The examiner., 1881-12-10

rigid as to permit no o1n0h S,1SS sr tE nfyino the intermediate walks ol tne seryiceP There are many persons "fD' fill subordinate positions With greas credit. but lack those quailtaes WHICH
 are requisite for higher posts oI duty.
 of one whose service in a governmental | fn,reau has been long continued are
 often so cramped by routine procedure
 es almost to disqualify him from
 ;nstit,Iting changes required py inc public interest, and m fusion of new blood from time to tune into the middle ranks of the serylce
 n;oht he very beneficial in its results The subiect Under discussion IS one or
 crave importance. The evils which are eomnlained of cannot be eradicatea@ @ at mce. The work must be gradual. Ing Svesent English system is a growth or
 wears, and was not created by single
 stroke of executive or legislative actloi-'
 Its beginnings are found in an order ln cosncil promulgated in 1853, and It was after patient and cautious scrutiny of It's
 workings that fifteen years later It LOOK
 it's present shape, Five years aIteI the issuance of the order m councn and at time when resort had been nao
 to competitive examination as an eA- pertinent much more eXtenslVely than has vet been the case in this country, a. select committee of the house of con- mons made a report to that house,
 which declaring its approval of the com l petitive method deprecated, neyerthe-
 less, any precipitancy in its general | adoption. is likely to endanger its ulti- mate success. During this tentative period the results of the two methods of pass examination and competitive ex- | animation were closely watched and | compared. 1t may be that before we
 confine ourselves upon this important
 question within the stringent bounds of
 statutory enactment we may prottably
 await the result of further inquiry and
 experiment. The submission af DOT l ton of the nominations to a central board of examiners selected solely tor
 testing the qualifications of applicants,
 may, perhaps, without resort to the competitive test, put an end to the mis- chiefs which attend the present system
 of appointment, and it may be feasible l to vest ill such a board wide discretion | to ascertain the characteristics and at- tainments of candidates i'll those par.
 ticulars to which I have already referred
 as being no less important than mere
 intellectual attachments.
 l If Congress should deem it advisable
 at the present session to establish com petitive tests for admission to the ser vice, no doubt such as have been sug-
 gested shall deter me from giving the measure my earnest support, and l
 urgently recommend, should there be a
 failure to pass any other act upon this
 subject, that an appropriation o1 S25, ,OOO
 a year may be made for the enforcen1ens of section 1 1,753 of the revised statutes. l With the aid thus afforded me I shall strive to execute the provisions of that
 law according to its letter and spirit. 1 am unwilling, in justice to the pres | sent civil servants of the government,
 to dismiss this subject without declaring
 my dissent from the severe and almost
 indiscriminate censure with which they
 have been recently assailed. That they
 are, as a class, indolent, inefficient, cor
 rupt, is a statement which has been
 often made and widely credited. But
 when the extent, variety, delicacy and importance of their duties are consid-
 cred, the great majority of the employees
 of the government are, in my judgment, deserving of high commendation. THE CONDITION OF ALASKA. l regret to state that the people of l Alaska have reason to complain that they are as yet unprovided with any l form of government by which lue or property can be protected.
 1 THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 1 The report of the commissioners of the District of Columbia, herewith transmitted, will inform you fully of the condition of the affairs of the District.
 They urge the vital importance of legis- lation for the reclamation and improve
 ment of the marshes, and for the estab- lishment of the harbor lines along the Potomac river front.
 1 CONTESTED ELECTIONS.
 The importance of timely legislation with respect to the ascertainment and l declaration of the vote for Presidential
 Electors was sharply called to the at-
 tention of the people more than four 1 years ago.
 It is to be hoped that some we'll de- l fined measure may be devised before
 another national election, which will
 render unnecessary a resort to any ex- 1 pedient of a temporary character for the
 determination of questions upon con- l tested returns.
 l PRESIDENTIAL DISABILITY.
 Questions which concern the very ex-
 istence If the government and the lib critics of the people were suggested by l the prolonged illness of the late PreSi- dent and his subsequent incapacity to
 perform the functions of his office. It | is provided by the second article of the
 Constitution in the fifth clause of its first l section, in case of the removal of the President from office or of his death, 1 resignation or disability to discharge | the powers and duties of said office, the
 same shall devolve upon the Vice-Presi- dent. What is the intendment of the Constitution in the specification of ina bility to discharge the powers and du- l ties of said office as one of the contin- geneies which calls the Vice-President l to the exercise of presidential functions? Is the inability limited in its nature to | long-continued intellectual incapacity,
 or has it broader import? How must
 its existence be establishedP Has the l President whose inability is the sub
 ject of inquiry any voice in determin- ing whether or not it exists, or is the decision of that momentous and delicate question confided to the Vice
 President, or is it contemplated by the Constitution that Congress should pro-
 vide by law precisely what should con-
 stitute inability, and how and by what tribunal or authority it should be ascer-
 tained? If the inability proves to be temporary in it's nature, and during it's
 continuance the Vice-President lawfully