. II may no
be easy. and it may never perhaps be neces.
sary, to delne with precision the prope
limit Of political action'on the part OF feder
al officers. But while their right to hol.
and freely express their opinions cannot b.
questioned, it Is very plain that they shout,