The Portland daily press., 1880-12-15

THE American of Philadelphia, is not
oyerjoyed at President Hayes's Civil Service
recommendations. 1t says: SHE writes as
we should have expected, like disciple of
Mr.. Curtis, He is delighted with the results
of the Reform as carried out under his own
administration. He wants Congress to ap-
pointyet another Commission for the pur-
pose of devising plans for competitive ex-
aminations, and SO forth-as though that
had not been done under Mr.. Grants ad-
ministration, when the intellect of the adj
mirers of English aud Chinese methods was
focused upon the subject for months to-
gether. We are sorry to see the President
leading this chase after an ignis .fatat,s, and
50; many good and true men joining in it,
We can see no good result likely to come
from this examination system Even in
England they have had to drop it as
regards all those places which call
for any y special capacity in the Off
cial.5 The Tory government classed
all such places as staff appointments and
filled themin the old way. Mr. Gladstone
has not altered this policy since he came in
to power. Let us come nearer home in the
matter. The New York Custom House is
one of the places. which are held up as in
stances of what this reform may do. But
during the recent struggle for the Republi-
can nomination, competent men were dis
missed from it because they did not favor
Mr. Sherman's nomination for the Presi-
dency. How can the Civil Service be made
impartial and efficient, when every man
who enters that service knows that his SUI
periors expect political fealty of him, and
that be will be dismissed from Office, at lat
est when his commission expires, and per-
haps much; earlier, if he does not comply
with those expectations? Against this
evil, Tile, one, serious evil of our system,
neither Mr. Hayes nor Mr.. Curtis nor, Mr..
White, proposes any remedy. They think
it quite sufficient to regulate the admissions
in such, a way. as to insure appointments for
other than political reasons. But "a Demo
crat who enters the service under all the
safeguards they propose, will have no choice
but to serve his Republican superior or
leave. .He will soon find that only one end
Of the service is bipartisan, the end where
YOU get in."d agls9ai ID Isjsiasy ID: ed,
---T--T- TT VIZ TT III 77,,ni srifA
THE.effortsof Lord Beaeonsfeld's S Home
Secretary teiimprove the houses Of working
people til London by means of the Artisans
Dv ellings act have not been successful.
TheYDaily News has come toregard it as a
Landlords Relief act. 1t says that land
lordihas oily to let a group of houses get so
bad as to be unfit to let, and the local au-
| thority may be obliged topurchase them from
him, incur the expense of removing them,
and endure the loss which their removal en-
tails. In this way the. rate-payers of Lon
don have already out many hundred thou
sand pounds into the pockets of the owners
| of houses which ought to have been aim ost
valueless. On six acres which had been
cleared and disposed of up to the end of last
| year, the loss was $261 200. These areas
have been sold to the Peabody trustees, and
the sum thus lost is practically contribu-
tion,by the public toward lowering the rent
| of poor mems houses. 1t is reckoned that
| the loss on eight other plots of land thus
cleared will come to 81, SOC, 900 more, aud it
I Is said that s., 100000 more will be expend-
ed before all schemes now actually begun
can be successfully completed.
i
Il