Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-12-07

d" no man should be the incumbent OF an
Office the duties of which be is for any
cause unfit to perform, who is lacking in
the ability, fidelity or integrity which
proper administration of such Office de-
mands. This sentiment would doubtless
meet with general acquiescence, but opin
ion has been widely divided upon the
vision and practicabiliiy of the various
reformatory schemes which have been sug-
gested and of certain proposed regulations
governing appointment to prblic Office.
The efficiency of such regulations has
been distrusted mainly because they have
seemed to exalt mere educational and alb
stract tests above general business capa-
city and even special fitness for tho par
ticular work in hand. 1t seems to me that
the rules which should bs applied to the
management of the public service may
properly conform in the main to such as
regulate the conduct o: successful private
business. Original appointments should
he based upon ascertained fitness. The
tenure of office should be stable. Posi-
tions of responsibility should, SO far as
possible, DO filled by the promotion of
worthy aud efficient officers. The investi'
CATION of all complaints and the punish
mcnt of all official misconduct should be
prompt and thorough"
The Presidents Promise.
The views expressed in the foregoing
letter arc those which will govern my ad-
ministration in the executive Office. They
are doubtless shared by all intelligent and
patriotic citizens, however divergent in
their opinions us to the best methods OF
putting them into practical operation:
For example, the assertion that '' original
appointments should be based upon
ascerta:ned fitness is not open to dis
pute. But the question how in practice
such fitness can be most effectually ascer-
taiusd is one which has for years excited
interest ard discussion. THO measure which,
with slight variations in details, has lately
been urged upon the attention of Congress
and the executive, has as its principal fea-
turc the scheme of competitive cxamina-
tion. Save for certain exceptions, which
need not here be specified, this plan would
give admission to the service only in its
lowest grade, and woald accordingly de-
mand that all vacancies in higher positions
should be filled by promotion alone. In
these particulars it is in conformity with
the existing civil service of Great Britain.
And, indeed, the success which has attend
cd that system in the country of It's
birth is the strongest argument which
| has been urged for it's adoption here.
The fact should not, however, he over
| looked that there are certain features of
the English system which have not gen.
orally hcen received with faver in this cOun-
try, even among the foremost advocates of
civil service reform. Among them are :
First, tenure of Office which is substan-
| TALLY life tenure; second, a Limitation OF
the maximum age at which an applicant
can enter the service, whereby all men in
| middle life or older are, with some eXccp-
tions, rigidly excluded; third, a retiring
allowance upon going out of office. These
/ three elements arc rs important factors of
the problem as any of the others. To
eliminate them from the English system
/ would effect most radical change in its
theory and practice. The avowed purpose
! of that system is TO induce the educated
young men of the country to devote their
lives to public employment by an assur-
ancc that having once entered upon they
need never leave it, and that upon volun.
tary retirement they shall be the recipi.
cnts of an annual pension. That this sys.
TEN as an entirety has proved very success
! full in Great Britain seems to be generally
conceded, even by those who once opposed
its adoption. To statute which should
incorporate all its essential features
should feel bound to give my approval
but whether it would be for the best in
terests of the public to fix upon an cx'
pedient for Immediate extensive ap
| plication, which embraces certain features
of the English system, but excludes or ig
norcs others of equal importance, may bt
seriously doubted even by those who arr
impressed, as am myself, will, the grave
importance of correcting the evils which
inllcre in the present methods of appoint
ments. If, for example, the English rule
which shuts out all persons above the ag,
of twenty five years from a large number
of public employmcnts, is not to be made
an essential part of our system, it is ques
tiorablc whether the attainments of tn,
highest number of marks at cOmpctitiv,
examination should be the criterion by
which all applications for appointment
should be put to test. And under simila
conditions it may also be questioned
whether admission to the service SHOULD
bc strictly limited to its lowest ranks.
The English System,
The present English system is growtl
of years, and was not created by a singh
stroke Of executive or legislative action
Its beginnings are found in an order ir
council promulgated in 1856, and it wa
after patient and cautious scrutiny of i'll
workings that fifteen years later it took it
present shape. Five years after the is
suance of the order in council, and at {;
time when resort had been had to competi
tive examinations as an experiment mucl
more extensively than has yet been tn,
case in this country, a select committee O
the House of Commons made a report tt
that House, which, declaring its approva
of the competitive plan, deprecated, never
theless, any precipitancy in its genera
ADOPTION ,as likely to endanger its ultimate
success. During this tentative period tn,
results of the two methods of pass exami
nation were closely watched and com
pared. 1t may be that before we confint
ourselves upon this important question
within the stringent bounds of statutory
enactment we may profitably await the re
suit of further inquiry and experiment
The submission of a portion of the nomina
tions to central board of examiners Sc
lected solely for testing the qualification.
of applicants may, perhaps, without resort
to the competitive test, put an end to the
mischiefs which attend the present sys
tenn of appointment, and it may be feasible
to vest in such board a wide discretion
TO ascertain the true characteristics and at.
tainments of candidates in those particu
lars which I have already referred to as
being no less important than mere intel
lectual attainments. If Congress should
deem it advisable at the present session
| to establish competitive tests for admission
IN tho Sprvicn nO 6Onhfe c,,ct, oc Iovo l,oo,,